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Deadliest Hot Air Balloon Crash in Texas Leaves No Survivors; Families Fleeing Aleppo; Pope Francis Visits Auschwitz; Mark Cuban Endorses Hillary Clinton; Rio Beefs Up Security for the Olympics; Motorized Suitcase Going Viral. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


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[0:00:45] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. sees its deadliest hot- air balloon accident after a crash in Texas, leaves no survivors.

Families begin to flee Aleppo as the Syrian government encircles what was once the country's largest city.

And Hillary Clinton picks up an endorsement from a billionaire who's not afraid to go after Donald Trump. It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for joining us. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

In what appears to be the deadliest ever hot-air balloon accident in the U.S., federal authorities say there are no survivors after the crash of one in Texas, Saturday. Sixteen people were on board. The balloon went down in Caldwell County between the cities of Austin and San Antonio.

Ed Lavendera tells us what may have been a major factor in the crash.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It appears that investigators will be taking a very close look at the role that power lines in the area of where this hot-air balloon went down, might have played in this tragedy. Two sources tell us, one a law enforcement source, another a county official, tell us they believe the hot air balloon collided with these power lines igniting the fire and the flames on board inside that basket that essentially killed the 16 people believed to be on board that hot-air balloon. The exact cause is not clear. So it's not clear what caused the hot-air balloon to perhaps collide into these power lines, or what exactly was going on on board when all of this happened. So that is something that investigators, as they begin arriving on the scene and piecing together, will be taking a very close look at. It could be some time before the national transportation safety board, which is the government agency here in the United States that examines these types of accidents, and it usually takes them weeks, if not, months to come out with an official ruling as to what caused the accident, but a witness on the ground describes what she saw as that hot-air balloon went down to the ground. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think any of them even realized what was going on because we heard the popping sounds and I didn't look in time to see the balloon go down, but the way it went up, I don't think any of them even (ph) had any idea what was going on.

LAVANDERA: One other interesting note, a debate that has been going on between the national transportation safety board and federal aviation administration here in the United States, the NTSB, several years ago, was calling for more regulation governing these hot-air balloon companies that operate these types of rides. The FAA pushed back on all of that.

It's not exactly clear if these regulations might have made a difference in this tragedy that unfolded in Texas, but it is interesting to note that these debates about the regulations and how these companies are controlled and governed has been a topic of debate between these two government agencies here in the United States.

Ed Lavendera, CNN, Dallas, Texas.

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ALLEN: In Aleppo, Syria, Russia says civilians are using new humanitarian corridors to flee the key city, but many others there say they don't trust Syrian officials to protect them if they leave. The opposition says the Syrian government has a strategy to use the corridors to empty the city.

CNN's Ian Lee reports from Beirut.

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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a relatively quiet day in Aleppo, at least from the sky. Sources inside the city telling CNN that this is the first day in about a month there hasn't been any air strikes.

In the meantime, the Syrian government is saying that they have opened up three humanitarian corridors so that civilians and fighters, who want to lay down their weapons and be granted amnesty, can leave the besieged city. Syrian's state media releasing images of families leaving the city. Russian's state media is saying that over 100 civilians and dozens of fighters have left. Although two sources inside of Aleppo have told CNN that they have been to these crossings. They didn't see anyone crossing over or any evidence that they had been open.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis growing worse in Aleppo. There's a lack of food, which includes sugar, cooking oil, flour, as well as water. There also is a lack of diesel to run generators. One doctor told us that they're in desperate need of medicine and medical supplies. Some one-time-use items, they're using them over and over again, sterilizing them each time. They say every day the aid isn't delivered. This crisis grows worse as well as the malnutrition that they're seeing.

The U.N. has urged both sides for a 48-hour ceasefire so they can get humanitarian assistance inside and people that need to leave get them out. No word on that ceasefire, though.

[0:05:01] Ian lee, CNN, Beirut.

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ALLEN: Tunisia's prime minister has overwhelmingly lost a vote of no confidence. 118 members of parliament voted to unseat Habib Essid. Only three voted in his favor. 27 lawmakers boycotted the vote. Mr. Essid has faced growing economic and security problems during his less than two years as prime minister.

Hundreds of soldiers are now free after being detained in Turkey's post-coup clampdown. Many had surrendered after the failed military coup attempt earlier this month. Turkey's state-run new agency says 758 soldiers were released Saturday on the recommendation of a judge, about 231 others remain in custody.

Pope Francis is wrapping up his trip to Poland on Sunday. A visit that is centering around World Youth Day. He'll hold mass in just a few hours ...

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... reflecting on the state of the world ...

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... condemning terror and preaching peace. He was joined by a huge crowd of young people. Our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, reports on the extraordinary turnout.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: A beautiful candlelit vigil for the pope's final night in Poland. Some 1 million kids trekked about 10 miles with their backpacks and sleeping bags to come here and pray with the pope. And in part, they played for Syria because they heard from a young girl, Rand Mittri, who lives in Aleppo, and came to talk to them about what her life is like there. Let's listen to some of what she said.

RAND MITTRI, SYRIAN WOMAN FROM ALEPPO: Every day, we live lives that are surrounded by death, but like you, we close our doors behind us as each morning as we leave for work or school. It's in that moment that we are gripped by fear that we will not return to find our homes and our families as we left them. Perhaps we will be killed that day or perhaps our families will.

GALLAGHER: And Pope Francis told them that they are children of nations who might be in conflict or even at war. But our response, the pope said, to a world at war is brotherhood and he asked them to join hands and raise their hands in a bridge and said the world powers might learn from them. And then the pope told the young kids to strap on their boots, get off the couch, turn off their phones and go out because God is expecting something from you. Tomorrow, Pope Francis wraps up his five-day trip to Poland with a mass and much anticipated announcement of the next country that will host the World Youth Day. This event, which has become in itself an answer to terrorism and conflict in the world, 1 million young people coming together to pray for peace. Delia Gallagher, CNN.

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ALLEN: Hillary Clinton and her running mate are taking their post- convention bus tour across two important swing states, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidate and her vice presidential pick, Tim Kaine, racked up a brand new endorsement, billionaire entrepreneur, Mark Cuban introduced the pair at a rally in Pittsburgh, Saturday. He said that he want to vote for a true leader and threw a few zingers at Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

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MARK CUBAN, ENTREPRENUER: Leadership is not yelling and screaming and intimidating, right? Yes, she knows, and she knows you know what we call a person like that? You know, the screamers, the yellers, the people who try to intimidate you? You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff.

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ALLEN: At a stop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Clinton said she's proud to have plans for the country unlike, she added, her opponent.

Meantime, Clinton's opponent, Trump, is disputing an accusation that he's made no sacrifices. On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, you may have seen it, the father of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died in Baghdad made a powerful speech. Kahn slammed the Republican candidate for proposing a ban on Muslims after his own son died defending his country. Kahn said Trump had no idea what sacrifice means.

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KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF MUSLIM U.S. SOLDIER: Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending United States of America. You'll see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing.

[0:10:02] And no one.

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ALLEN: Trump started defending himself immediately. Here's what he told ABC news.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you answer that father, what sacrifice that you've made for your country? DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think I made a lot of sacrifices. I worked very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs. I think ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are sacrifices?

TRUMP: Oh, sure. I think they're sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things, even in military, I mean, I was very responsible along with a group of people for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for. I raised, and I have raised millions of dollars for the vets. I'm helping the vets a lot.

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ALLEN: In an interview with "The New York Times," Trump also lashed out against former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg. He called Bloomberg a guy who didn't have the guts to run for president.

For the first time, a team made up of refugees will compete for Olympic gold. We'll show you how they're spending their time in Rio ahead of the games.

And Brazil promises to make the games safe. We'll show you how authorities are preparing for all kinds of emergencies.

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ALLEN: They're finally here. The Rio Olympics start Friday and many Russian athletes have arrived in Rio still not sure, though, if they'll be allowed to compete. Three-person panel from the International Olympic committee will have the final say. One IOC spokesman explained how the decision will be made.

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MARK ADAMS, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE SPOKESMAN: This review board, this review panel, will look at every single decision of every single athlete to make sure that the IOC is happy with the decision that's been taken that they've made all of these different levels of steps and that the decision by the ICAST arbitrator is also putting up -- up to the panel to decide if they accept or not for each individual athletes in each case.

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ALLEN: Many Russian at athletes have been accused of doping, state- sponsored doping. While the IOC says it has full state that Brazil will host a successful Olympics. There's been no shortage of problems leading up to the games. A recent New York Times article has a warning for aquatic athletes, it points to the dangers of competing at some of Brazil's contaminated waters saying health experts in Brazil have a word of advice for the Olympic marathon swimmers, sailors and wind surfers competing in Rio's picture postcard waters next month. Keep your mouth closed. But one American rower, Megan Kalmoe, who's hoping for gold in Rio, wants to move past that advice.

[0:15:58] She told The Guardian Newspaper, "At this point it is known that there are issues with the water quality, it is known that athletes are going to be at risk for illness, it's known that we're going to have to be smart, hygienic and take precautions. Great, let's move on.

The first ever Olympic refugee team enjoyed one of the many sites in Rio. Saturday, they visited the World Famous Christ the Redeemer Statue overlooking the city. A team of 10 made up of athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will compete in the name of refugees everywhere. One of them says he's doing this for his family, too.

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POPOLE MISENGA CONGOLESE JUDOKA: It's been many years since I have seen my family, my two brothers. I wouldn't even know what my younger brother would look like if I saw him here today. I wouldn't recognize his face, but the older one I would recognize. I send many hugs and kisses to him and all of them.

I am here in Brazil I'm participating in the Olympics and I thank God for that. If my brother can see me on T.V., to know your brother is here in Brazil striving to maybe see him, to be together one day.

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ALLEN: We hope his brother does get to see him. Brazilian officials, of course, have worked to make the games safe and secured. Authorities are preparing for all kinds of emergency situations that could happen on land or on the water.

Our Rosa Flores has this report.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're heading out with Brazilian military firefighters for a drill ahead of the Olympic Games and here is the scenario. There is an athlete in the water and an accident has occurred.

A helicopter with several first responders is dispatched by air. And lifeguards on jet skis are launched by water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The game is done. We are going to provide this service in 24/7.

FLORES: A fire brigade colonel is in charge of aquatic search and rescue efforts during the Olympic Games and says he has a thousand lifeguards on the ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the game is where I'm going to run about - where I'm going to run find the helicopters and also 37 boats. FLORES: From the air, he said, pilots monitor the water below looking for people in distress. Their eyes on the water, lifeguards on jet skis. This time, I'm riding along.

The first phase of the drill, a person is drowning and needs to be air lifted. Two life guards dropped from the helicopter near the victim. I mean he's drowned (ph) and the victim is scooped into the net, lifted and transported to nearby medics who begin first aid immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once the patient is out of the water, first responders say that the first thing they want to do is make sure that the patient is breathing and that the heart is stabilized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not good condition (inaudible). The tides are very high.

FLORES: For part two of this drill, a person is drowning and first responders in jet skis take action. A lifeguard jumps into the water and pulls the victim up and onto the rescue board that's on the back of the Jet Ski.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to sand (ph), that stands off with their mission.

FLORES: Just like Olympians trained for the games, these firefighters are trained to save lives. Rosa Flores, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

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ALLEN: The Philippines have been battered by a tropical storm and it is now taking aim at China. Karen Maginnis has been following this one for us for the past 48 hours. She's back with us now. Hi, Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Natalie. Yes, it looks like a very impressive storm system that is brewing now. Looked kind of ragged when we saw this just about 24 hours ago, but very impressive in the last few images, especially, with lots of deep convection moving in across northern Philippines.

What that spells out to be is significant rainfall. But that's not the end of it. Just give me a couple more graphics and you'll see what happens as we go into the next 48 hours. All right. Here's its position. Supporting winds now of just about 100 kilometers per hour about 60 miles an hour. So that's at tropical storm intensity.

But then it moves across the Philippines. It's moving fairly rapidly. It's been fairly erratic, though, but then it moves over the open waters of the South China Sea and then beyond that period of time. If you're watching us around Hong Kong, in some of those very congested, heavily populated areas, you'll want to take notice because it looks as if this could be at tropical -- at typhoon intensity, rather. As I mentioned, lots of deep convection. You can almost make out an eye right there, but it's kind of overcast, more clearly defined the eye is. That tells us it is gaining in intensity. So it's moving off towards the northwest now, and it won't be long before it does move out into those open waters. But look at some of the precipitation amounts and just take a look at this, they're not as impressive as they were yesterday.

[0:20:00] But this is a 24-hour total. If we went back in another 24 hours and another 24 hours beyond that, we were looking at rainfall totals here that were about 200 plus millimeters and additional almost 100.

So some of these areas have really been inundated, mudslides, landslides, a very critical part of these tropical systems.

This is what I was talking about. This becomes key going into Monday night, Tuesday morning, local time for Hong Kong, the computer models have been very specific about this. They're pretty much in agreement. It looks to be a Hong Kong event, Natalie. As we go into the beginning of the workweek, a lot of people here, about 7.5 million people and we could have our next typhoon. Back to you.

ALLEN: All right. We'll keep our eye on it. Karen, thank you.

A new invention is causing quite a buzz online and it's not even widely available yet. How a new carry-on will carry you at the airport. That's next.

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ALLEN: Professional Golf's 98th PGA Championship is on hold after rain stopped play for more than three and half hours on Saturday. Players hope to get back to it early Sunday morning, but the forecast may not allow for that.

Americans Robert Streb and Jimmy Walker are tied for the lead at nine under par. Streb tied the lowest round in major turn to history when he shot a 63 on Friday.

There's plenty of history on the greens there in Springfield, New Jersey. Here's a look inside the hallowed halls of the Baltusrol Golf Course Clubhouse.

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RICK WOLF, BALTUSROL GOLF CLUB CO-HISTORIAN: Hi, I'm Rick Wolf. I serve as one of co-Historians here at Baltusrol Golf Club. Baltusrol has named for a farmer that used to farm this land who was murdered in 1831. And his first name, Baltus, last name, Rol, and the club has named for him.

We have some pretty cool items in our clubhouse on display and I'd like to take you inside and check them out.

This framed piece is some items from the 1967 U.S. Open, which was won by Jack Nicklaus in a very famous duel with Arnold Palmer.

These are our replica national championship trophies. This is a replica of the original Havemeyer Trophy, it's the Men's U.S. Amateur Trophy. The original was lost when the clubhouse burned down in East Lake. The United States Golf Association replaced it with a current Havemeyer Trophy in 1926 and it was first awarded here at Baltusrol.

This is the Robert Cox Cup for the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Trophy. The first U.S. Open Baltusrol hosted was in 1903 won by Willie Anderson.

We're really proud of this print. It's a print of one of the most famous golf scenes called the Grand Match. It takes to 1850, but the original oil painting does.

In every single person in this print paid to get themselves into it. We're down in our men's locker room. You see Jack Nicklaus here. It was his famous pose of him sinking a putt in the 1980 U.S. Open.

Here's all four of Jack's cards from the 1980 U.S. Open. Jack was paired all four rounds with Isao Aoki from Japan. It was a great duel between the two. That's an inside look at our clubhouse. I hope you've enjoyed it.

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ALLEN: We did.

[0:25:00]The PGA Championship resumes Sunday weather permitting.

A new invention scheduled for sale next January maybe a weary traveler's dream. Instead of dragging it along, your motorized suitcase will, indeed, take you to your gate. CNN's Jeanne Moos took one for test-drive.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not every day you learn to drive a suitcase. Maybe you've seen the Modobag. The motorized suitcase you can ride recently went viral.

KEVIN O'DONNELL, MODOBAG CREATOR: Those were built (ph) in aluminum bars that make them pop out.

MOOS: So, when Modobag's Creator, Kevin O'Donnell, offered to let us test-drive it ...

O'DONNELL: Yeah. Sit right in the middle there.

MOOS: ... we decided to carry on.

O'DONNELL: And then lift your handlebars up. Place your feet on the pegs.

MOOS: There's a thumb throttle for the electric motor.

O'DONNELL: It's very responsive. So, just take your time to get used to it.

MOOS: Handbrakes like on a bike. How fast am I going right now?

O'DONNELL: Probably going in six miles an hour.

MOOS: Top speed 8. Its state of the art, lithium battery, can go eight miles. Takes an hour to fully charge it and you can charge your phone or tablet on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love it. I'm speechless. I'm telling you, I love it. I've never seen anything like it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to be kidding me.

O'DONNELL: So this is what James Bond looks like when he's walking into the airport without any trouble. And then as soon as the bad guys show up, and he's on.

MOOS: Good bye, 007. Kevin created the Modobag with a friend who's a motorcycle engineer. You know those old suitcase commercials?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we've got a suitcase for you.

MOOS: Kevin joke-tested his motorized bags wearing a gorilla suit. You're going ape to have one, prepare to pay 1500 bucks when they start shipping in January, though early birds buying now pay $995. The ride was a little bumpy on New York's cracked sidewalks but ...

O'DONNELL: ... the airport, it's like you're floating on air (ph).

MOOS: Kevin says the Modobag is FAA and TSA compliant and what remains to be seen if the airports would allow them where they to become popular.

O'DONNELL: Can you imagine showing up in court, while you're on here, it was on a suitcase type and no illegal left turn.

MOOS: Why just lug around your carry-on when it can carry you. See you later. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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ALLEN: Oh, that's kind of sad and ingenious at the same time. Thanks for watching CNN "NEWSROOM." I'm Natalie Allen. "Culinary Journeys" is next.

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