Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hillary Clinton Accepts Party's Nomination; Human Rights Groups Cry Four over Indonesia's Prisoner Execution; Rio Olympics Met With Protests; Merkel Defends Germany's Open-Door Refugee Policy; Brazil's Samba Secret to Badminton Success; "World Sport" Report. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:18] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour Hillary Clinton says America is at a moment of reckoning as she becomes the first woman to accept a major party nomination for U.S. president.

Plus, Germany's chancellor refuses to change course on refugees after a wave of terror attack.

And more athletes arrive in Rio. But with one week before the Olympics begin, the problems, they just keep coming.

Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

In the past few hours in Philadelphia, the promise made to generations of American girls that you too can grow up to be president came a little closer to coming true. Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination for president. The first time ever a woman has been at the top of the ticket of a major U.S. political party.

As she thanked delegates, she set out why this election would be a stark choice between herself and her Republican rival Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And in the end, it comes down to what Donald Trump doesn't get. America is great because America is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN Politics reporter Tal Kopan is live in the convention hall in Philadelphia. She joins us now.

So, Tal, Hillary Clinton, she made the case that she is the uniter and she made the case that Donald Trump is the divider. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Once again, at a moment of reckoning, powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders, there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The theme throughout this it seems to come down to us versus him.

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes. Absolutely. You know, you talked about portraying herself as the uniter. And I feel like, you know, tonight continued the theme that you and I have been talking about all week. You know, the Republican Party led by Donald Trump has staked out a position that's really based on American fears and frustration with how things are going.

And you know the Democrats and Hillary Clinton have set themselves up as a message of sort of positivity and optimism, and even in the face of difficulties that they acknowledge, trying to work through them together.

You know, you heard Hillary Clinton. And we've heard her do this before but she returned to it in her speech tonight. She really hit Donald Trump on the idea that his speech included the words I alone can fix it. You know, she said, we can fix it. And so she really set up -- you know, I was sitting there tonight thinking, I don't think you can have a starker contrast between two conventions and two messages. And she is pitching herself as the candidate of we and us, as you said.

VAUSE: And one of the reasons why there is such a stark choice is because of the influence on Hillary Clinton of her main rival for the nomination, Bernie Sanders. And she thanked Sanders and his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: You put economic and social justice issues front and center where they belong. And to all of your supporters here and around the country, I want you to know, I've heard you. Your cause is our cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It does seem remarkable the amount of influence that Bernie Sanders and his policies have had.

KOPAN: Yes, absolutely. I thought the exact same thing. You know, it's almost like this was partially his convention, with the amount of times he came up. Every single speaker spoke positively about him. Some of his supporters were diehards until the end. Even when he started supporting Hillary Clinton, they couldn't get behind him on --

VAUSE: Unfortunately, it looks like we have lost Tal Kopan there at the Democratic convention. But we should talk a little bit more about exactly the themes that Hillary Clinton hit throughout her speech there as she accepted the nomination.

It was about 14 minutes into her speech when she started going after Donald Trump and she unloaded him on his business ties as well as his temperament. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again. Well, he could start by actually making things in America again.

[01:05:01] Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And it was that last line which ended up trending on Twitter. A lot of people picking up on that. We've heard it before and we will hear those lines again in the weeks and months coming up to the election in November. But there was also a nod from Hillary Clinton as well about just what an historic night this was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm so happy this day has come. I'm happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. I'm happy for boys and men because when any barrier falls in America, it clears the way for everyone.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Although some people have made the observation that because Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for such a long time, at this moment that she is now the first woman to lead the ticket of a major U.S. political party into presidential election, that somehow it's been lost.

Another moment from the Democratic convention the last night there in Philadelphia, day four, there was a very personal speech from Hillary Clinton's daughter Chelsea. She was tasked with introducing her mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA CLINTON, DAUGHTER OF HILLARY CLINTON: That feeling of being valued and loved, that's what my mom wants for every child. It is the calling of her life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And then take a look at this. This was the moment as Chelsea Clinton was talking in very personal terms about her mother in many ways that a lot of people have never heard before. There Hillary Clinton was, off stage. Watching her daughter, 36-year-old Chelsea Clinton talk about her and also making a mention of Hillary Clinton's own mother, who she was very close to, who of course passed away a number of years ago. In many ways it was an emotional night.

It has also been emotional, too, it seems, in some ways to Donald Trump. He is not dealing well with the criticism he has received this week from Democrats. He has said he now wants to hit some of the speakers at a rally in Iowa on Thursday. The Republican slammed his rival and her supporters. He honed in on one person, never said his name. Saying the man came out of nowhere and had worked with Trump in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I was going to hit a number of those speakers so hard their heads would spin. They'd never recover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: As for Donald Trump's Wednesday controversy, when he invited Russian hackers to target Hillary Clinton and to try and find her missing e-mails, well now he says he was just being sarcastic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And when I'm being sarcastic --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Were you being sarcastic?

TRUMP: Of course I'm being sarcastic. But you have 33,000 e-mails deleted and the real problem is what was said on those e-mails from the Democratic National Committee. You take a look at what was said in those e-mails. It's disgraceful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Dylan Byers is our senior reporter for Politics and Media. He joins us now from the floor of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

So, Dylan, it seems no matter the scandal, regardless the controversy, the cycle of Donald Trump is always the same.

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. It's always the same. It's go out there and say something really incendiary, something really controversial. And I would say in this case, something really troubling. Drive the news cycle, distract attention away from your opponents. And then when people come to question you and say, did you really mean that, how could you say that, always say, hey, I didn't mean it. I was being sarcastic. You didn't hear me right, you reported it wrong. You said something else.

And what that really -- it's almost like -- it's almost as if a lawyer goes into a courtroom and says something that the judge decides to scrap. Well, it's too late. The jury heard it anyway. And for Donald Trump's base, they only heard one thing. They heard what he said the first time and they liked it. But now he's trying to play -- you know, apologize to everyone else and shuck responsibility. VAUSE: And one of the problems with that sarcastic excuse, it seems,

is that, you know, Donald Trump, he is sarcastic a lot so it's usually easy to pick up. But a lot of people think he didn't really sound sarcastic on Wednesday.

BYERS: No, he didn't sound sarcastic at all really. And look, when you're saying something like what he said. When you're talking about tempting a foreign government to hack into the United States, and meddle with the presidential election process, it really doesn't matter what your intention was. It really doesn't matter whether or not you were sarcastic.

[01:10:03] And, look, you know, as you and I discussed last night, the Clinton campaign saw an opening here. They don't think that most voters are going to be OK with what Donald Trump said and they're going after him really hard on it. And I do really think that this is one of those issues -- you know, we talk about how Trump has this way of sort of upending the conventional wisdom about politics.

This is an issue that's actually going to stick around for a while. This is not something he's going to be able to brush off so quickly. We're talking about it this week. It's very likely we'll still be talking about it next week.

VAUSE: Even so, ever since he came down the escalator more than a year ago, a good number of voters have been willing to set aside, you know, what I guess is the standard judgment which they've used in the past as to what makes a good president. Why is that?

BYERS: Well, that's a really good point. And this goes back to Donald Trump's core base. It's a group of people who are so -- voters who are so frustrated with the -- their own economic situation, with the direction that they see the country going, and over time the Republican Party, and especially conservative media has done a very good job of demonizing the left and demonizing the main stream media to such a point that nothing they say is believable.

So in their view, the lefts can do no right. The right can do no wrong. And they're going to come out and vote for Donald Trump because even if he says these controversial things, even if he continues to go beyond the pale, he is better than the alternative. And it's truly amazing having traveled around the country, you know, going to the early primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, to see how many Republican voters there are out there, who just don't -- they almost don't care what the Democrats have to say, they don't care about the counter argument against Trump.

They like Trump, they like the words that are coming out of his mouth, and they're going to go with him no matter what.

VAUSE: Yes. And they don't believe whatever the media has to say as well. And with regards to the media, one fact which is not in dispute for the past three days, more Americans have been watching the Democrat convention than the Republican's. On Wednesday night for instead, just over 24 million tuned in to see President Obama. A week ago at the same time, 23.4 million people watched the Republicans. So what can we make of those numbers?

BYERS: Well, what we can make of those numbers is that despite all of Donald Trump's bluster and promise about, you know, having a showbiz convention and outperforming the Democrats, that's just not the case. More Americans are turning out to the watch this convention this week. And you know, I really think that that sort of rubs Donald Trump the wrong way.

Remember, he is the reality television show guy. He's the guy for whom the rating are a very big deal and he is also the guy for whom winning is a very big deal. He loves to cite poll numbers, he loves to talk about how many people turned out to watch the debates, the primary debates. So for him, you know, I think this is a sore point. And you know, he is even going so far as to try and convince people not to watch the convention tonight. Maybe just because he'd like to take away one ratings win from this -- you know, four-day convention.

VAUSE: Yes. An e-mail went out to his supporters saying don't watch Hillary tonight.

OK. Dylan, good to speak with you. Thank you.

BYERS: You too.

VAUSE: We'll take short break here. But when we come back, Germany's chancellor says refugees are still welcome despite intense criticism which has followed a wave of terror attacks.

And Indonesia ignores international condemnation executing four convicted drug offenders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:17:18] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Human rights groups are condemning the execution of four prisoners in Indonesia. Though convicted of drug-related offenses and were killed by firing squad at this detention center, the executions are part of the government's mission to crack down on drug crimes.

Paula Hancocks is following this story. She joins us now live from Seoul in South Korea.

Paula, what more is known about the four prisoners who were executed and what have been the concerns about due process?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we know that it was one Indonesian, three Nigerians. We've been hearing from human rights groups condemning what has happened. Also hearing from some of the lawyers of those who have been executed, condemning what has happened. We heard from one lawyer who said that his -- one of the Nigerians, Humphrey Jefferson Ejike, who was executed, there was still a legal process ongoing, according to his legal team. They believe he should not have been executed. They say there were strong evidence of torture and he was not given a fair trial.

So certainly they're not happy with what has happened and they also say that the whole situation surrounding these executions this time was very different than what we saw last year. Remember, there were a number of executions last year as well. Very high profile including two Australians and certainly there was global criticism. There was Brazilian, someone from the Netherlands, there was global criticism over those executions.

This time around the lawyer said there was a lot more secrecy. They were not told anything. In fact he said that he was watching live television close to the prison with some of the families of those who were executed and the way they found out their loved ones had been killed was through live television. They were not being told anything.

So certainly there is a huge amount of criticism. Amnesty has set any executions that are still to take place must be halted immediately. For the Indonesian government's point of view, they say they are fighting a war against drugs -- John.

VAUSE: The four who were executed, they were part of a group of 14 who were tried and have been waiting -- awaiting their fate. What is going to happen to those other 10, do we know?

HANCOCKS: It's not clear at this point. It's not even clear why their executions did not go ahead because it was believed that the 14 would happen at the same time. They're given a 72-hour notification within the prison to be told that they will be executed after that time. They're then taken outside and killed by firing squad. But only four were executed.

It is not clear why the attorney -- the deputy attorney general said that they would look and see what would happen to the next 10. It's not certain, this sudden reprieve, it's not even certain if it is long term.

[01:20:05] We did hear from that deputy attorney, though, saying it was not a pleasant thing to do but it was to implement the law. The execution is only armed - is only aimed, sorry, at stopping drug crimes.

The Indonesian government insisting that it is necessary to carry these executions out because of the drug problems that Indonesia has. But certainly this is not a feeling that is supported with the governments of those citizens who were executed.

VAUSE: But there does seem to have been a surge in the number of people who have been put to death in Indonesia in, what, the last year or so. What is driving that, do we know?

HANCOCKS: It could well be the new president. I mean, certainly he was campaigning by saying he was going to be tough on drugs. He came into power October 2014. Joko Widodo and there were 18 executions including those overnight since that time. His predecessor, over 10 years, executed 21 people for drug trafficking. So certainly the intensity of executions, the drug trafficking, have increased significantly under this current president. And he is being slammed by human rights activists for this. Amnesty, for example, saying that there is no proof that the death penalty actually deters drug crimes -- John.

VAUSE: OK. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks there with the very latest. Appreciate it.

One of the major jihadist groups fighting in Syria is breaking away from al Qaeda. The Al Nusra Front has announced it will no longer have any affiliation with the terror organization changing its name, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

The U.S. considers al-Nusra a terrorist group which is hostile to the West. The group's leader said in a video message it's making the break to, in his words, remove the excuse the U.S. and Russia have been using to target anti-government militias.

Amnesty International says relief routes out of the key Syrian city of Aleppo may not prevent humanitarian disaster. Syria's main ally, Russia, says the four humanitarian corridors would help Syrians flee the besieged city -- city, rather.

This video shows Syrian soldiers entering areas in Aleppo controlled by the rebels. Many there say they don't trust the government to protect them should they decide to leave and the U.N. is calling for food and aid to be provided also for those who stay.

The opposition says the corridors would further help the Syrian regime take over Aleppo.

We're just about a week away now from the start of the Olympic Games in Rio. Russian athletes landed in Brazil Thursday to a cheering crowd. More than 100 Russians, though, are being disqualified from competing after evidence surfaced of systemic state-sponsored doping.

And on Wednesday night, protesters forced the torch relay to be abandoned just outside of Rio. They reportedly managed to put out the flame. The demonstrators who are government workers frustrated by delayed salaries. And according to local media the military at one point was forced to intervene. Keep in mind the Olympic flame is meant to represent unity and the prestige of the games.

Well, for more on this and the biggest story, David Wallechinsky, he joins me now before actually heading off on an early morning flight to Rio.

So, David, thank you for coming in. It's appreciated. This is just one protest. I don't want to make too much of it. But in the big picture, there does seem to be at the very least a lack of public support for the games and it's not improving. It seems to be getting worse.

DAVID WALLECHINSKY, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS: I think the problem is that there's bigger problems happening in Brazil and the fact that the Olympics are going to be there is a chance to focus their complaints. The protesters., and they have some pretty legitimate complaints. To focus the world on their problems. VAUSE: OK. Organizers have even suggested that, you know, some of

the problems, some of the -- so I guess, the anger toward the games maybe is responsible for the problems at the Olympic village. They have suggest that workers there may have deliberately sabotaged the place.

WALLECHINSKY: That's a good excuse. Maybe it's possible but I think incompetence and poor planning and corruption were bigger factors.

VAUSE: Because I think five years ago I think they were warned that the contract work was a little bit shoddy.

WALLECHINSKY: Yes. I mean, this -- the whole way, the Olympic Village was built, the other venues have been built, the transportation has been just reeking of corruption. And you know, I was warned not to take the public transportation that's supposed to be inaugurated on Saturday. Give it a few days to try it out, they say.

VAUSE: Why is that? Because it just won't work? It will break down, it's not safe?

WALLECHINSKY: You know, it's -- yes, I mean --

VAUSE: All the above.

WALLECHINSKY: And, you know, they were supposed to finish it a long, long time ago. And now it's going to be ready just a couple of days before the opening ceremony. Just give it a few days.

VAUSE: I mean, this is the problem, though, a lot of things will be ready, you know, within a day or two. There's not a lot of sort of, you know, rollout time. Is there?

WALLECHINSKY: No, there isn't. And I saw a similar thing happened during the Athens Olympics where I was running up the steps of the water polo venue and the steps were crumbling underneath my feet. And things were breaking -- the train system broke down to the beach volleyball. Why? Because that was the first day they had used it.

[01:25:05] VAUSE: Right.

WALLECHINSKY: So I'm recognizing these problems in Rio as well.

VAUSE: Since the beginning of the game, I mean, you mentioned this, Brazil' economy has been hit by a pretty big recession which has compounded a lot of the problems and the Olympics have sort of become a symbol of that. But is there now -- is there out there immunity within Olympic officials to say now a rethink of sort of awarding the games to these countries and to these cities which, you know, may end up struggling to pay for them as in the case of Rio?

WALLECHINSKY: If you notice the next three Olympics, summer, winter, summer are going to Japan, South Korea, China. And I think they were chosen because from a financial point of view, infrastructure point of view, they're all safe bets. They will get done. So I think the International Olympic Committee feels pained by what's going on in Rio.

VAUSE: Yes. And this is the first time the Olympics have been held in South America. If it turns out to be something close to a disaster or an outright disaster, will it be the last time they held the Olympics? Will the call be blame it on Rio?

WALLECHINSKY: Well, one can imagine it being in Argentina one day.

VAUSE: Right.

WALLECHINSKY: For example, but not right away.

VAUSE: Yes.

WALLECHINSKY: Yes.

VAUSE: I mean, this is the thing, I mean, when you go to these places, there is a whole host of problems which you never really expect.

WALLECHINSKY: The thing was, when the Olympics were assigned to Rio seven years ago, their economy was booming. Everything was going great. They were one of the 10 biggest economies in the world. Their plan man was beautiful. The Olympic Village is going to be -- have its own beach. And you know, it was a great presentation. I was there for the presentation. But then the economy tanked and they were really, really hurt by major corruption as well.

VAUSE: Yes. And they have the constitutional crisis, the president is being removed, you've got the Zika -- I mean the list -- the Zika virus, the water is no good, the place is unsafe. So have fun.

WALLECHINSKY: Well, thank you. I think I will have fun.

VAUSE: Maybe we'll get to talk to you while you're there.

WALLECHINSKY: OK.

VAUSE: Thanks, David. Always good to talk with you. Thank you.

A short break here. When we come back, Germany's chancellor says refugees are still welcome despite intense criticism which has followed a wave of terror attack that's happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:33] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: The German chancellor says she will not stop welcoming the immigrants. Angela Merkel's open-door policy has been criticized after four attacks in Germany in less than two weeks. Official say three of the four attackers were asylum seekers. And ISIS claims to have inspired two of the assaults. Mrs. Merkel is promising better security which includes improving the detection of radicalization among refugees. Also, she said she wants to speed up the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): We are now being tested. We are tested in the way we live. Our understanding of freedom and security is being tested. Again and again, we have to balance those values. What the terrorists want is for to us lose our view of what is important to us. They want to divide our unity, our cooperation. They want to harm our life and our openness and they want to prevent our openness to welcome people. They spread hate between cultures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, the author of "Ashley's War. And she joins us by Skype.

Gayle, thank you for being with us. The message we're hearing seems to be steady as it goes. Did she have much choice here other than to say what she said a year or so ago, we can do this?

GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS & AUTHOR: Right. That is what she said today. She interrupted her holiday to answer criticism that she had not done enough or that it was her policy that led to the spate of attacks which has unnerved Germany. Her view, what she continues to say is that we cannot be guided by fear and that we can do this. The question is whether the German public will agree and follow along.

VAUSE: How is her approach different toward refugees compared to other leaders in Europe?

TZEMACH LEMMON: She is taking them in. First and foremost, Germany has taken many a million and counting refugees. And that is something that separates it from a great deal of Europe and has opened it up to criticism from a number of European countries, which do not agree with her policy. She has stood steadfast and said this is what we're going to do, and in German, we can do this. The question now is whether Germans agree. These attacks have unnerved people. And her argument is we cannot be led by fear, we cannot let our politics be led by fear.

VAUSE: One of the admissions from the chancellor it the Islamic groups have managed to smuggle terrorists into the country among the refuge. And obviously will upset a lot of people in Germany. But also upsetting could be the fact that it is not just the possibility of radicals coming over the border. There is a real possibility of radicalization after arriving in Germany. How big of a problem is that?

TZEMACH LEMMON: It is a real problem. The security forum going on here, and she listened to U.S. officials. They are really worried about what is happening in Europe. So I think there is a real sense that there is not a foothold on everybody who is inside the borders and a concern about what happens if and when they come to United States, from the U.S. officials' perspective. So, yes, that is a real concern for a lot of people in national security on both sides of the Atlantic.

VAUSE: And you talked about whether she could convenience the German public and take them along with her. She said say that "The influx of refugees is not reason for Islamophobia." She said she wanted to try to win back those people who are angry with the refugee problem right now. How does she do that, especially after the past week they've had?

[01:34:58] TZEMACH LEMMON: It's very difficult. She really is appealing to the same things you hear President Obama in the United States speak to, which is this is who we are. This is the right thing to do. And they want to lead us by fear and division and we will not allow that. The challenge is that this spate of attacks has unnerved the German public and made people feel very vulnerable. When people are left feeling vulnerable and concerned, it does allow openings for her political opponents to say, see, we told you this was not going to end well. I think there is a real concern among the German public about do they know everybody who is inside their borders?

VAUSE: It also feeds into ISIS and the concerns people have. A very difficult position for the chancellor is Germany.

Gayle, as always, thank you so much for being with us.

TZEMACH LEMMON: Great to join you.

VAUSE: Take a short break on NEWSROOM L.A. A lot more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Pope France I tripped and fell on Thursday just before celebrating mass in southern Poland. Priests rushed to get him back on his feet. He is on a visit to the former Communist country. In the coming hours he will pay tribute to the victims at Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration camp. Please stay with CNN. We'll have live coverage.

For children in Rio, badminton was a hard sell. But that did not stop one coach who knew how important sports can be for a path out of poverty. So with the help of the samba, they created a training regime so successful it has produced two Olympic hopefuls.

Here's senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rhythm and moves of samba --

(MUSIC)

DAMON: -- not a way to train badminton champions but it is not surprising. After all, how this club came to be is pretty extraordinary.

The coach did not even know what badminton was when a fellow teacher put a racket in his hand.

[01:39:06] UNIDENTIFIED COACH: (through translation): I couldn't take it. I was too curious. I asked the teacher, teacher, what kind of racket is it? And he said it is a badminton racket. I said bad what? Badminton.

DAMON: Then came the idea to introduce samba.

(MUSIC)

DAMON: The kids were board jumping rope. What a better way to teach coordination and swift moves than this adaptation of the national dance.

UNIDENTIFIED COACH (through translation): And this was the methodology that we were able to advance and make our young people get to the Olympics. I'm really happy with this.

(MUSIC)

DAMON: Two players who started out here will be representing Brazil at Rio 2016. One of them, Igor, just back from a match in Los Angeles and now has his focus on the games.

(voice-over): Are you nervous?

UNIDENTIFIED BADMINTON PLAYER: I can imagine in my city here, Rio de Janeiro, the people here wishing for me. I'm so excited. A little bit nervous.

(LAUGHTER)

DAMON (voice-over): But for both father and son, what has been created here is about so much more.

UNIDENTIFIED BADMINTON PLAYER: Yes. It was fun. This to help, I am very proud.

DAMON: These are all kids born and raised in a side of Rio rarely seen by tourists, where gangs tend to rule and children don't have many options or role models.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): this project tries to reverse all this. It tries to reach the kids before the gangs. If we can get there first, we can give the child the dream to be a real athlete, a teacher, a doctor, to go to college.

DAMON: Even one day perhaps win Olympic gold.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" starts after the break.

But first, here's Katy Perry performing the song "Roar" at the Democratic National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)