Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Russia to Appeal Ban on Paralympics Games Athletes; Trump Tries to Reset Campaign after Bad Week, Falling Poll Numbers; Japanese Emperor Delivers Rare Televised Speech; Philippines President Accuses Over 150 Officials of Drug Trade Ties; What Russia Is Saying about Trump; Syria Rebels Make Gains Against Syrian Government Siege of Aleppo; Turkey Willing to Use Death Penalty Against Coup Plotters; Fans Enjoy Rio Despite Bad Headlines. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 08, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[02:00:57] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I am George Howell, from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. NEWSROOM starts right now.

CHURCH: A triumphant return to the swimming pool. A pair of major upsets in tennis and a nasty accident in cycling. It was, indeed, a day of highs and lows at the Olympic Games.

HOWELL: We'll start with the highs. Michael Phelps leading Team USA to gold, wining his 23rd Olympic medal in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay.

CHURCH: In Tennis, world number-one Novak Djokovic was knocked out in the first round by Argentina.

HOWELL: And Dutch cyclists, Anamek Veutan (ph) is in intensive care after she crashed during the women's road race.

CHURCH: All of this as Russia is promising to appeal of a complete ban on its athletes to next week's Paralympics games.

"World Sport's" Christina McFarland joins us now from Rio with more on this.

It is extraordinary, this blanket ban we are seeing. How is it perceived in Rio?

CHRISTINA MCFARLAND, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Rosemary. It was a move that was met here today by many with some surprised but a lot of admiration for Philip Craven and the International Paralympics Committee for taking a stand. Remember, that's what many people felt that the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, failed to do when he announced he was going to allow 271 athletes to take part here in the Rio Olympic Games. One thing that Philip Craven said in that press conference earlier

today that he was going to do, that the IPC was going to do, was retest every sample from Sochi 2014. That's really interesting when you look at the numbers that came out to the Winter Olympic Games. Between 2010 and the Vancouver games and 2014 at Sochi, the Paralympics Russian athletes doubled their medal count by 50 percent. They went up by 38 medals to 80 in total. And when I sat down with Philip Craven today, he was extremely angry with the way the Russians conducted themselves and the way they manipulated the system. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIP CRAVEN, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPICS COMMITTEE: How could we come up with a different decision? I really want you to ask the IOC primarily. I think that on reflection, our membership structure is far more similar to that of an international federation. It has taken action against each member and we have done the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCFARLAND: Philip Craven talking about the fact as to why the IOC and the IPC could come to two totally different decisions. And as he was saying there, it all comes down to the structure. He said the IPC were more set up like an independent federation, like the IAAF, the athletic federation, whereas the IOC operated under different structures and subject to different rules of their own.

But as I say, many people backing the move from the IPC today and saying they backed with courage.

CHURCH: Well, let's turn to the positives now. And today, some of the highlights there, what's everyone talking about.

MCFARLAND: That's right, Rosemary. I am sorry to say that the Australians were leading the count in the medals today until the United States stepped in the pool a couple of hours ago. We had a dramatic moment with Michael Phelps, who was in the 4 x 100 relay. We were not sure if he's going to compete in this. It's a good thing he did. He stepped into that second leg when the USA were dragging behind the defending champions, France, and he pulled them ahead and the USA dominated the race and went onto win gold. It's Michael Phelps' 19th gold medals now and his 23rd overall. Just one of four other medals he could pick up at this Olympic Games. There is really is no stopping him. It is great seeing him at the pool. Remember he retired after the London 2012 games four years ago.

[02:05:28] The other major headline from the USA today in the pool was Katy Ledecky. She shot to fame as a 15 year old in London by taking the gold medal. She came out today, and lived up to her expectations, winning gold of her 100 meter freestyle in swimming. She smashed her own record in the process.

One other mention, we did have another world record in the pool today and it came courtesy of Adam Peacy, who won the first gold medal for Great Britain this evening in the men's 100 meter breast stroke, breaking his own world record twice in two days. That is some sort of record.

Just to mention as well, opening to tennis, there were some bad headlines for Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams. Djokovic crushing out of the first round in the men's tennis. It is the second time he's crashed out. He didn't seem to look himself in the court. When he came off the court, he was in floods of tears. Now we know he'll have to come out at 33 years old and attempt again to go for his first medal. Not good news for him. Not good news either for the Williams sisters. The three-time gold defending champions as well in the first round.

The other brief update I want to bring you, I don't know if you saw earlier today the women's road race. There was a terrible accident that happened about 10 kilometers from the finish. A Dutch cyclist who was in the lead went over her handlebars as she was coming down the steep decent and landed on her neck. It was gruesome to watch. She was knocked unconscious at the scene. We heard that she has been suffering from severe concussion and three fractures in her spine but she's stable. Some good news at least tonight on that.

CHURCH: Yeah, shocking imagery.

Christina McFarland joining us from in front of the Copacabana Beach. It is just after 3:00 in the morning in Rio. Many thanks to you. Let's talk again next hour.

HOWELL: With day two of the Olympic competition now on the books, now let's take a look at the medal standing so far. And it's a three-way tie for first between the United States, China and Australia with three gold medals each.

CHURCH: Italy, South Korea and Hungary round out the top six with two gold medals for each country. When it comes to total number of medals, the United States leaders with 12.

HOWELL: There are 14 gold medals up for grabs on Monday. Among the big events to watch, the women's 100 meter breast stroke. The of the Russia swimmers who fought her ban from the games and won is in contention for a medal.

CHURCH: The women's rugby competition concludes. And sailing with Rio's water conditions still a concern. The water is said to be contaminated with sewage and dangerous bacteria.

HOWELL: Of course, we'll keep up with all the highlights in Rio at our website. It has the latest on the athletes at CNN.com/Olympics.

Controversial baseball star, Alex Rodriguez, said he played his last game. The New York Yankees are releasing him but will be bringing him back as a special advisor. A-Rod, as he came to be known, was a three-time MVP in the early 2000s.

HOWELL: He's fourth on the all-time homeruns list. But his career has the same asterisk that many other greats from his era have, steroid use. Rodriguez says it was not easy calling it quits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX RODRIQUEZ, PRO BASEBALL PLAYER: No athletes ever end their career the way you want to. We all want to keep playing forever. But, it does not work that way. Accepting to end gracefully is part of being a professional athlete. Saying good-bye may be the hardest part of the job. That's what I am doing today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Japanese star, Ichiro Suzuki, joined A-Rod for an exclusive 3000-hit club on Sunday. Only 28 other players have ever reached that mark. And none of them has an additional 1300 or so hits from Korea overseas.

[02:10:15] HOWELL: Ichiro sets a new standard for Japanese players in the major league. He's a sure bet for the Hall of Fame. That is if he ever chooses to retire. But the 42-year-old says he wants to play until he's 50. So that could be a while.

America's choice, 2016, and a new week of campaigning in the United States with the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, trying to keep the focus now on the economy. He's set to deliver a policy speech in Detroit on Monday.

CHURCH: The latest poll shows Trump has an even bigger gap to close with Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. She has doubled her lead in the past month to 8 percentage points.

Trump, meanwhile, unleashed another personal attack on Clinton, questioning her mental health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Unstable Hillary Clinton. And you saw that. Did you see that where she basically short circuited? The people of this country don't want somebody that's going to short circuit up here. OK?

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Not as your president.

Remember, ISIS is looking, folks. This stuff is so amazing. It amazes me, actually. Honestly, I don't think she's all there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Donald Trump back on the attack there. Though Trump did not make any public appearances on Sunday, his surrogate certainly did. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that Clinton lied to the mother of a victim in Benghazi attack. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI, (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: She lied to a Gold Star mother. She liked to Patricia Smith, the mother of Shawn Smith, who was killed at Benghazi, I believe, because of her incompetence, her incompetence in failing to secure that mission. She lied to her on September 14th, 2012, right at the coffin. She said it was due to a video. So I think that's far more serious or at least it should get as much attention as all the attention that was paid to, you know, the comments that were made about the Khan family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The Republican governor of a key battleground state is not willing to endorse Donald Trump.

CHURCH: Former presidential candidate, John Kasich, did not attend the Republican convention, which was held in his home state. He spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: Paul Manafort said you were embarrassing your state of Ohio when you skipped the convention in Cleveland. You talked about the pressure you felt, people telling you needed to go, you needed to endorse. Were there back-channel efforts to get you to come to the convention? And who put the --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, not really.

TAPPER: Who put the pressure on you? Who put the pressure on you?

KASICH: No, no, no. I mean, people would call, who were long-time friends of mine, and say, you know, you need to do this for yourself.

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: First, you need to support the party. And secondly, don't give the impression that you're a Clinton supporter. That's just kind of this thing, you know. Well, let me be clear. I'm not, OK. I see four years of gridlock with her, total gridlock and meltdown in economics. OK. So that's one thing.

TAPPER: What do you see now?

KASICH: Pressure -- well, I see gridlock there, too.

TAPPER: Were you surprise when Donald Trump declined to endorse Speaker Ryan, Senator McCain and Senator Ayotte?

KASICH: Well, yeah, I thought it was a little bizarre.

TAPPER: Your nominee for president, Republican presidential nominee, says John McCain is not a hero. He prefers people who weren't captured. KASICH: Yeah. Well, I don't agree with that. OK? I think John McCain is a hero.

Look, Jake, here's the thing. All throughout this, anybody can say, OK, Trump said this, you say that. Why don't you slug him over the head? Look, my actions have spoken louder than any words.

TAPPER: Your refusal to endorse him?

KASICH: And think about this. I want to know when anybody had a convention in their state when they were the governor who didn't go in the convention hall. I mean, some people are really furious with me about that. But I did what I thought I needed to do. And you know what? I never went in that hall to promote myself. Believe it or not, I wanted to show respect to the nominee. And my going up and disrupting his deal was not my -- what I intended to do.

TAPPER: Can Trump win Ohio?

KASICH: He is going to win parts of Ohio where people are really hurting. There will be sections he will win because people are angry, frustrated and haven't heard any answers. But I still think it's difficult if you are dividing to be able to win in Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:15:07] HOWELL: Very well insightful interview. John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, speaking with to our Jake Tapper.

Later in the program, we'll have closer look at what Donald Trump has said about Russian's Vladimir Putin and now Russian reporters view the possibility of a Trump presidency.

CHURCH: In the U.S., the young son of a Kansas state legislator has been killed on the world's tallest water slide. It happened at the Schlitterbahm Water Park in Kansas City on Sunday. The park has confirmed the death but released no other details. It is closed while authorities investigate.

HOWELL: The victim, Caleb Thomas Schwab, was the son of Kansas Representative Scott Schwab. The family released a statement saying, quote, "Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and to all those that came in contact with him."

CHURCH: We'll take a short break. Still to come, Japan's emperor will give a rare public address soon. We'll go to Tokyo for the latest on what he might say.

HOWELL: Southern Mexico gets hit by the leftovers of a tropical storm. Just ahead, what's next for those people in the area.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:20:09] Japanese Emperor Akihito has just delivered a rare televised speech. It is extremely uncommon for the emperor to address the nation.

Our Will Ripley is joining us now from more than Tokyo.

Will, it appears he did not say what a lot of people thought he would say. Talk to us about what he expressed in his address.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nobody was expecting the emperor to say the world "abdicate" in this speech today, Rosemary, at least people knowledgeable about the way the process works here in Japan. By law, post World War II, the emperor, who used to have absolute power in this country, does not have power over the legislative process. He is a ceremonial figure, a symbol of unity in this country, who, according to the current imperial household law, has to serve as the emperor until the day he dies. But what the emperor did do what he gave a strong indication of his desire to abdicate and step down, talking about his health, the two surgeries he had, heart surgery and cancer surgery, his advancing age. So he did communicate it essentially in a very Japanese way. In this culture, sometimes you might say something but you don't come out and say it. That's what we heard the emperor do. He spoke around the issue but his point was very clear. Listen to a portion of the speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAPANESE EMPEROR AKIHITO (through translation): I am older of 80 years now and sometimes feel very time of limitation due to physical weakness. During the past several years, I have thought over the path I have taken as the emperor and come to think about the desirable role for me to take and duties to fulfill in the future. Today, I would like to talk about the things I have thought so far as an emperor without mentioning specific issues related to the present imperial system. As aging of the population advances, the emperor also becomes old. In such a situation, what is the ideal role shall the emperor, play?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: So that's as about as strongly worded as the emperor could say to send a message to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Japanese parliament that he's getting older and tired and he has already cut the number of public meetings every year by 100, from 250 to 150. He still has to take dozens of trips in and out of Japan. He and his wife, he's 82, she's 81, they are implying they are getting tired and think it may serve the country better to change the law, allow him to step down and allow his son, Crown Prince Narushto, to take his place -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: He's a very popular emperor there in Japan.

Will Ripley, it is 3:22 in the afternoon, many thanks to you.

George? HOWELL: Thailand has voted to approve a draft constitution that could give the military more power. Early results from the country's election commission show more than 60 percent of Thai voters are backing the charter. Some see the constitution as a way to legitimize the military's rule after its coup in 2014. The official results of that vote will be declared on Wednesday.

In the Philippines, lawmakers, police and even judges linked drugs have been given 24 hours to turn themselves in or be hunted down. That count down coming from the Philippine president who, on Sunday, accused more 150 officials of ties to the drug trade.

For more, let's go our international correspondent, Ivan Watson, live for us in Hong Kong.

Ivan, President Duterte's order for public servants to turn themselves in, it is extraordinary but not really surprising. He threatened to crack down even before he was elected. How is this all being received?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a big part of his election campaign. Now, on Sunday, he came out and gave this speech and he listed at least 150 officials that he -- some of them had since stepped down from their jobs -- that is he accused of being involved in the illegal drug trade. Take a listen to this exert from his speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: I would like to just give you advice. Once you hear your name mentioned here, you are now relieved of your present assignment. Report to the PNP within 24 hours or I will order the entire armed forces and the police to hunt for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:25:13] WATSON: So tough talk there from the new Philippines president. He's known for this kind of rhetoric.

The police told us, the spokesperson of the Philippines national police told, us, as of noon on Monday, at least 18 mayors and 31 police officials had surrendered. But there seemed to be some holes in some of the accusations the president made. CNN Philippines reporting that at least one of the judges he listed had been dead for eight years. There are other questions here as well, George. No evidence was offered behind these accusations so you have some human rights groups and organizations that are saying what was done is effectively unconstitutional, specifically when it comes to separation of powers. The executive branch of government in the Philippine, the president does not have the right to order a judge, who is party of the judiciary, to turn himself in. Those are raising some big questions about the manner of the Philippine's president war on drug -- George?

HOWELL: Ivan, if we can push further on that, talk to us about the wider war on drugs and how the president's order come to the midst of his violent drug crack down.

WATSON: This is incredible. The Philippines police are reporting that in the time in the month and a half since Duterte was inaugurated and began his war on drugs, there's been 420 suspects killed in shoot outs with the Philippines national police.

I want to point towards one series of iconic photos -- and I have to warn you that it shows a dead man, so you may want to turn away if this is uncomfortable. This is one of the examples of a suspect killed, with a sign left next to his body accusing him of being a suspected drug dealer and his wife embracing this man who was shot dead in the streets last week. There's also been reports of hundreds of extra judicial killings involving people suspected of being involved in the drug trade. This has gotten human rights organization up in arms about lack of due process because Duterte has been urging the police to shoot to kill if anybody resists arrest. One final element here, George, we are seeing this remarkable images from clearly an overcrowded prison in Manila as police are rounding up thousand of suspects and this raises question whether the judicial system has the capacity to take in the thousands of additional people that are being rounded up as part of this war on drugs led by the president himself -- George?

HOWELL: A lot to talk about there.

2:27 in the evening there in Hong Kong. Our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, live for us. Ivan, thank you so much for your reporting.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, it is a new week of the U.S. presidential campaign trail. Coming up, a look at how Russian reporters view the Republican contender.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:33] CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all across the globe. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell, with the headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

HOWELL: U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, will kick off a new week of campaigning with a focus on the economy now. He is set to address the Detroit Economic Club on Monday.

CHURCH: The former acting director of the CIA says he would trust Democrat Hillary Clinton with national security.

HOWELL: But he says Russian President Vladimir Putin is manipulating Trump. Michael Morell has called Trump an unwitting agent of Putin. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL MORELL, FORMER CIA ACTING DIRECTOR: Look at it from Putin's perspective, right? He's a trained intelligence officer, worked for the KGB, very talented, manipulated people much smarter than Donald Trump. He played this perfectly. He saw that Donald Trump wanted to be complimented. He complimented him. That led Donald Trump to then compliment Vladimir Putin and to defend Vladimir Putin's actions in a number of places around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now Trump often lashes out at the U.S. media, blaming them for the turmoil surrounding his campaign.

HOWELL: But as our Matthew Chance reports, Russian reporters seem to have a very different take on the Republican presidential candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is he really the Kremlin's candidate? Certainly Russian state television is loaded with positive coverage of the Donald.

UNIDENTIFIED RUSSIAN NEWS ANCHOR: Eccentric Donald Trump.

CHANCE: This TV news anchor explains that Trump's just an eccentric billionaire who wants to make America great and normalize relations with Russia.

He is often painted here as a brave political maverick, who shares Russian concerns over American foreign policy, and is willing to find common language with Russia's President Putin, whom he has praised.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED POLITICAL ANALYST (through translation): Between Hillary and Trump, Trump is the only one who sounds friendly. So maybe we can hope that he will be more friendly and more positive for -- towards Russia.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: And by the way, wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia? Wouldn't that be nice?

(CHEERING)

CHANCE: Much of what Trump says about Russia has left U.S. allies aghast, but finds a welcoming audience in Moscow.

(on camera): Donald Trump's own foreign policy pronouncements have won him plenty of friends here in Russia. His recent suggestion that he wouldn't necessarily defend NATO allies in the event of a Russian attack raised eyebrows both in the U.S. and here. And his has vowed to look again at looking at annexed Crimea as part of Russia must have put a smile on the faces of many Kremlin supporters. (voice-over): Of course, not everyone in Russia thinks Trump is their

best bet. Some political analyst says he is Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, would benefit the Kremlin even more. At least she is predictable, they say, in her tough Russian stance.

But it's the unpredictability of Trump that may have most endeared him to the Kremlin-controlled media.

[02:35:24] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will either be more inclined to do a deal with the Kremlin, or he will mess up life in the White House and on Capitol Hill so much by his erratic behavior that the American political class, the American system will be in permanent crisis. That is what actually Russia wants.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

CHANCE: He may not be the Kremlin's man, in other words. But he might prove a useful distraction from what the Kremlin does.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are hearing reporting that rebels in Syria have made a significant gain in their fight to break the government siege of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says anti-government forces on Saturday successfully punched open a corridor in a western corner of the city.

But as John Jenson reports, the Syrian government tells a different story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON JENSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are competing claims as to whether rebel forces managed to break the government siege on Syria's second city. Rebel fighters said they punched through over the weekend in an assault on the southwestern corner of the city. Fighters posted video reportedly showing the moment they broke through, meeting up with fellow rebels inside Aleppo. By all accounts, the battle was fierce. There was heavy shelling by both sides. The rebel's goal, to resupply eastern Aleppo, whose 250,000 residents have been encircled by government forces since last month. The U.N. has warned of a humanitarian disaster as the Syrian government's grip on the city's food and medical supplies tightens.

(GUNFIRE)

JENSEN: Some residents took to the streets in celebration of the apparent rebel win, but Syrian state media deny the siege had been broken, claiming that loyalist groups have held the rebel advance.

Elsewhere in Aleppo Province, another significant battle raged in the city of Manbij. Syrian Democratic forces, made up of Kurdish and Arab militaries backed by the U.S., swept through the ISIS-held city. They were trying to capture the town and eventually nearby 60 mile, roughly 100 kilometers strip of land along the Turkish border. It's an area the Americans believe ISIS uses to resupply both man and material into and out of Syria. The SDF claimed to hold most of Manbij but there were still reports of intense fighting.

Two significant battles in Syria over the weekend, both still simmering, and proving that this war, now in its fifth year, is far from over.

Jon Jensen, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Jon, thank you.

A bizarre story of nuclear espionage has come to a deadly end. Iran has executed a nuclear scientist accused of spying for the United States.

CHURCH: Shiran Amiri (ph) disappeared on a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2009, resurfacing in the U.S. in 2010 to complain he was kidnapped by the CIA and forced to divulge information. U.S. officials at the time said he defected voluntarily. You can see him here making his return to Iran in 2010 before the government arrested him for treason.

HOWELL: Now to Turkey where the president there says the coup plotters who tried to overthrow the government last month could pay the ultimate price. He spoke Sunday to a crowd of more than one million at a unity it rally in Istanbul.

CHURCH: Recep Tayyip Erdogan told them he's willing to use the death penalty if parliament approves it.

CNN's Arwa Damon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is quite the rally to say the least. Authorities had been expecting around 3.5 million people. It is absolutely packed with individuals beginning to come as early as 9:00 in the morning. And this is also unprecedented when it comes to Turkey's divisive politics because this is not just a rally being held by the ruling party, the AKP, and by President Erdogan's supporters. You also have Turkey's two main opposition groups, leaders and supporters who are here as well, the MHP (ph) and the THP (ph). Not invited is the HDP (ph) that the current government views as being too close, too affiliated with the PKK that the government accuses of being a terrorist organization.

[02:39:58] Still the messages we have been hearing from the various leaders have been quite clear. They have been thanking the Turkish population for standing up not for an individual political party, but for the concept of democracy itself.

The president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, coming out and repeatedly thanking people for heeding his call to stand in the face of tanks, of the guns. It is arguably his ability to rally the masses that allowed his government to stay in power, that preserved Turkey's democracy. No matter what a Turk may feel towards their government and its leadership, there's consensus on that one fact, that Turkey cannot return to an era of military coups, that it must maintain its democracy.

President Erdogan also coming out and pledging that if parliament approves the death penalty, he would as well. Turkey had come quite a lot of criticism for how it has handled the post coup weeks because of these massive sweeps that have taken place. Tens of thousands of individuals detained or suspended with in the military, the education sectors, hospitals and the media. Turkey said it had to do this because the Gulen movement that it says was behind this failed coup had infiltrated all these various institutions.

Then there is the issue of the movement's leader, the cleric himself in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen. And Turkey wants to see the U.S. take him into custody and eventually have him extradited.

How the U.S. reacts to this will be definitive of America and Turkish friendships going forward. But at this moment in time, we're seeing this arguably unprecedented level of Turkish unity being demonstrated here, unity behind the fact that Turkey must remain a democracy.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, Macedonia declares a crisis after storms dump more rain in a day than people usually see in a month. That story, just ahead.

HOWELL: Plus, hear how fans attending the Olympic Games in Rio feel about all the negative headlines surrounding that event.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:44] CHURCH: In Mexico landslides triggered by the remnants of Tropical Storm Earl have killed at least 40 people. The storm was downgraded after hitting Mexico as a hurricane over the weekend.

HOWELL: The National Hurricane Center says an additional two to four inches are expected overnight in parts of southern Mexico.

CHURCH: Macedonia is observing a national day of mourning after deadly and devastating storms in the city of Skopje and surrounding areas.

HOWELL: Workers are trying to assess the damage caused by flash floods.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin has details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Please call someone, why, why," a woman screams. The haunting sound of loss. Not far away, a body lies covered on a road. State media says at least 21 died in Macedonia over the weekend. Saturday night torrential rain triggered deadly flash flooding. In some places, more than three times the amount of rain expected in a normal month. As the injured made their way to the muddied waters to safety, others fled by the truckload. Sunday morning, a survey of the devastation. A section of the capitol's ring road flooded, cars pushed into nearby fields, entire homes submerged, dozens of injured treated in hospital.

Some blame a lack of infrastructure for much of the devastation. One expert blogged the cause of the flash floods was "The excessive amount of asphalt and concrete at the expense of soil and vegetation resulted in the concentration and slow leakage of water. This was compounded by the lack of capacity by the sewer system, especially in critical places."

As residents tried to clean up, authorities struggled to respond. Reports of equipment shortages and slow response times. With more bad weather in the forecast, people are bracing for what happens next.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: It's so unfortunate to see what people are dealing with there in Macedonia.

CHURCH: Horrifying.

HOWELL: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here with more.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Guys, the amount of rainfall there is not actually a tremendous amount. It's the area that is not accustomed to see this rainfall. So India or a tropical area like Florida where you get deluge of rain fall that comes done, it's common to see this much rainfall. But it's part of the reason we saw such damage take place. You look at Skopje in particular, they get on an average month, the month of August, 27 millimeters. That's an inch of rainfall that comes down. What we saw on Sunday alone, tripling that. In excess of 93 millimeters coming down in that particular region in just a matter of a few hours. That's over 340 percent of what is considered normal. You look at vehicles like this again, images we see over and over again in a tropical area where you see a lot of rainfall and flooding, this particular region is not accustomed to it. When talk about a lot of asphalt, the run off becomes a major issue. Notice the models bring in more heavy rainfall. See the thunderstorms right there south of Skopje, that means the storms are parked in place and will continue to do what they have done over the last couple days. The intensity shifts away from the areas hardest hit.

Now, this is out of southern Mexico. We have had major damage left in place and also fatalities about what's happened with Earl and what's left of it. That disturbance has moved over portions to the western area of Mexico and reformed into a new tropical feature. This one at this point 85 kilometer per hour winds. A strong tropical storm. By this time tomorrow night, we think landfall around Cabo St. Lucas as a category 1 hurricane. Then it works up the coast. Could bring rainfall towards southern California over the next few days as we head closer to the weekend.

Look at what's happening across the southern United States. A slow- moving system. It has the potential to be the most destructive across the U.S. in a very long time. We have a frontal boundary lined up in place. It is not a tropical storm or a hurricane, but look at the rainfall amounts projected in the region. The purple areas indicate north of 10 inches of rainfall possible from areas of from Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee. The Florida Panhandle region could see at least 10 inches of rainfall in the next five days. Potential for greater amounts because of the storm system losing any sort of characteristics to move out of the region. So similar to what you'd see with a landfall in a tropical feature, which we haven't had one, fortunately, but this could produce similar amounts of rainfall. So we'll follow that.

[02:50:21] CHURCH: Thanks so much, Pedram. Appreciate it.

HOWELL: Pedram, thank you.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

HOWELL: Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, the Olympics are in full swing and so are the fans. But why bad headlines are not stopping them from having a good time out there.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: We were just talking about the view in Rio. It's a beautiful view in that city. But these games have been plagued by concerns about Zika, security and polluted waters.

CHURCH: "World Sport's" Don Riddell visited the Olympic Park to find out if the fans are enjoying themselves despite it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR (voice-over): The sun is out, the medals are flowing, the world records are tumbling. The Rio Olympics are well under way. The fans here are having a great time.

(MUSIC)

[02:55:07]RIDDELL (on camera): How would you describe the atmosphere around here that you have experienced so far? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been electric. It's very nice. It's hot,

but today we happen to have a wonderful day. Everyone is enthusiastic about their country. So we're excited to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having all these countries here, the opening events was also very beautiful. So seeing a lot of people from different countries, different cultures here is something that we don't usually see.

RIDDELL: How does it feel to be a parent of an Olympian competing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unbelievable. It's really a dream come true for us. And for us to live that dream with them, it's been an amazing experience.

(MUSIC)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIDDELL: Very nice.

(LAUGHTER)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Fantastic. They didn't seem worried about a thing, do they?

HOWELL: Looks like they are having a good time.

(LAUGHTER)

CHURCH: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell.

We'll be right back after the break with more news from around the world. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)