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U.S, Swimmers Questioned by Brazil Authorities over Robbery Story; Massive Wildfires in Southern California; Photo of Wounded Syrian Boy Goes Viral; Major Shake-Up in Trump Campaign; Bombing in Eastern Turkey Examined; North Korea to Continue Nuclear and Missile Activities. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 18, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Trouble in Brazil. Two U.S. swimmers pulled off a flight and ordered to stay in the country amid their robbery claims.
Out of control, a fast moving wildfire threatens more than 30,000 homes near Los Angeles. Authorities say they have never seen anything like it before.
And heartbreak and fear. The story behind this picture of a wounded boy in Syria that's gone viral.
Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN Newsroom.
We have new developments in a story that keeps taking more bizarre turns. A lawyer for two U.S. swimmers say they've been ordered to stay in Brazil until they talk to police about their report of being robbed at gun point.
Brazilian authorities have released the men after pulling them off their U.S.-bound flight and questioning them. A group of four U.S. swimmers claim that people dressed as Brazilian police officers robbed them Sunday morning.
One of the swimmers involved now has a bit of a different story. And our Christina Macfarlane is live in Rio with the latest on what has become a growing scandal.
So, Christina, what more are we learning about this really bizarre story of the U.S. swimmers and what's the possible fallout from this?
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Rosemary, it's a confusing picture here tonight. And an evolving one, as well. Let's get you caught up on what we know on this situation here this evening.
As you mentioned, two of the swimmers Jack Congen and Gunnar Bentz are removed from their flights to the United States this evening. Now earlier on Wednesday, the police visited the village to question Lochte and fellow swimmer Jimmy Feigen and to collect their passport. Now Lochte wasn't there. The U.S. Olympic Committee told CNN that the
swim team had actually moved out of the village after their competition ended.
Now his attorney told CNN that Lochte left Brazil on Monday and is now back in the United States, adding that the swimmer still stands by the information that he provided to police just a few days ago.
Now, later on Wednesday, Lochte's original story seemed to have changed. He told NBC's Matt Lauer that they were never pulled over, but had stopped at a gas station when they were ambushed. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT LAUER, NBC ANCHOR: When he talked to me tonight, he said "that's when the guy pointed the gun in my direction and cocked it." And I pointedly said to him, you had said before, it was placed on your forehead and cocked. He said, "no, that's not exactly what happened."
And I think he feels it was more of a traumatic mischaracterization. I think people listening at home might feel that was embellishment at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Now, the Daily Mail obtained this video of the swimmers - have a look at it now - appearing to show them getting back to the Olympic village hours after the alleged robbery. The judge in the case noted that they didn't seem to be shaken, and that they were making jokes of the situation, but I guess that point may be open to interpretation.
And as you can see, the men also still in possession of high value belongings that you'd expect to have been stolen during a robbery. And you just felt, Rosemary, that all of this might have been a distraction to the athletes here in Rio.
But it doesn't seem to be the case. We spoke to a U.S. athlete just earlier this afternoon who claims to be close to Lochte. And he said he'd been trying to contact him. He haven't heard from him but he did say that many of the U.S. athletes are just wanting to focus on their competition and not get distracted by all the drama around this.
And that seems to be the case on Wednesday that this hasn't really had any impact. We saw a clean sweep for the women's 100 meter hurdles for the United States, gold, silver and bronze, and we saw in the women's long jump, they took gold and silver in that event, as well.
So, so far, it doesn't seem to be having much of an impact here where the performers are concerned.
CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. But, of course, the Brazilian authorities want to sort this out because of their reputation. Here in the days ahead, we will learn much more on this. But another big night for Jamaican runners. Usain Bolt winning the
men's 200-meter semifinals and doing it with ease. How did that play out and what's ahead for him?
MACFARLANE: Yes, Rosemary, Usain Bolt seems to be having far too much fun at these Olympic Games. He cruised to victory in the men's 200- meter semifinal tonight, laughing as he crossed the line and even joking with the Canadian Andre De Grasse as he finished in second position.
And it gives us a bit of a hint of what to come on Thursday night. Of course we've got the final and the fact that Usain Bolt, we all know he wants to break the world record, his world record that he set in 2008. That's a time of 19.19 seconds.
In fact, he wants to go sub-19 seconds. And his hopes were -- of doing so were absolutely boosted today because two of his great rivals, Justin Gatlin, you remember from the 100 meters from the United States, well, he didn't qualify.
[03:05:06] And Yohan Blake, his teammate, from the Jamaica team didn't qualify, either. So, I think it's potentially going to be on the cards later today.
But, you know, he's going to have to keep up, because his teammate on the Jamaican team, Elaine Thompson, well, she won the 200 meters tonight and that adds to her 100-meter gold, as well. So, two golds for her. Usain Bolt. Over to you.
CHURCH: Yes. And what a day for Jamaica though, right? And what about that historic clean sweep, gold, silver and bronze for the U.S. team, the 100 meters hurdles. What an impressive show that was.
MACFARLANE: Yes, wasn't it? An Olympic first, in fact. And the first time that three U.S. women have swept the medals in any Olympic event. And they did so in style. It was Brianna Rollins who take -- who took gold. And Nia Ali came in silver and Kristi Castlin taking the bronze.
All of them celebrating on the line together. And Castlin saying afterwards that it was the exploits of Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky that inspired them to go out and do their job tonight and that they certainly did. Fantastic pictures of their posing with the U.S. flag.
CHURCH: Yes. That's a real Kodak moment, that one. All right. Thanks so much, Christina Macfarlane joining us there live from Rio. Many thanks to you.
Well, more than 1300 firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in Southern California. The Blue Cut fire, as it's called, erupted Tuesday and in just a day exploded across more than 12,000 hectares.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is in San Bernardino County where crews are desperately trying to get the flames under control.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This Blue Cut fire has been an erratic blaze for firefighters to battle. That's because with the winds coming in, it is burning in multiple directions and it also has plenty of fuel as this is a really dry parched part of California as we've been under drought conditions for several years now.
We were talking to one fire official who was talking about the danger, as well, of this power lines that are out here. Listen to what he had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those power lines are called KV lines and it's a huge concern for us. They have a high amount of electricity. Hundreds of thousands of volts in those KV lines and it impacts our aircraft, it makes it unsafe for our aircraft to fly above them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And those embers are really a big concern because those spot fires can blow up into new branches of this fire and that is what they are concerned about. Thousands of people remain under evacuations, mandatory evacuations. They are fighting this fire from the sky.
Also, hand crews are out there as well as bulldozers to try ask battle this blaze. But let me just show you what something that this fire has done. Take a look at this right here. This is a school bus where the fire has already run through. Unbelievable the damage, how the wheels have been burned off, the glass broken out all by blaze here.
And this you can see in this community here, a little rural community, but obviously very devastating for the people who live here to see so much of what they own burned up and destroyed.
Stephanie Elam, CNN, San Bernardino County, California.
CHURCH: And our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now in the studio. Yesterday, the fire was zero percent contained. Now it's 4 percent. That's still...
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, we see this fire expand so significantly as far as coverage area, but the containment is just minuscule when you think about this. And the terrain, the landscape, has a lot to do with this. We've touched on this elevated terrain, how challenging it is for firefighters.
And I've used this analogy before, where you light a match, you hold it straight out, it burns gradually towards your finger. If you give it a slope, and it burns right towards your hand. It burned up very rapidly and this is precisely what's happening on a broad scale across this region of California.
In fact, look at the square miles of land consumed so far in 36 or so hours. About the same size the city of San Francisco, going from nothing to that in just one and a half days. It's absolutely incredible. And you take a look. The winds have certainly not been helping out.
Fifteen, 25 miles per hour. That's the concern over the next 24 or so hours. And then we think improving conditions are going to be seen as far as humidity increasing and temperatures decreasing.
But the top of these hills, we get these fires that climb up to the very high points and then these gusty winds come and move embers downstream. And this is one of the reasons why the fire has been really burning out of control so rapidly as these embers are displaced downstream starting additional fires.
And firefighters are having a tough time staying in front of these flames. And notice the temperature trends. At least that is good news. We've dropped it below 100 degrees. Some of the observation points at these very hour roads, Rosemary, are showing a 98-degree observation.
Those temperatures being about 37 or so Celsius at this hour. Shows you how hot it is and it's bone dry, of course, but it's extremely hot and windy. Makes it very challenging.
CHURCH: Absolutely. And, of course, that's exactly what's needed for fires, right?
JAVAHERI: Absolutely. Yes.
[03:09:57] CHURCH: All right. Thanks so much, Pedram. Always a pleasure.
Donald Trump says he is willing to do whatever it takes to win this election. So, for the second time in two months, there's a major shake-up in his top campaign leadership.
Trump is lagging in the polls, something his attorney appeared unwilling to admit in an interview with Brianna Keilar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You say it's not a shake-up. But you guys are down. And it makes sense that there would...
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAEL D. COHEN, DONALD TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: Says who?
KEILAR: Polls. Most of them. All of them.
COHEN: Says who?
KEILAR: Polls. I just told you. I answered your question.
COHEN: OK. Which polls?
KEILAR: All of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Sara Murray has more on the new Trump operatives and what
they mean for election effort going forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am who I am. It's me. I don't want to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Kiss the establishment treaty good-bye. Donald Trump is unleashed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They all want to talk about, oh, you're going to pivot -- you're going to -- I don't want to pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you're not being honest with the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: The GOP nominee shaking up his campaign yet again, setting the stage for a political knife fight with Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton doesn't have that strength or stamina. Believe me, she cannot win for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Trump, bringing on Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of the fiercely conservative web site Breitbart News as his new campaign CEO. And elevating pollster and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager.
The latest campaign overall gives Trump the freedom to run as a political outsider. Unconstrained by advisers urging him to become more palatable to the republican establishment.
Despite his dismal battleground state poll numbers, a source tells CNN Trump still believes he has a chance to win and if he loses, he wants to at least run his campaign on his own terms.
A shake-up puts Trump at the center of a circle of advisers, Bannon, Roger Stone, and newly ousted Fox News chief Roger Ailes, all known for their no holds barred tactics.
And sources say it effectively set aside campaign Chief Paul Manafort.
Hillary Clinton quickly seized on it as just another reset that won't make the candidate any more appetizing to voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump has shown us who he is. He can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. They can make him read new words from a teleprompter.
But he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: But the intrigue from Trump Tower over-shadowing Trump security round table today and the message he hopes to drive to home this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will be your champion, I will be your voice in the White House. We will bring it back. We will once again be a country of law and order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now, on Wednesday, Paul Manafort still made it clear to staff that he is fought going anywhere. He sends around a memo. And I'm just going to read yu a part of it. It says, "I remain the campaign chairman and chief strategist providing the big picture long-range campaign vision and working with all of you to implement our strategy that will guide us to victory in November."
And Kellyanne Conway, the newly minted campaign manager said this evening that it was all of them in meetings today making these decisions. Pretty clear that they want to down play the campaign tunnel.
Sara Murray, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about this is CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin. He's also a columnist for The Washington Post. Thanks so much for being with us.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure.
CHURCH: So, Donald Trump's campaign says this is not a shake-up. If it's not that, what is it? Coming just three months before the election and what do you think it signals?
ROGIN: Well, there's just no doubt that it is a shake-up. There's no other way to view this. When you have a new campaign executive and a new campaign manager, 82 days before the election, that's what a shake-up is. And they can call it whatever they want.
We wouldn't expect them to admit that it's a shake-up nevertheless. And what it indicates is that Trump himself personally he realizes that he has a problem. We've seen in recent days and weeks Donald Trump himself remark that he believes the campaign is going in the wrong direction.
He keeps talking about how it might be rigged, he keeps blaming the media for his sagging poll numbers. But overall, this is not a move that you would make if everything is going well. So, Donald Trump sees a problem, he acknowledges a problem, this is his plan to fix it.
CHURCH: It is an interesting move, though, isn't it? I mean, what does executive chairman of Breitbart News Stephen Bannon bring to the Trump campaign? Why would they seek him out? And how might he change the direction of this campaign? Will it -- will it help him in the end?
[03:15:03] ROGIN: Sure. Well, those are two separate questions on what Steve Bannon brings to the table. He brings a sort of attack dog mentality of political fearlessness that comes with taking risks and saying things that are completely outside the bounds of normal political conversation.
That's what Breitbart News is. It's a political hit machine. It's an attack machine sort of posing as a news site. So, what that means is that we can expect the Trump campaign to just go on the offensive and just to go increasingly negative. And they were already pretty negative.
Now, will that help them? It remains to be seen, but I don't see personally how this aids him with the voters that he should really be appealing to at this stage, independents, young voters, moderate voters, minority voters. None of those people will be encouraged by this move.
What it signals is that Donald Trump is doubling down on his commitment to his core voters. We're talking about the people who have been with Trump, who believe what he says, and who got him through the primaries. It's a -- it's an inward looking narrowly focused strategy. It's a risky one at that.
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, what we saw -- and, in fact, it was just Tuesday night. We saw Trump he was following prompter, staying on track, staying on message. That apparently they've decided that hasn't worked. They want now Trump being Trump.
So, can that -- and you mentioned going negative here. How is that likely to improve his numbers?
ROGIN: Well, I don't think it's likely to improve his numbers at all. I mean, the bottom line here is that Trump has been divided between two camps, both inside and outside his campaign.
One camp that wants him to join with the greater republican establishment and appeal to a greater range of voters and one camp that wants him to stick to what he's been doing this whole time.
And if you listen to what Trump says directly he says he doesn't want to change. He doesn't care about unity, he doesn't care about the rest of the republican establishment. So, that's his decision. How it expands his appeal, no one has been able to explain.
What it shows is that Trump is committed to the strategy, that he's not going to change what he says. Whether he's reading from a teleprompter or not, the question is what's going to be on that teleprompter? And it seems that he's decided to project the message that's largely divisive and largely along the lines of what we've seen so far.
CHURCH: All right. Josh Rogin, great to talk with you. I appreciate it.
ROGIN: Likewise.
CHURCH: And next here on CNN, meet the Cajun Navy. A group of volunteers rescuing people from the deadly flooding in Louisiana. They could be the nation's most important neighborhood watch group right now.
And North Korea says it plans to keep up its nuclear test as U.S. officials share growing concern over the progress of the regime's weapons program. The details still to come.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHERI: A couple of days around the United States, really the western United States when it comes to fire weather. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
And you take a look at 26 active large fires in the U.S., 25 of them are on the western periphery of the U.S. One of them in the State of Texas. None on the eastern half of the United States.
So, again, very much confined to an area that's been really hit hard by drought in recent days and, of course, the wet weather is there, but is on the other side of the country. And a lot of it, scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Now parts of the southern State of Louisiana, they're going to see some improving conditions as far as decreasing rainfall there. But still getting in some flood watches and warnings that are still in place across this region. So, we'll watch that carefully.
The water levels fortunately have dropped steadily in recent days. In fact, they were sitting at over 40 feet on a Sunday morning, 46 feet, which is an all-time record. Most recent updates have brought them down closer to 30 feet and decreasing.
Still right there at flood stage but, again, improving conditions is always good news when it comes to -- just coming off historic floods across that region of the U.S.
Look at this. The intermountains we get some monsoonal thunderstorms that are want to pop up into the afternoon hours. Unfortunately, none of that is going to be our forecast to reach parts of California, not just yet.
Although we do think that California will see at least some improving conditions when it comes to cooler temperatures later into the week. Temperatures for your Thursday, look like at such. How about the mid and upper 20s around Vancouver, while Atlanta sits at 33 degrees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news. CHURCH: This just into CNN, breaking news out of eastern Turkey where
a large blast has rocked an area near a police station in the city of Elazig. Turkey's state media report many ambulances went to the explosion site where many people have been congregating.
But no word of how many people may have been wounded or perhaps killed or who may have been responsible. But we will, of course, continue to follow this story, bring you the details as they come into us here at CNN.
Well, the Red Cross says the widespread flooding in Louisiana is likely the worst natural disaster to strike the U.S. since super storm Sandy in 2012.
Right now, the death toll stands at 13. The latest victim was a 93- year-old woman who died while her neighborhood was being evacuated. More than 40,000 homes have at least some kind of flood damage, that's according to the state's governor.
And he's asking the volunteers to help clean out mud from those homes.
CNN's meteorologist Ryan Maue says Louisiana has absorbed an astonishing 6.9 trillion gallons of rainfall in a week, enough to fill more than 10 million Olympic sized pools.
Well, first responders are frantically working to make sure residents are safe and secure.
CNN's Rosa Flores asked one rescue worker to reflect on the work he's doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's a deep (Inaudible) as you've seen back behind you that a lot of water hasn't receded yet. And we have to keep going in and out, in and out until the water recedes. Every house here has to be check. We will check them.
Our other teams have come back and checked them. And eventually probably some FEMA teams will come in and check every house. We can't and we have to make dead sure we don't leave anybody behind and everybody is accounted for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Those first responders getting help from a group of Good Samaritans. They called themselves the Louisiana Cajun Navy. And they have been searching the flood zone with their own fishing boats.
We're joined by one of them now, Clyde Cain is the North shore captain and an organizer of the Cajun Navy. Thank you so much for talking with us and for all the work you've been doing on this, as well. It is of course a tough job.
Talk to us about just how hard it's been to get out there and help the first responders and describe to us the extend of all the damage you've been seeing.
CLYDE CAIN, NORTHSHORE CAPTAIN: First of all, the extent of the damage has been overwhelming. A lot of the areas, or most of the areas that are affected are not considered flood zones. So we're dealing with folks that are out there who weren't prepared for the floods, much less have flood insurance.
So, the devastation afterwards continues on and it's just going to be just greater. And in our parish, our sheriff's departments and our local volunteer departments have been overwhelmed because of the amount of rain and the amount of devastation which left a lot of smaller areas that needed attention, which as when we come into play.
[03:24:55] As we come in and we take and we try to organize and take over the areas that are just getting zero response and get out there and get people in before, you know, tragedy happens and before anyone can get over to them.
We try to just be first responders out there for that. And we've been a little loosely organized over the years, but it's now we're pulling it altogether on the Louisiana Cajun Navy and organizing it.
CHURCH: And what do you think the major challenges that the Cajun Navy and, of course, the first responders have had to deal with so far and going forward?
CAIN: Just being able to, I guess, work alongside the volunteers. We're working on that right now, being able to be qualified to work with them, I guess checking our boats in, making sure the right boats.
The worst part is turning people away that want to come and help and we have to turn them away because there's just too many boats in or it's just getting really unorganized.
CHURCH: And of course, what is going to happen to all those people who have lost their homes and what about the 40,000 houses that have been damaged with these floods with mud and rain?
CAIN: Well, we have -- we have lots of people on the ground, lots of volunteers all the churches are coming together as well as the responders. We're staging back right now over in my area, we're feeding those that are coming out of the flooded areas, we're cleaning their homes and no food being delivered here. We're feeding them hot food.
But then you go into Denham Springs, they're starting to get houses. Everyone works very fast in something like this. You'll be amazed at how quick everyone cleans it out the absence of any division here has just been the most exciting and overwhelming thing to see.
Just as Katrina. We -- everyone helping everyone, it's not a color, it's not a race. You're a person in need and just the camaraderie and the coming together of our state as we always do, and just the absence of racism and the absence of just anything but we're human race and we're Louisianans and everyone needs rescued. They're our neighbors. It took a flood to wash away, but it's just the absence of all of that has been so relieving that it's actually taken pressure off of us. It really feels good to go out and everyone getting together and helping each other and just sharing those moments of camaraderie.
CHURCH: Yes, it is certainly devastating and heartbreaking for so many of these families who have lost their homes and they're not insured, as you point out. Clyde Cain, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.
Well, there are big changes at the top for the Trump campaign. Coming up, what the opposition thinks about it.
And one of North Korea's top diplomats desserts his country for South Korea. Just ahead, the details on Pyongyang's latest P.R. problem.
Back in a moment.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: And a very warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and, of course, all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you on our story this hour.
A lawyer for two U.S. swimmers says they have been ordered to stay in Brazil until they make a police statement over their allegation of being held up at gun point in Rio. Brazilian authorities pulled the swimmers off their U.S.-bound plane on Wednesday night.
Crews are desperately fighting a wildfire in Southern California that has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. This time- lapsed video shows the Blue Cut fire. It erupted on Tuesday and quickly exploded across more than 25,000 acres, or 10,000 hectares.
In eastern Turkey, a large blast has rocked an area near a police station in the city of Elazig. Turkish state media report numerous ambulances went to the explosion site where many people have been congregating. Three people are dead.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us now from Istanbul with more on this. It is not long after this blast, of course, but what information are you able to tell us about this?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a fifth such bombing in the last two weeks, Rosemary. We understand the explosion went off outside this police station in Elazig in central Turkey around 8 o'clock in the morning, local time. That's two and half hours ago. That's the time that there's a lot of people on their way to work.
Now, it's not clear what sort of explosive it was. Was it a car bomb or something else? But we understand from Turkish authorities that hundreds of people have been wounded. CNN Turk is reporting three people killed, but it's still early.
So, that's probably not the final death toll. Now, as I said, this is the fifth such bombing in the last two weeks and recently, a PKK leader, that's the Kurdish Workers Party, which is currently engaged in a low intensity war against the Turkish state, he threatened the Turkish police saying that they will not be safe in Turkish cities in the centers of Turkish cities.
It's widely believed that this was, in fact, the work of the PKK, although they have made no claim of responsibility until this time. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now, Ben, you are there in Turkey in Istanbul, of course. And as you mentioned, the fifth bombing in the last two weeks. What is the sense there of how people feeling this sort of environment and, of course, the political unease that's there, as well?
WEDEMAN: Well, it's been quite some time that there has this sort of wave of bombings began. They're going back, really, to the middle of 2015 with the last Turkish election. Since then, the situation has deteriorated as far as the once sort of peace process that collapsed between the PKK and the Turkish government.
Since then, these explosions have happened. They've been focused largely in the central and eastern part of the country where there is a significant Kurdish population.
Here in Istanbul, of course, the concern is more related to the kind of attack we saw a Ataturk International Airport at an explosion -- a bombing there attributed to ISIS. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to our Ben Wedeman reporting there from Istanbul in Turkey, just after 10.30 in the morning. Many thanks.
[03:35:07] Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump has shown America who he is and it doesn't matter who is running his campaign.
Joe Johns reports the democrats are trying to use the republican nominee's campaign shake-up against him as more questions surface about the Clinton Foundation.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Riding high on new polls showing big leads in Virginia and Colorado and tied in Iowa, Hillary Clinton arrived in battleground Ohio today in full attack mode, leveling attacks against Donald Trump once again calling out the billionaire businessman over had his failure to disclose his tax returns, and repeating the accusations that his tax plan would give the Trump family a benefit of $4 billion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He's even created a new tax loophole that we call the Trump loophole. Because, of course, we have no idea what tax rate he pays because, unlike everybody else who has run for president in the last four or five decades with, he refuses to release his tax returns. So, the American people can't really judge.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: And behind the scenes, Clinton's campaign manager was also
blasting the Trump campaign or the latest shake-up, telling reporters on a conference call.
(BEGIN VOICE OVER)
ROBBY MOOK, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Donald Trump has decided to double down on his most small, nasty and divisive instincts by turning his campaign over to someone who is best known for running a so-called news site that pedals divisive, at times racist anti-Muslim, anti- Semitic conspiracy theories.
(END VOICE OVER)
JOHNS: A reference to Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon, who's taking over as chief executive of the Trump campaign. In her Cleveland speech, Mrs. Clinton made a brief reference to Trump's new CEO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Donald Trump has shown us who he is. He can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. There is no new Donald Trump. This is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The turmoil in the Trump campaign distracting from Mrs. Clinton's own troubles, including new details that shortly after she stepped down as Secretary of State, the State Department expressed interest in a Nigerian land deal involving billionaire Lebanese and Nigerian businessman Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury.
Gilbert had given over $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. The property in question was one of several on a list of properties the department was considering for a consulate. Ultimately, the deal never went through.
The continuing controversy surrounding the foundation and the inference of play-for-play which the campaign has denied prompting The Boston Globe to write an editorial that Mrs. Clinton shut it down if she becomes president, saying "The inherent conflict of interest was obvious when Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009. If the Clinton Foundation continues to cash checks from foreign governments and other individuals seeking to ingratiate themselves with a president Hillary Clinton, it would be unacceptable."
The Clinton campaign responded saying "There was no quid pro quo, the deal never happened," and blasting Citizens United, the group that brought the latest information public.
Joe Johns, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.
CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about politics is Larry Sabato. He is the director at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Always great to talk with you, sir. So, less than 12 weeks from the presidential election and both on
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are dealing with numerous issues for their campaign. So, let's talk first about the latest polling numbers. What are electoral map predictions indicating at this point?
LARRY SABATO, VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR POLITICS DIRECTOR: Hillary Clinton is doing better than at any point yet in the campaign. My own electoral predictions have her now at 348 electoral votes. You only need 270 to win.
And that is not including the normally republican states of Arizona in the west and Georgia in the South. Both of those states are tossups and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tied in what should normally be a 10 points or so republican state.
CHURCH: Now, what's your sense of why it's at that point, why there seems to be so much more support for Hillary Clinton and not for Trump? What has happened on the Trump side to have that sort of slump in his support?
SABATO: Well, I think you have to start with the fact that all of the things taken together that Donald Trump has said and done has left many Americans, probably most Americans, thinking that he is unqualified for the presidency and temperamentally unsuited to sit in the Oval office.
And you know, that's pretty basic, Rosemary. If you can't overcome that, you're not going to win no matter what problems your opponent is having.
[03:40:00] And then I have to add, also, the demographics in America are moving very strongly in Hillary Clinton's direction. She is winning a massive majority. In fact, a record majority of all minorities in America and they're 30 percent of the voters.
CHURCH: Interesting, of course, the Trump campaign doesn't accept a lot of the poll numbers. What about these changes that were made at the top of the Trump campaign management structure, how is that going to help him, given it appears the on be heading into a more conservative direction than before?
SABATO: I followed presidential campaigns for almost 50 years. And I've learned one thing about campaign shake-ups. Winning campaigns don't do them and losing campaigns do.
The Hillary Clinton team has remained stable throughout the entire campaign. Donald Trump has had three different campaign structures. And this is his third. And we're only about 80 days from the election.
CHURCH: Right. And we're starting to see more problems for Hillary Clinton, of course, regarding her e-mails and the Clinton Foundation. Is this hurting her compared to Trump? Is it going to? I mean, you're all saying that those numbers show it's not, but going forward, do you think, because it just won't go away for her, will it? SABATO: It's not going to go away. And it will continue to be dealt
with her even if she becomes president. Rosemary, this is just a classic example of a candidate who is very lucky.
Because if Hillary Clinton were opposed by a moderate mainstream republican candidate, I would predict flatly that candidate would be leading her by about 5 percent of the vote.
Instead, she is facing a very damaged republican candidate and her problems just don't seem to matter very much by comparison to his.
CHURCH: We are of course in just weeks, right? Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to talk with you. I appreciate it.
SABATO: Thank you.
CHURCH: And you can read more about the Trump campaign and what's happened to it since the convention less than a month ago. It's all at cnn.com/politics. We're back in a moment.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: North Korea says it has no plans to stop nuclear tests as long as it senses threats from the United States. The regime also confirmed to Japan's Kyoto news agency that it has resumed plutonium production.
Now this all follows an embarrassing high level defection.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's the highest level diplomatic defection ever from Kim Jong-un's North Korean regime. North Korea's deputy ambassador to the U.K. defecting and reaching safety in South Korea. Last year, the ambassador appeared loyal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THAE YONG HO, NORTH KOREA DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO LONDON: If you read our papers and the magazines and the photos, you can see the socialism is carried on and put into practice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: A South Korean government spokesman says the ambassador wanted out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): I am aware that he defected due to his yearning for liberal democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: It comes as U.S. officials tell CNN that intelligence agencies are watching significant new North Korean military steps that increase the threat to the U.S. and its allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They have been exceedingly active in demonstrating capabilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: The latest intelligence analysis concludes North Korea is now aggressively testing medium and long range missiles, warheads and nuclear devices. And it no longer cares if the world sees its test failures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERTLING: When you have this many tests, you're eventually going to get it right. That's what concerns me.
JOHN BRENNAN, U.S. CIA DIRECTOR: Kim Jong-un is trying to demonstrate to the world that he has capability, both in terms of the nuclear test as well as ballistic missile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: New satellite images for hill activity at North Korea's nuclear test site, a canopy now blocked huey from spy satellites. Broad mobile missiles, difficult to track, have been tested.
As have intercontinental missiles that could reach Alaska. The U.S. also now assumes North Korea has a rudimentary miniaturized nuclear warhead, essential for a nuclear attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERTLING: As soon as they have one test that they could classify as an extreme success, then we're talking a whole different ball game in their potential to threaten other sovereign nations in their area, but also potentially parts of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: The bottom line risk now, North Korea is testing all the weapons it needs to potentially launch an attack against the U.S. with little or no warning time.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
CHURCH: And now to a startling report on the crisis in Syria. According to Amnesty International, more than 17,000 people have died in prisons since 2011. That is about 300 deaths each month.
Amnesty International also found that there were about 45 deaths each year in the decade leading up to the start of the Civil War. The report says detainees face beatings and electric shock.
Well, for a second straight day in the skies above Syria, Russian war planes launched air strikes aimed at ISIS targets. Bombers took off for an air base in western Iran as Moscow pushed back on the U.S. suggestion that use of the base could violation a U.N. resolution.
Russia's Defense Ministry says two command centers and an ISIS training camp were destroyed and more than 150 militants killed. But it is civilians, as well, that are the victims of air strikes in Syria even the most innocent and vulnerable have not been spared.
New video of a young boy pulled from the rubble after a bombing is a heartbreaking reminder of the human cost of war.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHERI: A couple of days around the United States, really the western United States when it comes to fire weather. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
And you take a look at 26 active large fires in the U.S., 25 of them are on the western periphery of the U.S. One of them in the State of Texas. None on the eastern half of the United States.
So, again, very much confined to an area that's been really hit hard by drought in recent days and, of course, the wet weather is there, but is on the other side of the country. And a lot of it, scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Now parts of the southern State of Louisiana, they're going to see some improving conditions as far as decreasing rainfall there. But still getting in some flood watches and warnings that are still in place across this region. So, we'll watch that carefully.
The water levels fortunately have dropped steadily in recent days. In fact, they were sitting at over 40 feet on a Sunday morning, 46 feet, which is an all-time record. Most recent updates have brought them down closer to 30 feet and decreasing.
Still right there at flood stage but, again, improving conditions is always good news when it comes to -- just coming off historic floods across that region of the U.S.
Look at this. The intermountains we get some monsoonal thunderstorms that are want to pop up into the afternoon hours. Unfortunately, none of that is going to be our forecast to reach parts of California, not just yet.
Although we do think that California will see at least some improving conditions when it comes to cooler temperatures later into the week. Temperatures for your Thursday, look like at such. How about the mid and upper 20s around Vancouver, while Atlanta sits at 33 degrees.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: It has been nearly two months since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, a shocking move that rattled markets and weakened the pound against the dollar. Since then, American tourists have flocked to the U.K. to take advantage of the exchange rate. Nina dos Santos reports.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPPONDENT: For the De Michelle family, visiting Britain from California Brexit has had its benefits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA DE MICHELLE, AMERICAN TOURIST: It is definitely cheaper.
DOS SANTOS: Have you found prices reasonable because the pound has fallen against the dollar?
DE MICHELLE: It does. The prices definitely are reasonable.
DOS SANTOS: The fall in the pound after the U.K.'s decision to leave the E.U. means that their dollars now stretch further and their holiday is more affordable.
DE MICHELLE: We have tickets to go and see a play in London on Friday night. We are going to go see the Harry Potter tour, the studio tour on Sunday night. We're touring around London today. We're going to buy a bunch of souvenirs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:54:58] DOS SANTOS: Last year, over three million Americans visited Britain, spending almost $3.4 billion, more than any other nationality. And thanks to favorable exchange rates, the hope is more will be tempted to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE MICHELLE: Well, this is our first visit, but I would definitely come back as a result of that. We'd like to come back again. We're thinking about either Christmas or spring for spring break.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or maybe for my birthday in the summer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: So, as the Brexit votes, the pound has fallen 14 percent against the dollar and that's made London landmarks like these a lot cheaper. A family of four will save $10 on their tickets to Westminster Abby where William and Kate got married.
A ticket to Buckingham palace now costs $11 less than before. And that means more money to spend on afternoon tea at the home of the queen. And the cost to see the city from the top of the London eye isn't quite as eye watering if you consider that it used to be $16 move expensive.
That means this time booking early isn't good for the budget. Is Ed Blakeskey, also from California, is finding out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ED BLAKESKEY, AMERICAN TOURIST: I made the mistake of booking a lot of this stuff just before the vote for Brexit. So, I paid a little bit more than I could have if I had waited. But, yes, I think it will help bring tourism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: Keen to counter the uncertainty over the country's future, London's mayor is determined his city shows them a good time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: What's really important is that the world knows London is open. We're open for visitors. We're open for talent, we're open for innovation. We're open for business. We'll carry on being the best place in the world. Come for a holiday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: Which means for trans-Atlantic tourists, Sterling's slump may end up being Brexit's silver lining.
Nina dos Santos, CNN Money, London.
CHURCH: There you go, a possible holiday destination. I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is next for our viewers in North America. For everyone else, stay tuned for more news with Isa Soares in London.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
