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Trump Accepts GOP Nomination, Slams Clinton, Obama; Russian Track & Field Banned from Olympics; Turkey Revamping Military During 3-Month State of Emergency; Escape from ISIS Only Option for Some in Iraq; Aftermath of Attack Exposes French Divisions; Roger Ailes Resigns from FOX Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations; Trump Accepts GOP Presidential Nomination, Slams Clinton, Obama; Trump Facing Backlash for NATO Comments; Panel Rules Indonesia Responsible for 1960s Crimes Against Humanity; Attack Planned During Israel's Gay Pride Parade. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 22, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:09] DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It was Donald Trump's big night and his most important political speech yet.

(HEADLINES)

HOWELL: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good day. It is official, Donald Trump has formally accepted the Republican Party's nominate for president. During his speech Thursday night in Cleveland, Trump promised to root out crime, corruption and poverty. He says the American system is broken and that he is the only one who can make it right.

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TRUMP: It is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration, which is what we have now. Communities want relief. Yet, Hillary Clinton had is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness. Big business, elite media, and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place.

(BOOING) TRUMP: They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything single thing she does. She's their puppet and they pull the strings.

After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before. This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton -- death, destruction, terrorism and weakness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Donald Trump also in that speech claiming that China benefits from what he calls the decline of America, while laying out an immigration plan to guard against terrorism.

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TRUMP: We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place. We don't want them in our country.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers or that diminishes our freedom and our independence. We will never, ever sign bad trade deals. America first.

We are going to enforce all trade violations against any country that cheats.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: This includes stopping China's outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping and their devastating currency manipulation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka, introduced him before his speech. She praised his treatment of women.

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IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: At my father's company, there are more female than male executives.

(CHEERING)

IVANKA TRUMP: Women are paid equally for the work that we do. And when a woman becomes a mother, she is supported, not shut out.

(CHEERING)

IVANKA TRUMP: Politicians talk about wage equality, but my father has made it a practice at his company throughout his entire career.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Meanwhile, tech entrepreneur, Peter Thiel, made history, becoming the first RNC platform speaker to announce he's proud to be gay.

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PETER THIEL, TECH ENTREPRENEUR: Of course, every American has a unique identity. I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And people there in that arena went wild when the entire Trump family took the stage. You see that moment there. Donald Trump with his running mate, Mike Pence. The Indiana governor, praised Trump Wednesday by talking about his kids.

[02:05:19] The chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign released a statement reacting to Donald Trump's speech this day saying, quote, "Trump offered no real solutions to help working families get ahead or to keep our country safe, just more prejudice and paranoia. America is better than this."

A lot to say certainly about Donald Trump's speech. Some critics calling it dark and harsh. Many in the crowd there, though. It was a well-received speech there. We'll have a little more when it comes to Cleveland and here from our senior political reporter, Manu Raju, about reaction to Donald Trump's acceptance speech.

Moving on now to Brazil, authorities there arrested 10 people who they say were planning terror acts during next month's Rio Olympics. The justice minister there says the suspects are all Brazilian and that they were all inspired by ISIS. Officials also saying the suspects are not an organized cell and that they were poorly prepared.

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RAUL JUNGMANN, BRAZILIAN JUSTICE MINISTER (through translation): We were monitoring this group and knew exactly what they were doing and who they were. They had already been identified, however, but they crossed a red line and they took specific measures. They did not know each other personally. They communicated over the Internet and we were monitoring them for some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: With the Olympic Games in Rio a little more than two weeks away, track and field athletes from Russia won't be participating. A top court dismissed their appeal to overturn a ban. The country is dealing with allegations of widespread state-sponsored doping. There are also now calls for Russia to be thrown out of the games entirely. Claire Sebastian joins us now in the Moscow bureau.

Claire, good to have you.

So we've seen a lot of political rhetoric, certainly, coming out of Russia around this. How is that playing out now that they could face a ban on the whole Olympic team?

CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, the argument that they're making here in Russia is that idea of collective responsibility that athletes should be punished is simply not acceptable. They say they will fight for their right, the right they are clean athletes to the end. They say all these athletes have been proven to be clean. They have been under supervisor by the U.K. anti- doping authority for the last six months and they deserve the right to compete.

This is something we're hearing is being keenly felt by the athletes. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED RUSSIAN ATHLETE (through translation): I am suffering for the mistakes of someone whom I do not even know. It turned out the presumption of innocence is violated. I am accused and I have to prove that I'm so incident. I'm accused and I am innocent. I think that is unfair.

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SEBASTIAN: Several athletes took to social media after the court decision yesterday. Most notably, you have that two-time Olympic poll vaulting champion, who went on Instagram and said, "Let those pseudo- clean foreign athletes breathe a sigh of relief and win their pseudo- gold medals." Very heightened emotions from her.

Even the sports minister yesterday was hardly able to contain himself, and took to Twitter saying "The IAAF should be disbanded." Political rhetoric mounting.

We heard from the Russian foreign ministry yesterday who called this a crime against sport. In one breath, she talked about how the U.S. caused the creation of ISIS, as she said, by going into Iraq, and now it's leveling this blow against not only Russia, but the entire world of sports.

So very political here, very much something that is being looked at as a targeting of Russia.

HOWELL: Claire Sebastian, live from our Moscow bureau. Claire, thank you very much for that. We'll see how this plays out.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, you'll see the desperation of families in Mosul in Iraq, risking their lives to escape death at the hand of ISIS.

A titan of American media resigns from a powerful network that he helped to build. Up next, why Roger Ailes is leaving FOX News.

[02:09:40] And the aftermath of the Nice terror attack. Why it's exposing deep divisions in French society.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

In Turkey, the country's president is vowing to revamp the armed forces there after last week's failed coup attempt.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translation): Within a short amount of time, a new structure will be emerging. With this new structure, the armed forces I believe will get fresh blood. I also think after all that's come to pass, we think they must have drawn very important lessons. This is an ongoing process. We will never stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: On Thursday, the parliament approved a three-month state of emergency. The military will be under civilian supervision and it will be easier to prosecute those accused of treason. Turkey has detained more than 9,000 people, mostly from the military. The European Union says parts of Turkey's crackdown are unacceptable. The E.U. urging Turkey to respect human rights and freedom of expression.

Earlier, our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, sat down with the Turkish president's spokesman. Listen.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The president has announced a state of emergency. What powers does that give you that you don't have now and what do you need them for?

IBRAHIM KALIN, SPOKESMAN FOR TURKISH PRESIDENT: Well, the emergency was announced primarily to deal with this terrorist threat and to make sure that such coups do not happen again. Now according to certain part of the Turkish law, you need some extra power, like the state of the law of emergency to brings those people to justice and make sure they do not misuse the legal system and state institutions to their advantage.

[02:15:28] ROBERTSON: So what exactly does that mean, "putting them to justice"?

KALIN: Primarily, of course, putting them on trial for treason because they violated the constitution. They attempted a coup. They actually were involved in the coup attempt and they killed people.

ROBERTSON: But is none of this possible as things stand right now?

KALIN: Some of it is possible. But there will be some additional clause and legislation that will allow the government to pursue these people within the state institutions. For example, according to the current law, legislation, if you are put on trial, they can appeal and maybe come back from an appeals court as a regular civil servant. Now, that will prevent -- that that is really the primary goal of this, so that those people who have been involved in this coup attempt, and who killed people, murdered people basically on the streets, will be put on trial without any chance of coming back to the state apparatus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Ibrahim Kalin there speaking with our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.

Now on to Iraq. North of Mosul, Men, women and children desperate to escape make a break for freedom. For them, the misery and murder of life under ISIS has become so intolerable fleeing has become the only option.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has this exclusive report.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They emerged from the darkness, some unable to walk, others completely exhausted. These people are fleeing ISIS rule, reaching Kurdish lines northeast of Mosul.

(CRYING)

WEDEMAN: Night after night, they risk minefields, snipers and mortar fire. Risks worth taking, they say, to escape the reign of terror.

"They kill you if you don't fast," recounts this man. "They kill you if you don't pray. No prisons, no fines. The only punishment they have is to kill, kill and kill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN: Many of these people are Shava (ph), a religious and ethnic minority that has felt much of the brunt of ISIS's draconian rule.

(on camera): Kurdish positions are 10 miles from Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and under ISIS control since June 2014. The lights in the distance are Mosul.

(voice-over): Wary of ISIS infiltrators, soldiers order all adult men to remove their shirts and get down on their knees while others search the belongings they could carry and confirm their identity and determine if they were with ISIS or not.

For children, the experience is terrifying and traumatic.

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER MEDIC: It's depressing.

WEDEMAN: John is a volunteer medic from the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER MEDIC: The kids were dehydrated, exhausted. You could tell they traveled a long time. It's very stressful on children, those situations. You could tell it took a toll on them.

WEDEMAN: Iraqi government and Kurdish forces, backed by coalition aircraft and troops, are preparing for an offensive to retake Mosul. When that happens, tens of thousands are expected to flee the fighting.

(CROSSTALK)

WEDEMAN: At a nearby base, the children sleep as their parents recount what they left behind.

"Our life was very hard," says this woman. "There's no work, there's nothing to buy. It was really bad."

From the base, they will be moved to camps further away from the front lines. They've escaped the darkness of ISIS rule to a limbo of life as refugees.

Ben Wedeman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Ben Wedeman bringing us that exclusive report.

A French prosecutor says the man who carried out the Nice terror attack had accomplishes and had plotted for months. Francois Mulin says police are investigating five suspects who are being held. One suspect allegedly told Mohamed Bouhlel on Facebook, "Lad the truck with tons of iron and cut the breaks. I'll look." Bouhlel killed 84 people when he drove a truck into a crowd of people leaving the fireworks show on Bastille Day. Prosecutors say there's no evidence so far that Bouhlel or his alleged accomplices had direct contract with ISIS.

[02:20:16] In the aftermath of the terror attack in Nice, CNN's Erin McLaughlin looks at what life is like for Muslims in France.

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(SHOUTING)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Go back to where you were born," a man says.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: The woman replies, "I was born in France."

But the harassment persists.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: The video posted to social media is startling. A woman of North African descent comes out to the promenade to mourn those killed in the Nice attacks. She's heckled. But this kind of incident so far is an aberration.

This man tracks Islamophobia in France. He says while there was a huge anti-Muslim backlash in the wake of the "Charlie Hebdo" and Paris attacks, this time, people are reacting differently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We realized our country is genuinely opposed to terrorism. It's not a problem with Muslims but rather with the inability of the government to protect collectively.

MCLAUGHLIN: The outpouring of political solidarity seen in the past 18 months is now giving way the cross-party bickering. This week, the government extended the state of emergency by six months, which allows for more powers to search property and detain terror suspects. The opposition has been quick to call on the government to do more.

Right wing parliamentarian Georges Sinext (ph) says anyone showing signs of radicalization should be electronically tagged. He says radicalized prisoners should be detained separately to avoid, quote, "contamination."

(on camera): Are you concerned this could risk alienating members of the Muslim community in this country?

GEORGES SINEXT (ph), FRENCH PARLIAMENTARIAN (through translation): The proposed measures as members of the opposition are within the rule of law.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Members of the Muslim community argue the proposed measures, including the state of emergency, do more harm than good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plan for the government and the conservatives is to make Islam and Muslim the central issue of the coming of a new presidential election. Because they have failed in the social front.

MCLAUGHLIN: Authorities now say there's not direct link between ISIS and the Nice attack.

(on camera): The French prime minister warns there will be more attacks and that more innocent people will die. And while the opposition says that attitude is defeatist, Muslim leaders say it shows the state of emergency is ineffective. What is clear is that there are no easy answers and the election is less than a year away.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Paris

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Erin, thank you. In the United States, one of the most powerful leaders in American media is out. Roger Ailes served as the chairman and CEO of FOX News. He resigned two weeks after former host, Gretchen Carlson, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Ailes has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But Rupert Murdoch and his sons, who jointly run FOX's parent company, pressured him to resign. This came after the Murdoch's heard of similar accusations from more than 20 women. Ailes won't leave empty handed. He'll receive in excess of over $40 million for the remainder of his contract that he's owed. He'll also serve as an adviser to Murdoch, who is stepping in as acting CEO for FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Let's bring in Matthew Belloni, executive editor at the "Hollywood Report."

Matt, it's good to have you to talk about this.

This is a big change at the head of FOX News. Ailes created the DNA of that conservative network.

MATTHEW BELLONI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Absolutely. This is the most significant change in American media in at least a decade. This is a man who created a genre of media. It is a huge change.

HOWELL: So with that change, is there concern that the network will continue as it has for so long now? A very lucrative network. The messaging, you know, the way the network is structured, it really has been run by Ailes. So the question now is what is FOX News after Roger Ailes?

BELLONI: What is FOX News after Roger Ailes? And I think the fact that Rupert Murdoch, who is in his mid 80s, said he is going to personally oversee FOX News in the interim, until they can find someone. It is really an admission that they don't have anyone in the wings that can replicate what Ailes has been doing there. It's also a messaging to the viewers and the workers at FOX News, at least in the short-term, FOX News is going to continue with the kind of media that it has been putting out for decades, which is a conservative leaning and very kind of specific kinds of media in America that doesn't existed elsewhere.

[02:25:31] HOWELL: This change is something Murdoch's sons have wanted to see. Help our viewers understand the rivalry between Ailes and Murdochs' sons.

BELLONI: Well, it's very interesting. Rupert Murdoch has had a close rip with Ailes. But last year, Ailes transferred power over 21st Century FOX to his two sons, James and Lachlan. They haven't had a very good relationship over the years with Roger Ailes. A conflict about a decade ago led to Lachlan leaving the country for a short time. I think when the embarrassing lawsuit came along, it was really a time for James and Lachlan to sit down and say we have an opportunity here to move this Ailes out and to put our stamp on the company. And that's exactly what they did. HOWELL: Matt Belloni, thank you so much for being with us. We'll

have to see how the plays out.

Thank you.

BELLONI: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, it was a big night for Donald Trump. His new official role, presidential nominee. Details on his acceptance speech and his big night.

Trump is also making waves around the world. What he said about NATO that has some U.S. allies on edge.

Stay with us.

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[02:30:20] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell, with the headlines we're following this hour.

(HEADLINES)

HOWELL: The Republican Party has its presidential nominee. Donald Trump formally accepted the party's presidential nomination. During his address to the convention in Ohio, Trump slammed Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. He also promised to end crime and restore safety on inauguration day.

Let's talk more about Donald Trump's big with night. CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju, joins us live from the convention center in Cleveland.

It's good to have you with us.

No question, Donald Trump played to the crowd there in that arena, but is there a sense in the aftermath of that speech that he reached out to new voters?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That is the big question. We don't really know that. We know this speech and this convention was designed to, one, unite the Republican Party and to energize the conservative base. What we saw is unity has come pretty hard given the concerns over his candidacy, including from Ted Cruz refused to endorse him. And Donald Trump's own speech tonight, you heard a real effort to double down on a lot of his policies that have made him the Republican nominee, including taking a very hard line on immigration. That is such a hot button issue in the presidential politics, in American politics, and it's something that, to win perhaps Hispanic voters in an election, you strike a more moderate tone. Trump continued that hard line, calling himself a law-an- order candidate, saying that he needs to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. He promoted an America first, pro America policy, aimed at tapping into the anxieties of the American middle class. In that sense, the Trump reached out to new voters, people who believe they've been left out of the Obama economy, perhaps even Bernie Sanders supporters, as well -- George?

HOWELL: All along, this was described as the unconventional convention. And if you compare this speech to, say, that of Ronald Reagan and the vision of a shining city is on a hill, critics say this was not that. Some critics saying that the tones was dark, that it was harsh and negative, that there were promises laid out but no real details in that speech.

RAJU: Yeah. This has been Donald Trump's M.O. for most of the situation. Really criticized the direction this country is going under the Obama administration over the last eight years, as well as blaming Hillary Clinton for the ills of American foreign policy. One of the biggest applause lines of the night was when he said that one of the reasons why we're having such problems overseas is when Barack Obama named Hillary Clinton to make her in charge of America's foreign policy. The argument he's trying to make, this is not a positive argument about why he should be commander-in-chief, but it was him saying that the country is going in the wrong direction and only he can turn this country around.

HOWELL: Manu, is there a sense whether Donald Trump reached out to new voters, to Democratic voters, to Independent voters. But what about those Republican voters there is in the room? There were some who, you know, initially might have supported Ted Cruz or John Kasich, many other candidates. So was there a sense that Donald Trump at least consolidated, brought together the Republican Party from the last several days of this convention?

RAJU: Again, I think the jury is still out on that. In the convention hall, there were Trump supporters in that hall. The Republican establishment is supporting Donald Trump because they do not want Hillary Clinton to become president. So this is becoming an anti-Hillary Clinton campaign. We heard that in a lot of convention speeches, going after Hillary Clinton and uniting the Republican Party on that message, to stop Hillary Clinton. So in that sense, perhaps that has helped unite the Republican Party, but not necessarily behind Donald Trump and his ideas -- George?

[02:35:32] HOWELL: Manu Raju, live in Cleveland Ohio at the Republican National Convention. Manu, thank you so much for your reporting. We'll stay in touch.

Trump also raised a few eyebrows on the eve of his acceptance speech. In an interview with "The New York Times" he suggested looking at NATO members' contributions before coming to their defense.

I talked earlier with CNN.com contributor, Frida Ghitis about Trump's idea.

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FRIDA GHITIS, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: It's a startling statement from Trump. He's playing politics with the core, the foundation of security in the world since World War II. The NATO treaty has an article, Article 5, that commits all the members to mutual defense. And it has, in fact, been only one once after 9/11. Where the -- the now Trump is saying that if Russia invaded some is of the Baltic States, which, the United States might or might not come to their defense. It would look perhaps at the books, at the accounts to see if they have paid their fair share. It's an incredible statement to make, to bring up the dollars and cents as if they were the tenant necessary a building who had not been paying rent. This is the foundation of the defense of the West. It's a terrible message to say to world, you may be able to invade these countries without consequences. It is a terrible message about the unity of NATO. It's really a stunning statement.

HOWELL: Frida, it's fair to say that even Barack Obama has raised concerns about other NATO members and their dues, making sure that they do. -- you know, everyone is involved.

GHITIS: Absolutely. The financial issue, the contribution issue is a standing problem at NATO and needs to be addressed. But it has to be it has to be separate from the U.S. keeping its commitments, from NATO keeping its commitments to defend members. If the alliance is made -- is hollowed out in that way, if the members cannot count on being defended when they come under attack, then the alliance is meaningless.

And the entire interview that Trump game and where this statement came is full of contradictions. Trump talks of the need to have more allies, stronger alliances, then he makes statements like these that basically make the alliance seem like it could be meaningless.

HOWELL: So at the same time, we are seeing a resurgence in Russia. Let's talk geopolitics here. If we were to see a weakened NATO, the United States giving these ultimatum to these, give us some invite and how that would play out to Russia.

GHITIS: The timing of this stage could not have been worse. Russian is now resurgence. It took a piece of Ukraine. It took the Crimea. This is not theoretical. For these countries in the Baltics, the possibility that Russia could take their territory is a reality, a day-to-day fear of the people who live in these countries.

HOWELL: It is interesting. Also important to point out a surge from Russia when it comes to military activity, but not resurgent economically. Obviously, it will be in important to see how this places out, if there were a Trump presidency.

Frida Ghitis, thank you.

GHITIS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, why an international tribunal has ruled that Indonesia is responsible for crimes against humanity.

And later, a look at what made this year's Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem so emotional for some.

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[02:43:01] HOWELL: Welcome back. An internal tribunal has released its findings on one of Indonesia's darkest moments. It says the country committed crimes against humanity when it massacred Communists in a purge in the 1960s. The United States, the U.K. and Australia were all found to be complicit in the killings. None of them has responded to the findings.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been called the largest unrecognized mass killing of the 20th century, the 1965 massacre of Communists in Indonesia, a dark chapter of the Cold War history.

An international panel of judges delivered its conclusion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The state of Indonesia is responsible for and guilty of crimes against humanity.

WATSON: The violence began the night of September 30th, 1965 when soldiers mutinied and murdered at least six army generals and their relatives in a failed military coup. A military regime, led by General Suharto, responded with a systemic campaign to wipe out Communists from Indonesia. Suharto went on to rule the country for the next 31 years.

(on camera): In it's ruling, the International Peoples' Tribunal found the state of Indonesia guilty for the massacre of an estimated 400,000 people and other crimes against humanity include wide-scale torture, enslavement, enforced disappearance, and systemic acts of sexual violence against women linked to the Communist party.

(voice-over): The judges implicated the Suharto regime's Cold War allies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States of America, the United Kingdom and Australia were all complicit to different degrees in the commission of these crimes against humanity. The U.S. gave sufficient support to the Indonesian military, knowing well that they were embarked up on a program of mass killings and other criminal conduct.

WATSON: None of the countries have responded to the findings.

Last May, survivors of the deadly 1965 crackdown emerged from a historic meeting with a top Indonesian official. He leads a government commission to investigate the violence, but he casts doubt on the scale of the killings.

UNIDENTIFIED INDONESIAN OFFICIAL: I don't believe the number of people that got killed, some people say 400,000 or so. WATSON: The International Peoples' Tribunal was formed in response to the 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary "The act of Killing" that profiled Indonesian gangsters who boast how the murdered Communists in 1965.

But the Indonesian government says the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the island nation. Jakarta insists it will use Indonesia's own legal system to investigate this painful period in history.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM. More news after the break.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:50:00] BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Whether you're marching today or not, I ask you to stand with your brothers and sisters in the LGBT community. We will not let hate drown out acceptance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking for peace at Jerusalem's Gay Pride Parade. His appeal wasn't completely fulfilled, though. Investigators say one man was planning an attack on the celebrations.

CNN's Oren Liebermann explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 15,000 people have come out to this year's Gay Pride Parade. That crowd just reaching that point here in the heart of the city, in the heart of Jerusalem. Many pausing at this specific spot for a very important reason, this is the spot at last year's Gay Pride Parade where a 16-year-old Shira Banki (ph) was murdered. An ultra orthodox Jew was waiting and hiding at a supermarket. When the parade reached this point, he came out, stabbed and murdered Shira Banki (ph) and wounded seven others. He is serving a life sentence. Police announcing today his brother has been arrested on conspiracy to carry out an attack at this year's Gay Pride Parade.

A heavy security presence. An estimated 2,000 police officers are on the streets here to make sure nothing like that happens. We see them lining the streets. The streets have been closed off since earlier today to make sure it stays safe here. Again, look at the crowd here. And it is an important statement for

this crowd. Just a couple weeks ago, the Gay Pride Parade in a southern Israeli city was canceled. Instead, protesters were outside of city hall. So it's an important statement for the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade to still be here. The theme of this year's parade, "Here to stay."

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: In the U.S. state of North Carolina, it's lost the NBA all- star game because of that state's controversial law on transgender bathroom access. The NBA announced Thursday it is pulling out next year from Charlotte. The league had hoped North Carolina officials would change the law. The measure requires people to use bathrooms in government buildings, schools and universities that correspond to their birth certificate.

Children living through the ongoing Syrian civil war are reaching out to the world in a new way, with a message for Pokemon Go fans, "save us." Activists in Syria are trying to tap in to the popularity of the game to highlight just how horrendous life is there in Syria. Syrian children holding signs, pleading for help. They're asking people playing the game to take a break from hunting the digital creatures and, instead, consider what could be done to give children in Syria a normal childhood or at least survive the vicious fighting that plays out around them.

Pokeman Go has finally launched in Japan. Fans there had to wait as people in other countries gave in to the craze. The launch was delayed after it was leaked that Nintendo was partnering with McDonald's. The fast-food restaurants are now hot spots for Pokemons around Japan.

And authorities are begging people to mind their surroundings when playing Pokemon Go and to stop opening the app while driving, believe it or not. Officials are trying to prevent more accidents like this one.

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(MUSIC)

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ROBIN MEADE, HLN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Body cameras captured this where you say some officers happening out and here comes an SUV slammed into a car. The driver appeared to admit that he was playing that game, not watching the road.

(CROSSTALK)

MEADE: Nobody was seriously injured, thankfully. And the patrol car was empty at the time.

(MUSIC)

T.J. SMITH, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Think about if somebody happened to be crossing that street and the driver didn't see him. We would be talking about a pedestrian who was severely injured if not killed. This is serious stuff. But it's not a game when you're behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound vehicle driving down a highway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Pretty scary there.

Pokemon Go has captured people across all professions, including some journalists. On Thursday, the spokesman for the U.S. State Department was discussing efforts to defeat ISIS when an unidentified reporter was caught in the art.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: As the secretary said today, and I think is important to reminder -- you're playing the Pokemon thing, right there aren't you?

UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: I'm just looking at.

KIRBY: An important reminder, we know this won't be easy. We recognize it's a challenge. And we're clear-eyed about the work we still have to do. This is why we convene this important ministerial and will continue to work with our partners to defeat Daesh.

Did you get one?

UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: No. This signal is not very good.

KIRBY: I'm sorry about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: I think that reporter was busted there in that meeting.

On the opposite end of the popularity spectrum, video cassette recorders will truly become a thing of the past. The only company still making VCR announced it will stop production next month. The Japanese firm says it is having trouble getting parts and sales are just pitiful. Everything changes.

Thank you for being with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell, at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Up next, our special coverage continues of the Republican National Convention, live from Cleveland.

This is CNN.

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