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Olympic Games Official Started; Mother And Son Compete Against Each Other For Olympic Gold. Aired 12-12:30a ET
Aired August 06, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, HOST: The eyes of the world are on Brazil. The Olympic spirit is alive with the cauldron ignited and the games officially started.
And a family bond on hold in Rio as a mother and her son compete against each other for Olympic gold.
Plus Donald Trump takes action to calm criticism of his campaign after another squabble with the Republican leadership.
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ALLEN: It's all ahead here on CNN Newsroom, thank you for joining us. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
Thank you again for joining us. The Olympic Summer Games in Rio are officially underway.
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ALLEN: Brazilian runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron a short time ago in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. The golden spirals around the cauldron represent life.
The spectacular opening ceremony featured dancers, acrobats, fireworks and Samba music. More than 11,000 athletes also thrilled the crowd marching country by country in the parade of nations. Hosts Brazil's team entered the stadium last. That's them right there.
Right before them came the Refugee Olympic team its members are from Syria, Ethiopia, the Democrat Republic of Condo and South Sudan. Also when paraded nations Russia's delegation Thursday Olympic officials announced that 271 Russian athletes can compete. More than 100 others are barred because of doping bans.
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ALLEN: Thousands of people flocked to downtown Rio to take in the opening ceremony. Shasta Darlington was there too. Here's her report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The excitement and the enthusiasm finally building around these Olympics. We have thousands packed in to this square in downtown Rio all here to watch the opening ceremony for free on giant screens.
Plenty of Brazilian flags but also American flags, Argentine flags in what have been really troubled Olympics up until now but you're beginning to feel that Olympic spirit. This is in fact one of the main legacies of these Olympic Games. This was an area that used to be a highway overpass literally blown up to create a cultural hub with museums, there's space for people to come and to hear music, to eat at food trucks and now enjoying it as the main fan zone or live site for the Olympic Games.
We expect to see people coming back here again and again enjoying not only the opening ceremony but the competitions. And this will be a real measure of whether or not Brazilians can begin to feel that Olympic spirit in a time when the country is in its second year of recession has seen terrible political chaos with the latest polls showing that in fact 2/3 of Brazilians think that these Olympics could bring more harm than good. It's this kind of a show that is finally beginning to lift the spirits.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
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ALLEN: Well as Shasta just said, there's been some people that haven't welcomed these game. The run-up to the ceremony has been filed with some drama and Friday had its share.
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ALLEN: Brazilian riot police using tear gas in Rio against protesters after a day-long demonstration. The mark even forced the Olympic torch to change course.
Earlier we spoke with our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh about that.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A small handful of a dedicated group I would say two to 3,000 protestors at their peak were marching towards that opening ceremony.
Now they grew in number, they moved through the lines that police tried to put in their way at times including police cavalry who seemed to try and stop their path. But eventually a decreased number got to a park where they unceremoniously burned the Brazilian flag.
Now the remnants of that flag was then wrapped around a cardboard baton and one of the guy's dressed in black, young men frankly mostly looked like they'd be looking for that kind of trouble most Friday nights ran off down the streets around the corner screaming that this was their own independent torch.
At that point the police moved to crack down on things significantly outnumbering the remaining protestors. Tear gas was used. At one point we saw some of the protesters being hit by sticks. It is unclear if they had in turn attacked the police first. But remarkable, frankly on a day where you should be seeing nothing but unmitigated jubilation in the streets of Rio that there are protests like this.
Not necessarily the one you were seeing there, a lot of the small black crowd there as I say probably were looking for this kind of trouble most nights if they could but it was the one down on Copacabana behind me in the earlier hours of the day much larger, much angrier, much more relaxed sense of the crowd there but their message much clearer and more determined in their fury.
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WALSH: At times they heckled and slowed down the government cars that went through their protest. Even Olympic officials as well furious at the government and furious as we've seen during the time here at how money that's been spent on the Olympic Games, those billions used to make this city sparkle have in fact ended up taking away from the budgets of things like hospitals and security and education.
This country already struggling through an awful recession seeing the limited funds that it has pumped into the Olympic Games here often with corruption investigations following the decision to invest in various infrastructure projects. A lot of darkness in the minds of Brazilians around these games. Two thirds of them I think feeling according to some polling like they're not particularly going to enjoy it themselves and that frustration we've seen on the streets right now.
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ALLEN: Nick Paton Walsh reporting there a short time ago on the day of protests in Rio. Within hours 12 gold medals will be awarded on what is officially known as day one of competition of the games.
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ALLEN: The first gold medal is in shooting; the women's 10 meter air rifle. China dominates that sport in world rankings. Three time Tour de France champion Chris Froome will try to win gold in the men's cycle road race. He's described the course as savage. It sounds tough. And swimming kicks off in the off in the evening with four gold medals on offer.
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ALLEN: It is the first day as we said of competition so the weather is important. Derek van Dam is following that. Chris Froome, I love that. If he's done the Tour de France -
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Savage.
ALLEN: And he calls this savage.
DAM: Yes, and he calls Rio Savage, wow OK, I do not want to test those hills with a bike, unbelievable.
You know I think the Olympic organizing committee must have had a meteorologist on speed dial when they organized this in the month of August. Because it is notoriously the driest time of the year in Rio and actually the coolest weather that they typically receive throughout the course of the year. So that's good news for all the athletes competing outdoors.
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DAM: Take a look at my graphic. This is what they are experiencing right now. Of course the Opening Ceremony just ending. The lighting of the torch if you were watching it you probably saw that there was no weather problems that's because it's clear outside. 21 degrees. Lovely weather. Temperature right where it should be this time of year and no problems with the winds as well.
Pretty casual forecast going forward. But we've got to get to the climatology here. But just so you understand what usually takes place in Brazil, or at least the state of Rio de Janeiro. You can see the rainfall totals would be highest right around January and February.
Remember if you're watching from the northern hemisphere it's summer time for us but if you're south of the equator of course its winter time throughout the month of August, well at least basically from June through August or June through September. So in Rio, we have our driest time of the year during this middle winter month. And you can see clearly on the forecast precipitation there is no cloud cover and no rain expected over the next two or three days so the start of the Olympics kicking off just perfectly in terms of the weather.
28 degrees that's the normal average temperature for this time of year and taking you through the first day of competition, this forecast will actually be right smack dab where we should be this time of year with temperatures actually a few degrees warmer than average. You can see a daytime high of 31 degrees.
What about the wind, competition of course impacted by wind, it should be a factor today being Saturday for this area. The humidity could be a concern though as it heats up throughout the course of the day especially with a coastal city you've got to keep that in mind. This forecast for tennis that is taking place outdoors starting today temperatures in the upper 20s. And we also have Olympic diving as well and several other sports including cycling and rowing taking place today.
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DAM: So, this is looking pretty decent with temperatures again right where they should be and wow, what a beautiful, beautiful city to be hosting the Olympics. I went there a couple years ago for New Year's Eve and I was flabbergasted at the beauty of Rio de Janeiro, what a spectacular place. I believe CNN has a bureau right there as well so not too shabby for those guys.
ALLEN: Sign up. All right, Derek thanks so much. DAM: You're welcome Natalie.
ALLEN: Well the Olympics of course are filled with stories of athletes who overcome incredible odds to be at these games. CNN Sumnima Udas introduces us to a rower who grew up in a dusty Indian village constantly hit with droughts. He says his Olympic quest means so much more than just a shot at gold.
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SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was once terrified of water. He had never seen so much water in his life. But life is strange sometimes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready?
UDAS: Call it irony or fate. 25-year-old Dattu Bhokanal is going from a drought-stricken village in western India to Rio de Janeiro. He's the only Indian rower qualify for the 2016 Olympics.
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DATTU BHOKANAL, ROWER: (As translated) When I think about how much my life has changed I just laugh. When they told me I'd qualified for the Olympics, I didn't even know what it meant.
UDAS: Dattu drew up in a small village in India's state of Maharasthra one of the worst affected by drought.
BHOKANAL: (As translated) My only dream was to become the best farmer in my village. I wanted to produce the best crop but the lack of water made it very difficult to survive as a farmer.
UDAS: He spent hours every day lugging water from village wells, every drop so precious. This is his home, and inside? He says he lives here with his entire family in this one room and a kitchen over there. He has no running water, no T.V., no refrigerator. This is life.
It's a life he long wanted to overcome. He joined the army, picking up a paddle for the first time in 2012 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Gearing up for the Olympics is no easy feat. Dattu has been going through some intense training, rowing up and down this 2,000 meter stretch and he's looking pretty good. Prioritizing performance over everything else Dattu's personal hardships back home only motivating him to push harder.
BHOKANAL: (As translated) I had so many problems at home. My father is dead. My mother is paralyzed. Our fields are dry, we're in debt. So I need to win to support my family and to have a better life.
UDAS: Rowing, himself, and his family out of poverty Dattu is aiming for gold in Rio. He knows it's a long shot but for his family and drought ridden village, in many ways, he's already won.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, Maharasthra, India.
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ALLEN: What a beautiful story and we'll be hearing more like that I am sure. But we'll be pulling for him in the rowing competition.
We turn to other news now. Police in France say at least 13 people are dead after an accidental explosion triggered a fire in a bar.
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ALLEN: It happened in Rouen, in Normandy, several other people were injured. Local media report a birthday party was taking place at the time and the victims were in their late teens and 20s.
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ALLEN: The Black Lives Matter movement staged protests in the United Kingdom Friday.
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ALLEN: The demonstrations marked five years since police in London shot and killed Mark Duggan, a black man. His death sparked riots across the capital and other British cities.
RACHEL WILLIAMS, STUDENT ACTIVIST: I think it resonates here in the United Kingdom because we have seen injustice here for so long. Since 1990 there have been over 1,500 people who have now died following a police contact. Some of the young people here in this park today wouldn't have seen justice for any single one of those black people in their time. So when it comes to that desire for justice, that need for justice then the pain that we feel here is very similar.
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ALLEN: An inquest in 2014 found Duggan was killed lawfully even though he did not have a gun when he was shot.
Israel has charged the director of World Vision in Gaza with funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.
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ALLEN: It says this man, Mohamed el Halabi sent the money to the militant group while working for the U.S. based aid organization. Israel claims he inflated the cost of humanitarian projects and sent the difference to Hamas. World Vision denies the allegations.
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ALLEN: The U.N. Refugee Agency says ISIS is capturing thousands of internally displayed Iraqis as they attempted to flee their northern villages for Kirkuk. They reported that 12 of those people were later killed.
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ALLEN: ISIS has been known to try to use so called IDPS as human shields. U.N. data says more than 4 million such people are in Iraq.
In Libya, troops loyal to the U.N. backed government are fighting to chase ISIS out of its stronghold city Sirte. The deserted ISIS outposts and flags left behind show the amount of ground the troops have won back. Commanders believe they have a few hundred ISIS militants surrounded at the center of the city.
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ALLEN: Donald Trump's about face.
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ALLEN: Next here why the U.S. Presidential candidate changed his mind about supporting candidates in his own party.
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ALLEN: After holding out for nearly a week, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump has now endorsed the country's highest ranking Republican.
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ALLEN: He had been at odds with fellow republicans after declining to support house speaker Paul Ryan in his re-election campaign. On Friday Trump reversed himself saying it's time to unite the party.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In our shared mission to make America great again, I support and endorse our speaker of the house, Paul Ryan. [ applause ] Paul Ryan, good, he's a good man. He's a good man and he's a good guy. And we may disagree on a couple of things but mostly we agree and we are going to get it done and we're going to do a lot of wonderful things.
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ALLEN: Trump reading his remarks there as he put his weight behind Paul Ryan. Trump also said he now supports Senator's John McCain and Kelly Ayotte in their primary races. He had refused to do that earlier this week as well.
His rival Hillary Clinton says she may have short circuited the answers about her e-mail controversy. She spent time Friday trying to clarify what she meant.
Suzanne Malveaux has that from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America is better than Donald Trump.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton laying into Donald Trump at a conference for black and Hispanic journalists in Washington.
CLINTON: We need to stand up as a country and say that Donald Trump doesn't represent who we are and what we believe.
MALVEAUX: Clinton was asked about her claim in a pair of recent interviews that FBI Director James Comey said her public answers about her e-mails were truthful. Here's what she told Fox News Sunday.
[CHRIS] FOX NEWS HOST: After a long investigation FBI Director James Comey said none of those things that you told the American public were true.
TRUMP: [Chris], that's not what I heard Director Comey say. And I thank you for giving me the opportunity to in my view clarify. Director Comey said that my answers were truthful and what I said is consistent with what I have told the American people.
MALVEAUX: That statement which she repeated in another interview Wednesday ruled false by fact checkers. Clinton tried to clarify those comments referring specifically to what Comey said about her FBI testimony.
CLINTON: I was pointing out in both of those instances that Director Comey had said that my answers in my FBI interview were truthful. That's really the bottom line here. I may have short circuited it and for that I will you know try to clarify because I think, you know (Chris Wallace) and I were probably talking past each other because of course he could only talk to what I had told the FBI and I appreciated that.
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MALVEAUX: Clinton addressed questions about her struggles with voters who do not see her as honest and trust worthy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you lead a nation where a majority of Americans mistrust you.
CLINTON: Every time I have done a job people have counted on me and trusted me. I take it seriously. You know it doesn't make me feel good when people say those things and I recognize that I have work to do.
MALVEAUX : As the Democrat nominee picked up another high profile endorsement. In a New York Times op ed former CIA Director, Mike Morel said he would be voting for Clinton in November and warned of Trump's impact on the world stage saying "Mr. Trump has no experience on national security. Even more important the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous commander-in-chief." Morel also slammed Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin saying "In the intelligence business we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
Nationally Clinton's lead over Trump continues to widen. An upswing helped perhaps by President Obama's rising job approval rating and a positive jobs report.
More good news for Hillary Clinton, a new poll out of Georgia showing that she is four points ahead of Trump of course within the margin of error but this is typically a red state. It is significant, this movement, this development. The last time that Georgia went for a Democratic nominee was bill Clinton back in 1992.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: The party that has ruled South Africa for 22 years faces its worst electoral defeat since the end of racial segregation under apartheid. Voters and local elections are showing their discontent with the African National Congress or the ANC, that's the party that Nelson Mandela helped build into a national power house. Our David McKenzie has more from Johannesburg.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The election results are a stinging rebuke for the ruling ANC. It's their worst showing for more than two decades in a Democratic South Africa.
The key issue here are the major metropolitan areas, three major cities the ANC was unable to get that majority to rule those cities outright. And most embarrassingly, they lost Nelson Mandela Bay to the opposition Democratic Alliance.
Nelson Mandela of course their most famous struggle icon. It's a different picture in the rural areas. The ANC is still an election juggernaut but many South Africans in the cities are angry at the level of income and equality and the sluggish economy. Youth unemployment is more than 50% in this country.
The ANC now faces tough questions after this election particularly about Jacob Zuma, the country's President. He's been wracked by a series of corruption scandals. Many people right now are blaming him in part for the loss.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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ALLEN: Like mother, like son.
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ALLEN: This year, an Olympic shooter has another reason to be proud. We'll have that story for you next.
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ALLEN: For many Olympic athletes training and competing can be a lonely pursuit. But for two shooters from Georgia it's a family affair. Here's Don Riddell with that story.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: When you're competing in your eighth Olympics one would think you have seen it all. Nino Salukvadze has been shooting at the games since 1998 first for the USSR and then Georgia after her country gained independence. She has won gold, silver, and bronze but this year it's something new, something historic. This year she is also competing with her son, Tsotne.
NINO SALUKVADZE, OLYMPIC SHOOTER: (As translated) This was my father's dream. But he was more planning for this dream to come true for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and we kind of did this beforehand. So it was a big surprise for him and this is his dream coming true more than ours.
RIDDELL: At the age of 18 this is Tsotne's first Olympics and it's already more than he could have imagined.
TSOTNE MACHAVARIANI, SHOOTER: It was very far goal for me. I thought that it was very difficult to achieve but when I grew up, now I realize every day that it's something that I can really achieve.
RIDDELL: Nino is well sued to making headlines. She took bronze in 2008 while back home her country was at war with Russia. She made a point of hugging the Russian silver medalist on the podium.
It is obviously your dream to come here and succeed again. It is every mother's dream to see her child succeed. If you had to choose between your personal success or your son's success and you could only have one, what would it be?
SALUKVADZE: (As translated) This is the first time in history of Georgia when two athletes acquired license for participating in the Olympic Games. And already it would have been a huge success for me and happiness and I'm more happy this is turned out to be my son. And of course I would be more happy with the success of my son.
RIDDELL: Is he too big to hug? Does she embarrass you?
MACHAVARIANI: Yes, because sometimes when I try to be cool and girls say she comes up and give me a hug and it's awkward you know.
RIDDELL: That's going to be hard in the Olympic village. You need your mom to give you some space.
MACHAVARIANI: Yes, but the Olympic village she's my coach, not really my mom.
RIDDELL: It's an athlete's job to compete of course but it's a mother's job to embarrass her son.
Don Riddell, CNN, Rio.
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ALLEN: How wonderful if they could stand on the podium together, we'll wait and see. Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom. Talk Asia is coming next and I'll be right back with our top stories. You're watching CNN.
