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Melania Trump's Big Moment Ends in Controversy; IOC Meeting On Russian State-Sponsored Doping Allegations; Ax-Wielding German Train Attacker a Teenager. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 19, 2016 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong, welcome to News Stream.

Any time now, we could find out whether Russia will be banned from the 2016 Olympic Games just a day after a damning report alleges state sponsored

doping in Russian sport.

Melania Trump's big moment in the spotlight turns into an embarrassing controversy as she

delivers a plagiarized speech that borrows heavily from one by another famous speaker.

And Disney expands Star Wars with a spinoff film. The cast and crew of Rogue One speak to CNN about working in a galaxy far, far away.

At this hour, the International Olympic Committee is deciding whether to ban Russia from international competition, including this year's Olympic

Games. The decision is expected soon. It comes just a day after a report found state-sponsored doping in Russian sports ahead of the 2014 Winter

Games.

The IOC has said that it won't hesitate to impose the toughest sanctions. But the Russian Olympic committee says it's, quote, "fundamentally

disagrees with the report's call for an outright ban."

Russia has long been one of the world's most dominant nations at the Olympic Games. It continually boasts an enormous team usually only dwarfed

by the United States.

In 2012, 436 athletes competed in London across 24 sports and 24 would go on to win gold

medals, helping the country to a fourth place finish on the medal tally.

Well, Russian track and field athletes are already banned from Rio unless they can prove that they're clean. But 68 who claim they're innocent are

trying to fight that. And that group includes the gold medal pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, the world champion who has never tested positive for a

banned substance claims the athletic's governing body is under orders to stop Russia competing.

Well, we're covering all angles of this story. Joining us now is Clare Sebastian in Moscow, and world sport's Patrick Snell out of CNN Center in

Atlanta.

And Patrick, I want to go to you first. Now, is it a given that the IOC is going to decide to ban

Russia? What are their options here?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I think it's a case of a very good chance that the IOC meeting right now -- and just to reiterate to remind our

viewers worldwide, we could well be getting something in the next few moments. We're certainly keeping everyone very closely following that

situation.

But a good chance that the IOC basically be calling, Andrew, for potentially more information from WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. And

of course it's all tied in potentially as well with the Russian track and field athletes at this moment who have taken their case

to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And the outcome of that is potentially very crucial indeed, because if there's a ruling, if it's found

to be in their favor, then it's hard to see a blanket ban introduced on all Russian competition.

So, certainly the two are potentially going hand in hand. It's all very intriguing at the moment. That's certainly one option available to the

International Olympic Committee, which is meeting right now at this hour. All kinds of pressure on them to get things right. This is a hugely

potential, pivotal moment, a momentous occasion in the history of the Olympic movement,and in particular for the IOC

president himself, Andrew Thomas Bach, his legacy here very much at stake. This is a decision he has to get right, absolutely right. Is he the man

who will be seen to let Russian dopers into the games or otherwise we're watching every step of the way, Andrew.

STEVENS: Yeah, momentous and certainly the right word for this, Patrick. I mean, you could argue the WADA report already is momentous in claiming

just the size of the doping machine, really, that was running in Russia.

Now, Russia, before we go to Clare, I just want to ask you, Russia's claiming this report is based pretty much on the testimony of just one

man. Just how exhaustive was that WADA investigation?

SNELL: It certainly has. And you're referencing Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. He's the former

anti-doping lab director, the alleged whistle-blower here, basically. And this is going back -- this is according to the report, according to the

McLaren report, this is a systematic allegations of state-sponsored doping, Andrew, dating back a number of years, potentially triggered, the report

claims, by the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 where Russia finished a rather disappointing tally by their

high standards normally of three Olympic golds. And then fast forward to Sochi in 2014, when

they finished top of the medals table.

But really, explicit is these two key findings in the report, the cocktail of performance enhancing drugs, and that sort of cloak and dagger

clandestine passing tampered substances through the wall, the urine samples through the wall at Sochi 2014 as well. These are really serious, serious

allegations.

And of course it what has everyone sitting up and taking notice in a big way.

[08:05:30] STEVENS: And for an Olympic athlete from Russia, the ultimate in sanctions if you like, not being able to compete at the Olympics.

Patrick, stay with us for a moment.

I want to go to Clare in Moscow. Clare, you know, listening to what Patrick's been saying -- and we have known about this investigation, and

now we know just how deep the allegations run. And just how much of Russia's state apparatus was involved in this. What's Russia say?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrew, the bottom line is that they are not taking the findings of this report at face value.

They are not accepting them in their current state. We've heard both from the president, Vladimir Putin, and from the Russian Olympic Committee

saying they want to see more evidence.

The Russian Olympic Committee saying today they want more investigation and they believe

that all parties should be involved. They say they are willing to help. They will work with any international organizations necessary. They simply

cannot accept that Russian Olympic athletes, who are clean, who have proven not to have been doping, will not be allowed to

go to the games.

Now, we know that many athletes are still holding out hope that that appeal will go through. We heard from the Russian swimming federation today that

the swimmers are actually heading to Rio today, so definitely still holding out hope, but very difficult time for

them. Many of them have come out and said, you quoted yourself Yelena Isinbayeva saying that she thought that the IAAF was ordered

to keep the Russian athletes out at any cost. They very much range from outrage to kind of sadness and

disappointment around this, Andrew.

STEVENS: And sport is such an important part of the Russian psyche almost. I mean, it has been enormously successful at the Olympic Games. It was

used as a propaganda tool at the height of the Cold War. So what are ordinary Russians saying about this? Do they smell a western plot? Or are

they appalled by what they see, this sort of return, if you like, to this industrial sort of tampering of sports people?

SEBASTIAN: Andrew, the overwhelming majority of the people that I've spoken to just out on the streets here smell a western plot. You put it

perfectly. They believe that it's an extension of, you know, the sanctions against Russia. They believe that one Russian -- actually one Russian

politician put it quite dramatically.

She said, you know, the first course was sanctions. The second course was NATO enlargement. And now the third course, as she put it, replacing the

Olympic rings with American hamburgers.

They see the U.S. very much behind this and they see it as very much political provocation was the exact words that one man said to me on the

street yesterday, Andrew, so it's very much a sport intertwined with politics here.

STEVENS: OK. Clare Sebastian in Moscow and Patrick Snell at CNN Center. Thank you both for that.

And we may well, indeed, be going back to both Patrick and Clare waiting for a decision by the

IOC any moment now.

And also in just a few hours from now, Donald Trump will officially receive the Republican

nomination for president. Right now, though, all eyes are on his wife, Melania Trump and the keynote address that she delivered to kick off the

party's national convention in Cleveland, Ohio. It appears that her speech plagiarized a Michelle Obama speech delivered eight years ago. But the

Trump campaign is denying any wrongdoing.

Now Phil Mattingly has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The similarities are startling.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You work hard for what you want in life.

MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: That you work hard for what you want in life.

MICHELLE OBAMA: What your word is your bond. That you do what you say you're going to do.

MELANIA TRUMP: Your word is your bond and do you what you say and keep your promise.

MATTINGLY: Melania Trump's big moment on the national stage overshadowed by an unexpected moment. Trump delivering a speech with plagiarized passages

from Michelle Obama's speech from the 2008 Democratic national convention.

MICHELLE OBAMA: We want our children and all children in the nation to know.

MELANIA TRUMP: Because we want our children in this nation to know.

MICHELLE OBAMA: That the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and willingness to work hard for them.

MELANIA TRUMP: That the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

MATTINGLY: And that's not all.

MICHELLE OBAMA: That you treat people with dignity and respect even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them.

[08:10:04] MELANIA TRUMP: That you treat people with respect.

MATTINGLY: Under a firestorm of criticism online, the Trump campaign issuing this statement overnight. Saying quote, "Melania's team of writers

took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking."

But the statement doesn't acknowledge the allegations of plagiarism, mentioned who help Mrs. Trump write a speech, or explain where those

fragments came from. In a moment before her speech, Melania seems to take most of the credit for the content of her remark.

MELANIA TRUMP: I wrote it and with a little bit of help as possible.

MATTINGLY: Donald Trump's introduction of his wife on stage, yet another moment that has everyone talking about the unconventional convention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Phil Mattingly there.

Those plagiarism allegations first surfaced, as Phil said, on social media. The Trump campaign and his supporters has, as we know, been trying to

downplay that gaffe. But some say the damage has already been done.

Let's go to Cleveland now where CNN Money's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has been following the story for us.

Brian, it's mind boggling. When you see those two speeches side by side, it's almost the word for word, that mind boggling in that we're talking

about Michelle Obama, the president's wife. What are you hearing from your sources about how this happened?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You just took the words out of my mouth and I'm not going to borrow them from you.

It is mind boggling, though, you know, that this draft of the speech was not Googled ahead of time. You think back 30 years ago it would be hard

to check this right away. But now in this digital age you can know instantly if someone has borrowed someone else's words.

As you mention, the Trump campaign downplaying this. In fact, the campaign manager Paul

Manafort is outright denying any plagiarism. He says these words were not lifted. They're common words that others have used.

But I think the speech is, the fact, the transcripts do speak for themselves. And I do suspect in the coming hours we'll find out who was

involved, who was writing the speech, and also whether they'll still be working on the Trump campaign.

Think about it this way, Donald Trump came to fame in some ways through reality TV, through The Apprentice, through two famous words, "you're

fired." I wonder if later today if we're going to have a "you're fired" moment here at the convention.

STEVENS: And maybe more than one, too.

But on that theme, talking about damage, does the Melania Trump plagiarism -- you know it

obviously has ruined her moment. But by default does it damage her husband and also Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman?

Those denials look very weak when you see the evidence. Is he now in trouble?

STELTER: I think a lot of people are sympathetic to Melania Trump right now. Here in Cleveland where this convention is being held, there was so

much enthusiasm, anticipation to hear her speech, because she hasn't been speaking much on the campaign trail. This was by far her biggest

moment yet. And she received rave reviews. There's a lot of positivity for her performance onstage until these plagiarism charges came up. As you

mentiond, they were surfaced on social media.

Hopefully, you know, she'll be back on the campaign trail. She'll be speaking in the future and this won't be the only thing her speech last

night is remembered for.

But I think why it matters -- listen, it's not going to change people's minds about Trump. If you're supporting Trump, if you're voting for Trump,

you're not going to change your mind because of this. The reason why it matters, though, is it speaks to disorganization within the Trump campaign.

This has been a theme going on for months. And we saw it again last night.

In fact, Melania's speech had to be moved up quite a bit in the convention schedule because the speeches were running late and she was running late,

and so there was a concern that she wouldn't speak until too late in the evening after prime-time, after the broadcast

networks stopped showing the convention.

Bottom line, this is an example, an illustration of what seems to be a disorganized, maybe even

unprofessional, campaign and that's why, even some Republicans here in Cleveland are looking at this skeptically and saying this is a bad sign.

STEVENS: Absolutely. I mean, if you can't control your own convention. What sort can you control when you're running a campaign like that?

All right, Brian, thanks so much for that. Brian Stelter joining us live from Cleveland.

Later in the hour, we're going to be continuing our coverage of the convention. We'll be back in Cleveland. We're going to be looking at the

other headlines from Tuesday, including former -- or actually the headlines coming up as well as what's gone before with the other speeches.

The ones coming up include Dr. Ben Carson, the former rival now turned Trump supporter. We'll be digging a little bit more into the fallout of

the Melania Trump speech as well. That's all in about 15 minutes or so from now.

Also ahead here on News Stream a man wielding an ax attacks passengers on a train in Germany. And we've got details about the assailant.

A man in Pakistan says he has no regrets about murdering his sister. But outrage is now high after the murder of a social media star, as well as

self-proclaimed feminists.

And, Turkey requests extradition from the U.S. of a man they think is behind Friday's coup. The latest as the country continues its crackdown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:34] STEVENS: A midsummer night here in Hong Kong. The view looking across Victoria Harbor. Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now, yesterday we talked to you about this young woman, a social media sensation in Pakistan. She was strangled to death at her family home by

her brother all because she took photos of herself that he didn't approve of.

Well, police are now trying to determine if he acted by himself, or if he was motivated by others? Alexandra Field has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Video of a social media star Qandeel Baloch, and a senior member of the clergy, Mufti Qavi (ph), enough to whip

up a media frenzy in Pakistan where the woman's brother says he was left with no choice, but to kill her for the shame she caused.

Without remorse he confessed after his arrest. "I have no regrets," he said. "She was bringing dishonor to our family."

Her body was found at her family home on Friday. She had been drugged and strangled, the latest victim of more than 200 so-called honor killings in

Pakistan this year.

The country's prime minister has vowed to tackle the problem, but critics say few steps have been taken.

The cleric seen here has been suspended. Police say they'll investigate him in connection with the murder, a claim he denies. But Baloch's mother

tells local media Mufti Qavi (ph) urged her son to murder his sister after the photos were shared.

They were among countless images she posted on social media propelling her to stardom, an internet sensation with hundreds of thousands of followers.

Her style pushed boundaries. She was bold, outspoken and loved to flirt with the camera. But her message was clear: she described herself as a

modern-day feminist. Hours before her life ended, she shared a post saying she wanted to stand up for women who had been treated badly, and dominated

by society.

Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: In Northern India, a 21-year-old college student was gang raped, allegedly by the

same men who raped her three years ago.

CNN's Sumnima Udas reports from Haryana State.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a virtual media lockdown, so authorities are not allowing journalists to talk to the victim

or the family members at the moment. But what's happened is a group of activists who managed to barge their way in and they're

protesting right outside the room where the victim has been for the past few days.

The 21-year-old student was gang raped just last week. And she was gang raped, allegedly, by the same five men three years ago back in 2013. Now,

that version coming from the victim and her family members.

Now according to the police the story is slightly different. There were two men who raped the victim back in 2013 in a span of four days. And

those two men met in prison. And then they kept threatening her and her family to withdraw the case. And then as a sort of revenge, they ended up

gang raping her with three other men. So five men in total just last week.

So stories all a little bit complicated, investigators are looking into it. There's been no arrests so far. But what we know is that the victim comes

from a lower caste community. The perpetrators come from a higher caste community. So the victim and her family have been alleging that the

perpetrators had been offering a lot of money, asking them to withdraw the case. But they refused to.

A lot of people here are completely shocked that this could happen in spite of the fact that laws have changed, there's been so much awareness, there's

more security after that very high profile rape back in 2012.

The fact that these perpetrators were allowed out on bail, the fact that the victim was not

given any security, even though the perpetrators -- the suspects had been threatening the family for all this time. The fact that this can happen

with such impunity is really what sent shockwaves across the country.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, Haryana, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Now we're learning more details about the 17-year-old Afghan refugee who attacked people on a train in southern Germany. Police say

they found a hand-drawn ISIS flag in his room. He was armed with an ax and a knife and apparently shouted Allah

Akbar during the attack.

He left four people in serious condition and was shot and killed by police.

Well, investigators are still searching for a motive. Let's go to Atika Shubert who joins us live from Berlin.

Another outrage becoming almost all too common in Europe these days, Atika. What do we know about the attacker and the attack itself?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the key here will be, as you point out, the motivation, what was the motivation here? What

we know about the suspect is that he was a 17-year-old Afghan refugee. He came to Germany about a year ago, crossing the border in the south. And he

was an unaccompanied minor at the time, 16-years-old.

He came across. He was staying in refugee housing. And in the last two weeks he'd been moved to a host family.

He wasn't -- he didn't really stand out in any way. people said he was quiet, seemed well behaved, didn't seem particularly extreme or radical.

So this has come to a complete shock to people who knew him.

Inside his room at the home police found texts, written in Pashtun, but also Arabic, and even some Latin text, as well.

They also found, as you point out, a self-drawn or painted ISIS flag. And this is where the question of motivation comes in.

There has been a claim from the AMOQ (ph), which is the ISIS news channel that he was,

quote, an Islamic State fighter. They are citing their own security source, they say.

But I think the reality is here we have to be quite skeptical of such a claim. This may be something they are just opportunistically claiming

credit for.

What police and what the interior minister of Bavaria have said is that they have no confirmation of any communication or link between the

attacker, and any ISIS operation, or any known terror suspects.

So, this is why they are not classifying this as a terrorist attack at this point. They simply do not know the motivation of the attacker, what

triggered such a horrific attack like this.

STEVENS: And Germany, of course, has been so welcoming in recently to refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East and also in Afghanistan. What

so far has the reaction been in Germany to this?

SHUBERT: Yeah, people are shocked by this. But it really, what we've seen so far is that there's been so much concern about the -- about rising

levels of crime, the possibility of more terror attacks in terror threats in Germany, because of the numbers that have come

in. But so far the response has been very measured. And I hink the interior ministry and the police have been very careful in their

research to say we don't know the motivation yet. Let's take a look. Let's take a look at his mental health background, what he's been through,

to understand better how this came about.

You are absolutely right, though, the country took in more than a million refugees last year. So the public has been very concerned that they would

see some sort of an uptick in violence or crime. So that's why authorities want to be very careful as they go forward in this investigation.

[08:25:11] STEVENS: Atika Shubert in Berlin, thank you.

Now the Turkish prime minister says the country has requested the extradition of a Muslim cleric they think is behind Friday's failed coup.

He tweeted, quote, "we have sent four files to the United States requesting the extradition" of what he says is the, quote, "terrorist leader."

Now Mohammed Fethullah Gulen, here as you say, has been living in Pennsylvania since 1999.

CNN got rare access to his compound at the weekend. And he denies having any role in the attempted takeover.

Now these supporters of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are hanging an effigy of Gulen during a rally in Istanbul. The president has

talked about bringing back the death penalty for thousands of people who were involved, or may have been involved in that coup, if parliament

approves.

He spoke exclusively to CNN's Becky Anderson through this translator and said that it's the will of the Turkish people to bring back capital

punishment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): The people now have the opinion, after so many terrorist incidents, that these

terrorists should be killed. That's where they are. They don't see any other outcome to it.

I mean, life sentence or aggravated life sentence, why should I keep them and feed them in prisons for years to come? That's what the people say.

So they want a swift end to it, because people lost relatives, lost neighbors, lost children -- 8-year-olds, 15-year-olds, 20-year-old young

people.

Unfortunately, have all been killed during these incidents. Of course, they have parents, mothers and fathers that they are mourning, they're

suffering. So the people are very sensitive and we have to act very sensibly and sensitively.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Recep Erdogan there speaking with our Becky Anderson.

Now, the European Union says that restoring the death penalty would end Turkey's chances of becoming a member of the EU.

In Taiwan, meanwhile, 26 people are dead after a tour bus caught fire trapping them inside. Officials say 24 of the victims were from Mainland

China, including three children. A tour guide from Taiwan and the bus driver also died. They were on their way to the airport in Taipei when the

accident happened.

Well the Philippines says that it's unlikely to begin talks with China in the near future over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea. That

came after the Philippines' foreign secretary said that Beijing made it clear a recent ruling against China could not even be

mentioned at the meeting.

Well, an international tribunal found no legal basis for China's claims in the area. The Chinese swiftly rejected that ruling, saying the tribunal

had no jurisdiction in the matter.

Now after the break, we'll take you back to Cleveland where Donald Trump is just hours away

now from finally landing the Republican nomination for the presidency. But his wife remains fully in

the spotlight. More details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:10] STEVENS: Well, Plagiarism scandal aside, today's lineup has some pretty big names as well including Trump rival turned supporter Dr.

Ben Carson. Let's get right to Cleveland now for the very latest. CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju is there.

Manu, we spoke a lot about Melania in this show. I wanted to talk to you a little bit more about the other person who was making the headlines, even

though she wasn't there, and that of course was Hillary Clinton.

MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, she is really the great unifier, Andrew, of the

Republican Party right now. This party, of course, has been divided for months. And the party establishment is hardly behind Donald Trump. And

we actually saw an effort on the convention floor yesterday by anti-Trump delegates to really disrupt the proceedings on the convention floor. That

effort failed.

But what we did see is a very unified message against Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Hillary Clinton's experience is the basis for her campaign. Hillary Clinton's experience is exactly the

reason she should not be president of the United States.

RAJU (voice-over): The Republican Party uniting on day one of the Cleveland convention behind one goal -- taking down Hillary Clinton.

MICHAEL FLYNN, RET. LT. GENERAL: If I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today. So, crooked Hillary Clinton, leave this race now.

RAJU: At least three speakers explicitly calling for the presumptive Democratic nominee to be jailed for using a private e-mail server when she

was secretary of state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She loves her pant suits. But we should send her an e- mail and tell her she deserves a bright orange jump suit.

RAJU: Including the mother of Sean Smith, one of Americans killed in Benghazi attack.

PAT SMITH, MOTHER OF SEAN SMITH: I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son. Hillary for prison. She deserves to be in stripes.

RAJU: One after another, painting Clinton as someone who can't be trusted.

GIULIANI: Clinton and the Obama administration for political reasons lied about the purpose of the attacks, including Hillary Clinton lying directly

to the families of the people who were killed right to their face.

RAJU: GOP leaders, TV stars past and present and rising stars of the Republican Party jumped at the chance to discredit Clinton.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: It would be nice to have a commander in chief who can be trusted to handle classified information.

RAJU: The opening night of the convention coming one day after a second deadly ambush on police in less than two weeks.

SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE SHERIFF: I would like to make something very clear -- blue lives matter in America!

[08:35:07] RAJU: With the nation on edge, the divide with police and black community, playing out on the convention floor.

GIULIANI: When they come to save your life, they don't ask if you are black or white. They just come to save you.

RAJU: Including former presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who delivered a fiery speech on behalf of his long-time friend

Donald Trump.

GIULIANI: What happened to there's no black America, there's no white America, there is just America?! What happened to it? Where did it go?! How

has it flown away?!

RAJU: Trump himself drawing attention away from his convention by calling in for an interview on FOX News, blaming Black Lives Matter for instigating

the recent police killings.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When you are calling death to police and kill the police essentially, which is what they said,

that's a real problem, Bill. That's a real big problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now expect a lot more theatrics on the convention floor later today when anti-Trump delegates will try to disrupt the proceedings when Donald

Trump is actually formally nominated by the delegates as the party's nominee for the president -- presidential contest going forward.

In addition to that, a number of congressional leaders are expected to speak tonight,

including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was late endorsing Donald Trump, also is hesitant about Donald Trump's candidacy. It will be interesting to

see what he has to say.

And also Donald Trump's family will speak tonight, two of his children will speak. As part of that effort to show a different side of Donald Trump --

Andrew.

STEVENS: Well, try and smooth over those early bumps. OK, Manu, thanks so much for that. Manu Raju, senior correspondent, political correspondent

joining us from Cleveland.

And make sure you stay with us for continuing coverage of the convention. Christiane Amanpour, Kate Boulduan and Hala Gorani all live from Cleveland

all this week to follow the developments, the speeches and of course the analysis as the Republicans crown their nominee.

Now Star Wars Rogue One presents a story that fans have long dreamed about: how rebels got the plans to the Death Star.

Coming up, we'll see how the cast brings Star Wars history to life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Welcome back.

Now Ghostbusters may have received a big welcome at the box office but star Leslie Jones found a very different reception online. She faced a horrific

wave of racist abuse on Twitter. At first, she tried to brush it off by sharing some of the vile tweets for all to see, but soon she tired of all

the hate. And a few hours ago she tweeted this: "I feel like I'm in a personal

hell. I didn't do anything to deserve this." She then announced that she's leaving Twitter.

But before she left, Jones called on the service to address the racist abuse. And Twitter responded. CEO Jack Dorsey reached out to Jones asking

her to contact him. Well, Jones isn't the first to make this sort of plea, but she is a very high profile user.

She has more than 180,000 followers. And Twitter is routinely criticized for failing to deal with threats and abuses -- abusive comments from people

with not so many followers.

Now finally, a whole new look at the upcoming Star Wars Rogue One. The new film in the Star Wars series hits theaters in December and at the weekend

fans got to see snippets of how it was made. Well, CNN spoke with the cast and crew of Rogue One.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARETH EDWARDS, DIRECTOR: Trying to find something new, different, that is Star Wars, is real like experiment, and it's not something that you just

land on on day one and go that's right. Let's go. It's like you -- it's a journey that you refine as you go. And, the same with all the designs all

the costumes, and like style of the film making. It was like how -- how to make it feel different, but familiar and accepted as part of Star Wars, and

probably the hardest task we had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready and action.

FELICITY JONES, ACTRESS: I play Jyn Aso (ph) who he is a phenomenal character to play. She is a woman who knows her own mind. She is fiercely

independent. She has great courage, but at the same time, it's tough on the world when she needs to be.

FORREST WHITTAKER, ACTOR: The character is fighting for a good cause, but who is possibly lost himself, you know, in the fight and has become

possibly some of the things that he doesn't like.

DONNIE YEN, ACTOR: I play a blind warrior that lives in a planet of Jetta. Let's just say if you give him a light saber he's closest things to being a

Jedi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But no quantum jedi (ph).

YEN: There's no Jedi in this film, unfortunately, you know.

KATLEEN KENNEDY, PRODUCER: The story that we're telling and the stealing of the plans to the Death Star I think many fans will probably put together

the fact that Darth Vader plays a fairly significant role in that. But he's in the movie only a small amount.

BEN MENDELSOHN, ACTOR: Oh, I'm a nut fan. I'm a day one nut for -- I mean I am a nut for it. I love it. The ones that i saw when I was a little

fellow have an enormous impact on me.

EDWARDS: George came into the office and we chatted. I was worried, he was going to have really strong opinions and tell us off. And instead he

was just very supportive. That's going to be probably the highlight of my life, that memory, you know, I mean like, two hour skits to go and make

Star Wars and then go show George Lucas and it was a real privilege. And he's in my opinion, he's a god. And so I got to meet the god of Star Wars

that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May the force be with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Indeed. Go to Star Wars.

Well that's it from us here at News Stream. Thanks for joining us. I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Patrick Snell is up

ahead. And remember we've got a big, big announcement due any moment now from the IOC on whether or not they will ban Russia from

competing in the Rio Olympic Games, which start in about two weeks from now.

END