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Police Say Olympians Lied about Robbery; Trump "Regrets" Comments in the Past; Challenges of Getting Help to Syrians. Aired 2- 3p ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour --

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Swimmer Ryan Lochte and Brazilian police have different stories about what happened early Sunday morning in Rio. Lochte says robbery. Police call that a lie. Now USA swimming is considering consequences. Two of the other swimmers involved are heading back to the U.S. after authorities questioned them. They told police Lochte fabricated the robbery story. The U.S. Olympic Committee has apologized to Brazil, saying, in part, "The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA or the conduct of the vast majority of its members."

Well, one thing authorities and Lochte agree on is that a gun was brandished and money was exchanged.

Martin Savidge has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brazilian authorities now saying Ryan Lochte's stunning story about being robbed at gun point, 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. 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, U.S. 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 then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead. He took our money. He took my wallet.

SAVIDGE: Brazilian authorities say that didn't happen.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE DIRECTOR (through translation): 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 incident --

(CHEERING)

SAVIDGE: -- partying at a club in Rio. But the group's story of being robbed starts to unravel Tuesday when video of 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 NEWS 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.

SAVIDGE: That same night, authorities boarded a plane and pulled off Bentz and Conger.

Now a story of Americans being robbed in a foreign country appears to be a night on the town and too much celebration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Now former FBI agent, Bobby Chacon, and defense attorney, Brian Clayborn, join me here in the studio, as well as clinical and forensic psychologist, Judy Ho.

Welcome to you all. It is good to have you with us.

Brian, if I could start with you, where does this leave everything legally?

BRIAN CLAYBORN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, legally, Ryan Lochte can still be charged with -- I've got four crimes sitting in front of me, false reporting of a crime, false self-accusation. By the way, that's three months to two years. Perjury, possibly, as a witness. If he lied during a police investigation he might be charged with that. But there's a big one nobody is talking about. Giving rise to institution of police investigation. Basically, that's saying that somebody else committed a crime and you knew that that person was innocent. That carries a penalty of two to eight years. You and I are talking about an apology, an apology by the U.S. Olympic Committee. I'm talking about crimes that may have been committed. And why didn't our government or this committee say, hey, let's see how the judicial process carries out and if Ryan Lochte did something wrong, he should suffer the consequences. Why didn't they do that? I think it's pathetic that they didn't.

[02:05:22] SESAY: I want to bring in Bobby at this point.

You have lived in Brazil. You know, as you said, the situation regarding street crime. You have a great understanding of it. How surprised are you, though, that Brazilian authorities are putting so much time and resources into getting to the bottom of all of this situation?

ROBERT CHACON, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Oh, I'm not surprised at all. And I think a lot of it has to do with the lying of Ryan Lochte and some of his teammates initially. When you're investigating a crime like this, you seem to want to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible. And when you have so-called victims making it much harder for you to do, it turns them around ask maybe looks like they are the perpetrators.

SESAY: I guess I ask you the question because there have been Brazilians quoted in media saying they wish the Brazilian authorities would be this committed to solving issues that they face as local residents as they are in this situation.

CHACON: Well, I kind of take that with a grain of salt. If you look at the videotape, this clearly was an incident where they urinated on the property, they may have damaged the property a little bit. There was no -- there was no person that was a victim of this crime, there wasn't a violent are trial. So the actions of these guys, I think, the night of the incident itself, I think, appeals in comparison to their actions about it, making statements about it, making public statements about it, disparaging Brazil as a society. So I think that is much worse than -- and that's what needs to be corrected.

SESAY: To that point, Judy, let me bring you in here.

You heard Bobby say what, you know, the Brazilian authorities are saying, there have been multiple lies here and, you know, it has raised many questions about Ryan Lochte himself and one of the most, I guess, one of the key ones is why would anyone lie about something like this?

JUDY HO, CLINICAL & FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, Isha, I think that Ryan was trying to save face. It all started, actually, when he told this lie just to his mother. But then when his mother posted it on social media, he then was the one who got carried away. He didn't just start to embellish. He started to just make things up, where he was showing himself in a positive light. He gave accounts that all of his teammates got down on the floor when the gun was being brandished, except he. He was the person who stood up and said no, I'm not going to get down, I didn't do anything wrong. So it became this thing of feeding his own image, feeding his ego, and it just got out of hand. At that point, it was so much in the public eye that instead of just backing off and saying, you know what, I'm sorry, I was a little shocked that night, and none of it happened, he just kept going, running with it.

And this just shows the type of behavior that Ryan has paralleled in the past. He has a long history of behaviors that sort of are irresponsible. He's gotten away with a lot of things. And he's never had to be held accountable until now. And to Brian's point, maybe he needs to be held accountable now, so he can learn this lesson.

SESAY: My thanks to all of you. We shall see how it plays out if in the hours ahead.

Thank you, Judy, Bobby, Brian.

(CROSSTALK)

CLAYBORN: Thank you.

SESAY: All of this attention on swimmers showed up with our reach of the games. Usain Bolt has had an incredible night. We'll take you live to Rio for more on all of that later this hour.

Now, we are learning more about the controversial payment of $400 million the U.S. sent to Iran. The U.S. now says the cash transferred was delayed and used as leverage to ensure Tehran released American prisoners, that included "Washington Post" reporter, Jason Rezaian, seen in this picture after he was freed. Earlier this month, Iranian state TV released this video allegedly showing the pallets of cash. U.S. officials say the payment did not amount to ransom, as it was a settlement for a weapons deal that was never completed.

Earlier, CNN spoke with the spokesman of the U.S. State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: We were certainly careful enough to not want to just trust that the Iranians would do what they said they were going to do inside the prisoner talks that we were having, which was a separate process. There is mutual mistrust between our two countries and we felt like it would be irresponsible for us, since the timing could come together for us to not hold on just a little bit longer to make sure that we got those Americans out. And if you remember and go back to that time, there was a lot of give and take in those last hours. There were some Americans we couldn't locate and couldn't get to. And we were very concerned. And I think with good reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, Donald Trump didn't waste any time to attack, again, the U.S. president over that payment to Iran. At a rally in North Carolina, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate said Barack Obama lied when he said the cash transfer was not ransom. Trump said the Obama administration put Americans abroad at greater risk. Our Jason Carroll was at the rally where Trump surprised people with a

statement we've never heard from him before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:10:17] JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a very different Donald Trump that we heard at Charlotte when he gave his rally speech. You know, after it was over, I spoke to a number of people who were here. One woman told me, Donald Trump, in her words, "was not just running his mouth. He sounded more presidential. He had more substance." Another man telling me he seemed to speak from the heart.

One point that seemed to strike a number of people in the room was when Donald Trump -- now, it wasn't an apology -- but he did say he had regrets about some of the things that he has said in the past.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: 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.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And believe it or not, I regret it.

(CHANTING)

TRUMP: And I do regret it, particularly where I may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.

CARROLL: Trump put knit context by saying that Hillary Clinton in contrast, he said, so while I can be too on honest, he said, quote, "Hillary Clinton is the opposite. She never tells the truth."

We also heard something that we've heard before. Earlier this week, in West Bend, Wisconsin, when Donald Trump appealed to the African- American community. She did that again here in Charlotte, basically saying that Clinton sees communities of color only as votes. He, once again, appealed directly to the African-American community.

TRUMP: And if African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote, the result for them will be amazing.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: What do you have to lose by trying something new?

CARROLL: At the top of the speech, Trump also talked about the heartbreak and the devastation of the people who are suffering from the flooding in Baton Rouge. We are now hearing that Trump and running mate, Mike Pence, will be visiting Baton Rouge. That will be sometime later today. Trump saying, quote, "We are one nation. When one state hurts, we all hurt. We must all work together." Not again, the use of the word, "all." Trump not just trying to reach out to African-Americans, but trying to build and grow his base. The campaign knows this is something they simply must do if they're going to pull out a win come November.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, the Clinton Foundation says it would not accept foreign or corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president. A spokesman for former President Bill Clinton will not give any -- has said Bill Clinton will not give paid speeches, now through Election Day, and will continue that practice if his wife is elected.

Some critics have accused the U.S. Democratic candidate of helping foreign donors while she was secretary of state. Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, says, in part, in a statement, quote, "The fact that the Clinton Foundation and its entities continue to accept foreign donations while she's running for a position in the White House is a massive ongoing conflict of interest and it gets bigger by the day. This is unprecedented and unacceptable."

Next on CNN NEWSROOM, he was too traumatized to cry. How five years of war has scarred the children of Syria.

Plus, overflowing prisons and a rising body count. Why some fear the Philippines war on drugs may be costing too much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:18:13] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Syrian war planes have bombed America's main ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria. U.S. military advisers were nearby at the time of the strike against Kurdish YPG fighters in al Hasakah (ph) Province. The YPG says the regime shelling also killed at least 13 people Syrian forces have largely left the Kurds alone in the war so far.

Russia says it's ready to sign on to a 48-hour cease-fire in Aleppo so food and medicine can reach the embattled city. But diplomats are skeptical that the bombing and shelling will stop long enough to allow for a humanitarian pause.

Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more on the war's most innocent victims.

There are some graphic images in her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING) BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh carries out of the rubble in Aleppo Syria, sitting in shock, alone in the ambulance, no shoes, not even crying, wiping away the blood.

The Syrian activist who recorded the images says it took nearly an hour to pull him out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Omran's whole face was blood and his family was under the rubble and there was no one to help him but the rescue workers.

STARR: The image going viral, capturing the horror of Aleppo and the humanitarian disaster that is Syria. Evoking another image, that of 2-year-old Aylan Kurdi, drowned on a Turkish beach.

The impossible choice facing millions trapped in the middle of Syria, stay and try to survive, or escape, either way, risking death.

(SHOUTING)

STARR: The U.N. special envoy demanding Russia and the U.S. try to stop the carnage and get humanitarian aid into Aleppo.

STEFAN DE MISTURA, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ: I, again, insist on behalf of the secretary general of the U.N. and of all the Syrian people to have a 48-hour pause in Aleppo.

[02:20:09] STARR: But safe passage for relief convoy is impossible as long as Russian and Syrian war planes continue bombing. More than 4500 children have been killed in the Aleppo area since the war began five years ago, according to an observer group.

The last U.S. ambassador to Syria says the U.S. is failing.

ROBERT FORD, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA: I think it's important for Syrians such as those doctors in Aleppo to not be waiting for the Obama administration to come to their rescue because, frankly, I don't think it's going to happen.

(SHOUTING)

STARR: Viral moments like Omran's image may be fleeting, however. This time, will the outrage last? For just a moment, the heartbreak of Omran Daqneesh's 5-year-old life was shown to the world, five years of war and trying to survive.

KIRBY: For every day he's been alive, he's known nothing but conflict and war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, reporting there.

We're going to talk about this impact of war on children with Suzy Sainovski. She communications director for World Vision, and she joins us now from Amman, Jordan.

Suzy, thank you so much for joining us.

You know, seeing little Omran's bloody and dust-covered face has really shocked the world. And one of the things that everyone is focusing on is the little boy doesn't cry. He is in total shock. But I imagine that that look of shock on the faces of children is something you've seen often while working in Syria during this conflict.

SUZY SAINOVSKI, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WORLD VISION: I've visited many of the countries affected by the Syrian crisis -- and Jordan and Lebanon and Turkey -- and have met so many Syrian refugee children and heard a lot of heartbreaking stories about how families fled Syria, some of the things that children have seen and experienced, and it is completely heartbreaking. And I went and woke up yesterday, like a lot of the world did, to that image of Omran and I couldn't believe it. Sitting on that chair covered in dust, wiping the blood off his face, not really knowing what had happen. And when I saw that image, I thought back, like a lot of the world, of the photo of the boy on the beach in Turkey last year, and I thought maybe this is another image that will make the world wake up and really take notice and really look into what's happening in Syria and what we can do to try and -- to try and stop this war and also to try and help the people impacted by it.

SESAY: Yeah. Suzy, talk to us about the different ways children are being impacted by the Syrian conflict.

SAINOVSKI: Sure. There really are so many ways. I mean, inside Syria itself, around two million -- more than two million children are out of school. And the impact of that, there are child protection implications when children aren't at school. They're more likely to be engaged in child labor, potentially, especially for young girls, entering into early marriages. But also what's happening in Syria, it is devastating. But in the countries surrounding Syria, about half the children are also out of school. Child labor, early marriage are huge issues. And, obviously, we see, like this photo of Omran, I mean, children are experiencing violence. They're witnessing violence. And something children really need is help to process their feelings, process their experiences. Organizations like World Vision are helping children do this, as are other organizations, but there's so much more that needs to be done.

SESAY: Yeah. Given the conditions on the ground, how effective is World Vision able to be in meeting the specific needs of the children affected by this crisis, the children inside Syria right now?

SAINOVSKI: World Vision is working across the north of Syria and we're helping children and families with essential things like clean water and health and medical services and even providing things like baby kits for children and babies, of course. Even crucial things like nappies and other things for families, like mattresses and that kind of thing. But what we need is, that's one part of Syria, but what we need is access to places like Aleppo city and other besieged and hard-to-reach communities where there is so much dire need, but what we can't do in some of those places at the moment is actually get in there to -- to access the children and families who desperately need help.

[02:25:08] SESAY: You know, there's a line in the World Vision report from March of 2016 called "the cost of conflict for children." In that report, I was struck by this line that read, "Every day the conflict continues, it deepens the depravation of Syria's children today and into the future." And that's a point that's often lost on people that this conflict is going to have massive repercussions for children that stretch far into the future.

SAINOVSKI: Precisely. I met a little girl, a little Syrian girl in Lebanon last year. And she was about 10 years old. And her family had fled the conflict at the beginning of the conflict in 2011. And what struck me is she has never been to school. And she couldn't read and write. And she's 10 years old. And making up for that lost time is so incredibly difficult. But when you multiply that one child's story by literally millions of children, millions of children, two million children inside Syria and something around 700,000 or 800,000 school aged Syrian children in the region outside of school, the long- term effects of that will be massive because, when this war ends, and it will end at some stage, those children and families will return to Syria and we need those children educated. We need those children ready to help rebuild and restore Syria. And we -- what we really need is we need children to be educated and, obviously, protected, as well, which is really crucial. That's why this long-term effects on this war will be huge.

SESAY: It will, indeed. Sadly so.

Suzy Sainovski, thank you so much for all the work you're doing there on the ground in Syria and in the region. And thank you for speaking to us about the challenges children are facing. Thank you.

SAINOVSKI: Thanks for having me on.

SESAY: And we'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:22] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: Jamaica's Usain Bolt is one win away from the triple-triple. The lightning Bolt took part in the 200 meter on Thursday, his second gold at the games.

For more, we go to Christina McFarland, who joins us in Rio.

Christine, there has been some great action.

CHRISTINE MCFARLAND, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: There has tonight, Isha. The top of them, Usain Bolt, courting immortality tonight with that eighth gold medal. I was in the stadium and he certainly had his game face on tonight, not as much as we've seen in the heats and the semifinals. I think the only slight disappointment in that performance tonight was the fact that it was slower than some of his previous performances and, of course, he didn't break the world record, finishing in a time of 19.78. After the race was run, he toll the press he was slightly disappointed in that but he declared there's nothing more he can do to be the best in the world. And that of course he is. But don't forget, we will see him in action in the 100 meters next year in the world championships to come.

A brief update on two other super human acts tonight. The first came from Ashton Eaton of the United States. He became the first athlete to defend his decathlon title. His score actually equaled the Olympic record set back in 2004. The decathlon, 10 events over two days. It was exhausting to watch. Eaton, completely dominant in this sport since 2011.

But elsewhere earlier in the day, we saw the brilliant Brownlee brothers perform as we've seen them do before at London 2012. This time finishing gold and silver and Alistair Brownlee becoming the first athlete to defend his Olympic title. His brother, Johnny, finishing in silver. That's one better than he achieved back in London 2012. They were neck and neck until in the final end of the race when it came down to the run, and then about 10 kilometers to go, his brother peeled away to finish six seconds faster. And I always wonder where their parents are in all of this, Isha, watching on, I think biting their nails nervously to see these two sons take Olympic gold and silver.

SESAY: I agree. A lot to go through. Well done to the Brownlee family. They must be very, very proud.

Christine, appreciate it. Many thanks.

MCFARLAND: Thank you.

SESAY: Eating right is key for Olympic athletes, but on the sidelines of the Rio games, top chefs are cooking up meals for different clientele. They use leftovers from the Olympic Village and create three-course meals for people in need.

Shasta Darlington explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a soup kitchen serving Rio's castaways with some of the best culinary talent in the world stirring the pots. That's just the way this star chef wants it.

UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: It was two guys, the second night. They were here and they left the room saying it's the first time in my life that we were treated like human beings, like prince and princess. It's such a -- it's breath taking with because it's exactly what we want to do here.

[02:35:04] DARLINGTON: To top it all off, they're using surplus ingredients originally destined for the Olympic Village, served up under fine art on tables designed by the Campana brothers to show off the stains.

UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: Because, you know, the touch has to be perfect but with no varnish because you have to see the traces of what was, you know, the dinner on the first night, the second night, and on and on and on.

DARLINGTON: An ambitious project that just opened in Rio's rundown neighborhood catering to those in need. They teamed up to make it all happen.

(on camera): What we're seeing today might be different tomorrow.

(voice-over): Hertz shows us the pantry of unwanted food.

UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: Maybe I have pepper like this.

DARLINGTON (on camera): It's wrinkled but fun?

UNIDENTIFIED CHEF: It's wrinkled, but it would be the sell in the super market because it has a face. So it's kind of like the ugly pepper. So they come here.

DARLINGTON (voice-over): And introduces us to the young cooks his nonprofit has trained, now learning from the masters, and who will run the show once the Olympics have come and gone. Serving up for a paying clientele at lunch, funding gourmet meals for Rio's less fortunate at night.

(MUSIC)

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: What a wonderful effort.

Away from the Olympics, and Amber Heard, the ex-wife of actor, Johnny Depp, kept her promise donating her $7 million divorce settlement to charity. She gave the money to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the program to stop violence against women. She dropped the domestic violence charges against Depp. The couple were married for about a year and a half.

Time for a quick break. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., six weeks after the president of the Philippines launched a no-holds-barred war on drugs, prisons are overcrowded and overwhelmed and some worry human rights are taking a back seat to the battle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:40:34] SESAY: In the Philippines, the new president is cracking down on the illegal drug trade in his country and it's producing results. There have been thousands of raids and arrests, but also hundreds of deaths and plenty of criticism.

Our Ivan Watson has more now from Manila.

And we have to warn you, his report contains some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(DOG BARKING)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is part of the new war on drugs in the Philippines. Police send 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 look an awful lot like procedures for an arrest, until the new arrivals are instructed to take this oath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I surrender to the police and authorities.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the police and authorities.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That I am an illegal drug --

(CROSSTALK)

WATSON: More than half a million Filipinos have turned themselves in this way in 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.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE CHIEF: We have -- for drugs. As much as possible, we want to have a drugless society.

WATSON (on camera): Is that realistic?

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE CHIEF: No. It cannot be achieved.

(GUNFIRE)

(SHOUTING)

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 are coming?

UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Most of them are here because of fear.

WATSON (on camera): Fear?

UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Fear. What's going on outside, the government's actions, especially the B&P and --

WATSON: The police.

UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: The police. The crackdown has made them fear that they might be incarcerated or killed.

WATSON (voice-over): Since the country's president launched his war on July 1st, police say they've killed 659 people across the country.

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

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE CHIEF: 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 --

(SHOUTING)

WATSON: -- while some local government officials are worried about other new logistical problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought that this would happen. I never thought that this will be overpopulated.

WATSON: Cells in the brand new city jail built to hold 30 prisoners now holding 50, most of who were recently arrested on drug charges.

(on camera): Is the room in the jails, in the court system for these thousands of new suspects?

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE CHIEF: They have to do like that inside the prison cells, yeah. They're stuck inside.

(SHOUTING)

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: And Ivan joins us now from Manila where he's outside the jail that's crowded with prisoners. Ivan, I have to ask you, as you laid out in that piece there and the

government really stepping up its efforts to get this war on drugs under control, how much public support is there for the way this had battle is being conducted?

[02:45:42] WATSON: Well, Isha, since the war on drugs is very much a policy that was launched by the new president, Duterte, who took power on July 1st, I think it's fair to say that since his approval ratings were so high in the last major poll last month, something like more than 90 percent approval and he has just won a convincing victory in presidential elections last may, there seems to be broad public support for this crackdown.

Now, let me just give you a sense of where we are. We're at the Kaison City Jail (ph). We're going to take a few steps back to give you a sense here, this is one of the most crowded jails in the Philippines. Scott is going to pan over to give you a view of the courtyard here, Isha. There are -- this had jail, according to Philippines standards, is built for about 800 people. Guess how many detainees are being held here? More than 4,000. It is more than 1300 percent overcapacity. The United Nations standard for a jail is 200 for this jail. So it is just overcapacity and there have been hundreds of additional detainees who have been brought in since the war on drugs began on July 1st.

Clearly, as one of the wardens here said, this is simply a violation of human rights, just a massive amount of human beings packed into this place. The new arrivals, the hundreds of new arrivals in the last month and a half, almost all of them on drug-related charges and very important to note, Isha, that none of these people have been convicted. They are all awaiting trial. And many of them have been in this jail for years awaiting trial, some 70 percent of them on drug-related charges -- Isha?

SESAY: Wow. An incredible picture of overcrowding there in that Filipino jail.

Ivan Watson, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you so much for the insight into the situation on the ground in this war on drugs. Thank you.

Well, away from the Philippines now. The U.S. Coast Guard is touting a series of a bust of a huge amount of illegal drugs. Authorities seized approximately 11 metric tons of cocaine. They were seized off the coast of central and South America. The Coast Guard says the bust is part of an effort to save lives and disrupt criminal organizations.

Next on CNN NEWSROOM, a CNN anchor becomes an instant meme after fact- checking Donald Trump's lawyer on live testify. You have to see this. Says who?

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[02:51:26] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Uber is rolling out technology that could ultimately put its drivers out of work. The ride sharing company is ready to experiment with self-driving cars. The service is set to begin within weeks in the U.S. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An Uber employee will be in the car initially in case something goes wrong. The company will ask volunteers to try the service at no cost. Uber has worked with Volvo and has plans for driverless trucks for deliveries. OK.

Now, an amazing story for you about an early arrival and a delayed flight and a newborn baby who flew before she could crawl. This little girl was born four hours into a flight from Dubai to Manila earlier this week. A passenger posted this photo on Facebook showing the new mother back in her seat after giving birth five weeks early. That was no problem for the Pacific flight crew. They along with two nurses who were passengers on a plane ensured a smooth delivery. The flight was diverted to India and delayed nearly nine hours. But mother and baby are fine, and the airline gave the family 1 million air miles. So it looks like this little girl will go far in life.

Now, when Brianna Keilar interviewed Donald Trump's lawyer. He seemed stubbornly up aware of something that's pretty obvious to everyone else: Donald Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls. Says who?

Our Jeanne Moos, of course.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a little like the old Abbott and Costello routine about the guy with the last name "Who" playing first base.

LOU COSTELLO, COMEDIAN: Who's on first?

BUD ABBOTT, COMEDIAN: Yes.

COSTELLO: I mean the guy's name?

ABBOTT: Who.

COSTELLO: The guy playing first.

ABBOTT: Who is on first.

COSTELLO: What are you asking me for? I don't know.

MOOS: Imagine that in slow motion.

An exchange between CNN's Brianna Keilar and Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, has become an instant campaign classic.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You guys are down. And it makes sense --

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Says who?

KEILAR: Polls.

COHEN: Says who?

KEILAR: Most of them. All of them.

MOOS: That led to an awkward five seconds of silence.

COHEN: Says who?

KEILAR: Polls. I just told you. I answered your question.

COHEN: OK. Which polls?

KEILAR: All of them.

"I watched it five times. It's hypnotic," posted one person. "Her single raised eyebrow at the end deserves an Emmy on its own."

COHEN: Which polls?

KEILAR: All of them.

MOOS: That ended up on a mock "make America great again" hat.

But the big take away seems to be --

COHEN: Says who?

MOOS: #sayswho became a thing.

The aftermath of the interview, "you're fired." "Says who?" Who else says who?

Either Trump's attorney was in denial about the polls --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or doing his best impression of an outline.

MOOS (voice-over): The exchange even inspired, we kid you not, knock- knock jokes.

Knock, knock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's there?

MOOS: Says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Says who?

MOOS: The polls. All of them.

#allofthem also picked up steam. In this case, with an Olympic theme.

So you're losing this race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Says who?

MOOS: The clocks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which clocks?

All of them.

There was even a poll, pitting "says who" against "all of them." "All of them" won by a landslide.

In the wake of Brianna's interview, Trump's attorney told Yahoo! News, "I think I unraveled her."

Let's take a poll on that.

COHEN: Which polls?

COSTELLO: What are you asking me for? I don't know.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos --

COHEN: Says who?

MOOS: -- CNN --

COHEN: Which polls?

MOOS: New York.

KEILAR: All of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

[02:55:03] SESAY: It never gets old.

A group in the U.S. is mocking Donald Trump by placing nude statues of him all over the country, in San Francisco, Seattle, Cleveland and New York. Officials in New York removed the one in Union Square Park. They also issued a rather sarcastic statement. It reads, "NYC Park stands firmly against any un-permitted erection in city parks, no matter how small."

And they're taking a jab at Trump in Canada, a restaurant owner came up with this. He calls it a Trump sandwich with some specific ingredients. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED RESTAURANT OWNER: So it's white bread full of baloney with a side of Russian dressing, a little pickle, and a wall of Mexican chips. And I put the disclaimer, "If you come in to buy this sandwich, you may not get what you thought you were buying."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: He's a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen and plans to vote in the American election. He says he's just making a joke.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The news continues next with Zain Asher.

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[03:00:09] ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: A changing tone from Donald Trump.

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