Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Aftershocks Hamper Rescues in Italy; Italian Citizen Described Earthquake; U.S. Condemns Attack on American University, Afghanistan; Turkey, Syrian Rebels Capture Crucial Town from ISIS; Palestinian Zoo Animals Moving to Egypt; Aftershocks Hamper Rescues in Italy; British Nationalist Nigel Farage Joins Trump on Stage; New Polls Show Trump Gaining But Don't Tell Whole Story; Impeachment Trial for Brazilian President Begins; NASA Scientists Find Planet that Could Possibly Support Life. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 25, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:12] 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.

After shocks are jolting central Italy as rescue workers race to find survivors in the aftermath of Wednesday's powerful earthquake. They cheered as they pulled one girl out alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: An amazing moment there. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in the middle of the night, trapping people in the rubble. Italian officials confirmed 247 people were killed and that number could rise.

One eyewitness says he's never been through anything like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS (through translation): I was in a house on top of the hill that collapsed. I survived, thank god, and I hope that others are safe, as well. I've been two and a half hours out here, wearing just my underwear. I don't know, we are waiting to see what will happen. We don't know anything. It's terrible. I'm 65 years old and I've never experienced anything like this. Small tremors, yes, but nothing this big. This is a catastrophe. I've seen the body of one victim, the poor person just over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, it is delicate work trying to free people trapped beneath heavy building fragments. Here is one encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Frightening.

Well, Italy's prime minister toured affected areas and promised every effort will be made to rescue survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTEO RENZI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): In the moments of difficulty, Italy knows with what to do. In the moments in which things do not go right, all of Italy, all of it, shows their best side. The government is committed to not leaving anyone, no family, no community, no neighborhood alone. And let's get to work as in the next hours, we can continue to pull survivors out of the rubble and return hope to that territory which has been so brutally hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Let's go now to CNN contributor, Barbie Nadeau, who has been on the story since the beginning.

Bobby, it is just after 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning in Italy. What is happening where you are?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it really is very much of a ghost town right now. We're not seeing the sort of activity that we saw yet. Yesterday, behind me there were frantic searches for victims that might still be arrived trapped under the rubble. This morning, we've got heavy equipment in there trying to remove the rubble, trying to make sure it doesn't fall into the streets and block these streets into the some of the more affected areas.

And we felt so many tremors this morning. We've seen pieces of buildings that are still standing fall right in front of us. And, you know, that really underscores just how dangerous it is for these rescue workers who are really, really at risk as they try and search for people who might be buried under the rubble. They've been working all night. There are over 4,000 people with the Civil Protection and the various entities and the fire departments and the army and Italy's, you know, forces out a working nonstop just trying to find anyone alive that just has a gum more good news stories instead of just pulling out bodies, which is pretty much all we've seen for the last couple of hours -- Isha?

SESAY: I was about to say, when was the last time they pulled someone out on alive there? NADEAU: Well, here we haven't seen it. We've seen, you know, a lot

of what we were hoping were close calls, you know, through the hours yesterday. You know, yesterday afternoon, though, we saw people still walking around in their pajamas in the streets that they had taken from their beds. They hadn't been given new clothing. They haven't found a place to shelter. We see up here kind sort of behind our location a house that had bon fire this morning that slept outside the house, obviously, still standing. They haven't moved some of these tent camps the Civil Protection has set up around these areas. People just want to stay near their houses, not give up hope yet, although there's not much left to hope for here behind me.

[02:05:34] SESAY: And, Barbie, you and I were speaking with the situation as it unfolded on Wednesday, and one of the things that you stress is that this area has very narrow roads, old roots roads made of stone. What is the situation with the roads now in and around the quake zone so the aid can get in to those who need it?

NADEAU: Well, the roads are open now. And we've seen convoy after convoy of heavy lifting equipment just coming in to the area. You know, for the first six or seven hours after the earthquake, we didn't see any heavy lifting equipment. We saw people working with their bare hands. Right now, they set up a staging area not far from where we are for huge, heavy equipment that they can bring in and out of these heavy, narrow roads. Buildings like this, if they collapse, if they fall into the street, they could close it again, and that's the type of thing that they're fighting against -- Isha?

SESAY: It's a very difficult situation.

Barbie Nadeau, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you so much.

Now, Andrew Wilmont has a home in Italy about 48 kilometers from the quake epicenter. He was staying in a hotel in San Angelo but has moved to Rome because of the aftershocks.

Andrew, thank you for joining us at this difficult time. It is a dreadful time for so many people. How are you doing?

ANDREW WILMONT, ITALIAN RESIDENT (voice-over): Well, Isha, hearing your reports, I think we feel really fortunate. And I feel a bit embarrassed to be on your show, because although nothing prepared us for our experiences, our house, which we converted six years ago in the le market area of Italy was built to new Italian specifications which make it earthquake proof.

But at 3:30 in the morning, nothing really prepares you to be thrown around and it was a bit like being on the top deck of a double-decker bus on a bumpy road. And the family was up immediately. Anything that was on a shelf flew off on to the floor. The bits of ceiling came down, masonry, nothing major structurally happened to our building because it was built to with stand that. But it was vibrating right to left and deflecting by about two or three inches. But honestly, we just got together, we ran downstairs and got out of the house as fast as possible.

SESAY: So, so frightening. And then the aftershocks have just kept coming, which is why you've moved to Rome, right?

WILMONT: That's right. So we spent the night in the garden by the pool because the aftershocks then were coming every half an hour. The second aftershock was almost as big as the first one. So we had no way of knowing whether they were going to get worse or whether they were going to get better. And we were on the phone to our neighbors, Italian neighbors, that lived about half a mile away, came down to see if we were all right and this is what's happened in the country communities. Everybody in Italy is looking after each other. People living in Italy a little longer have got more experience. And so then it's something completely new. Obviously, we've heard about the earthquake situation, the earthquake. But then when it happens to you, it's really quite shocking. And I think for many of our friends, they're camping out in their gardens in tents last night, as well. And we decided to move to Rome just for a couple of days to let the whole thing die down.

SESAY: Yeah. Well, understandable. Your house, minimal damage. You're very fortunate. What about your neighbors? What about the wider community there in San Angelo?

WILMONT: The older the houses, the bigger the damage. The older houses are a traditional mix of brick and stone with quite traditional construction. Many of them are medieval in origin and they experience things like bigger cracks. And as you drive across the countryside, you can see two houses plastered together. Now there's a very clear crack as we went through our town. You could see that the different houses had all been affected. But we're so fortunate that we were sufficiently far away, that they were no injuries, nobody was -- there was no major destruction. But I think everybody was affected and every resident. And so -- but I feel a bit of a sham being on the showing because the impact of those near the epicenter has been so big. And our hearts go out to those people. We hope that the area return to normal as quickly as possible.

[02:10:36] SESAY: Well, you shouldn't feel like a sham, Andrew. It's a terrible experience you've been through. We're very grateful that you could come on the show ask share it with us. We're very pleased that you and the family are safe.

So thank you.

WILMONT: Isha, thank you very much.

SESAY: Thanks, Andrew. Be safe.

WILMONT: Thank you.

SESAY: You can help those affected by the earthquake in Italy. Head to CNN.com/impact where you can find a will I list of groups that are working in the area.

We'll take a break, Turkish forces and Syrian rebels say they've pushed ISIS out of a border town. Just ahead, the details on with what prompted this operation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:04] SESAY: Hello, everyone. The U.S. is condemning an attack on the American University in Afghanistan in Kabul. 12 people were killed, seven of them were students, and 30 more were wounded. The attack ended 10 hours after gunmen stormed the campus. Two militants were killed. No one has claimed responsibility. But the Taliban have recently increased attacks across Afghanistan.

Our Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SIREN)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An attack without warning, reportedly with abdomen explosion followed by gunfire. One witness tells CNN he was waiting for an evening class to begin at the American University in Kabul when there were an enormous explosion at the entrance, then shooting and screaming. The witness says he saw some people injured by broken glass and others wounded by bullets.

This student describes the fear and panic on campus.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT (through translation): After the explosion happened, we heard gunfire and I lost my nerve. We had an emergency exit and we got out of the university that way.

TODD: A chemistry professor who has a son and daughter in the U.S. told CNN there was black smoke, the lights seemed to go out and everyone was running and shouting.

Witnesses reported attackers got into at least one building.

UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS (through translation): I have had my cousins, my relatives and my friends who have been stuck inside classrooms when the attack happened. One of my family members who was there told me that the attackers had maps, they were drinking red bulls, clearly, aimed at staying for as long as they could and that some of them were tossing hand grenades.

TODD: Local TV reports that after a Crisis Response Unit entered the university, more gunshots were heard.

American officials say a few U.S. personnel were assisting Afghan forces in the response, but only as advisers.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Let's discuss this suspicious attack with Sune Engel Rasmussen. He covers Afghanistan for "The Guardian" newspaper. Sune, thanks for joining us once again.

We understand that it took some 10 hours to clear the campus. What do we know about that operation?

SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN, REPORTER, THE GUARDIAN: When I was at the university last night, around 8:30, just like an hour after that second gun, there were Special Forces police were at the scene and preparing to go in and start the operations. The electricity in the area around university, which might explain why some -- the power was out. And then they went about it in a meticulous way, I think. The campus is pretty big and if the power goes out, it could take a long time to go through to all the campuses. That's why it took such a long time.

SESAY: And the involvement of foreign forces, we understand that it was just an advisory role. What more are you learning about that?

ENGEL RASMUSSEN: Yeah. That's sort of the mandate that foreign forces here are now working on to assist, as it's called. So they advise and assist forces on the ground. What that means specifically is a little bit unclear. As they come under fire, they are on the mandate to answer with fire and to fight back. So that's sort of the mantra that they normally officially give when they're in operations like this. I don't know what specifically means they were assisting.

SESAY: OK. And in terms of claiming responsibility as of yet, that has not emerged, but what is the speculation there in Afghanistan? Are authorities pointing the finger solely at the Taliban?

ENGEL RASMUSSEN: No, they're not, actually. And it's kind of unusual to not have a responsibility this long after. Normally, the responsibility comes within a few hours after an attack begins. If it is the Taliban, I think it would be unusual for the Taliban to go after a target like this, but that is not to say that it's not them. It could be a Pakistani Taliban. It could be a more aggressive wing of the Taliban. People are also speculating or fearing that maybe it's the Islamic State, who conducted their first attack in Kabul about a month ago when they attacked a demonstration of peaceful protesters in the city. But all that is speculation now and I think we should be careful about pointing any fingers, which the Afghanistan government is not doing yet, so far.

SESAY: All right. Sune Engel Rasmussen, we very much appreciate it. Thank you very much for the update on the situation there in Kabul.

Thank you.

ENGEL RASMUSSEN: You're welcome.

SESAY: As Iraqi security forces continue their long battle to recapture Mosul from ISIS, a strategic target is apparently within reach. Troops are continuing to advance into Kierra (ph) and have taken advantage of at least half of the town. This is about 70 kilometers south of central Mosul. Its liberation is crucial to the wider Iraqi offensive. Turkish media reports a key boarder town, less than a kilometer from

Turkey, has been captured from ISIS. The operation follows recent motor attacks on the Turkish side of the border.

Ben Wedeman has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:20:38] BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Turkish tanks went into Syria for the first time since the Syrian uprising in March 2011. They were supporting a group of Free Syrian Army troops, as well.

And before the sun went down, before darkness fell, the FSA declared they were in full control of Genoblis. This town was the last ISIS controlled town on the Syrian/Turkish border. The self-declared capitol of ISIS in Raqqa is now effectively isolated from Turkey.

But at the same time, this operation raises a lot of questions. How long are Turkish forces going to remain inside Syria? Turkish officials, for a long time, have been talking about setting up a buffer zone inside Syria to provide a safe area for Syrians so they don't have to take refuge in Turkey, and also to provide humanitarian assistance, according to Turkish officials.

But above and beyond that, Turkey is concerned about the growing amount of territory controlled by the YPG, which is a Kurdish Syrian armed force that has been fighting ISIS with American support. But because of the YPG's connections with the PKK, which is the Kurdish Workers Party inside Turkey, which has been fighting a war of separation from the Turkish state since 1984, the Turks are very concerned about growing Kurdish control of much of Syria.

Against that back drop, as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden came to Ankara to try to smooth ruffled Turkish feathers since the 15th of July coup failed in a two-day time here. Turkish officials, as well as Turkish media, have been suggesting that the United States had foreknowledge or even a role in the failed coup d'etat. Vice President Biden stressed the United States is one of Turkey's greatest friends and that the United States had no foreknowledge.

Now Turkey, on Tuesday, sent to the United States an official request for the extradition of Fatullah Gulen, that Turkish cleric who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. At a press conference in Ankara, Vice President Biden stressed that the United States will cooperate with Turkish requests that he be investigated, but he said that as far as extradition goes, that that is a matter to be decided by the American courts. And the U.S. president, Barack Obama, cannot sign an executive order and hand Mr. Gulen over to the Turks. Biden's visit may go some way but probably not all the way in smoothing those ruffled Turkish fighter.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Ankara.

(END VIDEOTAPE) # A senior U.S. administration official says the Turkish government has not provided extradition requests on anything related to Gulen's alleged involvement in the coup attempt. They also say it has not provided evidence of his possibly connections to the coup. Gulen has denied any involvement.

In regions of human suffering, the plight of others can often go unnoticed. At a zoon in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, only 16 of the original 92 animals remain, and management says it can no longer care for them.

As Ian Lee reports, the zoo's final occupants have an easier way out of Gaza than the people surrounding them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over a dozen animals facing starvation and neglect in central Gaza. An ostrich paces behind the bars, a monkey barely holding on. But these cages of suffering critters will soon be empty.

"It's the most difficult moment in my entire life watching those animals leave," says the zoo's owner.

The zoo in Gaza is closing down. Zookeepers ran into financial difficulties, struggling to purchase food and medicine with a 9-year- old blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt. Three wars in seven years have also devastated the zoo's population.

Veterinarians from the charity For Cause evacuate the remaining animals.

[02:25:15] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Animals continue to die. It's a horrible image. To show the children just this? So we came here. We were offered to come to rescue the animals.

LEE: Aid workers carefully tranquilize the animals. Once asleep, they move in. Next, a thorough examination is administered and then preparation for the exodus. Of the zoo's original 92 animals, 16 remain, including a tiger.

Early Wednesday morning, the critters moved out of Gaza through the crossing into Israel in coordination with Israeli authorities.

(on camera): The animals will be divided between South Africa, Jordan and Israel.

The Israel government praised the transfer, saying that it will bring a better quality of life with proper living conditions and improved medical care for the animals.

(voice-over): A better life only dreamed about by the 1.8 million people living in Gaza. Half the population relies on United Nations food aid.

Leaving is nearly impossible under the Israeli and Egyptian blockade put in place after Hamas took control of the territories some 10 years ago. The crossing into Israel requires permits and background checks, while the crossing into Egypt is hardly ever open.

For just 16 animals, it took a massive international effort of multiple countries to move them on to greener pastures.

Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Coming up next for our viewers in Asia, "State of the Race" with Kate Baldwin.

Coming up for everyone else, more on the deadly earthquake in Italy, including shocking before and after pictures of devastated towns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:16] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: At least 247 people have been killed in Italy's powerful earthquake. That death toll has just gone up within the past couple of hours. Rescuers have been racing to find survivors in the rubble. Small towns in the epicenter are the hardest hit and more than 1,000 people are displaced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WITNESS (through translation): I took my wife by the hand and in the dark we tried to find our way out. I felt debris under my feet. I felt rocks, pieces of broken furniture and overturned furniture. It was very difficult to get out of the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Very frightening.

We'll get the latest on several aftershocks, which are creating challenges for rescue workers.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now.

Derek, what are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Isha, the aftershocks keep coming and that's exactly what we would expect with this size of an earthquake. In fact, just within the past few hours, a magnitude 4.7 after shock took place. That wasn't even the strongest aftershock, which was actually a 5.5 that took place almost immediately after the original earthquake happened at 3:36 a.m. local time central Italy. Now, I want to show you this because that was a lot of information

here. Let me try and break it down for you. This is typical with this strength of an earthquake. What we typically see is the frequency of earthquakes or I should say after shocks continuing at about the same pace. It's the intensity of these after shocks that start to decrease over time. You can see the seven-day stretch at the bottom portion of the screen. Going forward, we'll continue to feel slight tremors. Let's say magnitude 2 to magnitude 4 and the frequency will continue. But it's those -- the intensity that should start to fall away. But that doesn't want to -- we don't want to diminish just how important and how critical these aftershocks can be, because the infrastructure has been weakened. It has been compromised significantly.

Take these before and after pictures to give you an example. This is built in the 1300s and I want you to see one particular feature here that is taking place. I find this absolutely fascinating. It's almost frozen in time. This clock tower, 3:36 a.m. If you recall, that was the moment when the earthquake took place. You can see that slight lean with the clock tower. Here is the before image. You can see how clean the roadways are. And we'll go back to the after image and just show you the destruction that this magnitude 6.2 earthquake actually caused.

Here is another interesting angle, as well. You can see the rubble that crashed into the city streets, trapping some of the vehicles there. This is a Google image of the exact same corner. They're going on be cleaning up for this for days to come.

Speaking of cleanup, let's talk about the weather taking place in that area. Fortunately, they are trying and the temperatures are not too hot and they're not too cold. So if there are still people presumably trapped amongst the rubble, survival times will be increased because the weather is favorable, at least for the time going forward. Temperatures really in the middle 20s. So there's a little bit of life here out of a dark situation -- Isha?

SESAY: Yeah. And we'll take it. We'll take a little bit of light.

VAN DAM: Absolutely.

SESAY: Derek Van Dam, appreciate it. Thank you.

VAN DAM: Thanks, Isha.

SESAY: The U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is hammering home his America first message with the help of British nationalist, Nigel Farage. The Brexit champion appeared at a rally in Mississippi on Wednesday as Trump urged voters to re-declare American independence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: The multi-national banks, the media celebrities, the big donors try to scare the British people out of voting for change. The same thing is happening right here in the United States. It's happening. All the people benefiting from our rigged system don't want things to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:15] SESAY: Joining us here in L.A., CNN Ron Brownstein, senior political analyst and the senior editor for "The Atlantic."

It is so good to have you here, because there is so much to make sense of.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

SESAY: The Trump campaign inviting thee former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, a man who been accused of racism and xenophobia, he was on the stage beside Donald Trump.

Before we analyze, let's hear to some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIGEL FARAGE, FORMER LEADER, UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE PARTY: If I was an American citizen, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me.

(CHEERING)

FARAGE: In fact, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: I'm counting on you, Ron, to explain the Trump campaign calculation.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. You know, first of all, it is a reminder that Donald Trump is part of a kind of a global trend toward these blood- and-soil nationalist parties that are consistently relying primarily on working class voters who feel both economically and culturally marginalized. There is a similarity in the agenda.

But there is something striking about bringing in here at precisely this moment when Donald Trump, after revising his Muslim ban, is making one of the biggest shifts or flip-flops by backing off his call for mass deportation. At precisely the moment that his campaign that an America first argument is not the pathway to victory, they bring in the embodiment of it.

SESAY: You mentioned his flip-flop/softening on the immigration policy --

BROWNSTEIN: Softening. Flip-flop is the word.

SESAY: -- on immigration policy, let's play some of what he had to Sean Hannity, of FOX News, as he spoke to him on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN HANNITY, HOST, HANNITY: Originally, you had said they're all out and there was a big brouhaha. But you're saying that if somebody can prove that they've been here -- but here is the big question, though, no citizenship?

TRUMP: No citizenship.

(SHOUTING)

HANNITY: Everyone agree with that?

(CHEERING)

HANNITY: All right.

TRUMP: I'll go a step further. They pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: There's no amnesty. There's no amnesty.

(CHEERING)

HANNITY: Right.

TRUMP: But we work with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: Extraordinary, right?

SESAY: Extraordinary pivot. But one with political risks.

BROWNSTEIN: But if you go back and you look through the Republican primaries and the exit polls, they asked people what to do here illegally. In every case, except for two, only minority voters supported mass deportation. They provided a majority of his votes. Supporters of deportation provided a majority of his exit polls. So for him now to say, I didn't mean it, I'm going to move closer, which is not that far at all from where Jeb Bush was or John Kasich, which was yes, we're got to let people say but not give them citizenship, which the Democrats would do in a bill that passed the Senate in 2013. That was a stand Donald Trump ridiculed on his way to the nomination. But he's brought in a team that can add, and when they look at where he is, he is stuck somewhere around the low 40s nationally, and the voters in between where he is and where he needs to be, are not supporters of mass deportation. They're also more likely to view it as racially biased. So he's trying to make one of the most head- turning pivots in modern American politics.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: How many days left? 75?

BROWNSTEIN: And counting.

It's like Christmas. (LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Without chocolate.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly.

SESAY: Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you. Thank you.

SESAY: Thanks for the analysis.

New polling in key battleground states shows Trump gaining ground. A CNN/ORC survey of voters in Arizona gives Trump a five-point edge. Hillary Clinton leads by one point in North Carolina, well within the margin of error.

CNN's Tom Foreman reports those numbers don't tell the whole story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:39:41] TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know Donald Trump is reaching out, trying to get a hold on minority voters out there. If you look at these two states in our latest poll, you get an idea how much work is ahead of him.

Out here in North Carolina, African-Americans accounted for one out of five votes in 2012. In this election cycle, 88 percent are going for Hillary Clinton now. Donald Trump is almost off the map here with 3 percent. Gary Johnson has more than twice the support as he does in that state.

If you move out here to Arizona where the Latino vote is the big question out here, 57 percent going for Clinton right now. Trump down here at 20 percent.

His big pitch to everyone is to say, look, I will be the guy who will bring back the economy and that will mean jobs for everyone. And in both of these states, most voters have faith in his ability to handle the economy, but minority voters believe Hillary Clinton will actually do a better job.

On another front, we've talked about the education gap and that's still quite profound. Look at the details from this. Among college graduates in North Carolina, 55 percent want Clinton. 36 percent want Trump. White, non college grads, he absolutely crushes here in the vote. And if you move out to Arizona, same effect. Fairley close here among college graduates. She still has a substantial lead, but then among white college graduates, non college graduates, 62 percent to 31 percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Thanks to Tom Foreman for that breakdown.

Now that the Olympics are over, a big decision is looming over Brazil's president. An impeachment trial begins in the next few hours for Dilma Rousseff. Stay with us for details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. An impeachment trial begins for Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff. Allegations of political corruption and the reality of a sagging economy led to the downfall of the once-beloved leader. Now we could see Brazil's first woman president kicked out of office.

Here is Shasta Darlington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:45:08] SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The Olympic party over, now all of Brazil waking up to a sobering reality. A suspended President Dilma Rousseff goes on trial, accused of illegally doctoring the budget ahead of her election. The Senate voted to launch the impeachment process back in May, forcing Rousseff to step aside for up to six months.

Rousseff denied the allegations, calling the trial a coup d'etat.

DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT UNDER IMPEACHMENT (through translation): When the president is accused of a crime they have not committed, the name we have for this in a democracy, it's not an impeachment, it's a coup.

DARLINGTON: After the Senate vote, she vacated the presidential offices, stepping into a swarm of supporters. Her vice president stepped in as interim leader presiding over a divided country.

A former Marxist guerilla, Rousseff was handpicked by the popular president to replace him. In her first term, she extended his successful social programs, winning re-election in 2014.

But things quickly unraveled as a gaping budget shortfall was revealed and the economy fell into a two-year recession. At the same time, several politicians and business leaders arrested, accused of a massive bribery scandal involving the state-run oil company. Rousseff, who was chairwoman for seven years, has not been implicated.

Millions angered by corruption, took to the streets to demand her ouster.

On Monday, she'll appear at the impeachment trial in the Senate to defend herself.

ROUSSEFF (through translation): I will go through the Senate and I will expect justice. I can't expect anything else. I will argue in favor of democracy and in favor of the direct vote, but also in favor of justice.

DARLINGTON (voice-over): The trial is widely expected to end with the impeachment of Brazil's first female president. If so, she'll leave her replacement with an economy in taters and with little faith in its politicians. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Four Iranian Navy vessels carried out what the U.S. Navy calls a high speed intercept near the Straight of Hormuz on Tuesday. Take a look at this. You can see the four Iranian ships speeding towards the American ship. When two of the vessels got within 300 years of the U.S. ship, they finally reversed course. The incident is the latest in a series of close encounters in this region between the U.S. and Iran since December.

Well, North Korea's leader is declaring his country's latest missile test the greatest success. State media just released these photos of Kim Jong-Un overseeing and celebrating the launch on Wednesday. He boasted about it, saying it puts North Korea in the front ranks of nuclear media powers. He claims the U.S. mainland and the theater of operations in the Pacific are now within striking range.

We'll take a quick break now. Scientists make an exciting discovery a few light years away from our own solar system. Details on earth's new celestial neighbor, next on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:51:55] SESAY: The question of whether there is, in fact, life out there could be one step closer to an answer. Researchers have found a rocky planet, the closest star to our sun. They say it's within what's known as a habitable area of that sun, meaning it could hold liquid water and, even more significantly, the first sign of life outside of solar system. It should be close enough for exploration in the relatively new future.

Karl Stapelfeldt is the chief scientist of the NASA Exo Planet Exploration Program and he joins us now.

Thank you so much for being with us.

KARL STAPELFELDT, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NASA EXO PLANET EXPLORATION PROGRAM: Nice to be here.

SESAY: An earth-like planet just next door. What exactly about this discovery excites you the most?

STAPELFELDT: Let's make a clarification first. It's a potentially habitable planet. What we know is where it is and how big it is, but we don't know what the conditions are like there. It could be a bare rock, it could be a lush oasis. We now have a place to focus for the answer to our questions.

SESAY: So much promise. It's over a decade and a half in its discovery, right? If it's so close, comparatively, why did it take so long to find it?

STAPELFELDT: It's a tricky set of observations that astronomers had to do to find this. They had to patiently look at the star for years ask years at a time and see if the star the wobbling in a regular, repeatable way. These stars are not exactly easy. You can't even see it with your own eye without using a telescope. So, patiently working on the data. This year, they made the best observations yet, just with improved techniques and that was the conclusion.

SESAY: OK. This question of whether it could host life, I mean, obviously, that's the most exciting headline in all of this to our viewers around the world. From what we know right now, you say what?

STAPELFELDT: Well, I think we don't know enough about what is actually present there. Remember, we have no light from this planet yet. All we have is the star wobbling in a way that tells us that this planet must be there and it has a certain size. But if we could actually see the color of the planet, if we could actually see whether it was an atmosphere or not, those are the questions we need to answer next in order to determine if it's really truly habitable.

SESAY: How do you do that?

STAPELFELDT: We need bigger and better telescopes than we have today. We're using a relatively small telescope. It wasn't really that big a telescope. But we've got telescopes on the drawing board and they're starting construction both on the ground and in space. They should be able to make these from the planet and see what its composition is.

SESAY: How far away are we from that definitive information, if you will, that definitive conclusion?

[02:55:00] STAPELFELDT: Well, at the current pace of effort, I think it's probably 10 or 15 years before we have that telescope in place to make that measurement. We would be excited to do it sooner than that, but we know we have the resources that we have, and that's how fast it's going to happen.

SESAY: How much does this discovery change our understanding of the solar system?

STAPELFELDT: Well, the solar system here, not so much. But just the exciting thing is we don't have to go great distances to find the nearest planet. This is the nearest star. We're never going to find a closer planet closer than this one outside of our own family of planets. We now have the destination to motivate the future engineers to design that rocket system. And that's an exciting prospect that earn will want to go to work for and make it happen if the they possibly can.

SESAY: You seem very excited. We look forward to seeing what emerges in the years ahead.

Karl, thank you so much.

STAPELFELDT: Glad to be here. Thanks for your interest. SESAY: It is very exciting.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from L.A. I'm Isha Sesay.

The news continues in just a moment with Rosemary Church.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:09] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A rising toll.

(HEADLINES)