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271 Russian Athletes to Compete in Rio Games; Obama Insists $400M Cash Transfer to Iran Not Ransom; Trump Criticized for Comments Against Khan Family; Mixed News for Russian Olympic Athletes; Apparel Giants Spend Big at Rio to Market Products; Zika Fears Have Brazilians Waiting on Parenthood; Arrest in London Knife Attack; Humanitarian Crisis in Aleppo; Is There Life on Other Planets. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 05, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The curtain is about to raise on the 31st Olympic Summer Games in Rio. Will the greatest sporting event on earth, though, be overshadowed by all the controversies and chaos?
VAUSE: Booing the Constitution. Trump supporters angered by protesters holding up pocket sized constitutions at one of his campaign rallies.
SIDNER: And presidential rant. Barack Obama insists the U.S. does not pay ransom for hostages saying a multimillion dollar payment to Iran was to settle a legal dispute.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Sara Sidner.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. The second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.
SIDNER: Our top story, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is less than 18 hours away.
VAUSE: Three billion viewers are expected to watch as more than 10,000 athletes live out their Olympic dreams. But no joy for dozens of Russian athletes. Olympic officials have cleared 271 Russians to compete.
SIDNER: More than 100 have been left out, so that's about 70 percent of the team Russia had originally planned. The other athletes were deemed ineligible after allegations of Russian state-sponsored doping.
VAUSE: CNN World Sports' Christina MacFarlane joins us now live from Rio.
So at least now we know what the competition will be. But this is a big blow for the Russians and in some ways also for the other athletes because they won't be competing against this full complement of Russians.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Yes, that's absolutely right, John. I mean, this has been a completely explosive day in the history of the Olympic Games on the eve of the opening ceremony. That final decision you read out from the IOC that only a third of Russia's athletes have been banned means that Russia now have fewer competitors than 11 other countries. But remember it couldn't have been worse. They came very close to a blanket ban some 12 days ago. So many Russians are in fact happy with this outcome.
Now our CNN senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, has more reaction now from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a proud moment for Russia with its national anthem playing on its Olympic team on Parade. The country's flag was finally raised in Rio.
Over the music a reporter for Russian state television told viewers back home hoped it wouldn't be the last time Russia would hear the anthem at these games. Amid its spectacular doping scandal Russia's hunger for medals is undimmed. But it was left to the country's Olympic chief to announce Russia's real victory. But the weeks of uncertainty and even calls for a blanket ban most Russian athletes would, after all, be allowed to compete.
ALEXANDER ZHUKOV, RUSSIAN OLYMPIC PRESIDENT (Through Translator): There is no team in this Olympic Games in Rio that has been checked so thoroughly as Russia has. Each and every sportsperson was checked and tested, and the international federation made the decision that they were negative. The huge amount of negative test results indicate a huge amount of athletes are completely clean.
CHANCE: But it's been difficult trying to convince its critics. Russia even opened up its secretive sports labs to us early this year from where it's accused of orchestrating the state-sponsored doping campaign. Hospitals have set up a commission to battle drug abuse in sport. But it was only at the 11th hour, on the eve of the Rio games, that Russians could breathe a sigh of relief.
"This victory shows that Russia is respected," says this man in Moscow. "And so is our strength."
"I'm sure we'll win lots of gold medals," say this woman.
(On camera): Well, the Kremlin has so far refused to comment on the latest Olympic developments, but there will be undoubtedly be relief behind these walls, too. It sees the Olympics as a way of projecting Russian power and prestige, and has criticized the doping allegations as a deliberate campaign to make Russia look bad.
(Voice-over): But for now Russia's athletes at least have that shadow of uncertainty lifted and can focus on preparing to compete and acknowledge the first Russian victory of these Rio games has already been won.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MACFARLANE: As we count down to the opening ceremony we're also anticipating more protests around Rio. Now already this week we've witnessed demonstrations like this one where riot police clashed with peaceful protesters -- you can see here -- during the Olympic torch relay on witness.
[01:05:06] Citizens were complaining that Brazil was spending billions of dollars on the games while it struggles to pay teachers and other public workers. The Olympic torch, I can tell you, passed by our live position here a short while ago on its way to its final stop at the Maracana for the opening ceremony on Friday night. Let's hope there are no more clashes like these scenes. You can see here.
Well, of course you can keep up to date with the latest out of Rio at CNN.com/Olympics. Our special Web site has the latest on the athletes, the venues and the competition. Again that's all on CNN.com/Olympics.
And later this hour join us for more updates on the games including a look at how giant apparel companies are spending big bucks to market their products. It's a little bit like battle of the brands, I guess. Back to you, Sara and John.
SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Christina. Thank you for joining us live from Rio de Janeiro.
VAUSE: The U.S. president says $400 million sent to Iran was not a ransom payment. Barack Obama says the cash transfer settled a decades old failed arms deal and was made public months ago.
SIDNER: That payment happened on the same day Tehran released four American prisoners and the nuclear deal was implemented.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran that we couldn't send them a check. And we could not wire the money. And it is not at all clear to me why is that cash as opposed to a check or a wire transfer has made this into a news story. Now maybe because it kind of feels like some spy novel or, you know, some -- you know, some crime novel because cash was exchanged. The reason cash was exchanged is because we don't have a banking relationship with Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Michael Hiltzik is here to talk politics with us. I'm trying to get that out. He is a columnist for the "L.A. Times" and the author of several books. Back again this hour, we appreciate you coming. Of course the headlines there, there are Republicans particularly who are saying that this was a payment for the hostages and that is illegal. Obama refuting that.
But Donald Trump has also made headlines when it comes to this. Here's what he said about the payment and what he has seen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And you know it was interesting because a tape was made, right? You saw that with the airplane coming in? Nice plane. And the airplane coming in and the money coming off, I guess, right? That was given to us, has to be, by the Iranians, and you know why the tape was given to us? Because they want to embarrass our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The only problem is that the video just doesn't exist, but Donald Trump has seen videos before that don't exist like thousands and thousands of Muslims celebrating on rooftops in New Jersey after 9/11. So this is not the first time, I'm saying, that this has happened.
MICHAEL HILTZIK, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST: Well, he's certainly emitting a cloud of ink like a squid. You know, he -- you heard him. He starts off telling his audience well, you saw that, didn't you? And of course they couldn't have seen it because there is no such thing.
VAUSE: He is watching "Ocean's 11" or something.
HILTZIK: Well --
(CROSSTALK)
HILTZIK: Nobody really knows what he's watching. Nobody can explain even what the tape is that he's claiming to have seen. But clearly it's fantasy and essentially he is dealing with a crowd of low information voters or spectators who are with him in his rally. He is addressing them. He thinks they are the voters. He thinks if he's got a big rally that means that he's winning and I think any experienced political expert will tell him, you know, what you see at the rally is really not what happens.
VAUSE: Mitt Romney got big rallies.
HILTZIK: At the ballot box. Absolutely. Mitt Romney got big rallies. John McCain --
VAUSE: Bernie Sanders.
HILTZIK: -- Sarah Palin. Right. They all got big rallies. It doesn't matter. But, you know, essentially Trump is playing to the gallery. He's -- he knows that the people who are in the room with him they don't know what's going on outside the room, and he doesn't really care that people who might be watching on the outside are seeing the chyrons that you're showing on CNN that say there is no such video. He doesn't really care. Maybe he's not aware of it. But even if he is, he doesn't care because that's not really what he is reacting to.
SIDNER: Right. But his campaign apparently -- someone at his campaign had told him that it was inaccurate and he repeated it a second time. Now let's talk about trust. Trust, a big issue for both candidates.
[01:10:03] Hillary Clinton, the issue with e-mails and what she will or will not admit. Here is what she said when she was asked about whether or not she received e-mails into her server.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Director Comey said that my answers were truthful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Talking about FBI Director Comey saying that her answers were truthful when indeed he did not say that. He said there were several e-mails that indeed should not have been in her personal server.
Is this a situation where people are looking at these two candidates and seeing them both say something that isn't true over and over again?
HILTZIK: Well, I think over time people will recognize that Trump is a serial liar. He is a pathological liar. Hillary Clinton is shading the truth maybe. But what Comey said -- actually said was that there was no evidence that she had lied to the FBI.
SIDNER: Right.
HILTZIK: She's changed that a little bit. She's sort of -- gave it some spin but, you know, if you look at the totality of the fact checkers who've looked at Trump and Clinton and all other candidates what they find is that the least truthful candidate in the field is Donald Trump and the most truthful is Hillary Clinton.
VAUSE: OK. There was a very funny moment at the campaign rally a day or two ago about Donald Trump, you know, abusing the baby. Let's have a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Don't worry about that baby. I love babies. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, I like it. Actually I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: OK. So that was -- in the middle of that there was something that was said that no one really reported on but quite important about foreign policy. Here's what he talked about in that part that most of the audience in America didn't see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When China devalues its currency they take our guts out. And they do it so often. They do it so often. They are constantly devaluing their currency. And they always wait until, like, it's a bad time like we have a problem with Iraq. We have a problem with Afghanistan. Every time we have like a big problem, they always devalue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Is he right?
VAUSE: Yes, what's the problem?
HILTZIK: Well -- no, he's not right. There are a couple of things that I think we should keep in mind about that clip. One is that he was beginning to talk about China and then he got distracted by the baby the first time around. He distracted himself and that's the way these rallies constantly go. He goes -- he starts to talk about something and then he veers off into a tangent. He had the opportunity because there was a squalling baby in the audience to start talking about the baby. But even if you look at, as I did, exactly what he said about China it's total fantasy.
There is no evidence that China is deliberately devaluing its currency to hurt the United States. In fact it would make no economic sense whatsoever. Nobody thinks they do that. China has all sorts of economic problems of its own that are exacerbated by too rapid a devaluation of its currency. And at the same time it makes sense economically -- there is reason to say that the Chinese yuan is in fact overvalued. But it's a very delicate process that China is trying to go through. And then all -- it all points to the fact that China is not the economic power house that Donald Trump paints it at. He is sort of using sound bites and images that have no relationship to reality.
SIDNER: Well, there's a lot of people who think he tells it like it is and he's been sort going on that.
Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
VAUSE: Thank you, Michael.
HILTZIK: Nice to be here.
VAUSE: In Portland, Maine, protesters held up pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution while Donald Trump was speaking on Thursday. And as usual at these Trump events, the protesters were quickly removed.
SIDNER: The demonstration was a reference to a high profile attack against Trump during the Democratic National Convention last week. And we all remember the father of the U.S. Muslim soldier who died in Iraq who wondered if Trump had ever read the Constitution and he offered him up a copy. After that the American Civil Liberties Union started giving away pocket constitutions. They are out of stock because of unprecedented demand.
VAUSE: Donald Trump's feud with the family of the late Captain Humayun Khan has been widely seen as one of the lowest point of his campaign. The parents of Captain Khan, a Muslim American soldier who died heroically in Iraq, appeared at the Democratic convention last week to speak out against Trump's anti-Muslim policies. But the Khans have also been criticized, albeit to a lesser degree. But there have been tough words from Dorothy Woods, the widow of Tyrone Woods who was killed trying to defend the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOROTHY WOODS, WIDOW OF TYRONE WOODS WHO DIED IN BENGHAZI: The way I see it is no one ever questioned Major Khan's sacrifice or his service or his death. He was rightfully given full military honors. You know, like my family, his family have lived under the benefit of American citizenship.
[01:15:04] And the second generation, Major Khan and myself, we have chosen to give back. I believe that Major Khan was an American first that day and that's very important. So my issue here is I believe that the Khans are only public because they are Muslim. And to me that sends the wrong message that they are more important than the rest of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Kris Paronto is a former Army Ranger. He was part of the CIA security team that responded to the Benghazi attack. He joins us now from Omaha, Nebraska.
Kris, thanks for being with us.
KRIS "TATTOO" PARONTO, BENGHAZI ATTACK SURVIVOR: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Where do you stand right now on all of this? Do you agree with Dorothy Woods?
PARONTO: You know, I served with Tyrone Woods, I was on the rooftops with him, I saw him die. So I actually have a personal experience watching a fallen soldier, a fallen SEAL die right in front of me. I do believe to the extent that there has been a double standard. I do believe Dorothy has every right to speak up. Every family does that has lost his son or a daughter or loved one in the line of fire. But the double standard stands that -- between Donald Trump saying that he has sacrificed more or trying to belittle -- it kind of came across that he was trying to belittle a religion, but there is also been a double standard on the other side where the Gold Star families have been called. That would be passing it. That will be Dorothy Woods. So the -- by his opponent Hillary Clinton.
So it's become a politicized issue here. And the Khans, what they're doing right now and this is what I don't agree with. I don't agree with them utilizing this on a political stage, trying to demonize a political candidate because right now what they are doing is you're giving -- you're ISIS, they're giving terrorist propaganda to recruit.
VAUSE: What about the point, though, that Khan's parents are simply trying to make the point that Muslims serve with honor and courage in the U.S. military. And that's why they are there because they feel as a group there's been this sort of blanket disparagement by Donald Trump.
PARONTO: You know, and that's where Donald Trump needs to reach out. Donald Trump needs to do something presidential. He needs to apologize. That's something that the other two candidates -- that's something that Hillary Clinton won't do. That's something that you've never Obama do. Do something. Be human. Be a beast. Be a leader. Get out there and say, you know what, I made a mistake, and he did. He shouldn't have said those things about the -- comparing his sacrifices to the Khans'.
And what I want to tell people and what I want the Khans to know from those of us that have served that I've served along Hindus, Native Americans, blacks, whites, Christians, Muslims, when we're there fighting there, we are soldiers first. And it makes no difference what ethnicity, what gender or what religion you are. When we're overseas, we're in this together. And that's what they need to realize, that we are not like that when we're fighting. We're all one unit and we're fighting against terrorists. And that's where the real enemy is.
VAUSE: If this has become a distraction then who gets the lion's share of the blame here? Because this could have been a one-day story.
(CROSSTALK)
PARONTO: You're right.
VAUSE: -- decided to let it go.
PARONTO: The media. The news media. I'll be honest with you. They just needed to stop.
VAUSE: Yes?
PARONTO: But I do think that Donald Trump could just -- again, and I think it'd be -- it'd work wonders for him in this situation just to go in and say, you know what, I made a -- I made a mistake. And try to reach out and apologize. I doubt the Khans will take it, but at least make that attempt and again that shows true leadership right there. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I will never -- I will never compare myself or the sacrifices I made to the sacrifices of soldiers down range because really there is no comparison. And I can say that from firsthand experience.
VAUSE: Kris, we'll leave it there. Thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.
PARONTO: Thank you, John. God bless you, bro.
SIDNER: Just ahead, Donald Trump's fight with the Khan family has voters concerned. We'll see how the feud is affecting his poll numbers and the race with Hillary Clinton.
VAUSE: Plus could Trump's gaffes be the next dream scream or Sarah Palin's disaster in the interview with Katie Couric? That's next on NEWSROOM L.A.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:22:55] VAUSE: Looking back at past U.S. presidential campaigns it becomes clear there are key moments which seem to define the candidates and not in a good way. Four years ago there was Republican Mitt Romney and his comment about the 47 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That played into the stereotype that Romney was an out-of- touch rich guy. Four years before that Republican vice presidential Sarah Palin struggled to answer a question about which newspapers she read.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE COURIC, JOURNALIST: What specifically, I'm curious, that you --
SARA H PALIN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.
COURIC: Can you name one?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news. Alaska isn't a foreign country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean never recovered from what was later dubbed the "I have a scream" speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico. We'll go to California and Texas and New York. We're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan, and then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In the second Clinton-Bush-Perot debate in 1991, there he was President George H.W. Bush checked his watch, giving the impression he was bored and out of touch. And Democrat Michael Dukakis in a tank wearing a helmet that made him look outright goofy. That cost him dearly in 1998 because it added to the narrative he was weak on national security. Donald Trump's fight with the family of a dead American war hero might
just be a similar moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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.
[01:25:03] You tell me but plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that.
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, built great structures. I've done -- I've had tremendous success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In recent days Trump's poll numbers have tumbled. First came a FOX News survey showing 69 percent believe he was out of line. His response was out of bounds. 19 percent approved of it.
SIDNER: Two new national polls show Hillary Clinton opening up a wide lead over Donald Trump. A McClatchy-Marist survey shows Clinton at 48 percent to Trump's 33 percent. And the latest NBC News-"Wall Street Journal" shows the Democrat with a nine point lead over her Republican rival.
And then there is Sarah Palin's mysterious absence from the Trump campaign. For months she was gushing about Donald Trump. And this was one of her last public appearances, though, it was back in May.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: So Trump came roaring in through this primary and he blew the lid off the corrupted and corroded machine. He was like a golden wrecking ball. He wrecked what needed to be wrecked in order to shine light on the shenanigans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But recently the former Republican vice presidential nominee has been MIA so too her own special brand of beat box poetry. But we have heard from her son-in-law. A former Marine and Medal of Honor recipient who tweeted this a few days ago, "If Donald Trump wants to be commander-in-chief he needs to act like one and that can't start until he apologizes to the Khans."
SIDNER: Coming up next on NEWSROOM L.A. sportswear companies turn the Rio Olympics into a battle of the brands. What's at stake? Coming up.
VAUSE: Also the Zika virus is forcing Brazilians to think twice about one of the biggest decisions of their lives. Details in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:38] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Sara Sidner.
The headlines at this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SIDNER: Mixed news for athletes from Russia. 271 Russians can compete in the Rio games. That is about 70 percent of the team that Russia originally entered into the games. The others were deemed ineligible because of alleged doping. VAUSE: Let's bring in Christina McFarland live once again in Rio.
Everyone is gets ready now. The curtain goes up. The opening ceremony, obviously this will have a Brazilian feel to it.
CHRISTINE MCFARLAND, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: So we believe, John, the opening ceremony of the games is hours away now. And we've heard that three billion people are expected to watch around the world. Officials say the ceremony will be heavy on history and the environment. Dancers from 12 samba schools will perform with 5,000 costumes on display. And Gisele Bundchen will be parading as the girl from Ipanema.
Brazil is hoping for a safe and secure summer games. Police are conducting safety drills to make sure that emergency teams are ready if needed and the other big headline out of Rio in the past few hours, 271 Russian athletes cleared to compete here in Rio. The 118 others are banned after allegations of Russian state-sponsored doping.
As the Olympics get underway it's not just the athletes who will be competing. The games are among the most watched sporting event on earth and the apparel giants are spending big to market their products.
Our Maggie Lake has more on the battle of the brands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marathon great Mo Farrah will go the distance. Kevin Durant is a slam dunk. And Carli Lloyd's goal is to win the gold. All will be competing at the Summer Olympics in Rio. And all are signed to Nike. Few companies have more riding on the success of the games than the sports apparel king.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nike made a significant investment to be the sponsor partner for the Rio games. Estimates between 25 and $40 million. It's going the boost their global visibility as any Olympic partnership would.
(SINGING) LAKE: It's not just superstars that Nike is promoting. This ad featuring female Indian athletes is an Internet hit wracking up three million views.
(SINGING)
LAKE: But Adidas is hot on Nike's heels. Upstart Under Armour is endorsing hundreds of Rio athletes.
New U.S. Olympic Committee rules allow smaller apparel firms greater marketing access to the games could benefit Under Armour greatly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to have a sponsorship with the gymnastics team and the soccer team. They stand to benefit the most from a market share perspective. Their sales are concentrated in North America. With the Olympics you have exposure to the rest of the world.
LAKE: Rory McIlroy, who signed a 10-year deal with Nike, is pulling out because of Zika fears, so is Jordan Spieth. And Stephan Curry is staying home because of knee problems. His shoe line is one of Under Armour's best performers.
This apparel rivalry will continue well past Rio. The next three Olympic Games are all in Asia, one of the big global markets for sports brands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any company whether Nike or under armor that takes the mantle of being the sponsoring partner of the games is going to see huge Benefit because it will have impact in the Asian marketplace.
LAKE: The apparel giants will be battling for the gold for years to come.
Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:35:21] MCFARLAND: We have heard how the fear of the Zika Virus is keeping athletes away from Rio. And for some would-be parents in Brazil, the virus has forced them to wait to have children.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on the precautions people are taking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All across Salvador, Brazil, rooms sit empty like this one, no sign of the child they hope to have.
(on camera): Is it tough to see this room empty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(SINGING) GUPTA (voice-over): They were high school sweethearts and children were always part of the plan. But late last year, Anna and Roberto decided the time was finally right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We were planning to get pregnant this year but because of Zika we decided to wait more. There isn't much we can do about it.
GUPTA: When a link between Zika and birth defects became clearer, the Brazilian government gave a stern and heart-breaking warning, don't get pregnant.
(on camera): These are the tanks?
DR. GENEVIEVE CUELLO (ph), FERTILITY DOCTOR: The eggs in the tanks that we keep the embryos, the eggs and the semen.
GUPTA: So Anna's embryos are in this tanks?
CUELLO (ph): Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Genevieve Cuello (ph) has been a fertility doctor in Salvador for 10 years. She first saw Anna a year ago for help with fertility but then Zika started to spread.
CUELLO (ph): I suggested freeze your embryos and later when there is a solution or a light at the end of the tunnel with all these things with the subsidy ka virus you can decide.
GUPTA: At a cost of $8,000 this is not an option for most of the population here where the average income is just a few hundred dollars a month and many don't have access to birth control.
For most people like Bruno and Vanessa, delaying is the only option. For the time being they are also living with an empty room.
(on camera): How long will you wait? What's next for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We hope with all the research it gets better in two or three years.
GUPTA: You can wait that long?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I will try. It has been really hard.
GUPTA (voice-over): It is difficult to imagine entire towns or countries with hardly any new babies for two years, hard to imagine the loss economically, socially, culturally, no babies crying or laughing.
In the meantime, rooms will stay empty, even as names are already chosen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): The child isn't born but she already has a name. The girl is going to be named Valenina. GUPTA (on camera): Do you have names picked out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
GUPTA: You are confident you will have a baby one day?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I'm so sure. I'm confident this home will have three people in here instead of two. It's just a matter of time.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Salvador, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCFARLAND: And I can tell you, John and Sara, that many people here, of course, taking precautions at the Olympics to wear a significant amount of bug spray over the Zika Virus. Let's hope that when the Olympics are over the virus won't be worse once the Olympics is gone.
VAUSE: Christina, we're waiting for the opening ceremony but this will be a different opening ceremony when the teams come out there will be the countries and a small team of refugees.
MCFARLAND: That's right, John. The first time in Olympic history, what we're going to see tonight is 10 refugee athletes come out representing their various countries, I should say. And we have heard in the past 24 hours the flag bearer for that refugee team is the 800 meter runner from south Sudan. What a special moment that will be for her and for the team in general. And it's really going to be a poignant moment after everything this week with the Russian doping scandal it will be an uplifting moment for the Olympic movement for everyone in that Maracana stadium.
VAUSE: Absolutely. This is what the Olympics should be doing putting a spotlight on the refugee crisis. And the pope has sent a letter of support to that refugee team.
Christina, thanks for being with us.
We'll take a short break. Britons are on edge after a stabbing attack in London. We'll have the latest on the investigation and also identification of who the victim was.
[01:40:02] SIDNER: Plus, food is running out and the Syrian city of Aleppo. Ahead, why people are mostly avoiding the humanitarian corridors the government announced.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: London police say the victim from Wednesday's stabbing attack was from the U.S. and traveling with her husband, a university professor.
SIDNER: She was identified as 64-year-old Darlene Horton. Police have a suspect in custody. They do not believe the 19 year old was motivated by terrorism. Here is senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This unfolded just a minute's walk from the site of the horrors of the July 7th bombings back in 2005, the underground station and, of course, aroused with it the terror that unfolded that night. It was against that backdrop that police raced to the scene in just five minutes.
But London's police now say they believe this to have been the work of a mentally disturbed individual. But for now the investigation continues but it bears all the hallmarks of a spontaneous attack that they do not believe that there is any evidence of radicalization.
So Londoners may take some solace in that, even as the words of London's police commissioner continue to ring in their ears. They have been ordered to stay calm and vigilant, because while this may not have been an act of terror, London police commissioner says it is a matter of when, not if, there will be more violence unfolding on these streets.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: The desperation in the once thriving city of Aleppo, Syria, is growing. Not only are battles raging but the most basic food items are nonexistence there.
VAUSE: The Syrian regime says it has established humanitarian corridors for residents to safely leave.
But as Arwa Damon reports, most in Aleppo do not believe those routes are safe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:45:10] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): What you see, that's all that's left in what was one of Aleppo's busiest markets. Children, somehow still managing to smile, peddle bags of salt. But gone are the brightly colored stacks of fruits and vegetables. Most basic food staples hard to find.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): For 11 days, we haven't had bread in the house. We come to the market and there is nothing to buy.
DAMON: The cost of tomatoes, if found, has quadrupled. Gasoline is a small fortune. Aleppo is being suffocated as the world watches.
The Syrian regime says it has opened humanitarian corridors to allow people to flee. State TV airing these images. But only a minute fraction of the 200 to 300,000 people living under siege are reported to have left and no aide has come in. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): These are imaginary
corridors, false corridors, only to show the international community they are work on humanitarian issues with the Russian side. Everyone who went there found out that they are very dangerous for crossing.
DAMON: The vast majority would rather risk the bombs than take a chance on trusting the government. And for many, fleeing their lands would be the ultimate defeat.
(EXPLOSION)
(SHOUTING)
DAMON: Attempts by rubble fighters to break the siege have resulted in some of the fiercest clashes to date. Even children are joining in, helping to burn tires to obscure the view of aircraft circling overhead.
(EXPLOSION)
DAMON: But this is a war with no boundaries, no mercy or ways to hide. Dark echoes of past atrocities the world swore never to allow again.
Aleppo is a test for humanity, the head of the U.N.-backed humanitarian task force for Syria told CNN. So far, it's a test humanity is failing.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Truer words have never been uttered.
Coming up, we humans have long wondered about our place in the universe. Is there alien life out there? The latest findings coming up.
VAUSE: Also the heart-warming story of a dog who can't wait to go for a walk.
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[01:51:27] VAUSE: It is the question we have been asking for a millennia, are we alone? Greek Philosophers started the discussion and scientists might have the answer. And, yes, we are probably alone. Scientists at Oxford have made the case that we humans might be the earliest intelligent life around.
SIDNER: They argue based on the age of the universe and conditions after the Big Bang. Life as we know it may have formed fairly recently. The lead author of the study says, if you ask, when is life most likely to emerge, you might naively say, now.
We're joined by Seth Shostake, via Skype, from Mountain View, California. He is a senior astronomer at the Seti Institute, which specializes in the search for extraterrestrial life.
I wish I would have known about this job when I was young. I would have loved to search out there to see if we were alone or not. How hard is it to try to prove whether there is indeed intelligent life out there?
DR. SETH SHOSTAK, SENIOR ASTRONOMER, SETI INSTITUTE: Well, put it this way, we haven't done it yet, I guess it's not an easy thing to prove. But the universe, as they like to say in the movies, is vast. And is there is a lot of real estate to check out. The fact that we haven't found anything so far doesn't really mean anything. It doesn't mean we're alone. It also doesn't mean we're the first kids on the block.
VAUSE: Seth, look at this study, it seems the most important thing they came up with is the unique nature of our sun.
SHOSTAK: Well, unique, I mean, something like one in 10 stars is a cousin of the sun. You know the same size and brightness. I don't know if that makes you unique. It's like having blue eyes in Illinois. I mean, most people probably don't have blue eyes but you're not that special if you do. But three-fourths of all stars are smaller than the sun. Stars are like animals really. There are more small ones than big ones, right? There are more small stars than relatively big one ones like the sun. The red dwarf stars are three- fourths of all stars. You might say so what? If you are looking at the galaxy, the fact there are so many of them and they are so small means they may in fact be the number-one habitat for extraterrestrial life.
SIDNER: Seth, we were looking at some of the areas where there have been sightings of what people thought was a UFO. Are you skeptical of the conclusion and the methods they are using to prove or disprove alien life?
SHOSTAK: In order to do that you have to look for it. It's like sitting around in 1700 in California wondering if there are in islands out there. You can sit around and have a lot of beer and discussion but unless you send ships out into the ocean you're never going to know. We don't know if there is life out there or not. Sightings are a different issue. One-third of the American public thinks that the aliens are out there, which is an opinion I share with them, but they think the aliens are here buzzing the countryside in their flight saucers. I don't think the evidence for that is very good at all.
VAUSE: OK. Seth, we appreciate you be with us. Appreciate the insight.
Obviously, we are the only alien life in the universe. And who built all the pyramids. That's what I want to know.
(LAUGHTER)
Seth, thank you for joining us.
SHOSTAK: OK. Thanks. SIDNER: Thank you, Seth.
[01:55:08] VAUSE: OK, a nice story to end the hour, a dog in Thailand has a new spring in his step, thanks to new prosthetic legs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's see you walk.
(BARKING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The video is from a dog foundation that shows Paulo taking his first steps.
SIDNER: It has been viewed more than seven million times on Facebook.
When Paulo was a puppy, his owner's neighbor hacked off his front legs with a sword after he chewed a pair of shoes. He was rescued in May and nursed back to health at a specialist clinic.
VAUSE: Still some good people in the world.
SIDNER: Lovely.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Sara Sidner.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
We'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
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[01:59:54] SIDNER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
VAUSE: Ahead this hour --
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