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Turkish Warplanes Slam Targets in Syria, Iraq; Choice for President; Colin Kaepernick Defends National Anthem Protest. Aired 12- 1a ET

Aired August 30, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:09] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour:

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. sends a message to Turkey, stay focused on the fight against ISIS but Turkish troops continue to clash with Kurdish militants in northern Syria.

VAUSE: As polls tighten in the race for the White House, an old political scandal erupts anew -- the former congressman who can't seem to stop sexting.

SESAY: And refusing to stand to the national anthem -- an NFL quarterback who has quickly become a lightning rod for America's race relations debate.

VAUSE: Hello everybody. Great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause.

And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

VAUSE: There are new problems in the already complicated relationships between allies in the battle against ISIS.

SESAY: Turkey's state run news agency reports Turkish jets struck Kurdish targets in northern Iraq Monday. Kurdish-backed Syrian rebel units are pushing deeper into northern Syria, prompting U.S. concerns that Turkey's focus is shifting away from ISIS to targeting Kurdish forces.

VAUSE: Turkey's president says his country will not differentiate between any groups considered terrorists.

Nick Paton Walsh has more on the offensive which began last week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A fast- moving situation in northern Syria. Turkish intervention to take the town Jarablus was initially it seemed aimed at ISIS but it was clear from politicians they also wanted to tackle the Syrian Kurds. That really brought U.S. policy into an almost impossible position. Yes, they are fellow NATO member with Turkey and they are also backing the Syrian rebels -- Turkey using on the ground to kick ISIS out of Jarablus. But at the same time they are also allies and is giving assistance to the Syrian Kurds that have proved very effective in attacking ISIS in parts of northern Syria, too.

For a while -- for a number of days it looked like two sets of American allies were facing off on a front line in that particular area. Now it appears after an air strike yesterday in which 25 Kurdish militants were reported killed by the Turkish military but some activists claim civilians were caught up after the death of a Turkish soldier and an attack on some tanks, and after number of villages are seized by those Syrian rebels who are backed by Turkey, it appears that the U.S. has stepped in to try and lower tensions between the Syrian Kurds they are backing and their ally, Turkey.

It appears at this stage, according to Kurdish militants, that they are slowing moving eastwards back towards the Euphrates River. That is the natural boundary which the U.S. has said is the red line they did not want to see the Syrian Kurds they're backing cross.

It is not clear at this stage if all Kurdish militants or those loyal to them have in fact pulled back across that natural border but the Pentagon are suggesting that is the case and now are appealing to Turkey and the Syrian rebels they're working not to go too much further south than Jarablus.

A lot is still fluid here, a lot is hanging in the balance for U.S. policy. It appears this American statement bought a moment of respite but nobody is really kidding themselves here. (inaudible) Turkey says it launched 61 artillery strikes against targets south of Jarablus. They have planes in the sky. They have a clear agenda which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlined just in the last few hours including removing all threats be they Syrian, Kurdish or ISIS to Turkey in that border area.

That is a very large agenda indeed and probably doesn't just stop at seeing the Syrian Kurds retreat across the Euphrates as the Americans have asked them to. It seems calmer but we are certainly looking now at a whole new chapter in the Syrian war of Turkish intervention on the ground.

Nick Paton Walsh -- CNN, Gaziantep.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Turkey's stepped up military offensive in Syria is just another complicating factor in a war without end. Research shows civil wars on average last about a decade which seems to suggest Syria's conflict still has another five years to run. But there has never been a civil war quite like the one in Syria.

Barbara Walter is a leading expert in civil conflicts and a professor at the University of California San Diego. She joins us now.

Professor -- can you explain why this ten-year time frame would be extremely optimistic for an end to the Syrian conflict? BARBARA WALTER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: Now again, the

ten-year time frame is the average for all civil wars. The really long civil wars, the ones that last 30-plus years have -- usually have two factors in common. The first is that they tend to have multiple factions fighting at least on one side if not both sides and they tend to have significant outside intervention supporting both sides.

Syria has both of those factors. It has hundreds of factions fighting on the Syrian side and it has probably hundreds of pro-government militias fighting on the other side.

[00:05:06] Second we know that there is extensive outside intervention in the form of Iranian and Saudi Arabian intervention. They are sending resources. They're sending money. They're sending guns. And all of this we know is likely to extend the civil war.

VAUSE: With the issue on the foreign powers when they get involved into a civil war like we have in Syria, every major society is being backed by a major foreign power except for ISIS. But I think you made the case is that that essentially reinforces a stalemate.

WALTER: It does exactly. You have two outside powers and you could add the Persian Gulf powers to the Saudi Arabian side. So you have two camps on the outside who have a vested interest in insuring that the other side doesn't win. And so they're simply going to continue to support their favorite side even if all they get is a stalemate because it prevents the worst outcome which is a decisive victory by their opponent.

VAUSE: The worst outcome for them but it clearly keeps the conflict going and the number of civilian casualties continues to pile up. Given all of that thought, is there any way that this conflict within Syria, could it be ended with some kind of military victory for one of the sides?

WALTER: I don't think the Syrian war is going to end in a decisive victory for any of the sides. I don't think any of them are strong enough to defeat the other side. I don't think their outside patrons are going to allow that to happen. And I think eventually what's going to happen is that the players on both sides of this civil war are going the realize that a decisive victory either will not be possible or it will take too long and it will be too costly for them to pursue.

VAUSE: Then is it possible for some kind of negotiated settlement? Because that also seems, given all the (inaudible) factors inside Syria right now, despite all of the peace negotiations that have been ongoing, that just doesn't seem likely either.

WALTER: Yes, so my prediction is that the Syrian civil war will end in a negotiated settlement. It will not be easy but I think that's what is eventually going to happen. Most people think that civil wars don't end in negotiated settlements but a surprisingly high percentage do and that number is actually increasing over time.

And we know that negotiated settlements usually are -- tend to be initiated and tend to be successful after a very costly stalemate has been instituted and after you have all sides coming to the table willing to negotiate that sort of outcome. And I think that will eventually happen in Syria.

VAUSE: Yes. But still, (inaudible) it's years and years away which I guess is the tragedy of all of this. Professor --

WALTER: I think that's true, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. Thank you.

SESAY: One man in Aleppo was determined to keep living his life as a gardener in the middle of the civil war. His name was Abu Ward which means the father of the flowers.

VAUSE: He was the owner of the only nursery in the city and gave an interview during a ceasefire earlier this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For five years of hellish war, this pocket of serenity has been perhaps the most amazing survivor in Aleppo. Abu Ward runs the city's last garden center.

ABU WARD, GARDENER OF ALEPPO: My place here is worth billions of dollars. I own the world. We ordinary people own the whole world. The world is ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And you can see the entire story of Abu Ward and his son and his garden in Aleppo, 7:00 a.m. in London, 2:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, just a couple hours from now.

Time for some U.S. politics now, Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump but it has narrowed. The latest poll by Monmouth University shows Secretary Clinton leading Mr. Trump among likely voters by seven points. She led Trump by 13 points in the same poll four weeks ago.

SESAY: Both presidential candidates continue to battle high unfavorability ratings. According to the same poll, a majority of voters don't have a positive opinion of either Trump or Clinton.

VAUSE: Donald Trump is also weighing in on these sexting allegations against former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, allegations that now seem to have broken up Weiner's marriage to a top aide to Hillary Clinton. Trump says Clinton showed bad judgment and put the United States at risk by letting Weiner's wife Huma Abedin continue working for her and thereby lying Weiner to have quote, what he says, "close proximity to highly classified information".

[00:10:00] Joining us now is Democratic strategist Matt Littman and also joining us is the former chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Makan Delrahim (ph). Guys -- thank you for being with us.

SESAY: Gentlemen, good to have you with us.

MATTHEW LITTMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thanks for having us.

VAUSE: Let's start off with this story with Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner. Is it appropriate that Trump, Makan, that Trump actually weigh in on this in the way that he has done? Because, you know, at the end of the day this is a marriage which is coming to an end. Hillary Clinton did not employ Anthony Weiner. Is it fair to make that connection?

MAKAN DELRAHIM, FORMER CHIEF COUNSEL TO SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Well, I mean first of all, this is a very tragic situation especially given the child involved. But I think it's fair given that Huma Abedin is not just your average campaign staffer. She was one of the most significant and important top staffers to Secretary Clinton. She has continued to be a top aide and confidant of candidate Clinton. And she will continue to do that.

And I think Mr. Trump raised a really important issue. Whether or not national security was compromised or had the potential to be compromised during this process because of the type of information that she has access to and what she could be manipulated to do based on the family situation.

SESAY: I don't understand though. What do you mean what she could be manipulated to do? She is a professional. She is a person of the highest reputation. Why is there the suggestion that she is open to manipulation and not abiding security clearances and all the rest?

DELRAHIM: Well, it's not so much the security clearances. One of the most significant background checks when the CIA or the FBI do for a top level position from the government is to check to see are there any issues for which you could be blackmailed. Are there financial irregularities? Are there sexual issues that might be embarrassing either to the person or to the White House?

And if those information can be used against them by a foreign power or somebody who may want to hold the issue over that candidate's head in order to get them to do something that may not be in the state's interest.

SESAY: Matt?

LITTMAN: The less I say about their marriage the better off we all are. It's obviously a terrible situation for the family Donald Trump seems to take a lot of pride in gloating about the misery of other people not just in this case but we could talk about Dwyane Wade's cousin being shot in Chicago. But also how happy Trump seemed and sent out a tweet saying "I told you so" basically instead of expressing any sympathy. In this case we're talking about the dissolution of a family, something he should be sympathetic toward. The idea that Trump should be commenting on someone else's marriage because she works for Hillary Clinton for security clearances is absolutely ridiculous. (CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Ok. Is reporting on the marital trouble of Abedin and Weiner any different from reporting on the past domestic violence of Steve Bannon who is now running the Trump campaign, which is also what has happened?

LITTMAN: Well, we are reporting on it with the idea that she could be blackmailed or bribed or something. The Anthony Weiner thing is obviously news. There is a documentary.

VAUSE: Yes.

LITTMAN: I just happened to watch this weekend right before this thing broke. It is a terrific documentary called "Weiner" -- right, in that one he is running for mayor of New York. He already had one sexting scandal. And while they're doing this documentary --

VAUSE: I think it's two -- at that point.

LITTMAN: The next one breaks and it's an incredible documentary. And now this story breaks. His story is incredible. And I feel terrible for the family. And I don't know that we should really -- it has nothing to do with the campaign.

SESAY: Yes, I couldn't agree more.

As we talk about the Trump campaign and just statements made in the last couple days I want to bring up the tweet put out by the Trump surrogate, Mark Burns, Pastor Mark Burns, which shows Hillary Clinton in black face and deriding, mocking her outreach to African-American voters.

It has obviously generated a firestorm of criticism for him. He has now put out an apology. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR MARK BURNS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Obviously many people were offended by my tweet. And it was not at all my intention. I really am a shepherd to God's people and the last thing I want to do is to offend people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Makan, this episode deepens the perception that the people around Donald Trump, and by extension the candidate himself, have no understanding of African-American communities nor understanding of how to win their votes and how to speak to them.

DELRAHIM: Well, first of all, the pastor is African-American, himself.

SESAY: Doesn't mean there can't be a disconnect.

DELRAHIM: Well, that true. But the issue is you can't separate them. They are and it has so -- the fact that he did it I don't think necessarily -- you know, has a clandestine racial motive to it; the fact that it was done and it being unfortunate is absolutely true no matter who did it.

[00:15:01] I think, you know, we are at a space in this country, a lot of us had hoped seven and a half years ago when a lot of folks came together and voted for President Obama to be the first African- American president. And, you know, put there a lot of the race relations behind us and be proud of the United States given its history, you know, less than 250 years in its history, we have come to a place where we can elect an African-American president. Whereas most of foreign countries in Europe cannot say that -- get over some of their dark past histories. And so I think a lot of us could be proud of that.

Unfortunately the racial issues continue to pervade our elections. And, you know, I don't know when that ends. I think it would be great if President Obama stood up and tried to put the racial issues behind us for both parties. And not get him into our electoral --

(CROSSTALK)

LITTMAN: Well -- Trump is running -- part of what he is running on is sexism, racism, anti-Semitism as part of his campaign. He is very much supported by white supremacists. Let's remember that Trump sent out a tweet a few months ago that said that 88 percent of homicides committed against white people are committed by African-Americans. It turns out that it's almost the exact opposite -- right.

What was the point of sending out that tweet? What was he trying to do? I think we all know what he was trying to do. So when we talk about race in this campaign, Trump has a history of dealing with racial issues poorly. His advisers on his campaign, he says he hires the best people, these are the worst people I've ever seen working on a campaign. And this guy seems to be an example of another bad employee or adviser to Trump.

VAUSE: Ok. We've got to leave it there but we have a lot more in the next hour.

SESAY: We'll have a lot more next hour, yes.

VAUSE: We'll get to the NBA player, Dwyane Wade and his cousin who was shot and the Trump response to that and the black outreach to the minority community which seems to be ongoing at least kind of in the Trump campaign at the moment. So we'll talk to you guys in another hour.

LITTMAN: Thanks.

SESAY: Matt -- thank you. Thank you.

VAUSE: So stick around. And thank you.

And we will take a short break. We'll come back. But when we -- after this short break, an NFL quarterback joins the national conversation on race. Why many fans don't appreciate how he is doing it.

SESAY: Plus American funny man Gene Wilder has died. Just ahead we will look at some of his most unforgettable roles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have a busy set up here across the weather world. I'm Pedram Javaheri for "Weather Watch".

And pick your choice -- plenty of tropical activity to choose from. Gaston still not a major threat -- going to begin to move away from the United States as it turns right over the next several hours. But we're watching tropical depressions 8 and 0 with a low chance there for formation. But it is 9 that we're concerned about just because of where it has lingered the last couple of days.

[00:20:00] It has already produced some flooding on parts of Cuba, on into southern Florida. But the track has stayed very much the same. A northerly track initially and then turning to the east and really the Big Bend of Florida at this point. That is where the cone of uncertainty would be from say Tampa out towards areas around say Panama City.

That's the highest it turns -- does not mean it will meander or veer out of that cone area but that is the highest confidence going as far as an impact. And, of course the rainfall will spread away from that center as well. So that is something worth noting over the next couple of days if travel plans do take you there.

Here's what's going on for tropical depression 8 -- another storm system that kind of brushes by the eastern United States, namely the Carolinas and then moves away so another wet weather maker in that sense there.

And watching Madeleine and Lester, a category 3 and category 4 storm system -- a menace one. Look at satellite presentation on Lester. These two storms will impact -- one of them the southern tier of the islands, that being Madeleine later into the week and then by Friday we'll have the next storm, Lester, move to the north.

SESAY: Hello everyone.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick is defending his decision to sit in protest during the U.S. national anthem. He says he is trying to draw attention to oppression in the black community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN KAEPERNICK, NFL PLAYER: This is because I'm seeing things happen to people that don't have a voice. People that don't have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and affect change. So I'm in a position where I can do that and I'm going to do that for people that can't. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Football fans have been angered by all of this, they're posting videos of themselves lighting his jersey on fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should never play another down in the NFL again. Move to Canada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Kaepernick says he will continue to sit until he sees change.

VAUSE: ESPN radio host Steve Mason joins us now for more on this. Ok. So I guess, you know, the argument against what Kaepernick has been doing and why many are angry -- they agree with the sentiment. They just disagree with, I guess, the venue and the type of protest and where it is happening.

This was Alejandro Villanueva. He was an army ranger who currently plays with the Pittsburg Steelers. This is what he told ESPN. "I don't know if the most effective way is to sit down during the national anthem with a country that is providing you freedom, providing you $16 million a year when there are black minorities that are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan for less than $20,000 a year."

Has he got a good point?

STEVE MASON, ESPN: He absolutely has a point. Is it a good point? It depends really who you are, right. I mean in the case of a lot of NFL fans, and they will throw that dollar amount in there, you know. He is going to make $11 million this year.

To me it's not an issue of class, it's an issue of race. He is biracial. He identifies as a black man. He is using this as an opportunity to express himself on this particular issue. It's upsetting. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable but we live in a really unique age for American athletes right now in the wake of Muhammad Ali's passing, a lot of athletes have taken much more progressive, social positions. They are speaking out like they never have before.

SESAY: Those are saying that he is taking the stand now because of where he is in his career. Is there truth to that the fact that his career is kind of going through a bad patch? How do you read that?

MASON: Well, let's see. To put it into perspective, yes, he is probably -- I mean I've heard the joke he should enjoy any chance he does -- he can have to get up off the bench. He is not a starter in the NFL right now. There is a very good chance that he is going to be cut.

At the same time he does have a future. I mean even though it may not be with the San Francisco 49ers, at some point if they do cut him he's going to make $12 million this year but then he's going to have to go out and find another job with another team. He's going to try to become a backup somewhere. He is taking an enormous risk here --

SESAY: So there's still a risk here.

MASON: -- an enormous risk. I mean he very well -- he is going to give teams a reason not to sign him.

VAUSE: Just explain, though, the relevance of the national anthem being played at football matches, at the NFL. Because there is a deep significance and that's why many people are upset by this.

MASON: Yes. I mean I think what you are talking about is representing your league, your team. You are standing there before an enormous stadium of fans and everyone is standing at attention.

It's really the one place we have in the states where we all get together and we do the same thing at the same time. It's a sporting event. It's a ritual and we sing the song together. So for him to stay seated through it, it really does stand out. Although I will say this is the third game that he chose not to stand. It's just this time somebody noticed it.

VAUSE: That's right.

[00:25:06] SESAY: The other point that has been picked up on is that it is quite noteworthy that an NFL player is taking this stand. We keep seeing other (inaudible) athletes in basketball and other sports speak out on social justice issues but not so much in the NFL.

MASON: No, really the first time. Really the first time we've seen an NFL player do it. We've seen it in the NBA -- Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul at the Espy Awards this year spoke out about police brutality, spoke out about generally violence in America. WNBA stars spoke out, actually openly supported the Black Lives Matter movement earlier this summer.

But for a team sport, and really what is America's sport, for somebody to set themselves apart and you could say that the rest of his teammates all had to answer questions about this for the last couple days. I've heard people say he hung them out to dry. Yes, he put them in an uncomfortable situation.

But I think that Colin Kaepernick, very clearly, I won't be the one to condemn him. He very clearly is standing by the convictions of his belief and he's risking the rest of his career.

VAUSE: Steve -- good to speak with you. Thank you very much for your insight.

SESAY: Thank you so much.

MASON: Thank you.

SESAY: We very much appreciate it.

VAUSE: Appreciate it. And we'll take a short break. When we come back, Donald Trump says if he loses it will be because the vote was fixed. A Republican insider who was jailed for election rigging tells us it could actually happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.

[00:30:00] Turkish-backed forces are pushing deeper into northern Syria. The offensive started last week giving Syrian rebels cover to capture the town of Jarablus from ISIS. But the latest push is raising U.S. concerns that Turkey is focusing on Kurdish targets instead of ISIS. Turkish state run news agency reports Turkish jets struck PKK targets in Northern Iraq Monday.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS is claiming responsibility for a suicide car bombing at a military training camp in Yemen's port city of Aden. Officials say the attack killed at least 71 people and wounded 33 others. The explosion happened as recruits stood in line for enrollment.

SESAY: Brazil's embattled President, Dilma Rousseff is defending herself against impeachment charges; she was suspended in May on allegations of corruption and mismanagement of Brazil's finances. Crowds set fire in the streets of Sao Paulo protesting Ms. Rousseff's impeachment. A final senate vote is expected Tuesday.

VAUSE: And, in the U.S. presidential race, HillaryClinton's lead over Donald Trump has narrowed. The latest poll from Monmouth University shows Clinton leading Trumpamong likely voters by seven points. She led Trump by 13 points in the same poll four weeks ago.

Well, it has become practically a mantra of the Trump campaign. He repeatedly insists that if he does not win in November, it's because the vote was rigged.

SESAY: He once volunteered to patrol polling places throughout this past month. Trump claimed, with little factual evidence, that the vote could be fixed against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The whole thing with voter I.D., identification, I think is really -- people are going to walk in and vote ten times, maybe who knows. Just like Bernie Sanders, I said it was rigged, well, it's rigged here too, believe me.

I'm telling you, November8th, we better be careful because the election is going to be rigged and I hope the Republicans are watching closely or it's going to be taken away from us.

You've got to get everybody to go out and watch, and go out and vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Joining me now is Allen Raymond; he's a former GOP operative and served jail time for election rigging in 2002. Mr. Raymond, thank you so much for joining us this evening.

We have heard from Donald Trump over the last couple of weeks, repeatedly, saying he has fears that the upcoming November election could well be rigged. Let me ask you a very simple question that people around the world are considering, is it possible to rig a U.S. election?

ALLEN RAYMOND, FORMER GOP OPERATIVE: Not in the way that he is talking about, no. It's pure fantasy. You can't do it.It's too big.The system's too wide. He's thinking about things that happened in the early 20th century, 19th Century; Tammany Hall, Boss Tweed, when the power broker -- party power brokers were sitting around trying to figure out what margin they needed to win to win an election and stuffing ballot boxes; that doesn't happen anymore. You've got 3100 counties in the United States. They all have their own polling places and run on different systems and they're not linked to the internet. It's not possible. That kind of conspiracy is not going to happen.

SESAY: So you were found guilty of jamming phones and rigging an election that way; but you are saying in this 2016 election what we should be looking out for is more along the lines of intimidation. When you talk about that, are there specific communities in mind? Is there a racial element to all this?

RAYMOND: Absolutely; let's talk about Pennsylvania because that's what Donald Trump talked about. So in Pennsylvania you basically have Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other and the rest is called the "T". As well said a lot like Alabama.

What I think you need to watch for -because, look, Democrats have the voter registration advantage in a state like Pennsylvania. So they have more intensity and support for their candidate, HillaryClinton. They don't need to rig the election;the numbers are on their side.

The thing to watch for is going to be Republicans trying to suppress the vote because they are at a disadvantage.So where does that happen? That's going to happen in minority election districts. So here's two samples of things you might want to watch for: onemight be fliers, online communication, phone calls that call up and say to somebody, look, if your last name starts between the letter "m" and "z" you vote on Wednesday; so don't go vote on Tuesday. You vote on Wednesday.

There could be fliers or forms of communication that saying if you have a bench warrant or unpaid parking tickets or alimony overdue, you can't vote. That's not true. That's a poll tax, but the problem is, a lot of people don't know what a poll tax is. They don't know that that's not constitutional. That's not legal.

So those are the types of things which is taking advantage of voters who [00:35:01] really don't necessarily understand the process. They just know they go somewhere on Election Day and vote. When someone tries to suppress their right to vote they may not know their rights. That is the danger.

SESAY: It's a very real one. We appreciate you spelling it out for us. Allen Raymond joining us there from Washington D.C. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

RAYMOND: You're very welcome; hope it helped.

VAUSE: It helped, a little.

SESAY: In a manner of speaking. Next on "Newsroom L.A.," how a mayor in New Mexico is helping the homeless get off the streets and find jobs.

VAUSE: Also coming up, we will pay our tribute and our respects to the amazing work of Gene Wilder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Like so many other cities around the world, Albuquerque in New Mexico is dealing with the problem of homelessness, but there the mayor has introduced a new program. It's call "There Is a Better Way." It brings work to men and women living on the streets. They send out a van picking up panhandlers who want to work and hires them for a day job and gives them lunch.

"There's A Better Way" was launched almost one year ago. Our colleague, Sara Sidner, spoke to the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Gilbert Montano, about its success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is really an interesting and difficult subject to wrap your hands around because a lot of cities across the United States, especially, are dealing with this issue of homelessness and trying to find some kind of solution.As I understand it, your mayor and city have come up with something that you guys say works.

GILBERT MONTANO, CHIEF OF Staff, MAYOR OF ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Yes, you know, it's a really kind of exciting program that's really taken a fast-moving forward opportunity, both for our community psyche and those dealing with it. It's almost so simple that it works.

We partnered with a homeless provider, St. Martin's, and what happens on four days a week - it started with two, now it's four - they get a van that we recycled from one of our old community centers and they drive around the city targeting the panhandling areas. You've seen them in every part of the country, usually on off-ramps near freeways and high business intersections. The gentleman, a guy named Will, pops out and says hey, you want to work for the day? You'll get a paycheck. You'll have the opportunity to meet with some people, and at the end of the day, if you like it, awesome and we'll try to help you out as much as we can.

We have had extreme success of people wanting that work; so much so that we have to double the amount of days that we have now in the City of Albuquerque. They go and pick a place typically that has either a median or needs weeds landscaped so something to the effect that would beautify the City and they do their work for the day.At the end of the day, they receive their money and some counseling and some ideas of what some of the issues are.They can choose it, to take it or choose not to. Everything is voluntary. It's just an opportunity. Some take it and some don't. We're having more success of them taking it than these that don't.

[00:40:02] So as simple as that sounds, that's basically the program.

SIDNER: A lot of cities look at this and they say, we just don't have the money.So how did you all come up with this idea?I mean, how is the city being able to deal and pay for this? I suspect there are, for the wraparound services, as you call them, there have to be funds for that, correct?

MONTANO: Sure; now, the actual project is very inexpensive.I think we have done our first pilot year we spent about $50,000 from the general fund and augmented some of the work with one of our Departments of Solid Waste.

The wrap-around services are already being funded, allotted the Federal Government to these homeless shelters.So there is case managers already there that we are just connecting these individuals with.So that was not new funding. That was existing funding. Again, it's just a matter of connecting the services with the people that need them the most and hoping and planning for the best possible outcomes.

So we've had a tremendous amount of support for this program. It's not a silver bullet. We don't want to sell it like a silver bullet but it's a piece of the pie that can certainly help change an ever growing issue that's happening through this country and many other countries as well.

SIDNER: Fantastic; Gilbert Montano, thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Definitely making a difference.

Well, the world of comedy has lost one of its brightest stars. Veteran actor, Gene Wilder has died at the age of 83.

VAUSE: We all, I think, have our own favorite Gene Wilder movie, many of them are classics. Here's a look at some of his more memorable roles.

[Clip from "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" plays]

[Clip from "The Producers" plays]

[Clip from "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" plays]

[Clip from "Blazing Saddles" plays] [Clip from "Young Frankenstein" plays]

[Clip from "Silver Streak" plays]

[Clip from "Stir Crazy" plays].

SESAY: What a talent.

VAUSE: Willy Wonka.

SESAY: My favorite.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

SESAY: I remember - I mean, how many times have you seen it?

VAUSE: Countless.

SESAY: Yes, same here.

VAUSE: He will be missed.

SESAY: Very much so. Thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom," live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause."World Sport" is up next and then we're back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

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