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Brazilian Police: Lochte's Robbery Story a Lie; Trump Makes First Speech Since Staff Shake Up; Ticketing of Blacks Cited as Cause of Civil Unrest; Philippines Drug Wars Sparks Outrage and Fear; Saudi Women Lack Opportunities to Play Sports. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, four U.S. swimmers, their mugging story now sinking under waves of evidence.

Something also that you don't expect to hear from Donald Trump -- he admits to misspeaking and says he regrets it.

And Ferguson, Milwaukee and one link to why tensions between police and black folks are boiling over.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all over the world. I'm Sara Sidner. NEWSROOM L.A. starts tight now.

We begin with the U.S. Olympic Committee that is now apologizing to Brazil for what has grown into a bizarre ordeal involving four U.S. swimmers. Brazilian investigators questioned two of the swimmers on Thursday and said they both gave statements denying having been victims of a robbery and said the version of events presented by gold medalist Ryan Lochte was not true. Those two swimmers were allowed to leave Brazil and Lochte, who is in the United States, has stuck by his story.

Brazilian authorities say the swimmers are vandals, not victims and have yet to decide whether to indict them. The USOC says one athlete did commit vandalism but they say there were armed guards who were there and displayed their weapons and demanded payment.

Our Martin Savidge has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazilian authorities now saying Ryan Lochte's stunning story about being robbed at gunpoint, all a lie. Surveillance video just released tells a very different story about what happened to the American gold medalist and his three teammates. Police say the four were drunk when they vandalized this Rio gas station around 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. According to authorities a security guard pulled a gun on the four swimmers, forcing them to get out of the cab and on the ground. The athletes eventually paid for the damage and left.

In an interview the next day, Lochte told a very different story claiming it was an armed robbery.

RYAN LOCHTE, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: They pulled out their guns. They told the other swimmers to get down on the ground. They got down on the ground. I refused. I was like we didn't do anything wrong. And the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead. He took our money. He took our wallet.

SAVIDGE: Brazilian authorities say that didn't happen.

FERNANDO VELOSO, BRAZILIAN CHIEF OF CIVIL POLICE (through Translator): There was no robbery the way it was reported or claimed by the athletes.

SAVIDGE: Today's press conference adding just another layer of confusion that has followed days of elaborate and often conflicting stories.

Lochte and his teammates, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen spent the hours before the gas station incident partying at a club in Rio but the group's story being robbed starts to unravel Tuesday when video from the Olympic Village shows them going through security gates. They appear to be joking around and with their watches and cell phones -- something many believe thieves would have taken.

Wednesday as questions mount a judge orders the seizure of Lochte and Feigen's passports to keep them from leaving Brazil but Lochte is already back in the U.S. talking to NBC's Matt Lauer changing the most dramatic part of his story.

MATT LAUER, NBC HOST: 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.

SAVIDGE: That same night, authorities board a plane bound for the U.S. and pull off Bentz and Conger. Now a story of American Olympians being robbed at gunpoint in a foreign country appears to be a night on the town and too much celebration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Martin Savidge reporting for us there.

Now we want to talk about all of this. Former FBI agent Bobby Chacon and criminal defense attorney Brian Claypool are joining me here in the studio as well as clinical and forensic psychologist Judy Ho. All here to discuss this -- this is getting obviously a lot of attention. It is our top story. A lot of folks talking about this.

I want to start with you Bobby because you have a unique perspective. You have just come back from Brazil. You spent time in Brazil. We are hearing a lot of stuff from the police and we're hearing a lot of stuff from the USOC and, you know, from those who are paying attention to the Olympics. What are regular citizens saying about all this? Are they that interested in this there?

BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI AGENT: I don't think they're that interested from a factual standpoint. I think that they probably know what happened and as most of us can summarize that these guys were drunk and they did something stupid and then they said stupid things about it.

[00:05:02] I think an apology, a sincere apology by all four of them, you know, would go really far with the Brazilian people, you know, the population on the street. And my friends -- the friends that I have talked to since this happened -- I think that would go very far in satisfying them and letting the story go away.

SIDNER: Bobby just went right at it right there and said they did something really stupid and they should just apologize. But as a criminal defense attorney, you look at the video, you look at the things that just don't seem right. You've got these two swimmers that the police are saying -- actually he didn't tell the truth. But Ryan Lochte is sticking with his story. So -- how do we believe him?

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you can't believe him because you just saw the videotape that belies or contradicts what he has said. So for him to stick to his story is going to get him in deeper trouble. And I'll tell you why.

Two of the other swimmers were pulled off a plane. Warrants were issued. They're pulled off a plane, that's bad news for Ryan Lochte because these two swimmers are now told unless you tell us the truth about what happened you're not going back to the U.S.

So they're going to have to come clean. And I'll bet you the story that these two other swimmers tell is going to be at odds with Ryan Lochte and it's going to prove that he was lying.

SIDNER: I think so far that is exactly what the police are saying has happened. That they learned from these two swimmers according to a statement to police that actually what he said was not the case.

I do want to ask you about this, Bobby, I'm curious to know what Brazilians -- the police there will do in this case because the laws in Brazil obviously different than the laws in the United States and I'm sure that these four swimmers probably don't know what the laws are there.

CHACON: Yes. And I think I read some statements today from the judge that presided, the judge that issued those warrants and stuff. And he actually downplayed the seriousness of the offense and said that at most you would make the vendor whole, and pay for the damage and then you'd have a possible fine that usually in Brazil is paid to an NGO or a charity of the court's choosing.

You know, I think that what they do in this case because when a case garners this much publicity, this much high profile --

SIDNER: It embarrassed Brazil. CHACON: -- and oftentimes the enforcement of the penalties becomes

more extreme where if it was a regular case with these same crimes charged or possibly charged, you wouldn't have the prosecutors and the judges so willing to enforce the letter of the law. So it's really hard to tell at this point.

SIDNER: Judy Ho, I have to go to you. Psychologically speaking, why would you make up such an outrageous story when you are so well known and you already have proven to the world you are an amazing athlete? Can't this only hurt you? Why would you do it?

JUDY HO, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOSIT: I think honest Ryan has gotten to a point where he just feels like the rules don't apply to him. And this is just another instance of that. And when you look at the social media and you look at his past behavior there is really this type of recklessness that you do see. It's a pattern of his behavior.

And so for whatever reason, he believed that it was important for him to intercept the news before it even happened to kind of have a story where somehow he's the hero. I mean he actually put down his teammates as you remember from his story that basically everybody else complied and got down and he was the one defied everybody.

And that's where things started to not make sense because anybody who lived in Rio said if you actually did that to somebody and that person had a gun it is very unlikely you would not make it out without any serious bodily injury. And so I think a lot of this is just the fact that he has gotten away with a lot of things, that he's really been at a place where he has been very reckless and people have really taken a lot of this, you know, kind of just as the way he is.

Nobody has really made him be accountable for his behaviors. And he is a lot older than his teammates. And so I feel like he was sort a ring leader of some sort during this event. And he really set a horrible example for the rest of his team.

SIDNER: I want to ask you, Bobby, as far as embarrassing Brazil, there are doing to be people who say well, they have an incentive to say this couldn't be true because it is embarrassing to Brazil where they are trying to protect these athletes. They also have problems at home where there are a lot of people that didn't want to see the Olympics coming to Brazil.

CHACON: Sure.

SIDNER: They're saying we've got our own problems, we shouldn't be spending money on this.

CHACON: Sure.

SIDNER: What do you say to those people that go well, they do have an incentive to make the story seem less true?

CHACON: Well, the Brazilians we're talking about? I can tell you this about Brazilians they don't sugarcoat many things and they own it. They know that they have a violent crime problem. They always have. And they've never denied that. They not only own it but they try to help foreigners and expats that come in and live there like myself to avoid being victims of crimes. They're very, very honest about that and they're open. They own their problems.

And what makes this, you know, even more distasteful to them is they've tried to make this as safe an experience as possible for everybody that's coming there. And so far it has been relatively safe and yet you have people like this willing to exploit the bad reputation that they have to cover their own cowardice.

[00:10:04] And really that's kind of why an apology -- a full, honest and open apology is kind of needed.

SIDNER: From your perspective, how do they mitigate this? Because this could end up hurting them, correct, in their career, with sponsors?

CLAYPOOL: Well, I respectfully disagree with Bobby. I think this is bigger than just an apology, I really do. And this incident is as much about public relations in Brazil as it is criminal justice. That's why a statement needs to be made by the Brazilian law enforcement officials. I have a list here of four crimes that Ryan Lochte could potentially be charged with. And I will tell you --

SIDNER: And you are a defense attorney.

CLAYPOLL: Look, I'm a defense lawyer -- I'm a defense lawyer but I personally am outraged by the fact that he put his self interest, his ego above the other -- the U.S.A., Brazil and law enforcement. He mocked law enforcement in Brazil.

And think about it. Going into these Olympics, Brazil was already tainted. You had the Zika virus --

SIDNER: Right.

CLAYPOOL: -- you had dirty water. They were already sensitive. So this was a perfect story.

You have an arrogant, self-serving individual like Lochte intersecting with a sensitive country like Brazil and look at what you're left with, this mess.

SIDNER: I have to then take what you just said. We heard the word "arrogant", we heard "self-serving".

CLAYPOOL: From me?

SIDNER: From you. Judy Ho, are those fair assessments or are you allowed to do that from afar?

HO: I think we have a behavioral pattern that's established here. Unfortunately he has made himself very available via social media for us to observe his behaviors. Do I think he is self-serving? Do I think that he is a little of a narcissistic person? Yes, you know, I think we can say that much. I really hope that he sees this though as a learning experience. I don't know if he will. But if he is made to be accountable this time it might reduce these types of behaviors in the future.

SIDNER: Thank you so much -- Judy Ho, Brian Claypool and Bobby Chacon. I appreciate you guys coming on and explaining this all out. There are a lot of people who are outraged about this, both in America and Brazil. I appreciate it.

Now to some news that will probably make you smile at the Rio Olympics. Usain Bolt is one step closer to the triple-triple -- three gold medals in three straight games. The Jamaican sprinter won the men's 200-meter sprint just hours ago. It is Bolt's second gold in the games after he won the men's 100-meter. Next he and Team Jamaica looks to conquer the men's 4 x 100-meter relay. For the latest on the Lightning Bold and more Olympic action, "CNN WORLD SPORTS" takes us live to Rio coming up in just 30 minutes.

At a rally in North Carolina an unexpected admission from Donald Trump he has regrets. In Trumps first speech since he reshuffled his campaign staff the U.S. Republican presidential candidate outlined some key points of his platform. He talked about fighting crime, destroying ISIS and other terror groups and what he calls extreme vetting of immigrants trying to enter the United States. But it was Trump's public admission that he is sorry for some of the things he's said that has really gotten people's attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that.

And believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues. But one thing I can promise you this, I will always tell you the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Seema Mehta joins us now in studio. She's a political writer for the "Los Angeles Times". Ok. So everybody is talking about this. They are saying this sounded like an apology but who was he apologizing too, exactly?

SEEMA MEHTA, POLITICAL WRITER, LOS ANGELES TIMES: Right. I mean it was a remarkable speech because we've never heard him say anything like that before to express regret. But you're right. I mean he's insulted Mexican-Americans, women, Muslims -- I mean the gamut. And he was not specific in what exactly he regretted. And that is exactly what Democrats have seized upon.

[00:14:46] SIDNER: They have seized upon that. I want to read you what the Clinton campaign -- they didn't waste any time -- and they responded with this statement. They said that the Trump speech today in part they learned tonight that his speech writer and teleprompter knows he has much to apologize for. It was a snarky, for lack of a better word, comment. Should the Clinton campaign even bother to do that though?

MEHTA: I think they needed to say something because this was going to dominate the headlines of the day. I mean the speech was a remarkable speech for Donald Trump because he largely hasn't made speeches like this.

And the question is, you know, he just had this campaign shake up. In the past he tried to display a more presidential or statesmanlike temperament but then a day later he is always tweeting angry messages or whatever.

The question is, is this new speech, is this what we're going to see in the general election because if it is that is something that the Clinton campaign has to deal with.

SIDNER: In looking at the speech, do you think that this is a better version of Donald Trump for the general electorate?

MEHTA: Absolutely. Absolutely.

And I think Kellyanne Conway who's his new campaign manager as of like 48 hours ago, she has spoken about how she wants to allow him to still be him but to sort of smooth out these rough edges. And that's exactly what we saw in the speech tonight. He was still calling Hillary Clinton a liar.

SIDNER: Right.

MEHTA: He's still calling her untrustworthy, but the speech was much more focused. He was reading from the teleprompter. He stuck with his prepared remarks. It was really an unusual speech for Donald Trump.

SIDNER: I do want to talk about the whole liar thing. We heard him call Hillary Clinton a liar. I couldn't even count how many times. But then he also turned and called Obama a liar and one of the things he went after which we were all expecting at some point, he went after what happened with the payment to Iran.

Here is what he said about the $400 million payment that was made to Iran before hostages were released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We now know from the State Department, just announced, that President Obama lied about the $400 million in cash that was flown to Iran. He denied it was for the hostages, but it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So the State Department initially as you know said that, look, this payment was made for a failed arms deal years ago. And it just so happened to be happening before the hostages. Now they're saying and they're saying they're not changing their story but now they're saying well, we did withhold the payment until the hostages were freed for leverage. Is it leverage or is this a payment which would be against U.S. policy?

MEHTA: I mean I think with all the controversy about the Iran nuclear deal and the release of the hostages, I don't think the truth necessarily matters. And personally I just think this stinks. I mean it smells funny to the average voter.

SIDNER: It's the optics.

MEHTA: Exactly. It's the optics. And so the timing of the payment, I mean I think people get lost in the minutia of like past arms deal and where did this money come from. I just think it looks bad and it's hard to explain for the Obama administration.

SIDNER: And it seems like this time Donald Trump and his campaign are seizing on that as opposed to making news in other ways --

MEHTA: Right -- absolutely.

SIDNER: -- that have been detrimental.

MEHTA: Now the question is how long can they continue?

SIDNER: That is correct.

One more thing I want to mention. We have now heard from Hillary Clinton's campaign that they will not accept donations for the Clinton Foundation from foreign entities or from corporations if she becomes president.

MEHTA: Right. If she is elected -- right.

SIDNER: But she was a secretary of state and that was happening. How do you square that?

MEHTA: Well, I think that she was also a senator from New York --

SIDNER: Right.

MEHTA: -- so I think people are raising questions about hypocrisy. I mean when she became secretary of state she was not involved with the foundation any more. But we have these e-mails coming out which suggest, you know, donors were perhaps trying to get access after giving money.

So I think it just feeds into the narrative that the Republicans like to use against the Clintons which is basically that they are untrustworthy.

SIDNER: And another optics problem right?

MEHTA: Right, exactly.

SIDNER: It doesn't look good even if there may not have been anything untoward that actually happened.

All right. Seema Mehta -- thank you so much for coming on.

MEHTA: Thank you.

SIDNER: That was a lot of fun.

All right. Just ahead -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin found itself embroiled in protests that turned into riots after the deadly shooting of an African-American man. But community members say the outrage did not start with the killing.

We examine one ingredient that seems to be setting the stage for these explosions of unrest across America.

And six weeks after the Philippines' president launched a no holds barred war on drugs, prison, courts and rehab centers are overcrowded and overwhelmed and some worry that human rights are taking a backseat to that battle.

[00:19:14] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met with law enforcement today, each pledging their support for officers and each talking about tensions between police and the communities they serve. This comes as Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the latest U.S. city rocked by violence after the fatal police shooting of an armed black man.

According to a city leader, tensions have simmered in Milwaukee for years and the shooting was just one factor igniting a powder keg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone felt it. You know, I think everyone knew that it was inevitable.

SIDNER: Milwaukee alderman, Khalid Rainey says the destructive reaction in his predominantly black neighborhood was not just over the police shooting. One of the triggers was something much more mundane -- the targeting and ticketing practices of police.

KHALID RAINEY, MILWAUKEE ALDERMAN: There are instances when tickets are issued and they should be. But there are some practices that are predatory.

TAWANA BRIDGES: I see the police and I'm like oh, lord not today.

SIDNER: Mother of five, Tawana Bridges, says she was caught in the cycle of ticketing hell. Missed payment of fines for things like a broken taillights or parking tickets ballooned into a personal crisis.

BRIDGES: Sometimes I don't have the extra $50 that they need me to send in but if I don't send it then there is a warrant out for my arrest. They'll suspend a license. So either way it goes, like I'm in a lose/lose situation. SIDNER: Molly Gena of Legal Action of Wisconsin says black and poor

residents are bearing the brunt of the city's ticketing practices. A 2011 study found that while blacks make up 19 percent of registered drivers in Milwaukee County they received 69 percent of license suspensions for failure to pay fines. That far outweighs every other ethnicity combined.

MOLLY GENA, LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN: My clients, so many of them lose their license for poverty -elated reasons.

SIDNER: If it all sounds familiar, it should. After a police shooting led to protests and riots in Ferguson, Missouri a Department of Justice investigation blamed the disproportionate ticketing and fining of black residents there as the underlying catalyst for the unrest.

ERIC HOLDER, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The city relies on the police force to serve essentially as a collection agency for the municipal court rather than as a law enforcement entity.

SIDNER: After a consent decree, Ferguson changed. Its municipal court now makes just a fraction of what it used to make from fines. But a new class action lawsuit accuses 13 cities surrounding Ferguson of the same practice -- policing for profit on the backs of black and poor people.

Non-profit Arch City Defenders brought the suit claiming a total of $77 million was collected over a five-year period by those 13 cities for municipal court fines, fees and surcharges in an area with a population of less than 50,000 people.

THOMAS HARVEY, ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: At some point if you have jailed someone you know that they don't have the ability to pay, right because we'd all pay.

SIDNER: Nobody wants to sit in jail.

HARVEY: Right. I mean you are essentially asking someone how much money do you have to buy your freedom.

SIDNER: The cities have balked at the accusation that they have created debtors prisons. One African-American mayor in one of those cities told me that driving is a privilege, not a right. If you don't want to pay a fine, he said, don't break the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not the policeman's fault for enforcing the law.

SIDNER: Pat Kelly leads an association of municipalities in St. Louis County and says while the system should be scrutinized many of the problems could be solved if residents would simply show up to court.

[00:25:00] PAT KELLY, MUNICIPAL LEAGUE: You know, these are the laws of the state that they are enforcing and those warrants and those kinds of things are built into law to try to get people to come to court. SIDNER: Alderman Rainey is watching what is happening in Missouri and

calling for change in Milwaukee warning without it the eruption of anger will reappear.

RAINEY: I see devastation and I see something I hope we never see ever again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: For more on the discussion on police shootings and the controversy that is surrounding policing practices, I'm joined now by Cheryl Dorsey, she's a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department. Thank you so much for coming on again today.

I want to talk about this ticketing issue because it is something that you hear time and again. I spent a lot of time in Ferguson and some time in Baltimore and you would hear people say I feel like we are being targeted and not just that but because we can't pay we're going to jail. Is this the right way to police an area?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: Absolutely not. And you know, there are two things that you accomplish when you do that aside from the money thing is that you do keep a ready pool of people who you can put in jail at any point in time, right. Because I live in this area -- I mean you live in this area, I work in this area. And so if we have a history and I know that you're one who may be out after hours when I don't want you out there as a police officer and I see you out there and I know that two weeks ago or two months ago I wrote you a ticket there is a likelihood that you're going to have a warrant out, right.

So all I have to do is run you and guess what, I pray to the warrant god and my prayers are answered and now I get to put you in jail.

SIDNER: I want to ask if you think that some of the issues that were brought up in that story do contribute to these explosions of anger and protest. A lot of people look at the details of the shooting that involved a police officer and usually an African-American male whether that person was armed or unarmed they pick apart the details but this underlying thing, is this a reality, you think?

DORSEY: Oh absolutely, it is a reality and it's very unfair. And we know this to be true because we're hearing about it. That's why there is a consent decree in Ferguson. They talked about it in the DOJ report about how officers conduct themselves one way in one part of town and another way in another part of town. And we know that to be true. It happens all over. It happens here in Los Angeles. Officers conduct themselves one way north of the Santa Monica Freeway and a different way south of the Santa Monica Freeway.

And when you understand that a traffic infraction is something that is discretionary, that means an officer can give you a warning, right. Far more warnings I would beg to argue are given in the more affluent areas. I'll give you a warning, slow down, take it easy.

SIDNER: So in the places where people can pay you get a warning. DORSEY: Absolutely.

SIDNER: In the places where people really, really have a hard time paying, even a $50 ticket -- you give them a ticket.

DORSEY: And I don't know that there are any $50 tickets any more, right. That's another thing. Tickets are very expensive. And so, again, if you are given a ticket and it is $200, $300 dollars and you're already having a hard time feeding yourself and you have to make a decision do I buy groceries or do I pay a ticket, it's a no- brainer, right. And now you have a warrant and now it's not $250, not it's $1500.

SIDNER: I want to ask you this, though. Because I did speak to a mayor, he happens to be a black mayor. He told me I went to jail as a young person and guess what I learned. Have your car fixed, don't speed, don't go through stop signs. Make sure you have your insurance. He goes, that taught me a lesson and that's all that we are trying to do. I'm not going to tell our police officers to stop policing. Is that a fair reaction?

DORSEY: Well, it's certainly an educational tool and that's what, you know, police chiefs and mayors are supposed to say. They speak code talk, right. And so that's why he's saying that. But I can learn that same lesson if you give me a warning. I'm still appreciative because you've just saved me hundreds of dollars. I'll be very careful the next time I'm on this street. I'll be mindful of my speed, right.

So the argument works both ways. And so you don't use that as a bullying tool, as an intimidation tool, the threat of being without money to take care of your family to compel someone to do what is right.

SIDNER: I want to ask you how are we going to have this conversation come to some sort of consensus between police departments that may see things one way and the residents who see things completely a different way and it's causing a lot of tension?

DORSEY: Well see, I don't think it's the residents are seeing something a different way. That's their lived experience. That's their reality. And so police departments and police chiefs need to stop minimizing what we know to be true, what we know they experience day in and day out. If we admit that there is a problem then we can have an honest dialogue about how to fix it.

SIDNER: Do the officers know there is a problem?

DORSEY: Absolutely. The officers know because they are part of it.

SIDNER: Do they talk about it?

DORSEY: Certainly.

SIDNER: Ok. So amongst themselves there is talk about what's going on. DORSEY: Absolutely. Absolutely.

And the police chiefs know because remember before he was a police chief he was a police officer.

SIDNER: On the street.

DORSEY: On the street doing the same thing.

SIDNER: Thank you so much for having this really honest conversation. I appreciate you coming on.

DORSEY: Thanks for having me.

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead the new Philippines president promised to crack down hard on drug dealers in his country. But with hundreds of people killed by police and thousands of people behind bars, critics are saying he has simply gone too far.

We'll examine that issue in that country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:20] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Sara Sidner.

The headlines for you at this hour.

Two U.S. swimmers are heading home after Brazilian police questioned and accused them of making up a story about being robbed at gun point. Brazilian police say Ryan Lochte lied about them being held up in Rio to cover up their act of vandalism. The U.S. Olympic Committee has recently apologized to Brazil and says one athlete was behind the vandalism.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is attacking the U.S. president over a payment of $400 million sent to Iran. The U.S. State Department now says the cash transfer was delivered and used as leverage to ensure Tehran released three Americans. But U.S. officials say the payment did not amount to for ransom.

In Eastern Turkey, a wedding celebration was sent into absolute chaos after a car bomb exploded nearby shattering windows and a lot of nerves. The terrifying moment was captured on video. You see it there. And that video captured by guests who were attending Wednesday's wedding celebrations.

In California, emergency crews are desperately trying to get a fast- moving wildfire under control. Authorities are urging thousands of residents now in San Bernardino County to evacuate as a precaution.

And not fire, but water in Louisiana. About 40,000 homes have been damaged because of catastrophic flooding there and a majority of the owners do not have insurance.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has only been on the job just a few weeks, but he's already launched a major anti-drug offensive. It's producing results, but also criticism as the body count there rises.

We have to warn you, Ivan Watson's report contains some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(DOG BARK)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is part of the new war on drugs in the Philippines. Police and a local government official going house-to-house, calling out residents by name.

(on-camera): The authorities call these operations knock and plead. They go door-to-door inviting suspected drug users and dealers to voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities, and so far we haven't seen anybody turn down the invitation.

(voice-over): Police lead suspects back to town hall. Here urine tests, fingerprints and mug shots looking awful lot like procedures for an arrest until the new arrivals are instructed to take this oath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE OFFICER: I voluntarily surrendered --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE AND FEMALE SUSPECTS: I voluntarily surrendered --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE OFFICER: To the police and government authorities --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE AND FEMALE SUSPECTS: To the police and government authorities --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE OFFICER: That I am an illegal drug --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE AND FEMALE SUSPECTS: That I am an illegal drug user --

WATSON: More than half a million Filipinos have turned themselves in this way in just seven weeks says the country's brand new national police chief with no evidence, arrest warrant or trial, many of them will just end up on a watch list.

GEN. RONALDO DELA ROSA, PHILIPPINES NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF: We have zero tolerance for drugs. So as much as possible we want to be -- to have a drugless society.

WATSON (on-camera): Is that realistic?

DE LA ROSA: No. It cannot be achieved.

[00:35:40] WATSON (voice-over): The country's largest government-run drug rehabilitation center is crowded and overwhelmed says the head doctor. He says he's seen a sudden surge in new patients.

(on-camera): 30 new patients a day.

Are they telling you why they're coming?

DR. BIEN LEABRES, MANILA REHABILITATION CENTER: Most of them are here because of fear.

WATSON: Fear?

LEABRES: Fear. What's going on outside, the government's actions especially the PNP.

WATSON: The police, the crackdown.

The crackdown has made them fear that they might be either incarcerated or worst even killed.

WATSON (voice-over): Since the Philippines president launched his war on drugs on July 1st, police say they have killed at least 659 people across the country.

(on-camera): Are the police being ordered to kill suspected drug dealers?

DELA ROSA: We have to kill them if they endanger our lives.

WATSON (voice-over): Human rights groups are sounding the alarm about the growing body count and what that means for the rule of law.

While some local government officials are worried about other new logistical problems.

ANTONIO HALILI, TANAUAN CITY MAYOR: I never thought that this would happen. I never thought that this will be overpopulated.

WATSON: Cells in the brand-new Tanauan City Jail built to hold 30 prisoners now holding more than 50. Many of whom were recently arrested on drug charges.

(on-camera): Is there room in the prisons, in the jails, in the court system for these thousands of new suspects.

DELA ROSA: We have to do like that, inside special cells. Yes, they are stocked inside.

WATSON (voice-over): In his rush to combat drugs, this country's top cop seems to have little time for the idea that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SIDNER: Four female athletes from Saudi Arabia are participating in the Rio Olympics this year. That's double the number from the London Games, when Saudi sent only two women.

Societal barriers often prevent Saudi women for participating in sports. But our next guest wants to help change that cultural norm in her country.

Joining me now from Dubai is Raha Moharrak.

She just wrote an op-ed piece for CNN.com about the hurdles facing woman who want to play sports in Saudi Arabia.

Raha is also the first Saudi woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

Raha, I want to first ask you because I can't help myself, what is it like to stand on top of the world?

RAHA MOHARRAK, FIRST SAUDI WOMAN TO SUMMIT MOUNT EVEREST: It's surreal. It's one of those moments that I go back to and sometimes pinch myself. It was absolutely stunning.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about barriers. There is a lot of people who look at Saudi Arabia and they don't see the female athletes coming from there. And they look at the Olympics and they say, well, only four people even though it was just two in 2012.

What are some of the things that are preventing women from being able to take part in sport and being able to take part in a very serious way if they want to?

[00:40:08] MOHARRAK: I think it's a mentality issue. Sports is an afterthought for women. It's considered to be a past time. A male thing. It's not viewed as a passion -- as something that you can do as a job. It's a mentality that has been there for a long time.

SIDNER: We're looking at some pictures of your country women who are there at the Olympics, everything from judo to track and field.

Can you tell me what it was like for you when you saw these Saudi women coming out in the opening ceremony and walking for your country for the first time in 2012 and then four more in 2016?

MOHARRAK: I remember that first time I saw one of my own holding a flag, I was -- I was beside myself. I was just -- I thought we finally made it.

It took a long time. And there's still a lot of things we need to work out. But four years down the line, people were telling me you only have four. And I say, yes, we have double the amount of last time. So it's slowly changing and slowly improving.

So for me, for a sports lover to see this finally come true was one of my favorite moments to date. SIDNER: One of the biggest things that an athlete, especially someone who is trying to go to the Olympics needs is a place to train.

What are those facilities like for women in Saudi Arabia? And is that one of those things that is a bit of a barrier for women who want to do this?

MOHARRAK: Well, we've come a long way in the last decade. There are now female gyms and a little -- a few clubs that are all female, but it only caters to the elite and it's not open for everybody, for the masses.

And I think until we implement sports in schools at a young age, we won't have the Olympic-quality athletes. So, although it has improved, it still really needs to -- (OFF-MIKE)

SIDNER: I think we have just now lost our guest Raha Moharrak, who was speaking to us about her feat, one that she was able to climb Mt. Everest and also some of the barriers that are facing still Saudi Arabian women who want to take part in sport.

We thank her for joining us from Dubai.

Now an amazing story about an early arrival, a delayed flight and a newborn baby who flew before she could crawl. The little girl was born four hours into a flight from Dubai. We were just talking to someone in Dubai to Manila earlier this week.

a passenger posted this photo on Facebook showing the new mom back in her seat after giving birth five weeks early.

There was no problem for the Cebu Pacific flight crew. They along with two nurses who were passengers on that plane ensured what turned out to be a smooth delivery on the plane. The plane had to be diverted, however, to India and the flight was delayed nearly nine hours.

But mom and baby doing great. And the airline even gave the family one million air miles. So it looks like this little girl is going to be flying for a heck of a long time. Maybe that is enough for her entire life.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Sara Sidner.

"World Sport" is up next live from Rio de Janeiro.

You are watching CNN.

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