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Russian Helicopter Shot Down in Syria; Trump Comments Again Cause Controversy; New Metro Line Opens in Rio; Japan Elects First Female Governor. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired August 01, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:11] ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead at the "International Desk," a Russian helicopter is shot down in Syria. Did Donald Trump cross the line
this time? And getting around Rio. A new metro line is now ready to ride.
Hello and welcome. Happy Monday. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me here at the CNN Center. And we start with new developments in
the Syrian war. Rebels are moving to break the government's grip on parts of Aleppo and Russia says all five people aboard a helicopter that was
killed when the chopper was downed in Idlib Province. These pictures show the flaming wreckage of the downed copter. And the Kremlin says the crew
was returning to its base after an aid mission to Aleppo.
Well, we're covering all angles in Syria. Ian Lee is in Beirut with more in the rebels pushing to Aleppo in efforts to get civilians out and Matthew
Chance from Moscow has the latest on that helicopter crash.
Hi there, Matthew. What are you hearing?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, details Robyn, are still pretty sketchy, actually despite the fact it's been
several hours since this chopper was taken down by ground fire according to the Russian Defense Ministry. We know it was an Mi-8 helicopter which is a
kind of a cargo helicopter, though it can carry weaponry, particularly in combat zones, and tends to.
We know that there were five people, at least on board, according, again, to defense officials here. And the Kremlin has come out and sort of taken
the lead in the messaging of this story and is saying, look, it's a tragedy and that all five people on board, including three crew members and two
other military officers, all five of them are dead.
There has also been some gruesome images, which you may have seen, which obviously, we can't broadcast, of the bodies of some of those individuals
on board being dragged from the wreckage by people on the ground in Northern Syria and defiled in various ways, being stomped on and things
like that.
And so, obviously, it's very distressing. Again, the Kremlin has called it tragic. But what we haven't seen yet is any specific response that we're
aware of as a result of this downing of this chopper, although unconfirmed reports on the ground that suggest there has been an increase in Russian
air activity, now bombing raids, et cetera, in the region where the chopper was brought down, Robyn.
CURNOW: Yeah, this has and continues to be a very murky war.
Ian, to you, the Russians say this the helicopter was downed after an aid mission. Either way, the level of distress over humanitarian aid corridors
in Syria and around Aleppo has risen.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So, we're hearing from the Syrian regime as well as the Russians that they have at least three corridors for
civilians to leave the besieged parts of Aleppo, according to state media from Syria and Russia, that a 169 civilians have left as well as 69
fighters who laid down their arms for amnesty. But you have to compare that to the 200,000 to 300,000 people that lived in the besieged parts of
Aleppo, really 169 is a drop in the bucket. And when we talk to sources inside the city, they tell us there's a lot of mistrust with the Syrian
regime. Frankly, they don't believe that they'll live up to their promise that people can leave and receive humanitarian aid.
Some of our sources have been to these areas where the corridors are. They say they haven't seen anyone leave and they haven't seen any evidence that
people have been going out. So there is a lot of mistrust. And really, a lot of that centers' around reports from the past when these sort of
corridors have happened in other cities where people have fled. But we've heard from Syrian observers as well as amnesties saying that when that has
happened, men are separated from women and children, and those men are never heard of again.
CURNOW: And also Ian, any more updates on a new offensive by the rebels to break a siege on Aleppo?
LEE: Well, we've heard that there are a number of rebel groups that are taking part in this operation to break that siege. In certain areas, the
difference between the area the rebels are pushing and the besieged part is roughly a kilometer. We know that this front line is about 20 kilometers
long, 16 miles. They've been planning this for about three weeks, to get there, to bring that siege to an end and open that up so supplies can run
into that or flow into that area.
But it has been some very heavy fighting from both sides, and that fighting still continuing as we're hearing that besiege has not been broken yet.
[10:05:13] CURNOW: And Matthew to you, you've been reporting on it. I mean, Russia has continued to deepen its involvement in Syria. What is the
support for this Russian campaign in Syria among ordinary people?
CHANCE: Well, I think it's still very high. I mean, certainly, the approval ratings of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president don't seem who have been
impacted by the deployments of Russian forcer to Syria. And yeah, you get the sense when you speak to ordinary Russians and you watch state media as
well that the very much drives the message but the Russians see this as holly justified, that they should support Bashar al-Assad in the face of
what they regard as threat of militant group and jihadists like ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front and under plethora of other rebel groups that operate
against the government inside Syria.
And so, there's a good deal of justification being made for this on state television and a lot of support for it in Russia. Now, whether that will
change in the light of this latest incident with the five Russians killed on that chopper, I think is very much going to be interesting to watch.
Certainly, the death toll, if I can put it that way, of Russians fighting in this conflict, has been relatively low, at least officially. It's a
little more than a dozen people that have been killed, members of the armed forces that have been killed. And in Syria, from Russia, since September of
last year.
And so, that's remarkably low for this kind of military intervention. But you get the sense now, this is the second helicopter in as many months that
has been taken down with Russians on board, that the price of this intervention could start to increase. And if it does, then public support
could be undermined.
CURNOW: Matthew, Ian, thanks so much to you both.
And staying with Syria, just days ago, the Syrian rebel group Al-Nusra Front announced it broke ties with Al-Qaeda and gave itself a new name.
What prompted the change? And why did it happen now?
Well, CNN posts those questions to one of the group's commanders. Clarissa Ward picks up the story from there.
(BEING VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For years, they have been some of the most feared rebel fighters in Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra was
designated a terrorist group by the U.S. in 2012 and swore allegiance to l Al-Qaeda the following year. But last week, the group signaled it want to
usher in a new chapter, announcing it would break ties with Al-Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
MOSTAFA MAHAMED, JABHAT FATEH AL-SHAM, LEADER (Through Translation): Yes Jabhat al-Nusra it was an official branch of Al-Qaeda. We reported to their
central command. We worked within their framework. We adhere to their policies. But we did enjoy a very significant autonomy, and our scope was
completely local.
WARD: Egyptian Australian Cleric Mostafa Mahamed is one of the group's senior leaders. He provided video-taped responses to CNN's questions and
explained the reason for the shift.
MAHAMED: With the formation of JFS or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, we're completely independent. And that means we don't report to anyone. We don't
receive our directives from any external entity.
WARD: The move has been dismissed by most in the international community as a public relations ploy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While they can maybe grow another branch of the tree that makes it look a little different, that branch comes back into the core
ideology and core approach. So, at the center of it, it's still Al-Qaeda.
WARD: Mahamed himself was designated a global terrorist by the United States government in May of this year. But he claims that neither he nor
his organization have any intention of carrying out attacks in the west or anywhere outside of Syria.
MAHAMED: When we were part of Al-Qaeda, and as our five year track record shows, our core policy was to focus all of our efforts on the Syrian issue.
That was our policy before, and it will be our policy today and tomorrow. We do not intend to change that policy.
WARD: We visited areas under the group's control just a few months ago. Signs urged women to cover themselves completely. Democracy is the religion
of the west, warned one. That core Salafi jihadist ideology has not changed. The goal is still to implement Sharia law.
MAHAMED: The belief that Islam should govern the affairs of the Muslims isn't exclusive to any group. This is the core belief and the common belief
of the lay Muslim. What you have to understand is that Muslims, when given an opportunity, when given the freedom, they will always choose to be
governed by their faith. It's that simple.
[10:10:07] WARD: But nothing in Syria is ever simple, and it remains to be seen how this latest move will play out on the ground.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: "Aiming for Gold", athletes are still arriving in Rio as final preparations are under way for the Olympics. We have four days until the
games begin. A myriad of issues have cropped up in the lead up to this event, and ready or not though, the opening ceremony kicks off on Friday.
Well, let's go now to our team in Rio, Shasta Darlington and Amanda Davies join us now live. Shasta, hi there, I'll start with you. You're outside a
new metro station. Obviously, transport going to be a huge issue. Tell us how things are going.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Robyn. We actually have some good news to talk about today, which is nice. You know, after months
of speculation, actually this dates back even years, that this new metro line wouldn't be finished in time to connect all of the hotels here in the
touristy part of Rio with the Olympic park 30 kilometers away. Well, it's opening its doors. They opened their doors today for ticket holders and for
people with Olympic credentials. That would be journalists, athletes and volunteers.
And this is great news, because that drive can take up to two hours during rush hour traffic. And now it should be cut down to about a half an hour.
Of course, the bad news for the rest of Rio is that it won't be open to the public until after the games are over. We've already seen lots of people
right behind us getting turned away. They're not too happy about that.
But that's -- on the transportation front, we do have that bit of good news. I think in other areas we still are seeing some challenges ahead,
everything from security, especially when it comes to just violent crime. We keep seeing news of bag snatching, even armed robberies along the main
highways that people have to travel to between the venues, so that's still an issue. But we've got four more days. They still have some time to pull
it together, Robyn. We'll see where that takes us.
CURNOW: OK, Shasta, stay with us. Amanda, you're overlooking Copacabana beach, where the volleyball events will take place. It looks like a
beautiful day there. Obviously, athletes preparing. But the crisis over doping is still dragging on now to the 11th hour.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, absolutely Robyn. This is Copacabana, one of the four clusters of venues that we will see host this Rio 2016
Olympics. There is still very much preparations, final preparations going on as you go past the volleyball venue. You can hear the drilling and the
banging of the construction. There have been a few final problems with some of the venues. The ramp collapsed at the sailing venue, but as you said the
athletes arriving really by hour.
We had some complaints from the Australian team that their accommodation they didn't feel was safe. There was a fire in one of their buildings. But
overwhelmingly, the feedback from the athletes in the last couple of days has been pretty good. The British Gymnast Louis Smith, posted a picture
looking pretty impressed with the three conjoined swimming pools at the olympic village over in Barra which is connected here from Copacabana by
that metro line that Shasta was talking about.
I've had some messages from some of my -- some acquaintances who take part in the rowing. There have been a number of Olympic games, and they say the
accommodation at the athletes village here is comparable, if not better, to what they saw in London and Beijing. But when we visited the Olympic
village yesterday, Robyn, what was fascinating was that despite their diminished numbers, the Russian athletes had by far the biggest, biggest
flag flying out of their balconies and windows at the athletes' accommodation.
Of course, we know 100 or so Russian athletes have already been banned from taking part at these games because of the findings of that McLaren report
into doping. There were some 200 or 70 or so athletes who have been cleared to appoint to compete. But they haven't yet been given the official thumbs
up by the International Olympic Committee.
There's a three-man panel above the IOC working case by case to give each athlete an official yes or no. Their deadline to make that decision is
Friday's opening ceremony, although the Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, has spoken out on Monday, saying that he understands or hopes that
those decisions will be taken and an official ruling given by the close of play on Tuesday.
[10:15:10] CURNOW: OK. We'll keep an eye out for that one. Amanda and Shasta, thank you so much.
And as Shasta was saying, let's talk more about the security concerns that are still surrounding the Rio Olympics. Nick Paton Walsh has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You couldn't really get any more obvious when it comes to Rio trying to make you feel
safe. Copacabana and almost everywhere you look here near the venue for the opening ceremony, there's someone smiling with a gun. But they seem to have
missed something quite important.
Well, it's one of the biggest challenges for organizers, security screening for the huge crowds that want to get into the venues. But the basic task of
working out who's going to be banning the x-ray machines at the end of these lines has been left to the last minute.
Just one month ago, they hired a contractor to man these machines. On Friday, it was announced the military police will take over as the
contractor wasn't ready. But still, some employees of the contractor, not shown here, were being asked to come to work this weekend. One agreed to
talk to us anonymously. He wasn't asked to provide a police criminal background check, he says, and only had to do a quick online training
course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): There are people who turn up for the job without any real training kind of work we're being asked to do. Our
job is to look after people's security and some of the people doing the work, in my view, aren't up to that. The training course was very quick.
There should have been more to it.
WALSH: It's not clear with just days you can count on one hand to go whether he's needed again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): Today, I was meant to do a six-hour shift but did eight hours. At the end, the supervisor came and said they
didn't know when we had to come back to work again.
WALSH: We tried to reach the contractor for comments. Olympic Chief Thomas Bach says he has total confidence in the security of the games. The
government says they're drafting in thousands of retired police and firefighters to help. But away from the bright lights, some are asking what
else has been missed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: That was Nick Paton Walsh reporting there. You're watching CNN. Much more news after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:13] CURNOW: In the U.S., Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump is drawing sharp criticism from both his own party and from his
rivals for comments he made about the family of an American-Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq. That all started last week when the slain army
captain's father spoke at the Democratic Party's convention.
Phil Mattingly has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF FALLEN MUSLIM U.S SOLDIER: You solve the problems with empathy.
PHIL MATTINGHLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This morning, Khizr and Ghazala Khan talking directly to Donald Trump, imploring empathy, the path to piece.
K. KHAN: There are bad people among us, but there are good people among us as well. You gather good people to get rid of bad people, but you do not
malign the whole religion, the whole culture. We are the solution to the dealing with the terrorism in the United States.
MATTINGHLY: Trump live Twitting during the interview with "New Day," saying "Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of
the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same. Nice."
Khan directly responding to the tweet.
K. KHAN: I really want to maintain mine and my family's dignity. I spoke what was appropriate, and if he is watching, just imagine there was no need
to comment the way he commented. That initiated this conversation.
MATTINGLY: The Muslim mother and father of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq now center stage in the presidential election after their scathing speech
at the Democratic National Convention.
K. KHAN: Have you even read the United States constitution?
I will gladly lend you my copy. You have sacrificed nothing. And no one.
MATTINGLY: Trump criticizing Ghazala for remaining silent at the convention.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I saw him. He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His
wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You
tell me.
MATTINGLY: And this morning, she is speaking out in response.
GHAZALA KHAN, MOTHER OF FALLEN MUSLIM U.S. SOLDIER: My religion or my family or my culture never stopped me saying whatever I want to say. And my
husband is very supportive for me in these things that I have all the rights as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter. I have done very well saying
my mind out, but that time was different.
MATINGLY: Telling "New Day" that they are grateful for America.
G. KHAN: I'm very glad that I have been in this country and I've got all the happiness, and that comes from Humayun. Yes, somebody have to pay the
price for this freedom that we have. We feel very protected. We feel very happy, and our futures are -- our children are in a safe place.
MATTINGLY: Mr. Khan insisting that Republican leadership stand up to Trump.
K. KHAN: Every decent Republican has rebuked his behavior, yet nobody had stood up and said, enough. Stop it. You will not be our candidate. In
private, they have done this. I again and again ask his advisers to get him in a room, close the door, and set him right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Powerful words there. Phil Mattingly reporting.
And, so other news making headlines here at CNN. Voters in Tokyo have made history by electing their first female governor. Yuriko Koike won in a
landslide, beating her closest rival by more than a million votes. Koike was also the first woman to serve as Japans' Defense Minister.
Anna Fifield, Tokyo Bureau Chief for the "Washington Post" spoke to CNN earlier about the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA FIFIELD, TOKYO BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yuriko Koike's victory is not going to crack the glass ceiling in Japan overnight, but it
is a really significant moment for the status of women in Japan. Yuriko Koike has now become the first female governor of Tokyo.
That's a role that basically combines a city mayor and a state governor together here. And she will have a lot of influence in that role.
[10:25:04] And significantly, she's been elected by people because they were showing some dissatisfaction with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party,
lead by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
So, Koike was not backed by the party. They're backed to different candidates, but the voters flocked to her instead because she was
portraying herself as something of an outsider, someone who could come in and be much more transparent in a way that City Hall is operated here. Her
two predecessors had both been forced to step down because of financial scandals. And there were some disillusionment here with the way they had
been running Tokyo, especially in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, she also vowed to overcome child care shortages and push female-friendly policies so that "Both men and women can shine in Tokyo."
Well, still ahead at the "I-Desk," Belgium and France, and Turkey, and Germany all targets for terror attacks this summer. Why police in Britain
say their country could be next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: Hi, there. Welcome to the "International Desk". I'm Robyn Curnow. Here's a check of the headlines.
Russia says all five people (ph) on board of transport helicopter were killed when it was shot down over Idlib Province in Syria. The Kremlin says
the chopper was returning from an aid mission to Aleppo. It happened as rebels launched a new offensive to break a government siege on parts of
Aleppo.
A new metro line built for the Olympics in Rio is now ready to go, just four days before the opening ceremony. It's one of the major infrastructure
projects coming together at the final moments before the games.
CNN has learned the terrorist who killed a priest in a French church first contacted each other only four days before the attack. A source close to
the investigation says they used the messaging app telegram to coordinate the attack. Police also arrested a cousin of one terrorist who they say
knew about the attack beforehand.
Now, the church attack prompted a show of solidarity across parts of France and Italy. Muslims attended Catholic masses on Sunday after French
religious leaders asked people to express sympathy and unity.
The French city of Leon also held a march where Catholics and Muslims carried banners reading "this is not a religious war" and "we are all
brothers and sisters".
Well, the priest's murder is one of several devastating attacks across Europe this summer. Here's a look at some of the high-profile attacks in
just the past couple of weeks.
[10:30:08] We're joined now by Nima Elbagir in London. Hi there Nima. When we saw that map, we've reported it over the summer. And one security firm
calculated that these summer attacks have been coming at about twice a week. How concerned are security authorities that this tempo will continue?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's prompted really rare show of pretty blunt language from authorities here in the U.K.
They are saying it's a matter of when, not if, Robyn. The commissioner of London Metropolitan Police force, the largest police force in the country
and really the center of much of the counter terror operation, has come out very publicly, and in words that almost seem to echo much of the
terminology that we had during the Second World War.
He's asking the nation to come together and to not be bowed and to essentially accept that while they will not be defeated, they will have to
deal with the realities of a terror attack on British soil sooner rather than later. And he also revealed some details of pretty advanced levels of
preparedness. They've increased the number of those terror police officers licensed to carry firearms by almost five fold, Robyn. They've got them on
standby 24 hours a day.
It's been three years since a terror attack was successfully carried out on the streets of London. And the sense that we're getting from British
authorities is almost -- we've been lucky so far. Prepare yourselves for the worst, Robyn.
CURNOW: A chilling warning, indeed. Is it about luck, or have the British authorities done things differently to the way the Germans and the French
have?
ELBAGIR: There is something in that, definitely.
You remember the attacks of the seventh of July back in 2007. That was a real wake-up call here for authority's season. And in a sense, because
Britain had its 7/7, it hasn't had to go through much of the baptism of fire that those in the continent have. They were able to reach into those
communities. And there is a greater degree of integration.
And this is what we keep hearing from intelligence sources across the continent. It's about two things. It's about intelligence-sharing and the
lack thereof, and this is something again and again that we're seeing both the French authorities and the Belgian authorities fall down on, but it's
also about integration within that Muslim community and the broader community and the ability for authorities to get penetration and trust. And
that's something that definitely British authorities here feel that their European counterparts haven't been as successful in, Robyn.
CURNOW: When you talk about the concerns and the warnings, there's a real concern this could happen again. What about the sort of concerns about a
terrorist diaspora, essentially. As ISIS is the caliphate fractures that there is going to be this sort of exploding of foot soldiers coming into
Western Europe.
ELBAGIR: Well, and that's definitely what we're hearing from the CIA. John Brennan, when he gave his testimony to the Senate, almost described it --
incredibly vivid terms as almost akin to a dirty bomb exploding across the world as this territorial footprint shrinks and similarly to what we saw in
Afghanistan when Al-Qaeda lost their territorial footprint.
They went out in this wave and were able to carry out terror attacks. But then also conversely in a way, there is a tiny shred of comfort there,
because if ISIS is now forced to recalibrate itself as Al-Qaeda 2.0. Well, we've seen what's happened with Al-Qaeda's. Branding and Al-Qaeda's ability
to recruit once it lost that territorial footprint.
So it really makes the fight that is happening now in Syria and in Iraq more crucial than ever, because while it is able now to propagandize and to
recruit, once it loses that ability to train on solid ground, it will essentially be fighting in much more darkened corners.
CURNOW: Indeed, and becomes more conventional in old-school ways, essentially, if you want to describe the sort of nature of the models of
the way they work.
In terms of who has done these attacks that have gone in the past few weeks, there have been a number of different profiles. There's certainly
not a pattern, but what you are seeing is either people are directly organized via ISIS or they're inspired. They're ISIS-ish, as one security
analyst described them. And that's also difficult to try and keep a lid on.
ELBAGIR: Yes, and we also have the opportunism of ISIS, where they have really elasticized the boundaries essentially of what makes a terror attack
and what makes a terrorist.
We've been following a lot of chatter that ISIS and their supporters have been engaged in online and we're seeing supporters even stretching the
perception of what is a pledge of allegiance.
[10:35:05] Now, in Syria a pledge of allegiance is one that's made publicly. Now they're saying, well, you could even pledge allegiance
within. You could pledge allegiance in your soul and no one would have to know, but you would still be a soldier of ISIS.
So, we're kind of allowing -- and this is what we're hearing from a lot of our intelligence sources -- we're allowing the terrorists, as they put it,
to create the fields of debate. If at any given point in time when something happens they get to claim it then that feeds into their ability
to recruit and to further propagandize. And in a way, that's where ISIS has been much more ahead of the curve than Al Qaeda or other more conventional
or older-school terror organizations.
But again, it comes back to that territorial footprint. That is their chief recruiting tool. And if and when that is fully degraded, they will go back
to having to face a lot of the same challenges that other, older terror groups and have had to deal with, Robyn.
CURNOW: OK, Nima, thanks so much you for your analysis, great to have on the show. Appreciate it.
Well, Turkey says key members of last month's -- now in custody, according to -- Special Forces captured the commandos who were to capture or kill
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the July 15th coup. The rebels were allegedly planning to ambush Mr. Erdogan while he was on holiday. The hunt
for the 11 suspects ended after they were spotted by a hunter. One official says the men will be jailed, and his words, "never see the sun again."
Well, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that saw a police officer killed there. A truck bomb was set off at the
Northgate Hotel. The interior ministry says two of the attackers who tried to enter were killed by police and third blew himself up with a suicide
vest.
A major typhoon has battered the Philippines, and now the storm is set to hit Hong Kong. Up next, how the city is bracing for what will be the
region's strongest storm of the year. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: He set records around the world as a bodybuilder. Now we're taking a look how one weight lifter from Germany is going green by changing what's
on his plate. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRIK BABUMIAN, BODY BUILDER: My name is Patrick Babumian, and I'm vegan. I don't eat meat or dairy products. I do this for the animals, for the
environment, and for future generations.
I'm probably the most unthinkable vegan there is on the planet.
[10:40:01] What really surprised me was the positive effect that it had on my body. My performance has got better. I got heavier, I got stronger. I
broke three world record. But at the same time, my recovery time was so much faster, so I could train more, I could train harder.
The impact of animal agriculture on the environment is that you just need space to have livestock on. The overall population on earth is getting
larger and larger. If everyone would try to eat and try to live the lifestyle that we have here in the West, we would have to destroy big parts
of the forest that we have now. Deforestation begins on the plate, and that's where we need to tackle it.
Now, this is something very crucial for me, being a real dairy addict, I had some days where I had like ten liters of dairy, of milk, actually. So,
when I went vegan, I just replaced that with soy milk. It's much more efficient with resources. If you just use soy instead of feeding the soy to
the cow and then taking the milk from the cow.
When it comes to veganism, it actually, sometimes people are really afraid of it. A huge part of the scariness of the idea is to think of not being
allowed to consume some things like cheese or something that you love for the rest of your life. I always tell them, just try it for four weeks. In
most cases, four weeks is enough to get to a point where you really have all these positive effects and you're really feeling them. And it's such a
small thing, and it has a huge, huge impact on the planet. I just try to be a part of a movement to try to push society in that direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Hong Kong is braced for the largest storm of the season. Typhoon Nida. The storm is expected to hit in the coming hours with torrential
rains and strong winds causing flash flooding and possible landslides. Schools are closed and more than 180 flights have been canceled as the city
prepares for the storm.
And in the U.S., an amazing rescue as floodwaters swept through a town in Maryland. A woman was trapped in her car. And in an amazing act of heroism,
several men banded together, linking their arms, creating a human chain, you see it there, to pull the woman out of the car and to safety. Two
people were killed in the flash floods, both in vehicles overcome by floodwaters. So, well done to them.
Well, that does it for us here at the "International Desk." I'm Robyn Curnow, thanks for joining me. I'll be back in just over an hour. In the
meantime, I'm going to hand you over to "World Sport."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:07] RHIANNON JONES, ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to "CNN World Sport." I'm Rhiannon Jones live from London.
Four days to go until the 2016 Olympic Games and the buildup is well and truly under way. We're all ready, but the question remains, is Rio ready?
Well, the last-minute preparations continue in one final scramble, including a decision still on which Russian athletes will take part. The
full team is expected to be finalized within the next 24 hours. That's according to Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIALY MUTKO, RUSSIAN SPORTS MINISTER (Through Translator): I hope and expect that today or tomorrow, all the formalities on the team's access
will be finalized and the team will move on from this current nervous state to a working state and we'll start competing. I hope they will get a grip
and will start to prepare thoroughly. Our support for them is absolutely guaranteed. You have to understand, the Olympic team headquarters is
operating. They are equipped with everything. The country's support is guaranteed, and that's the most important thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Russia's sports minister there speaking earlier. Now, history will be made in Rio when a team of refugees compete under the Olympic flag, and
the world will get its formal introduction to the ten athletes during the opening ceremony on Friday.
Our David McKenzie caught up with some of the athletes while they were training in Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID, MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning training in the Ngong Hills, a Mecca for Kenya's Olympians, but these runners are refugees, they ran from
their home lands from war and famine. They have no flag of their own.
JOHN ANZURAH, COACH: One who came in fast, we went out training with their lead athlete at the stadium and the people were laughing at the other
athletes. These are not athletes. What are you doing with these people? That was very discouraging. Rather in the beginning, as I coached we
thought so are we work the method?
MCKENZIE: Coach John Anzurah is molding raw talent.
Refugees selected from South Sudan, Somalia and the Congo, training for a chance to make it to the Rio Olympics.
ANZURAH: Let's go.
MCKENZIE: It's their first ever refugee team. And you've seen their times improve a great deal.
ANZURANH: Oh, it does. When they said that it was not the way they're running now.
MCKENZIE: Rose Nathika has been running her whole life. When the war came to her village in South Sudan, she fled the killing on foot, then in the
back of a truck.
ROSE NATHIKA, ATHLETE: People do undermine refugees as they are not the human beings like them. But now I can see maybe refugees also can discover
their talents and make it, maybe practice like other people so they cannot be undermined.
MCKENZIE: Rose says her tough training cannot compare to the hardship she has already gone through. Growing up in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya's
outer fringes, a city of refugees who fled from South Sudan's old and new wars. Here, Rose took care of her brothers and sisters, volunteering for an
NGO, going to school and running.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MCKENZIE: So, they're very nervous today.
ANZURAH: Yeah, they are nervous. But we would not just let them sit in their camp.
MCKENZIE: Forty-three athletes from around the world were selected for training. Only ten will go to Rio. Overcoming a lifetime of trauma to
compete on the world's biggest stage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rose Nathika.
MCKENZIE: Rose will run the 800 meters.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MCKENZIE: She'll be running for her family, for the refugees of Kakuma and for every one of the 21 million refugees around the world. Given the
chance, Rose says, they can achieve anything.
David McKenzie, CNN, Ngong, Kenya.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:49:26] JONES: And just four days until we meet that team. Over to the PGA championship when we come back, where Jimmy Walker tells us what
inspired him to claim his first major title.
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JONES: It was a thrilling finish to the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in New Jersey, American Jimmy Walker became the fourth new major champion this
year. He outlasted Jason Day on the Sunday that saw the main contenders play at 36 holes after rain washed out afternoon play on Saturday.
Walker had at least a share of the lead after every round and showed very few signs of nerves on Sunday, nailing this critical putt on 17 that put
him three shots clear of Day, who was walking up 18 and couldn't quite believe it when the score was posted. But the defending wasn't done yet. He
struck this approach within 15 feet and drained this curling putt for eagle to cut a three shot lead to 1 and putting pressure on Walker.
And after putting his second shot on the par 5-18 in the rough, Walker was able to land it on the green where he two putted for the win sealing his
first major title and getting a well-deserved kiss from his family there.
Walker had never finished better than seventh at a major in his previous 17 events. In 2014, he was ranked as high as tenth in the world after winning
three times, but it was a long road to get there, as he told "World Sport's" Patrick Snell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRCK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Earlier in your career you went 187 tournaments without a victory. At that point, what keeps you going? What
gives you hope?
JIMMY WALKER: I mean, I struggled there for a while. It's not a lot of fun finishing back in the pack, keeping you struggling to keep your card. I
mean, and everybody, everybody out here works hard. You feel like you're really grinding, you're really busting it, and sometimes it doesn't show,
and it's tough.
And when you do that three or four years in a row, it wears on you. Like, man, I could go home and then enjoy my life a little better. I feel like
I'm out here killing myself and I'm trying to start a family. And I said, something's got to change. And I've made a mental approach to try to really
get better. I hired new people and hired new coaches and this and that, and you know, and still the hard work was there. I wouldn't trade anything I've
ever done in my life up to unto this point. I feel like everything has been a lesson.
SNELL: You enjoy a special bond with your caddie, Andy Sanders, who's overcome his own issues with M.S. as well. How special to share that with
him?
WALKERS: It's amazing. I think this is where he and I met for the first time. We met here at Baltusrol, at 2000 U.S. amateur, met on the 10th tee
at the upper. And for us to be back here 16 years later doing what we're doing and together and, you know, he's been my caddie since I've been out
on tour, and he will be my caddie until I quit. So, there's no better guy to hang out with and enjoy the ride with.
SNELL: The moment that we see Jordan Spieth there with you, Rickie Fowler, they're waiting there watching. These are guys you shared that house
temporarily in Scotland at royal troop. What was that experience like and what did you learn from it that you took into this week with those guys?
WALKER: I feel like they keep me young a little bit. And then for them to come out, and Jason at the end of the round, and pats on the back and hugs
and congrats was, you know, that's golf.
[10:55:10] SNELL: Who's the biggest influence on your life and why?
WALKER: Well I mean I think that's probably very easy it's my dad. I mean, he was a really good player, good golfer, seen him shoot 60 before. When I
knew growing up that my dad shot the same scores as the guys did on TV. And I knew I was getting pretty good at golf, and I said, man, if I could ever
beat my dad, I'd be pretty good.
So, you know, my competitiveness, my drive, all of that with golf, you know, I owe it to him, because without him, I probably wouldn't have had
the measuring stick to, you know, further my ambitions and career.
SNELL: Jimmy, the stars were clearly aligned. I know you're a keen photographer. You've even had special kudos from NASA, special so the
praise from them, if you like. What did that mean to you at the time, and how does this compare with that?
WALKER: Oh, you know, that's a hobby. I've gotten really good at it. And it's been nice. It keeps me -- keeps my brain working off the golf course.
It just kind of keeps a little sanity in all of this that's going on. Having a little -- having something outside of what you do for a living
keeps the sanity, I think.
SNELL: When you gaze up there, what are you most proud of? What images that you've taken are you most proud of?
WALKER: I took an image of couple of years ago of this thing called the Cygnus Wall. And to me, space is a Rorschach test. I mean, when you look at
it, everybody sees something different. And to me when I look at this, it shows a "W." In the way I framed, in the way I made, in the way I presented
it, it looks like a "W." so, you can it can be for winning. Or I think if that is more like for my family. It's Walker that you can see the "W." and
that's probably the one I'm most proud of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: The champ there speaking to our very own Patrick Snell. That's all for this edition of "World Sport." I'm Rhiannon Jones in London "Connect
the World" with Lynda Kinkade is next.
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END
