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Trump to Meet with Mexico's President; ISIS Vows Revenge for Adnani's Death; Record 6,908 Migrants Rescued in 30-Hour Period; North Korea Executes Education Official; European Commission Orders Apple to Pay $14.6 Billion; Mysterious Radio Signal Seems to be from Distant Star. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 31, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:23] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour --

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump goes to Mexico. He'll meet with President Pena-Nieto ahead of Wednesday's major speech on immigration.

SESAY: Terrorists take down one of ISIS' most wanted leaders killed in Syria -- ISIS now vowing revenge.

VAUSE: And European regulators taking a big bite out of Apple's operations in Ireland ordering billions in back taxes to be paid.

SESAY: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.

NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

SESAY: Just hours before Donald Trump finally makes that long-awaited speech on immigration, he'll be headed to Mexico to meet with the President. Enrique Pena-Nieto also extended an invitation to Hillary Clinton, but it's not clear when or if she'll meet with him.

VAUSE: The timing here is crucial. Trump has been accused of flip- flopping on immigration, indicating last week he was open to softening his position. But then backpedaling saying he's not open to a pathway to legalization.

During a rally in Washington State on Tuesday he was clear about one thing. The border wall is still part of the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We are also going to secure our border and stop the drugs from pouring in and destroying our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: CNN's Phil Mattingly was at that rally where Donald Trump just spoke.

SESAY: And he has more on Trump's surprise plan for meeting with Mexico's president.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Isha, we knew Wednesday was going to be a big moment for Donald Trump's campaign -- the highly-anticipated, highly-touted immigration policy speech that has been canceled and rescheduled multiple times. That's scheduled for Arizona and still scheduled for Arizona.

What we did not know was before Donald Trump makes the trip to Arizona to make that speech he will be stopping in Mexico for a private meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Trump on Twitter just 90 seconds before he walked out on stage here in Everett, Washington confirming he will be making that trip, tweeting out "I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena-Nieto of Mexico and I look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow."

Now, the president's office saying they extended an invitation to both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It will be a private meeting in Mexico City with Trump on Wednesday. Again, this was not expected. And this happened very, very fast inside the Trump campaign.

There are really two camps here. One camp that's very worried about the idea of meeting with a foreign leader on such notice. But another one, a camp that Donald Trump himself subscribes to, was the acceptance that this is a bold move and a move designed to show that he can play at the highest heights of the world stage -- Donald Trump meeting with a foreign leader in that foreign leader's country. A foreign leader who's country Donald Trump has taken no shortage of shots at over the course of his entire campaign.

Not exactly what we expected but certainly something that's going to make tomorrow already a big day because of that immigration speech even bigger -- guys.

VAUSE: Phil Mattingly -- thank you for that update.

Let's bring in Eric Hogensen. He's a Democratic campaign consultant and president of the political consulting firm HSG Campaigns. Also joining us is Jorge Herrera, the co-founder of Latinos for Trump. Is that ok?

JORGE HERRERA, LATINOS FOR TRUMP: Yes, sir.

VAUSE: Thanks, man. You've got a big heavy lift tonight.

Ok. Donald Trump going to Mexico in the next couple of hours -- boy, this is going to be a meeting or what. What are the risks? What are the problems here? What's the potential upside for Donald Trump?

HERRERA: I think the potential upside is that he's going to show his true leadership skills. People have this perception that he's not a world leader; that he can't hang on the world stage. This is going to be an excellent opportunity for Donald Trump to show his leadership skills and show the world what he can do as a true leader.

SESAY: Eric, what are your expectations?

[00:04:56] ERIC HOGENSEN, HGS CAMPAIGNS: Well, unfortunately, the entire campaign Trump has run has been built primarily on hate. And he's been mainstreaming the culture of hate in this country. And you know, when white supremacists are supporting your campaign and you're not denouncing them, I think that's a real problem for him. And I don't think a trip to Mexico is going to solve that.

VAUSE: Hold on -- this is the issue. Mr. Trump has been highly critical, derogatory at times, you know, of Mexicans and of Mexico as well. There have been pinatas on the street of Donald Trump in Mexico and also here in California too at his campaign stops.

This could get quite ugly. And you know, I know there's a theory that he gets there and if it's ugly and they're protesting that's good for him. But doesn't that just add to the campaign that this is a campaign of -- you know, in turmoil and division?

HERRERA: Well, I'd like to dispel this myth about hate because let's talk about Hillary Clinton. She's over here using divisive rhetoric calling me outright racist or fringe. It's not true. I'm just an average American.

Also let's talk about Barack Obama. Barack Obama right now is actively deporting people from Central America. These people are seeking -- they're seeking asylum or safety from violence in Central America. And Barack Obama is actively using deportation squads to rip these families apart from the United States. Nobody talks about that.

Also let's talk about hate. One thing as a Hispanic-American that bothered me, we saw the leaked DNC e-mails as when they referred to Hispanics as "taco bowl engagement". But what bothered me the most and what people don't know is that the Democratic Party along with Hillary Clinton thinks that they can own and acquire Hispanic loyalty for generations to come in terms of branding.

They don't look at us as a person. They just care about a vote. They care about power. They don't care about me as a soul, as a person. I am not a brand. I'm a human being. Ok? So I don't appreciate that you think that you can own and acquire my loyalty.

HOGENSEN: Yes, I just think that what's -- you know, I understand your feelings, Jorge. And I think that's really important to acknowledge. The fact is there are white supremacists in this country that are really excited about the Trump candidacy and they've been talking on air about how they are taking over the Republican Party. And they're proud of this. And I think that's a really sad thing.

SESAY: But to his point -- the Democratic Party takes for granted the votes of minority voters and actually sees them more as numbers as opposed to individuals. What about that? HOGENSEN: Here's the thing. Donald Trump has been sort of quote

unquote "reaching out" to minority voters over the past couple weeks. I'd really like to see some plans. I'd like to see some policy. He's really given a lot of empty rhetoric and no policy to back it up.

SESAY: But let's talk about his immigration policy.

VAUSE: Yes, exactly. Now are we looking at this trip to Mexico I guess as part of the softening of the immigration policy?

HERRERA: I don't think there's any softening. His position stands the same. We have to secure the border. We're going to get the criminals out.

Here in Los Angeles we have the Los Angeles gangs; over 60 percent of them are illegal immigrants. We have to get these people out. This is what Trump is talking about. It's pretty accurate that we have to take care of the criminals first, get them out, secure our border. That's very, very important.

So I want to touch back on the KKK point because let's understand that the KKK never really endorsed Donald Trump but there's a video out there right now. Somebody from California actually endorsed Hillary Clinton yet the media has never questioned this point.

Hillary Clinton was endorsed by William Quiqq -- not one question. They're drilling Donald Trump on the KKK when it never happened. He was never endorsed. Hillary Clinton has been endorsed by the KKK -- not one question from the media. Not one disavowal from Hillary Clinton. This is a fact. So let's just dispel this notion about hate.

SESAY: All right. We can litigate the point of hate groups and the conversation will continue down that line. But let's focus on the immigration element right now.

I want to play for you what Donald Trump has been saying because there's been this question of the flip-flopping. Let's play for you what he has said over time on the issue of immigration and compare it to what we heard from his son speaking to Anderson Cooper a couple of hours ago. Let's run that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: He wasn't softening on anything. He didn't change his stance on anything. What he did was and what he's done all along is he's speaking with the people. He's not lecturing them like most of the politicians you see. He's actually having a conversation. He basically surveyed the room and asked hey, what are your thoughts on this? I want to take that. Because I want to take into account what the people say. His policy has been the same for the last, you know, six, seven, eight months.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: So he still says deport -- they've all got to go? TRUMP, JR.: That's been the same. Correct. But again, you have to

start with baby steps.

TRUMP: They're illegal immigrants. They've got to go out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can round up 11 million people?

TRUMP: You know what, at some point we're going to try getting them back -- the good ones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they going to be ripped out of their homes? How?

TRUMP: They're going back where they came. If they came from a certain country, they're going to be brought back to their country. That's the way it's supposed to be. Now, they can come back, but they have to come back legally.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Are you going to be sending in officers --

TRUMP: We're going to be sending in people in a very nice way.

BURNETT: -- a force of people into people's homes to get them out?

TRUMP: We're going to be giving notice. We're going to be saying you have to go.

We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back -- some will come back, the best, through a process. They have to come back legally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just hear me. There does seem to be an agreement that what Trump has said the last couple of days has been nowhere as extreme as what he said over the course of this campaign. Do we all agree on that?

[00:10:01] HOGENSEN: Absolutely. But the issue is you really can't believe what he's saying. This is a person that is saying a series of lies. And the reality is he's not answering the question about deportation. You know, he has called for a full deportation, hasn't really walked that back. And I think this is a real issue with his policy with his campaign --

(CROSSTALK)

HERRERA: I have a point to get.

So let's talk about the Bill Clinton administration. Bill Clinton actually withheld or deported over 12 million illegals during his presidency. Nobody characterized Bill Clinton as full of hate. There's no hate.

Mexico enforces their immigration laws. They actually deport more Central Americans than the United States. So there's no hate behind it. It's just time to enforce our immigration laws and do it right. There's nothing wrong with that.

VAUSE: Ok. Stick around for the next hour?

SESAY: We'll do it again. Thank you -- gentlemen.

VAUSE: All right. We'll get to a lot more. Thanks -- guys.

SESAY: All right.

Turning now to ISIS and the group is promising revenge now that one of its most senior deputies is dead. The terror group says Abu Muhammad al Adnani was killed in Aleppo, Syria while inspecting military operations.

VAUSE: Adnani was one of the most visible ISIS leaders and the highest profile kill yet if it is confirmed. His death delivers a huge blow to the militants. We get more details now from Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Sheik Abu Muhammad al Adnani has been one of the most public and threatening leaders of ISIS. Chief spokesman and involved with its unit plotting terror attacks against the west -- now reported dead by the terror group.

The ISIS statement appearing online saying Adnani quote, "was martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo." ISIS offering no other proof, and western officials have not confirmed his death. Still a senior U.S. defense official says a coalition airstrike Tuesday targeted a senior is leader near Aleppo. The U.S. has offered a $5 million reward for his death or capture.

Adnani is widely believed to be involved in inspiring and directing attacks in the west like those that have terrorized Europe recently. Thought to be a possible successor to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, he also brought in foreign fighters to the battles in Syria and Iraq.

The top U.S. general fighting ISIS says ISIS' leadership may be losing its influence, as evidenced in a recent battle.

ARMY GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Some of what we saw in the Manbij fight was direction from Baghdadi to his fighters to fight to the death. Obviously, they didn't. So they didn't follow his direction which may be an indication of the state of ISIL at least in some cases here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Adnani's official title was spokesman, and he did advertise some of ISIS' most brutal acts of violence. But he was more than that. He was a senior leader. He directed many of its operations, foreign operations, terror attacks in Europe. And to replace him effectively will be very difficult for the group.

Jim Sciutto -- CNN, Washington.

VAUSE: Well, for more now on what this could mean in the fight against ISIS, let's bring in CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer. He joins us now from Telluride. Bob -- thanks for being with us.

Let's just talk about the significance here of the assassination of al Adnani and what this actually means in terms of what the terror group is now capable of doing without him there.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, John -- I don't put a whole lot of weight on his death or assassination, whether it occurred in Aleppo or he was killed by the U.S. Air Force. He had been one of Zarqawi's deputies. He had been an agent of Syrian intelligence during the Iraq war at the height of it. These people have been replaced over and over again.

I think what's more significant is what's Turkey going to do. Is it going to continue to fight the Kurds, our allies? But what's going to happen for sure I think is that the Islamic state in its current form is going to fall away and go away, and especially when Mosul is taken. And we'll see something replacing it.

But Adnani, he was a really bad guy, but his passing -- his death is not going to make that much difference.

SESAY: So you don't anticipate a change in ISIS' messaging in the absence of Adnani? We know that he was, of course -- if you want chief communications officer for want of a better word -- producer of these slick videos. In his absence, do you see the direction of the messaging staying the same -- Bob?

BAER: I think the message will be the same. It's going to be more desperate. They're going to be more desperate to make attacks on Europe. They're going to try the United States. They've failed so far.

They're in a lot of trouble because the Iraqi government and the Shia militia, they are marching north. The Kurds are winning. And they've got a lot of people that can back this up with messaging videos and the rest of it. They still have a lot of members that are Europeans that understand the technology. He was a symbolic, important figure but it's not the end of the movement.

VAUSE: It's not the end of the movement, Bob. You kind of alluded to it before -- once Mosul falls and that's sort of the beginning of the end of ISIS as a movement to be replaced by something else.

[00:15:03] I'm wondering at the fact that the United States had enough intelligence to know exactly where Adnani would be and when he would be there to carry out this drone strike is sort of indicative, you know, that cracks are starting to form within ISIS.

BAER: Well, John, that's the point. We don't know he's dead. At this point the magazine AMAK (ph), which is online, has announced his death. They do this, put out misinformation occasionally. They might have done it now. And the Americans are still waiting to confirm he's dead.

Now, you can put out disinformation over having people call on cell phones and saying he died, he died. We're just going to have to wait. A lot of these people, you know, are listed as killed in assassinations. But in fact, they reappear again. This is a very opaque movement, which U.S. intelligence has a very difficult time getting inside of.

SESAY: Bob, you make the point, it's not confirmed, his death, but ISIS has come out and vowed revenge for his death. Should European capitals be on higher alert? I mean how seriously should we take their threats of revenge?

BAER: Oh, I think we should take them seriously. This is an occasion for them to attack Europe, where they still have cells there, according to the European intelligence. I think they're going to try. It may be a big attack using a car or bombs. Yes, I think they will take revenge or try to.

VAUSE: What would be the point of putting out disinformation that he's dead when he isn't?

BAER: Well, they've done this in the past with military commanders, so they stop targeting them. They switch cell phones, and they divert the bombing to somebody else. I mean there's things called Starburst where they exchange cell phones and then put out disinformation over telephone lines that someone's died, hoping that we'll stop targeting them.

I mean, eventually these people will be killed. But whether it occurred now, I'm going to wait for confirmation from western intelligence.

SESAY: All right. Bob Baer --

VAUSE: Bob Baer, thank you very much.

SESAY: Always appreciate it. Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, the desperation to seek a new life is sending thousands of migrants on a very dangerous journey. We'll look at the risks they face on the Mediterranean.

SESAY: Plus Apple is facing a huge tax bill from the European Union -- what the company is accused of doing.

Still ahead on NEWSROOM L.A.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The active tropics still the big story around parts of the Atlantic and also the Gulf of Mexico. Still looking at tropical depression 8 and 9, Gaston remaining a fish storm as in it's over the open waters.

And notice we have hurricane watches now posted anywhere from, say, Panama City where it's a tropical storm watch to then becoming a hurricane watch towards Cedar Key just north of Tampa, Florida.

[00:19:56] All of this because of tropical depression 9 still just on the cusp here of becoming what would be tropical storm Hermine. Winds have to get up to about 61 kilometers per hour. Sitting about six kilometers shy of that at this hour. Expected to strengthen and move in sometime Thursday afternoon and Thursday night. Rainfall is going to be the primary threat with this. Some areas could easily pick up about a quarter of a meter of rainfall out of this over the next couple of days.

How about tropical depression 8? This could become Ian and watching this very carefully because this also sits there just shy of tropical storm status. But notice it will eventually want to parallel the Eastern Seaboard, push off the Canadian Maritimes and move out over the open waters. So just a brief impact when it does make an impact.

What could have a potentially larger impact are going to be hurricanes Madeline and also Lester. I'm more concerned about Lester and we'll talk about why because Madeline will actually skirt the southern tier of the big island Wednesday night. Lester could come in as a category 2. Latest indications it will get pretty close to areas around Maui and also the big island by Saturday.

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SESAY: There are new calls for safe and legal migration routes after nearly 7,000 migrants were rescued at sea in a 30-hour period beginning Monday. Many of them come from African nations and they're taking the exceptionally dangerous route from Libya to Italy. They're making the trip with their children on crowded rubber or wooden boats.

40 different organizations helped save them, among them a mother and her five-day-old newborn twins. Doctors without Borders says one of the babies was so ill they were all rushed to Italy for treatment.

Joining us now for a closer look at the rescue efforts in the Mediterranean is Tom Porteous. He's the deputy program director of Human Rights Watch in London. Thank you so much for joining us -- Tom.

40 different rescue missions brought 6,500 people to safety by Monday, which is almost three times more than last week. How do you explain the uptick in number of people attempting this dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean?

TOM PORTEOUS, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Well, I think there are a number of factors. One is the situation in Libya is very bad and people who are finding themselves in Libya, whether they originally wanted to try and find work there or were in any way going to use it as a transit, are trying to leave.

Another factor, of course, is that the eastern Mediterranean route via Turkey and Greece has been dramatically reduced because of the deal between the E.U. and Turkey and the closure of the border with the Balkan countries north of Greece.

SESAY: So a host of problems. More people making the crossing. 40 different parties involved these past few days in trying to bring them to safety. What level of coordination is there between the various rescue missions?

Well, obviously, there's quite a lot of coordination. And these search and rescue missions really have to be welcomed. And it's something that human rights watch has been calling for, for a long time. I think the problem remains that the E.U. is still seeking to prevent people from leaving North Africa.

And in fact, not only that but in spite of the fact that the United Nations refugee agency has called on countries to allow access to their territory to people who are fleeing Libya the European Union countries have actually been helping the Libyan authorities to prevent people from leaving Libya. So while these search and rescue missions are certainly to be welcomed, there are problems with the E.U. policy.

SESAY: Yes. Tom -- given this growing fear of refugees, Muslims and terrorism in a number of European countries, I mean what are the chances of seeing a change in policy and more specifically an expansion of safe and legal avenues for people to actually make it to Europe?

PORTEOUS: Well, I think that we need to win the argument. I mean the fact is that these chaotic scenes on the Mediterranean and on Europe's borders are not helping the political situation in Europe. It's grist to the mill of the right-wing anti-immigrant parties that are certainly gaining power.

But if there was a more orderly process for the -- for those who are trying to flee -- in most cases flee from terrible conditions whether it's in Syria or elsewhere to the safety of Europe -- if there are more orderly processes then I think that we would see a reduction of those fears.

[00:25:04] In particular, there needs to be obviously vetting for -- and security screening for people trying to come to Europe to deal with these fears about security and terrorism. But that kind of vetting can only take place if there is an orderly process for people to be resettled or to seek asylum at Europe's borders.

SESAY: Yes.

You know, as we look at these pictures it is truly tragic. What is clear as we see these scenes play out over and over again is somehow the humanity of the situation has basically disappeared from the discourse around migrants and refugees.

When you look at the situation, who should be taking the lead in this fight, if you will, there in Europe? Are you looking to Germany? Who are you looking to? PORTEOUS: Well, I mean, look, there are no easy answers to all this.

But I mean, if we take the situation in Libya, and the situation in Libya we reported on just a couple of months ago. People are being detained in the most appalling conditions in Libya, both by people smugglers and militias, but also by the U.N.-backed government authorities.

They're being tortured. They're being, in some cases, sexually abused, as we've documented. So you're right. The humanitarian situation is terrible. And we need to kind of put that in the forefront of the public discourse if we are to combat the sort of anti-immigrant sentiment that is taking hold not only in Europe but also in the United States.

SESAY: Tom Porteous -- we appreciate you joining us to give us some insight into the situation. Thank you so much.

PORTEOUS: Thank you.

SESAY: South Korea says Pyongyang has executed a government official. The details are just ahead in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:17] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I am Isha Sesay. John Vause had just headed off on assignment.

The headlines this hour.

ISIS says its spokesman and key leader Abu Mohammad al-Adnani was killed Tuesday in Syria, but hasn't said how. It vows revenge for his death. Adnani had called for attacks on countries launching air strikes against ISIS.

The U.S. Admits targeting him in an air strike, but they're still assessing whether the attack succeeded.

Nearly 7,000 migrants have been rescued during a 30-hour period on the Central Mediterranean Sea. Many of them are taking the especially dangerous route from Libya to Italy. Authorities say more than 3,000 people have died at sea this year.

The impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is entering its final stage. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on whether or not to remove her from office. Miss Rousseff is accused of doctoring the budget to hide a shortfall. She says she never committed any crime.

Well, South Korea's unification ministry says North Korea has executed one of its top education officials. Two others have been sent to re- education program. Last May, South Korean media reported that North Korean's defense chief was shot by an anti-aircraft gun in front of hundreds of people in Pyongyang.

Well, Paula Hancocks joins me now from Seoul, South Korea.

And, Paula, at this stage, do we know why this individual was executed? What more do we know?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, what we're hearing is from a South Korean government official. It hasn't been confirmed by North Korea at this point. But they say that this top education official, Kim Yong Jin, was showing a bad attitude is the way they put it, back in June at the Supreme People's Assembly.

According to this official, he was then investigated by the state security officials in North Korea, and he was then deemed to be anti- party, counterrevolutionary. And so then he was executed by firing squad in July.

They also mentioned two others as well. As you say, they went for re- education, suggesting that their crimes were not as offensive to the leader Kim Jong Un as that of his top education official, Kim Yong Chol. He was accused of abuse of power, being overbearing, trying to strengthen his own authority.

And according to South Korean, the government official, he's actually been sent to a farm for hard labor from mid-July, mid-August, to re- educate him.

Another individual as well from the Propaganda Department again has been in a rural area being re-educated.

So interesting developments from this government official. They also say they are a little concerned that with this one individual who's head of the Inter-Korean Department, so head of the relationship between North and South Korea, when he comes back to power, they are concerned that he's going to try and show loyalty to Kim Jong Un and so have a much harder stance against South Korea.

Isha?

SESAY: Yes. Paula, the question on the minds of many is whether these actions -- because this isn't the first time we've heard, as we pointed out, of North Korean officials being executed.

Whether when they occur, it is indicative of Kim Jong Un showing strength, or really whether it signals that there are issues with holding on to control.

What's the analysis where you are?

HANCOCKS: Well, you could read it both ways, really. I think what it does show, which we're hearing from experts, which we have been hearing from defectors who've left North Korea recently, is that Kim Jong Un is far more brutal than his father, the late Kim Jong Il.

Where Kim Jong Il was content to punish those he believed were not showing enough loyalty, Kim Jong Un appears to be far more willing to execute those that he does not believe are toeing the party line.

So certainly he does appear to be more impulsive. We've heard that from the South Korean defense minister, from other officials. This is their take on this young leader. And also we've seen far more executions over the past four years since he's been in power than we ever saw before. At least those that have been publicly acknowledged.

In the two years, 2012 to 2014, there were almost 70 top officials executed. Now this isn't across the board for the whole of the country. These are just top officials that South Korean officials were noting. So certainly it does appear as though he is far more willing to execute than his father ever was.

Isha?

SESAY: Paula Hancocks joining us there from Seoul, South Korea.

Thank you, Paula.

Time for a quick break now.

The tax man cometh. European regulators take a big bite out of Apple operations in Ireland. Why the company and the U.S. government are crying foul. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: A ruling by the European commission is igniting a Trans- Atlantic firestorm. It says Apple's tax arrangement with Ireland is illegal. The commission is demanding Apple pay taxes dating back to 2003 to the iTune of more than $14 billion.

CNN Money editor-at-large Richard Quest explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS (on-camera): You have to understand, the beginning of all of this is over here in the Apple stores across the European Union. It doesn't matter where you bought your Apple product. The way the contract was constructed, it wasn't with the store in that country. Oh, no. Instead, you were actually contracting with Apple Sales International.

This Irish company recorded profits of $22 billion from across the European Union. But very little of it was actually taxed in Ireland. Because the tax rate had been manipulated.

How did they do that? Simple. They created a fictitious head office. This head office seemingly had no tax domicile. The EU says it's only exited on paper. And what the Irish agreed, the Irish basically agreed to allow Apple to apportion the revenues between Ireland, small bit, and the head office. Big bit. And since there was no tax payable here, that's how billions and billions of Euros went without being taxed.

Then there is of course over here the $2 billion a year that Apple paid for research and development to the parent company in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: The one and only Richard Quest there. Well, the fallout threatens to cause a rift between Washington and Brussels. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the tax ruling could drive away U.S. investment from Europe.

Let's get some analysis from Alex Webb of "Bloomberg Business" and technology reporter, who's live via Skype from San Francisco.

Alex, thank you so much for joining us.

First question, I mean, everyone's throwing their hands up about this huge tax bill. Well, what are the chances that Apple actually pay this final number?

ALEX WEBB, BLOOMBERG BUSINESS: It's very hard to gauge that at this stage. I've been speaking to tax lawyers. A lot of them seem to think that they won't end up paying. And if they do, it will be a very much reduced number.

Of course, you know, think about the fact that tax lawyers probably have a horse in the game here. They are often people who advise companies. And so therefore, they might have a slightly vested interest.

But again, it's unlikely to be the full number. The way it was phrased in the release was it would be up to 13 billion Euros. So that leaves a lot of leeway.

[00:40:00] SESAY: Yes. I think some people are questioning the motivations on the part of the European Union to go after a deal made by a sovereign state, Ireland, with Apple.

What's your sense of the motivation at play here?

WEBB: I mean, in some sense this gets to the very heart of the European Union as a whole, namely, that you have 27 different sovereign states with their own fiscal regimes, all entitled to do whatever they please. And so it's trying (INAUDIBLE), it's impossible to ensure that's a level playing field.

Now, of course, Apple -- I'm sorry, the European commission can't impose different tax rates in each country, but it can try to ensure that countries stick by the tax rates they have set. And that's what they have done here.

Apple is still the biggest example of this. It's the biggest publicly listed company in the world, at least until Saudi Aramco comes to the market. And so it's picking the biggest fish in the pond to ensure that everybody is on the same page.

SESAY: What does this ruling mean for other big multinationals like Google and Amazon and McDonald's that are already under investigation by the EU for their tax arrangements?

WEBB: Well, speaking to some people today, they said that actually Apple was the most brazen of all of these because it wasn't even really using a loophole as such. It had an agreement with the Irish government.

And Google and others have used these other mechanisms. Some call it the double Irish. It's another complex way of ensuring that you don't pay a huge amount of tax and that you pay tax in the country with low rates if it's at all possible.

The way Apple did, it was almost more formalized so it was an easier one to take off.

There are processes, investigations under way currently into Amazon, which used to funnel its profits largely through Luxembourg. But both Google and Amazon have now stepped away from that method, and are now just domiciling themselves for tax reasons in other place around the continent.

SESAY: Well, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is saying that this is an example of the European Union targeting American companies.

Is that how you see it? Is there, you know, a pointed element to this, malicious intent, to take down American companies, if you will?

WEBB: I think it's very hard for me to make that sort of judgment. There are examples, though, in the past of where they targeted European companies such as BP and Anheuser Busch.

So I think the issue more at stake here is the fact that these are the bigger companies to go for than, you know, easier ones to target.

You know, you also have to think about the fact that the U.S. has a vested interest here. Not that it is necessarily on the same side as Apple and making the same -- was trying to defend its own interests as a sort of corporate America's interests as it were. It's more the case that the U.S. Treasury wants the tax to be paid here and for every penny that is paid elsewhere in the world. That is then deductible from the amount that the U.S. can charge if money is ever repatriated.

So $14 billion paid in Ireland is $14 billion that will not be paid in the United States.

SESAY: Alex Webb, great to talk to you. Some great insight and analysis there. Thank you so much.

All right. Well, scientists are tracking a strong mysterious radio signal from a sun-like star, and it's raising questions about whether there's life beyond earth.

Russian astronomers first detected the signal last year. Experts say that if the signal is artificial, it was likely made by a civilization more advanced than our own. Aliens maybe?

International researchers are now monitoring the signal and its star. So far they haven't found anything to match the original incident.

Hmm. Very, very curious.

All right. Well, thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

"World Sport" is up next. But then I'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. You're watching CNN.

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