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Problems Persist in Rio on Eve of Olympic Games; Election 97 Days Away; Abuse Alleged in Australian Detention Centers; Reports of Chemical Attacks in Syria; North Korea Launches Ballistic Missiles; South African Election Examined. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 03, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Ten thousands athletes and an $11 billion investment, but with just two days to go until the Rio Olympics begin, the city's countless problems are still causing fears.
Ninety seven days before the U.S election and what was meant to be a battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is increasingly one between Trump and his own party.
Plus, riots group claims Australia was actively discouraging asylum seekers by allowing abuse in detention centers.
We will bring you all the details.
Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church here at CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom.
And our top story, the eyes of the world are on Rio de Janeiro. The build up to this year's Olympic Games has been plagued by political, economic, security, and health problems.
And the doping crisis surrounding the Russian team has yet to be resolved. Some athletes may find out as late as Friday whether they'll be able to compete.
As we countdown the hours to the opening ceremony also on Friday, many are still asking whether Rio can handle what's still to come. Well, not the least of the concerns in Rio, the city's infamous security problems.
And let's bring in CNN World Sports Christina Macfarlane who is in Rio. So, Christina, we've seen this multitude of problems and challenges and the lead up to the Rio games, not at least of which the many robberies including the bazar incident that happened to a Chinese hurdler when he was vomited on and then had his luggage stolen.
So, if Brazilian authorities are struggling with petty crime like that, it begs the question, how will they cope with any attack?
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Rosemary, I think in the event of a bomb threat or a terrorist attack, the city are actually pretty well set up. There is an enormous presence here of military and police force, some 85,000 spread across the city, day and night, and even as I speak here on the Copacabana just outside live position.
But it's the petty crime that seems to be, you know, creeping through the cracks here and causing problems in Rio. Now you mentioned the vomiting and I just want to bring you back to that. Because it is an example of one of the more extraordinary cases of petty crime that we've heard.
Now, a couple of days ago, the Chinese hurdler Shi Dongpeng, arrived here in Rio alongside with his journalist friend. They went to check in to their hotel, and as they were checking in, a drunk man approached Shi Dongpeng and vomited on him.
Shi then went to clean himself up in the bathroom, his journalist friend run after the man, and when they both got back they found that all of their luggage had been stolen, would you believe.
It's this kind of incident that we're beginning to hear about more and more. They were, as I say, perhaps one of the more disgusting ones. You know, the athletes here coming to Rio are, you know, some of the best athletes in their field, best athletes in their individual disciplines.
But they're coming up against sadly, some of the criminals here and thieves in Rio who are themselves some of the best in their field as well, and it was resulting in a lot of headlines here.
CHURCH: Yes, certainly is a big worry for a lot of the athletes and a lot of the tourists who will come to watch the Olympics. And we're also hearing that metro workers in Rio are threatening to strike. Now, what do you know about that and what impact could that possibly have on the games?
MACFARLANE: Yes, that's right, Rosemary. We understand that the metro workers are preparing to strike on Thursday if their demands for higher wages are not met. And this could be a huge problem for the city because this metro line has been some time in the making. It's been an enormous project. It cost some $3 billion.
And it's been late on a course to deal with a half a million spectators who are expected to arrive in the coming days here at the games. And if this goes down, it will be a major problem, particularly for the city. Rio is the fourth most congested city in the world and the Olympic Games themselves are laid out in four separate clusters across the city.
[03:04:57] Now I had a chance to visit all of those clusters just a few days ago by car using the specially laid on Olympic lanes, those are the fast track lanes that have been out on for the athletes and for the media.
And in some cases, just driving in those lanes took us up to an hour to get to each of the venues. So, one wonders how the city will cope if that metro line goes down. And of course, it will be a huge black eye for the organizers, another black eye for the organizers who are already contesting with issues in the past week to do with the athletes village and the maintenance there.
Criminal activity on the streets of Rio. And of course, protests that are hindering the arrival of the Olympic torch here to Rio in just a couple of hours' time.
CHURCH: All right. Yes, it is a major concern just so many problems ahead for the Rio Games. We'll see what happens of course. Christina Macfarlane joining us there from Rio in front of the Copacabana Beach there.
U.S. republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump has a few political wars on his hands. The family of a soldier killed in combat, his own party, and the U.S. President who says he's unfit for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There have been republican presidents with whom I disagreed with but I didn't have a doubt that they could function as president.
I think I was right and Mitt Romney and John McCain were wrong on certain policy issues. But I never thought that they couldn't do the job. But that's not the situation here. And that's not just my opinion. That is the opinion of many prominent republicans. There has to come a point at which you say enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meanwhile, Trump, who vowed to unify his party isn't making much progress. He's not endorsing two top republicans, Senator John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Trump told the Washington Post, and I'm quoting here directly, "I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."
Familiar words for sure. Well, McCain is widely regarded as a hero after being captured and tortured during the Vietnam War. Trump says, quote, "I've never been there with John McCain because I've always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets."
Now Trump has often called himself a friend of veterans. He's sparing with the Khan family could jeopardize that, and it's also putting a spotlight on Trump's own lack of military experience.
Our Suzanne Malveaux reports.
TRUMP: Thank you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A rare admission from Donald Trump, expressing regret about not serving in the military. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something I've always missed and, you know, I built -- and helped build the Vietnam memorial in downtown Manhattan. To me, that was a very important thing to do. But I've regretted not serving in many ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Trump has been under fire for days after criticizing the family of a fallen soldier who challenged Trump at the Democratic National Convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZ KHAN, HUMAYUN KHAN'S FATHER: You have sacrificed nothing and no one.
TRUMP: I think I made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Trump's reaction spurring more anger and scrutiny of his own military record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I was fortunate to not have to go. This was during the Vietnam period and we were in a very, very highly contested and unpopular war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: June 1964, Trump registered for the draft after he graduated from the New York Military Academy. He received four education deferments while he was at Fordham and Wharton. Then, September 1968, Trump starting his real estate career got a deferment because of a bone spur in his foot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I had a deferment because of college, like a lot of people did. Numerous deferments because of college and I had a foot thing and I got deferment for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Despite the fact, Trump had been active in various sports including basketball and baseball. Trump often explains it was his high draft number, 356 which spared him from going to Vietnam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That was an amazing period of time in my life. I was sitting at college, watching. I was going to the Wharton School of Finance and I was watching as they did the draft number and I got a very, very high number and those numbers never got up to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: But as it turned out, the draft lottery was never a factor when Trump was in college. According to service records obtained by CNN, Trump had been out of school for 18 months before the lottery even began.
[03:10:02] The republican candidate prides himself on being a champion for veterans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And we're going to take care of the vets, believe me. We're going to take care of their medical. We're going to take care of the vets.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: A veteran gave Trump his Purple Heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I always wanted to get a Purple Heart. This was much easier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: That comment spurring even more anger from some veterans group to see it as highly insensitive as making light of an award that is given to those injured in service to their country.
One veteran leader noting people who received this award have lost an eye, or an arm, or worse saying quote, "no one wants a Purple Heart.'
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Joining me now via Skype from Charlottesville, Virginia, is Larry Sabato. He is the director of the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia. Thank you so much for being with us.
Now, the continuing feud between Donald Trump and Khizr Khan has inevitably resulted in the spotlight now being turned on Trump's own military record and his effort to avoid fighting in Vietnam, as well of course as his interesting acquisition of someone else's Purple Heart.
How is this all likely to impact his race for the White House, and how some republicans viewing all of this?
LARRY SABATO, VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR POLITICS DIRECTOR: Rosemary, it's yet another bazar episode in the Trump campaign and it's certainly proving damaging to it. For one thing, there's no question that his story about his non-Vietnam service doesn't add up and it's not flattering to him. He indicates that he got four educational deferments and those were
quite common in those days. I'm from the Vietnam generation as well, and I remember exactly how this system worked.
What was unusual was his medical deferment which basically was available only to the wealthy. They were able to find doctors who discovered trick elbows and bone spurs in the foot that enable people to get out of Vietnam service and that's clearly what happened here.
Donald Trump had had a very athletic experience in his prep school and there really was no evidence of any real medical problem.
So, I think this is going to prove difficult for him to explain and he simply compounds the problem by, for example, accepting the gift of a Purple Heart from a supporter at a rally and saying something like, well, I always wanted a Purple Heart.
That connect directly to the controversy involving the Khan family, and of course, we remember that the young man in the military in Iraq in 2004 received the Purple Heart after his heroic service and his death on the battle field. That was a real Purple Heart as opposed to the one that Trump was handed.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And of course, the other big issue Tuesday was the revelation that Trump will not endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan or republican Senator, John McCain, creating a war within his own party. Essentially neglecting Hillary Clinton in favor of targeting his own party leadership. What is going on there?
SABATO: Trump simply cannot give up any grievance. He carries that through with a vengeance and he not only attacked Speaker Ryan who, after all chaired his convention at some cost to himself and John McCain, who did not attack Trump for the comments that Trump made earlier in the campaign about how he wasn't a real hero because he was captured in Vietnam.
He also attacked another senator, a woman senator from his party in New Hampshire who would not meant sufficiently supportive of Trump in Trump's opinion. And there's some people in the Republican Party who already are wondering whether their party should be renamed for the keystone cops. This is turning into a debacle of historic proportions.
CHURCH: Yes. And meantime, Clinton herself appears to be standing back quietly, letting the whole thing play out. Is that the best strategy or should she be making more of this?
SABATO: You never ever interfere with an opponent who in the process of committing suicide. She is doing precisely the right thing. There may come a time when she'll want to refer in some of this to refresh people's memories, because after all, there are 98 days to go. And the way things are going, we'll have 98 more controversies.
CHURCH: It's certainly looking that way. Larry Sabato, it was a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you so much.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary. CHURCH: Well, whoever becomes the next president of the United
States, faces the complex challenge of trying to end the crisis in Syria. The latest on reports of chemical attacks. That's coming up.
[03:15:03] Plus, two major human rights groups are accusing Australia of deliberately abusing refugees.
That story just ahead.
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AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello everyone. I'm Amara Walker. And this is your aiming for gold update.
Rio's mayor has declared Thursday a city-wide holiday. He said, it's a day of celebration but with the Olympic torch relay it is also a day of logistical challenges. The holiday is aimed at easing some of these challenges and the strain on the city's motorways.
Amid the fanfares, some athletes still don't know if they will be competing. Swimming world governing body, FINA, announced that two Russian swimmers will be allowed to compete in Rio, this after winning their appeal on a wide-spread doping ban plaguing the country.
The International Olympic Committee has until Friday to make final decisions on who will be allowed to compete.
And spectators in Rio are participating in a sport of their own. Olympic pin trading is already well underway outside the Olympic park. Visitors from around the globe trade pins from different Olympics, individual sports and rare athlete in a tradition that spans decades.
And the pins aren't you're seeing. How about Legos. The world's largest toymaker has developed a huge model of Rio to celebrate the games. It is the largest ever made for Latin America and took 50 Lego builders some 2500 hours to create.
The miniature city is made up of nearly one million Lego blocks.
That's your aiming for gold update. I'm Amara Walker.
CHURCH: Growing humanitarian concerns about the fighting in Syria with reports of two new chemical attacks. An anti-regime group says chlorine gas was used in Idlib province. And the Syrian government claims terrorist groups launch a gas attack that killed five people in Aleppo.
Elise Labott reports the Syrian crisis is putting more strains on the complicated relationship between Washington and Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If we could get Russia to help us get rid of ISIS, if we could actually be friendly with Russia, wouldn't that be a good thing?
(END VIDEO CLIP) ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's
solution to defeating ISIS in Syria hinges on warmer ties with Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
But on the air, Russian air strikes are helping regime forces tighten their grip on Aleppo.
[03:20:03] The U.S. officials are investigating claims of a poisonous gas attack on U.S.-backed rebels. Chilling video footage shows men gasping for breath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If it's true, it would be extremely serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: Russia denies any involvement but the gas attack was eerily close to the downing of a nearby Russian military helicopter hours earlier.
Rebel forces cheering around the flaming wreckage of the chopper, which Russia claims was delivering humanitarian aid. This weekend, Russian air strikes decimated a third hospital in Aleppo. And the 6,000 dead or injured in the last few months and another 300,000 trapped without aid, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It is critical, obviously, that Russia restrains both itself and the Assad regime from conducting offensive operations. Nobody's going to sit around and allow this pretense to continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: Hillary Clinton has backed President Obama's plan to fight ISIS in Syria with air strikes and aid from moderate rebels.
But allegation Russian intelligence hacked Democratic Party computers and meld in the U.S. election are filling fresh concerns that Moscow cannot be trusted and could derail a controversial deal in the works for the U.S. and Russia to share intelligence on ISIS and other terrorist in exchange for Russia. Shutting down strikes for opposition targets.
President Obama says his eyes are open but the alleged hacking isn't his first concern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If in fact, Russia engaged in this activity, it's just one on a long list of issues that me and Mr. Putin talk about, and that I got a real problem with. It's not going to stop us from trying to make sure that we can bring a political transition inside of Syria that can end the hardship there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: The U.N. is warning that food supplies in Aleppo could run out in a few weeks. Putting even more pressure on the U.S. to reach agreement with Russia.
And there is growing concern about a Russian offer to allow residents to flee the area. Fearing it could be a ruse to attack the rebels as they flee. Trust in Russia's promises across the board in very short supply.
Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department.
CHURCH: And our Fred Pleitgen has spent a lot of time in Syria in recent months and joins us now with more. So, Fred, given the amount of time that you had spent reporting from Syria, what is the state of play right now as we watch this latest development of a repeat of chemical attacks?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rosemary, I think that it's a very decisive time right now in the Syrian civil war that's been going on for such a long time and that increasingly has become more brutal and more bloody. Now that you have is this battle for Aleppo that's been going on.
Where I think the many of the opposition forces have really understood that if they lose their grip on the rebel-held part of Aleppo, that it could very well spell -- I wouldn't say the end of the insurgency in Syria, but certainly give it a massive blow.
And I think that's one of the reasons why at this point in time you're seeing a lot of rebel factions that might have had a lot of infighting in the past, you're seeing them band together and really try and break through that siege at this point in time.
The latest information that we've getting there from the battlefield is that there have been huge battles going on especially in the southwestern part of Aleppo with the opposition forces trying to break through the government's siege.
Apparently they were quite close in a town called Ramouseh, but since then their offensive has stalled. So, certainly, they seem to understand that the situation there in Aleppo is very decisive for them, certainly the regime in the Russians seem to understand the same thing.
And that really is where that civil war is focusing right now. At the same time, you have those reports of those two chemical attacks that apparently took place, which goes to show just how hard these sides are going at each other.
Even though at this point in time it's still is unclear who is behind these attacks. The U.S. of course telling CNN that they believe that at least that happened in Saraqeb that they think is one that they believe was conducted by Syrian regime forces because they're the only ones who are using air power on that specific battlefield, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. And, Fred, Europe is in the midst of trying to deal with the refugee crisis and no country more so than Germany of course, so why is there a reluctance to play a larger role in the conflict in Syria, the root of the refugee crisis?
PLEITGEN: Well, I don't think that the many European nations really believe that it would -- it would end the crisis. I think (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).
[03:25:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. It is of course time to check the main stories we've been following this hour.
[03:30:01] Two new chemical gas attacks have been reported in northern Syria. An anti-regime group says an attack in Idlib province has sickened dozens of people.
Syria's government claims a terrorist group is responsible for another gas attack that killed five people in Aleppo.
Barack Obama says Donald Trump is unfit to be the U.S. president. Mr. Obama was responding to the attack by the republican presidential candidate on a family whose son an American soldier was killed in combat.
Meanwhile, Trump says, Mr. Obama will probably go down as the worst U.S. President ever.
Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. are condemning North Korea's apparent test of two more ballistic missiles. One exploded after it was launch in the province in the southwest. The other flew about a thousand kilometers to the east before falling into the sea.
Our Paula Hancocks joins us now from Seoul with the very latest on this. So, Paula, with this latest ballistic missile launches is there any sign of advancements being made by North Korea?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly we are seeing some significant ranges from these missiles. U.S. strategic command saying that they believe these missiles were redundant intermediate range missile which if testified successfully could in theory, take all of South Korea, all of Japan within its sites.
Some intermediate range missiles could even reach as far as U.S. military bases in Guam. So, certainly there is increased concern in the region at these missile launches. We had strong condemnation here in South Korea. They called it a reckless provocation showing that North Korea is trying to target the country, the neighboring countries as well.
Japan, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was very (TECHNICAL PROBLEM). [03:35:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... this controversial detention center as a response to the tens of thousands of refugees and migrants who embarked on smuggler's boats in a dangerous effort to reach Australian shores.
Instead of keeping them in Australia, the authorities shipped hundreds of migrants and refugees to this camp in Nauru, an isolated economically underdeveloped Pacific Island nation.
CHURCH: Joining me now from Human Rights Watch is Michael Bochenek, he is senior counsel for the Children's Rights Division. Thank you so much, sir, for being with us.
Now, you were on the remote Pacific Island of Nauru in mid-July for this joint Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report. What all did this investigation find in terms of abuse and neglect of asylum seekers there?
MICHAEL BOCHENEK, CHILDREN'S RIGHTS DIVISION HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SENIOR COUNSEL: What we find is a sort of whole sale pattern of abuse by Australian authorities and certainly also the acceptance of a whole pattern of abuse at the hands of private individuals on Nauru.
It is going unaddressed in totality. What we're seeing is that this is systematic. We're seeing a pattern and we're seeing that this is a part of a policy by Australia to make life as miserable as possible for people who are seeking protection, who are seeking freedom, who are fleeing for their lives.
CHURCH: That's pretty extraordinary accusation. Isn't it? And of course it has to be said that Australia's Department of Immigration strongly refutes many of the allegations in this joint report and claims no effort was made to consult with the department.
That's the same to, according to the private contractor running the facilities there on Nauru. What do you say to that?
BOCHENEK: Well, certainly these findings are nothing new for the Australian authorities. There have been investigation after investigations by the Australian Human Rights Commission, by U.N. bodies, by others, including government appointed experts that have found elements of the same thing where indeed many of the same findings.
So, this is certainly nothing new for Australian authorities. They're well aware that these kinds of abuses are occurring. Indeed, the fact that they've allowed this situation to continue for three years now is itself an indication that this is part of their policy.
CHURCH: So, you're suggesting and the report is suggesting that the treatment is so bad that the signal or the message is -- they hope, presumably to send that to other asylum seekers who are trying to make their way to Australia by boat. Is that what you're saying? BOCHENEK: Well, certainly it's part of the articulative policy. We
want no more boat arrivals. We're showing the world that there will be no advantage in their words to arriving by boats.
In fact, the Australia is telling would-be asylum seekers that they will be exiled to remote islands like Nauru or like Papua New Guinea and coupled with the offers that we now know about to asylum seekers on Mannes Island to Papua New Guinea to accept large sums of money in return for essentially going away, and in return for accepting deportation.
We can see here as well as on Mannes really clear indications that this is Australia's policy. Don't come and if you do, we will make your lives so miserable that you'll want to leave or even worse, as we've seen on Nauru, that you'll want to end your life.
CHURCH: Well, Australia has of course chosen to take this very hard line on asylum seekers who arrived by boat and try to enter the country. And this is Australia's policy right now is to house those asylum seekers on the Island of Nauru. So, what is the solution? Does the joint report propose any solutions beyond changing that policy?
BOCHENEK: Well, changing the policy is really the key. There is -- there is really no other country on earth and certainly not one in the condition of Australia to developed nation that is saying to people who are desperate people who are arriving by boat in the only way that they have possible to them, sorry no.
In fact, we're not only will we not accept you, but we'll -- we will transfer you against your will to some place where you really can't even make out the basic proper living, where you're going to be housed in tents for year and a half or two years before given more reasonable accommodation.
Where the abuses, the conditions will be such that people's mental state will become virtually and break down. No other country in the world does this. So it's time to end this policy. Close down the Nauru camps, bring people to Australia and then sort out what to do with them there.
[03:40:05] CHURCH: Michael Bochenek, thank you so much for joining. We appreciate it.
BOCHENEK: Thank you. Goodbye.
CHURCH: Well, the build up to this year's Olympic Games has been plagued with endless problems. But there's at least one event keeping true Olympic spirits up, the torch relay.
Later this hour, two CNN correspondents take us for a run.
And voters are headed in South Africa's local election. What's at stake for the country's ruling party? That is still to come this hour. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Well, South Africans are casting their ballots in local
elections at this hour. Corruption and the economy are two issues and sharp focus for voters heading to the polls.
Now these elections are expected to be a test of support in key cities for the ruling African National Congress.
And CNN's David McKenzie joins us now with more from Alexandra, South Africa. And, David, you're just outside the polling station there, what are people saying to you about what they believe is at stake here and how concerned is the ruling party in the country about the possible outcome here?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, very good question. I'm here on a street in Alexandra. Right outside a major polling center. And this kind of sums up a lot of what this is about. I'm right here next to the ANC tent where they're helping voters get ready to register, go in and cast their ballot.
Now, the ANC, of course, the Liberation Party in South Africa, the power house party of this country. But in recent years, and particularly in this election, they are facing an insurgency threat with parties like this, the EFF.
[03:44:59] They are largely a populous party with a charismatic leader who are coming into places like Alexandra into urban centers across South Africa and really showing that the democracy in South Africa is alive and well and people are voting, potentially to push out the ANC in some key areas.
Now I want to play you a bit of sound right now from the leader of the official opposition, Mmusi Maimane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MMUSI MAIMANE, DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE PARTY LEADER: Democracy means that you can choose your government. You can hire one, you can remove another one. And we use the ballot for that purpose.
South Africans must come out in their numbers, vote for change. We believe that the future of South Africa is where they can choose a government that will deliver jobs, cut corruption, and deliver better services and we are that party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: And so, certainly while in the past, these elections maybe didn't generate that much excitement here in South Africa, here there really is a sense of urgency that democracy is really something worth fighting for and getting out on the streets and voting and you can -- could see parties like the Democratic Alliance there really eating into the support of the ANC.
Now it that happens it represents a sea change in the landscape here in South Africa more than 20 years after the start of democracy. Rosemary? CHURCH: And, David, a number of politicians have actually being murdered in the lead up to this election. What are authorities saying about those unsolved murders at this point?
MCKENZIE: Well, more than 20 potential counselors and counselors for this local election have been killed in the run up to this election. The vast majority of them in KwaZulu-Natal province. And ANC leaders there, because all of those killed, all of that dozen people killed in KwaZulu-Natal from the ANC, they're saying that this needs to be urgently looked into.
Now, members of the South African caliphs (Ph) we've spoken to have told us that this may be a way for people to access these government positions to gain access to corrupt wealth.
That is one of the big issues here in South Africa this election is corruption and some people say that might hurt the prospects of the ANC because its leader has been embattled by a series of corruption scandals.
CHURCH: Very disturbing development there. I'm talking to our David McKenzie reporting live outside a polling station there in Alexandra in South Africa. Many thanks to you.
Well, next on CNN Newsroom, we head to Brazil with a behind-the-scenes look at what it's really like to run with the Olympic torch. Do stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Weather watch across the Americas. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you.
Watching a particular disturbance across parts of western, northwestern Canada. This area of circulation right here has the potential to turn into some significant severe weather across parts of Winnipeg, point south where around the upper Midwestern United States over the next 24 hours.
Although with afternoon thunderstorms in Winnipeg and highs around 29 there. While Chicago makes it into the 30s. Montreal right at 30 degrees with partly cloudy skies.
And again, the dominant ridge, a massive heat still not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, it actually expands up to the northwest the next couple of days and the heat returns across the region.
You want cool weather, (Inaudible) across parts of the northeastern United States, the place to be with the milder temperatures in store. This area of confection, this area is Earl. This particular storm now lining up for landfall sometime early Thursday morning around Belize.
[03:50:00] If this makes it to Belize as a tropical storm or a hurricane, it would be the first such storm to do so since 2009. And category 1 is forecast at this point, that gets us up to about 75 or so miles per hour on 120 kph. And an eventually a second landfall possible later into Friday evening
around southern Mexico, around there in Cruz is what we're watching in the Bay of Campeche.
So, we all saw that for you and also following what's happening across this region with the active weather. Plenty of clouds expected -- plenty of thunderstorms expected, temperatures into the mid-20s.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Now, while we countdown the hours until Friday's Olympic opening ceremony in Rio, CNN's Arwa Damon and Shasta Darlington reflect on what they call a special life moment, their experience as Olympic torch bearers.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're setting up for our first live shot. This is where the torch relay in the City of (Inaudible) is going to begin. A lot of different people participating including myself, and Arwa Damon.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is has been an Olympic preparation process that has been fraught with all sorts of problems and issues and there are small protests against the government and against one of the sponsors, Nissan.
But despite that, you so see that the crowds have come out. And it's really the kind of the first time that at least I have been able to witness the sort of festive spirit that one would expect.
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DARLINGTON: It was absolutely amazing. Two hundred meters goes by like a flash and it was really great also talking to the people on the bus right here, the great stories they have about why they're participating. People who worked with kids in the favelas, people who've really overcome a lot to be here.
DAMON: We're all waiting around right now to get the torch that we then get to keep as a souvenir. And as Shasta was saying, we were on a bus with some very amazing people, individuals who are truly inspirational, some of them and the work that they're trying to do to help others.
And hey, we just got to run with the Olympic torch in Brazil. I mean, that's a pretty special life moment.
CHURCH: Special indeed. And finally this hour. Politicians frequently call each other out for failing to get their hands dirty. And while Donald Trump has had a finger lickin' good run to the republican presidential nomination, his eating habits are drawing scorn from aficionados of American fast food.
Jeanne Moss explains. JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every so often we're treated to Donald Trump food tweets. Remember the "I love Hispanic taco bowl?" And then there was the McDonald's aboard his private plane in the Instagram followed now by the KFC in what may or may not be the same seat.
But it's the knife and fork that folks wrapping their cutlery and man handling the chicken.
[03:55:05] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would eat it with a knife and a fork?
MOOS: Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump?
MOOS: There's nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. You got to. You eat it with your fingers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All my hands, yes. I'm a man.
MOOS: How would you eat it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: We all know that Donald is a neat nick, a germ freak, so why should critics stick a knife in him for using a knife and fork on KFC, maybe because this is his second cutlery foe paw, the first was when he took Sarah Palin out for pizza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you eating it with a fork? Oh, (muted) fork.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: OK. Maybe it's not as weird as eating a Snickers with the knife and fork as characters on Seinfeld did to practice spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, she's cutting up an almond joy. You went someone on the street eating M&M's with a spoon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is wrong with all you people?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: And why stop at eating KFC with a knife and fork.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should inject it directly into your artery with a needle like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just use your hands and then use the grease off your fingers to keep the come over in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: There are no do ever when candidates eat in public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I learned early on not to eat in front of all of you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: After Hillary resisted eating cheese cake, Steven Colbert taught her how to do it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, THE LATE SHOW HOST: So, you just take a little bit off the top right here.
CLINTON: OK.
COLBERT: And then eat as much as you want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Colbert used both a fork and his hands, straddling the issue like some cheesy politician.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch and (muted).
MOOS: New York.
CHURCH: Finger lickin' good, Mr. Trump.
And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemarycnn CNN.
Stay tuned for more news now with Max Foster in London.
And you have a great day.
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