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Usain Bolt Wins Ninth Career Gold Medal; Trump Appeals to Black Voters for Support; Ryan Lochte Apologizes for Behavior; More Government Forces Attacks in Syria; Warning over Zika Virus in Florida. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired August 20, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:10] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: The lightning bolt, well, it strikes again. Not just twice, but three times. The Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt earns an unprecedented triple-triple in Rio. Plus.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What the hell do you have to lose?

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ALLEN: Donald Trump's blunt appeal to a group of voters he's struggling to attract.

And a new warning over the Zika virus, the U.S. government telling pregnant women to avoid part of a popular Florida beach.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks for joining us.

Usain Bolt continues to cement his status as an Olympic legend. Hope, you saw it. Bolt and team Jamaica won the men's 4 by 100 meter Olympic relay Friday making nine Olympic gold medals for Bolt and giving him the triple-triple, three golds in three events in three straight Olympics. Japan took silver, Canada bronze. For more on the lightning Bolt's performance and his Olympic legacy, we go to CNN World Sport's Don Riddell.

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DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the greatest stage in the world of sport, Usain Bolt has been the biggest star. The Olympic Games has never seen anything like it. Total domination and a man to his sprint events for three consecutive games. Some more modest athletes might play it down, but not the man himself.

USAIN BOLT, NINE-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Awesome. That's my word. That's my one word I always use. This thing was awesome.

RIDDELL: He's been rewriting the record books since sweeping the 100, 200, and sprint relay events in Beijing. Bolt repeated in London and again here in Rio, signing off his Olympic career with an unprecedented triple-triple. It's unlikely that we'll ever see his like again.

SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS, THREE-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Usain Bolt is the greatest track and field athlete of all time.

SEBASTIAN COE, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I can't think of another athlete since Mohammed Ali that has so captured the public imagination.

PELE, THREE-TIME WORLD CUP WINNER: (Speaking foreign language).

RIDDELL: It would also be hard to imagine anyone cementing a legacy in a shorter amount of time. For the nine gold medals, Bolt won in his last three Olympics, he was on the track for a total of less than two minutes, transcending his sport to become a global icon and a national hero in his beloved Jamaica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Truly humbling to be here and be present for this moment. It's a true honor to see him run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has really lifted the sport and has brought all these people here, all the world has seen that you can do it the right way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... especially since we know that this was his last Olympics. It was great to be here and see history made.

RIDDELL: In a troubled era for athletics, Usain Bolt has become its shining light, a smiling assassin, ruthlessly crushing his rivals, laughing all the way to the finish line and the bank too.

CHRISTIAN TAYLOR, TWO-TIME GOLD MEDALIST/TRIPLE JUMP: Absolute game changer, you know. We just talk about the attendance, you know, of coming to the track. He has brought faces, he's brought fans, he's truly, I mean, a legend in the making. But, you know, I'm so grateful for that and what he's doing for the sport. But just, you know, athletics as a whole.

RIDDELL: Tonight, we have seen Usain Bolt write another page of history in his remarkable Olympic career. But now, it's over. He says he'll retire after the world championships next year. He will celebrate his 30th birthday this Sunday knowing that he is the greatest. It is a title that will likely never be surpassed and make no mistake, he will be profoundly missed.

Don Riddell, CNN, Rio.

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ALLEN: The women were on the track Friday as well. The Americans easily finished first in the 4 by 100 meter relay, despite a late challenge from Jamaica. Great Britain finished third for the bronze.

Earlier over at the iconic Maracana Football Stadium, Germany beat Sweden 2-1 in the women's final. The German men will play for their own gold medal later Saturday against host nation, Brazil. The U.S. has continuing its toward pace of the standings with 105 total medals. Great Britain and China are in a tight race for second. There are just two golds and five medals overall separating them. Germany got 35 is holding on to fourth, just a single gold between them and Russia. And only two days left before they mix up those numbers.

Well, sources have told a CNN contributor that American swimmer Ryan Lochte will eventually be suspended for his role in that altercation in Rio. Both the USA swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee say they're reviewing it. Lochte says it ended with him and three teammates being robbed at gun point but Brazilian police say, no such robbery happened. We get more now from Nick Paton Walsh. He digs into it.

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[03:05:07] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Gold medalist Ryan Lochte talk to Instagram today saying he apologizes his "For my behavior last weekend for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes for fulfilling their olympic dreams."

Lochte and three of his teammates stopped at a gas station in Rio early Sunday. Surveillance video appeared to support police accounts but at least one of them vandalized the station. Urinating outside and damaging property. The men then get into their taxi and a confronted by security officers of camera, money reportedly change hands. Lochte hands publicly described the encounter as an armed robbery.

RYAN LOCHTE, US OLYMPIC SWIMMER: They pulled us over, they pulled out their guns. And told the other swimmers to get on the ground and then a guy pulled out his gun and cocked it and put it to my forehead and say sit down.

PATON WALSH: The police say the American swimmers reached an agreement with the armed guards to pay for damages while the gold medalist has now apologized he stopped short and makes highly changing his story. "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country with a language barrier." He posted this "And have a stranger point of gun at you and demand money to let you leave."

MARIO ANDRADA, RIO 2016 SPOKESMAN: We obviously accept his apology.

PATON WALSH: The International Olympic Committee chiming in as well.

ANDRADA: It's clear that the Brazilian population was kind of felt humiliated.

PATON WALSH: Lochte has been back in the U.S. for days one while his teammates pull the brunt in Brazil Rio's mayor saying he feels "Pity and contempt for all of them."

James Feigen was not allowed to leave Brazil until he paid nearly $11,000 to a national sports charity. Civil police say Feigen and his lawyer agreed to the donation during a court appearance. Jack Conger and Gunnar bentz returned to the U.S. just this morning until being pulled off their original flight by Brazilian authorities Wednesday.

They were given their passports back only after giving statements to police. All this as the U.S. Olympic committee tries to clean up the mess left behind. In a statement he said "The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable nor does it represent the values of team USA."

But USOC also stopped short of saying its athletes lied. Their security guards, quote, displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded a monetary payment, the statement reads. The question now is what comes next. Major sponsors including Speedo and Ralph Lauren saying they're following the developments closely.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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ALLEN: We turn now from the Olympics to the Middle East. Activists report more clashes Saturday between Syrian Kurdish forces and government loyalists in an area of Hasakah. The Syrian observatory for human rights says, coalition war planes patrol the skies and reinforcements have arrived at a U.S. base. Syrian air strikes targeted Kurdish fighters in Hasakah earlier this week. More now from Barbara Starr.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This video is said to show Kurdish fighters in a running gun battle with Syrian regime forces in the Northern Syrian City of Hasakah. Syrian fighter jets also bombing the area, alarming the Pentagon which secretly then ordered the hasty withdrawal of nearby American special operations forces.

SETH JONES, RAND CORP.: We've got aircraft flying in those areas. We've got forces on the ground, including the U.S. special operations forces, certainly may well be U.S. intelligence folks on the ground. So this increases the possibility of direct conflict.

STARR: The building, smoldering from the air strikes. Hasakah is normally relatively calm and largely under Kurdish control.

U.S. forces are training Kurds and Arabs to fight ISIS. Until now, the Syrian regime had steered clear of where the Americans operate. The Pentagon is furious with Damascus and Moscow.

When the Syrian attack came, the U.S. military scrambled. Trying to contact the Syrian aircraft, there was no answer. Warning the Russians and the Syrians, the U.S. will take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and sending more U.S. air craft into the area to patrol the skies.

There is now the real possibility of the U.S. and Syria squaring off in the air. A senior U.S. military official telling CNN, "If the Syrians try this again, they are at great risk of losing an aircraft."

Dozens of additional U.S. special operations forces are still in other areas of northern Syria. To protect them, the tough U.S. line will continue.

[03:10:01] JONES: If U.S. ends up leaving because things get hot, what it's meant is they were essentially coerced to pull back by a combination one would strongly suspect of Syrian, Iranian and Russian efforts.

STARR: But the Russians are stepping up their action. These cruise missiles launched at what Moscow said were Al Qaeda targets. And 5- year-old Omran Daqneesh wounded by air strikes in Aleppo, now recovering. Another tiny victim of yet another bombing.

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ALLEN: That picture of Omran, of course, captivating the world and we're following him and his family and, of course, his recovery. An activist has told CNN that the family has now been smuggled out of Aleppo. Thank goodness, and staying with relatives. But there are other Syrian children and three adults, though, trying to escape, like so many others, in a boat going to Europe and they drowned when they tried to cross. The bodies of two girls, eight months and five years old had been recovered. A five year old boy hasn't been found.

Donald Trump is trying to turn his campaign around at a disappointing poll number. We'll examine whether this might be the dawn of a new Donald? Could it be?

Plus, fighting the Zika virus in Florida. It has now spread to a world famous beach in Miami.

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ALLEN: We're inching closer, ever so closer to November. And now, recent polls show that Hillary Clinton leads in the race to be president. Donald Trump trying to get his campaign back on track. The Republican candidate promoted a conservative media provocateur and a respective Republican pollster to senior positions. And for now, Trump seems to be sticking, for the most part, to prepared speeches. We know it's tough for him, but let's see how he does. Here's Jessica Schneider.

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

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump making a passionate pitch to African-American voters telling this mostly white audience near East Lansing, Michigan that Democrats have been the ones keeping minorities down.

TRUMP: America must reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, who sees communities of color only as votes, not as human beings, worthy of a better future. Hillary Clinton would rather provide a job to a refugee from overseas than to give that job to unemployed African-American youth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for coming, Mr. Trump.

[03:15:00] SCHNEIDER: Trump started the day in Baton Rouge criticizing the President for staying on vacation on Martha's Vineyard during the worst natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy. The White House announcing just as Donald Trump jet took off that President Obama will travel to the devastation on Tuesday. But Donald Trump didn't let up.

TRUMP: Honestly, Obama ought to get off the golf course and get down there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Hillary Clinton's America the system stays rigged against Americans.

SCHNEIDER: Trump's first T.V. ad hit the air at the campaign spending $4.8 million over the next 10 days for ads in battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump's America is secure. Terrorists and dangerous criminals kept out, the borders secure, our families safe.

SCHNEIDER: Clinton's camp already on the attack. Campaign's spokesman Brian Fallon tweeting, in case you thought for a split second Trump was genuine about feeling regret. He is back to demonizing immigrants again in his new ad today.

Trump sharpens tone come does a new team takes over and Paul Manafort resign as campaign chairman. Sources telling CNN Manafort told Trump he was becoming a distraction and wanted to end it.

Donald Trump hasn't spoken about Paul Manafort's departure only releasing a statement saying that he's appreciative to Manafort especially for his help during the delegate and the convention process. But the Clinton camp is pouncing on this saying that the departure of Paul Manafort doesn't put an end to what they have called the odd bromance between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Dimondale, Michigan.

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ALLEN: Yet another warning for pregnant women, this one coming from the U.S. Center for Disease Control. That is, stay away from south beach such Miami Beach, one of the most famous beaches in the world. The reason, Zika is there. The CDC issued a travel warning, Friday. The virus had already been identified in an area north of downtown Miami.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now to talk about the growing situation. It's interesting Sanjay, how quickly this was a threat in one area of one country and now we have it. A threat in another and another and another in two places near Miami, a very popular place, a place where you don't want to cover up.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. Right. I mean, you tell people to wear long sleeves when they're in south beach.

ALLEN: Yeah.

GUPTA: ... says, it's not going to happen probably. So it's one of these things and I think in many ways was expected. We've seen what's happened in Brazil, Salvador, you know, many places in the southern hemisphere in particular. And given the climate is the same, given that the mosquitoes, these mosquitoes known as Aedes aegypti already exist in South Florida and many other states. We knew that we were likely to have Zika.

What is interesting to me, Natalie, the really -- the pinpointing these areas literally block by block, saying, here's where you need to be to be concerned about. Take a look at the map just to sort of show you in the middle of the screen was that first area, that first sort of hot spot, the Wynwood community and that was an area where they said mosquitoes are spreading Zika.

Now, on the right side of the screen is the south part of Miami Beach known as South Beach. That's where they say mosquitoes are spreading Zika. But what's interesting, is the CDC director, Center for Disease Control director said, "Really, I'm kind of concerned about all of Miami Dade, the entire area because while we haven't confirmed it in other areas, there's enough reason for suspicion."

ALLEN: Right. South Beach. That is a destination for people in the world over, you know?

GUPTA: Yes. You reported on SARS quite a bit. Do you remember what SARS did to certain communities like Toronto, in terms of the economy, people not wanting to go travel there. It is a balance. You really got to balance saying, "Look, we are concerned enough to say, hey, pregnant women should not come to these areas," but we don't want to completely frighten people away from Miami altogether.

ALLEN: Right. And, you know, people -- I heard some reports about some families are thinking of moving away for the pregnancy, but who could do that? I couldn't go live somewhere for nine months.

GUPTA: Yeah. It's a wonderful option if you have the resources to do that. But can you imagine, pregnant women are saying, "Don't go to this neighborhood." What if you are a pregnant woman living in that neighborhood? Can you imagine the emotional toll that must take on you saying, "I worry with a mosquito bite, possibly leading to this birth defect in my unborn child."

ALLEN: Yeah. And you can cover up everywhere and it lands right here, or what have you. Yeah. Absolutely. And doctors are being inundated with questions of course, this is also new, isn't it? For the most part, Zika, the research of what happens to people. I saw something where a woman wanted to know, if I get all the way to my two weeks before my due date and I get bitten, could that harm the baby? Do they know those type of answers yet?

GUPTA: Well, what they seem to be say is that the earlier in pregnancy that an infection happens, the worse it is. So if it happens the first trimester, it's going to be worse than the last trimester.

But, you know, I was in recently in Brazil. I was Salvador, Brazil, and I was really struck by the fact that I met women who said look, the entire pregnancy I was fine and then it was the last trimester close to the end where I saw a rash and I was worried that maybe I got a Zika infection, sure enough. It did lead to their child being born with microcephaly, this birth defect. So, it can happen at any time, it seems.

[03:20:04] ALLEN: Yeah. And I also quickly want to talk with you about Puerto Rico. It seems that we're having a serious defect there and I saw one report. I'm not sure if it's confirmed that a man actually got it, was paralyzed and died. What are the risks to other people?

GUPTA: It's great question. I'm glad you bring that up because, you know, when you look across the board, 80 percent of people roughly, they say if they get a Zika infection may not even know it because their symptoms will be that mild or no symptoms at all. Pregnant women, we've been talking about, you know, have the largest concern.

But there's this other condition known as called Guillian-Barre. And people don't even remember the name. But basically what it is, it's sort of it affects all of the nerves in your body and including sometimes that nerves that lead to your diaphragm, the muscle that allows you to breath. So, it's rare and it doesn't just happen with Zika. It happens with other viruses as well. But sometimes with a bad infection, it can lead to this condition.

ALLEN: Hopefully, at some point, they'll get a handle on this. But thanks as always Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you. Thank you.

ALLEN: We are continuing to see some treacherous flooding in the state of Louisiana. So far, flood waters have damaged more than 40,000 homes, killed at least 13 people. FEMA says more than 70,000 have registered for individual assistance since a federal disaster was declared.

Well, let's get -- oh, Derek is here. I just saw sun in that shot. Is it going to end?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Well, unfortunately, it's not good because Louisiana is such a flat part of the world that it's taking so long for the water to actually drain out of the rivers and the flatlands in this area.

ALLEN: Yeah. I mean, when they have flooding, it's so bad. I mean, the boots already disappearing.

VAN DAM: Exactly, exactly. It got a very slow retreat of the water as compared to -- let's say, West Virginia, for instance, where there's a lot of mountains and that water just seeks its own level and eventually flows out. So the water can come in very quickly but it can exit very quickly. Not the case in Louisiana, unfortunately. But I want to show you a few things. By the way, Natalie, this has the potential to be one of the top five costliest floods in United States' history. It could, in fact, reach $1.5 billion, according to an insurance and risk management firm. Obama declaring at least 20 parishes' disaster areas.

ALLEN: It's the state that, you know, it's really hurting right now.

VAN DAM: This is a state that's hurt from previous disasters. If you'll see in just one moment a picture that looks very similar to 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. More in that in just a second.

How much rain fell? 193 millimeters on average across the state, really centered across the southern section, southeastern sections of the state I should say. And if you do the calculations, Louisiana has roughly about 135 square kilometers. And that equates to over 26 trillion gallons, or rather liters of water. That is a significant amount of precipitation in a short period of time.

By the way, that was a seven-day period from the 8th of August through the 14th of August. Then, there are still thousands seeking shelter in arenas just like this. Yes, we remember some of these photos from back in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck this region.

This is a radar loop over the region. You could see how the rain just continue to bombard the Baton Rouge region. That is why we still have flood warnings across this area. Anywhere you see that shading of green, remember, it is a low-lying part of the United States. So it's taking a long time for this water to retreat. Flooding will be around for the next several days, especially with a seven-day forecast like this.

Chances of rain for the next seven days, it won't rain all day. You saw in the video just a moment ago, the sun has come out. But any additional rainfall on top of what's already accumulated means the potential for flooding still exists.

Well, take a look at this. This is a completely separate scenario but I have to tie this together because everybody is focusing their attention on Rio right now, as well. 26 trillion liters of water would fill the Maracana stadium about 22,000 times. And why do I bring that up?

Well, unfortunately we've got rain in store for this weekend and we still have a few athletics event to compete in including Saturday's women's golf finals that will actually go on without a problem in terms of the weather. But by Sunday, that's another story, the men's marathon is taking place and here's a look at the weather pattern. You can see the rain moving across the region, 100 percent chance of rain and the closing ceremonies take place Sunday evening ...

ALLEN: Oh, sad, sad. They'll be spectacle though.

VAN DAM: They'll be spectacle no matter what. Rio is wonderful.

ALLEN: All right, thank you so much. Yeah, we've been there ... VAN DAM: Oh, sorry.

ALLEN: He was a poster boy of the 2012 Olympic Games when he won a bronze medal at age 18 just a year after his father die. Now British diver and T.V. personality Tom Daley aims for gold in Rio, Saturday in the 10 meter plat forming diving final.

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TOM DALEY, OLYMPIC DIVER: I get scared every single time that I'm on the platform. You have to have that because if you aren't a little bit nervous and a little bit kind of like pumped up then that's when you're not sharp and you're going to make mistakes. I'm a little bit weird in the way I like danger and I like excitement and the adrenaline of it.

[03:25:16] My name is Tom Daley and I'm an Olympic diver. Most of the time, everything just goes in a slow motion. And when you hit the water and you land vertical, it's a really weird feeling, because we call it the breath entry which when you go into the water with no splash. And to do that, you hit the water and split your hands as quickly as you can and it creates a vacuum and you have to get sucked under the water rather than hitting the water.

So you hit the water at like 36 miles an hour. The 10 meter board is as high as two double decker buses and half a car all piled on top of each other.

I was 14-years-old at my first Olympic Games. I have won three Commonwealth gold medals and I won bronze at the Olympic Games in 2012.

But my dad took me to every single training session, every competition. He was always there, flying his massive big union jack flag like, you know, in the stands. I could always know that he was there. And it was really tough going to competitions after he passed away in 2011, without him and not seeing the flag there. But it kind of gave me that extra bit of motivation because I really wanted to make him proud and go out there and win an Olympic medal.

My ultimate goal, dream, ambition, whatever you want to call it is to win an Olympic gold medal in Rio 2016. It's what every athlete works for and it's what I'm fighting for every single day in the gym and in the pool and I want to go into that competition with no regrets, in the best shape of my life. So I can be in the best possible position to try and win that Olympic gold medal.

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ALLEN: Good for him. Jamaican fans went wild on Friday, as you can imagine. People around the world did, too, when their country man and hero, Usain Bolt, made Olympic history in Rio by getting his triple- triple.

Bolt has won three golds in three separate events in three straight Olympics. Nine golds in all. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want this man. I'm going tonight. Not only he has prove to me that this man, he's a legend. This man is one of the (inaudible).

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ALLEN: I love it. Jamaicans, they need to celebrate for a long, long time for this one. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. "Political Mann" is coming up after your top stories.

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