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Trump and Clinton In Virtual Tie; Can Apple Outsmart The Competition?; Poll: Clinton Suffers From "Enthusiasm Gap"; Children Uprooted By the Millions; Obama To Hold Town Hall With Young Asian Leaders; Philippine President: Profanity Not Directed At Obama; Video Shows Aftermath of Syria "Chemical Attack"; Zika Outbreak In Singapore; People Furious About Charlie Hebdo Quake Cartoon; Chicago's Deadly Year; Bill Cosby's Trial Set To Begin June 5, 2017; Apple To Announce New IPhone Details; Twitter Mourns #Hiddleswift Breakup. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 07, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:06] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, the polls are tightening, but the policies are as far apart as ever. We'll explain why Donald Trump has the wind in his sails on the campaign trail.

SESAY: UNICEF estimates that 50 million children around the world have been uprooted from their homes. The organization's second in charge tells us what's causing the crisis.

VAUSE: And later this hour, another iPhone launch. Will it be lucky number seven for Apple?

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

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Great to have you with us. Another hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now. Hillary Clinton's lead over Donald Trump in the race for the White House appears to be evaporating. The latest CNN/ORC poll of likely voters has Trump ahead, Clinton by two points, 45-43, within the margin of error.

SESAY: And the poll shows Trump with significant leads in handling the economy and terrorism. Those surveyed also see the republican as much more trustworthy. Clinton scores higher on foreign policy, and the two are just about split on immigration.

VAUSE: Trump and Clinton spent the day sparring over national security. Here's CNN politics reporter Sara Murray.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: In its final sprint, the presidential race is coming down to a dead heat, and quickly turning into a political dogfight.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs. HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but the secret is he has no plan.

MURRAY: Today, Donald Trump is looking to bolster his national security credential.

TRUMP: We got problems, folks. We have to figure it out. And if we don't figure it out, we have to be careful and vigilant and strong.

MURRAY: While Clinton jabs at Trump for lacking the temperament to be commander-in-chief.

CLINTON: We're going to work with our allies, not insult them. We're going to stand up to our adversaries, not cozy up to them.

MURRAY: That as the new CNN/ORC poll shows him trailing Clinton by five points on the commander-in-chief test. Trump appearing with retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, as he slammed Clinton's leadership abilities, and called for closer ties with Russia.

TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia? We have to get along with certain nations, very importantly because it would be awfully good to have Russia and others with us on major attacks on ISIS.

MURRAY: The Trump campaign also rolling out a roster of 88 retired military leaders, who say they're backing the bombastic billionaire, but not without some reservations.

REMO BUTLER, RETIRED BRIGADIER GENERAL: I think they are working in the right direction. And again, I'm here because some of his people on his campaign reached out to me. So, yes, you're not doing it perfectly, but you're getting there.

MURRAY: That as Clinton tries to make the case that Trump is too big a risk to take with America's national security.

CLINTON: This November, the American people have a big choice to make when it comes to national security. On the one hand, we have Donald Trump, who has called the American military a disaster, who disrespects our military leaders by saying, and I quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do."

MURRAY: And Trump kept up the heat against Hillary Clinton when it came to national security at an event in North Carolina. He said her behavior when it came to her private e-mail server was disqualifying. He called her out for destroying communications devices or wiping her e-mail, and called it shady activity. Sara Murray, CNN, Greenville, North Carolina.

SESAY: Well, Hillary Clinton is raising questions about Donald Trump's donation to Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi's office was reviewing allegations against Trump University back in 2013. Just a few days later, Trump gave $25,000 to her re-election campaign. Bondi decided not to pursue an investigation. Last week, the Trump Foundation paid a $2,500 fine for the illegal contribution. Clinton says, "It's part of a pattern of shady dealings by Trump."

CLINTON: He said that the American people don't care about his tax returns. And in fact, he's also said that it's none of our business. I just think he's dead wrong. I'm going to continue to raise this, because I think it is a fundamental issue about him in this campaign that we're going to talk about in one way or another for the next 62 days, because he clearly has something to hide.

VAUSE: Joining us now, democratic strategist Dave Jacobson and republican consultant John Thomas. OK. Earlier tonight, come just a few hours ago, Donald Trump out there on the campaign trail, it was happy Donald. Listen to this.

TRUMP: Today, much to the consternation of many, the new CNN poll was just released, and Trump is winning. Trump is winning. This is a movement. It's a movement. We're tired of incompetent people running our country into the ground.

VAUSE: OK. So, yeah, he is right, he is up, but it's only one poll so far.

SESAY: It is still a dead heat.

VAUSE: It's a - it is a dead heat, but it's the best news he's had for a while. So, Dave, this is the question, is this basically a trend that Clinton should be worried about, or is this an outlier? Do you see any problems with the CNN/ORC poll, for instance?

[01:05:39] DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: All right. Look, polls are a snapshot in time, right? And this is a function of what we saw last week when the poll was in the field, we're talking about the Clinton Foundation, we're talking about the Clinton e-mails. Hillary was on defense, not on offense. We weren't talking about the khans or Judge Curiel or Trump University, and I think that's the challenge for the Clinton campaign. But yeah, do I think this is an outlier. I think - look, if you look at the NBC poll that came out on Sunday, she's up six points. RealClearPolitics, which consolidates all the polls, has her up on average by 3.3 percent. And so, I think this definitely stands out among those polls. But look, there is a narrowing of the race. And I think it reflects the polarized country that we live in. We knew that he was going to close the gap at some point. We didn't know when precisely following the conventions.

But I think this is a point where you're going to see some volatility before the debates. I think the debates are really the game-changing opportunity to alter the dynamics of the race.

SESAY: So, John, you must look at this, or maybe you don't. But you might look at this and think, "Well, this is what happens when Donald Trump stays on message, this is what he can do. If he stays on message and just sticks to the talking points."

[01:06:40] JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: And that's precisely it. Donald Trump has had a reboot of his campaign again. And he stuck to message and he's had a couple big moments. He took a bold trip to Mexico that largely went well. He gave a big immigration speech. He's stuck to message. Hillary Clinton has had a bad few weeks. But look, the week before that, the Fox News poll had Donald Trump down by one, kind of, within the margin of error, same story. We have to look at this with the trend lines. And let's not forget, the race began yesterday, really began yesterday. And we're starting at a jump ball. And this is what makes it so exciting. So, the question is what can Hillary do? She largely hasn't been running a campaign. She's been in the Witness Protection Program letting Trump dominate the cycle. And now that Trump's actually being smart as a candidate, she's got to switch up her strategy.

VAUSE: Let's look at some of the enthusiasm numbers there, because there is a gap for Clinton. She's well behind Trump supporters, who seem to be a lot more energized about actually heading out to vote for this election. Look at those numbers right there. And Dave, I'm wondering, is some of that lack of enthusiasm for the democrats, is that because, you know, as John says Clinton was basically in the Witness Protection Program for months, didn't really see her, didn't see the candidate out there on the stump holding rallies, holding campaign stops, people don't get excited, they don't get enthusiastic about voting.

JACOBSON: I think that's precisely right, John. And I think - and that's why we've seen a shift in the campaign strategy. She's now making herself more open and accessible to reporters and having a dialogue with them, answering questions, but also driving a narrative and driving a message, which she wasn't doing last week, right? She was insulated, she was in a bubble, she was letting her campaign surrogates, her campaign chairman John Podesta, her campaign manager Robbie Mook go out there, and be sort of the face of the campaign. That's not going to drive a news cycle like having Hillary Clinton out there, going on the attack, on the offense against Donald Trump.

THOMAS: Hillary Clinton's not an exciting candidate. Her own base didn't like her. They liked Bernie Sanders, he was the exciting candidate in their primary. In the Republican Primary, Donald Trump was the exciting candidate. Now, both of them have high negatives, but Donald Trump within his base, the republicans largely, he has a very excited base. Hillary Clinton, a lot of her supporters are just for her because it's not Donald Trump.

SESAY: It is (INAUDIBLE) base that Donald Trump has. He doesn't need to grow that base?

THOMAS: He does need to grow the base, but right now, he's got a good base to start with.

VAUSE: It's a bit like I hate my guy, but your guy is worse selection at the end.

THOMAS: Right. I mean, that's what this - that's what this election's coming down to.

JACOBSON: And I think the question is like has Donald Trump, like, hit his ceiling, right? Like, can he, like, tick up beyond, like the 20 percent that supports the actual Latino -

VAUSE: If it doesn't get over 40 percent of these polls. You know, the best you can say is he's tied or he's been down 10 points. Right?

JACOBSON: Right. And that's why - that's where it all comes down to demographics. I mean, the way you win the presidency is by building up a coalition of demographics of women, who make up the bulk of the electorate. 2012, it was 53 percent of the electorate, Latinos, other minority voters. Like, he's not, like, running up the score with those voters, right? He's like building up his base of white male voters. But, like, he's not breaking through to those other demographics, and that's the play.

SESAY: And John, as pleased as you may be about this CNN/ORC poll, you know that when you look at the Battleground State polls, it tells a different story.

THOMAS: That's true. But those polls tend to be state by state polls, tend to be lacking indicators to the national polls. So, I think the key will be is when we come back next week, take a look at those Battleground States and say, "Were they following the national polls or do they continue to be spread?"

SESAY: Uh-hmm.

THOMAS: But you're right. As of today, he still has a problem in the battlegrounds.

VAUSE: It's interesting. If you - if you look at the amount of money which the campaigns have been spending, especially on TV ad buys, Clinton is running a much more traditional campaign. She spent all August raising money. She's spending a lot of money. Look at that, more than $130 million so far throughout this campaign. Trump spending almost $30 million, and most of that coming pretty much in the last couple of weeks in a lot of the swing states. If you look at those numbers, you look at where we are with the polls right now, have they just wasted $130 million?

THOMAS: No.

VAUSE: No, yes? OK.

THOMAS: Well, no, they haven't. She had to do that. That's part of her strategy. She's not good at controlling the earned media. So she has to put a message out there that she can control, which is advertising. Donald Trump is better at controlling the cycle. So look, it's got him to this point. But largely, any advantage they had has now disappeared, and now that Donald Trump is rebutting those attacks, voters are still mixed. They really haven't gone either way. But it's amazing this cycle is how effective earned and free media has been over paid media.

JACOBSON: Well, the other issue when it comes to money, though, is like the ground operation, the boots on the ground. Like, Hillary Clinton's operation in just Ohio alone is like the equivalence of what Donald Trump has nationwide in terms of staff. And so, I think, like, that really is important as we shift to November. We're 60-plus days out to, like, turning out your base vote, turning out those persuadable voters. Being, you know, do - engaging that face-to-face, sort of, old-fashioned voter contact at the doors and on the phones. That stuff's really important. Hillary Clinton's dominating on that front.

SESAY: We shall see. We'll have your back.

VAUSE: It will be interesting when Trump actually does actually go out and start spending some real money on TV advertising to see where that takes him.

JACOBSON: Uh-hmm.

THOMAS: I think he will now that the race has tightened up.

VAUSE: Yeah.

THOMAS: He wasn't going to put good money after bad when he was 10 points down.

VAUSE: It is true. It is (INAUDIBLE)

SESAY: Yeah. Well, the debates are coming, and a lot will change -

THOMAS: That will be tremendous.

SESAY: -- around that event.

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: Gentlemen, always a pleasure.

JACOBSON: Thank you.

THOMAS: Thank you. Likewise.

SESAY: Thank you. All right. Time for a quick break. Singapore confirms more than a dozen new cases of Zika in the country. How officials are fighting the mosquito-borne disease.

VAUSE: Plus children fleeing bombs and bullets, violence and persecution. The United Nations shares its report on the world child refugees. The numbers are nothing short of staggering.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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DON RIDDELL, NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN WORLDSPORT headlines. It's an historic day at Flushing Meadows with three French players in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, one of whom met his match on court today. Gael Monfils beat Lucas Pouille in straight sets. It's been eight years since Monfils has made it this far in any major, and the first time he's made it into the last four in New York.

Football on the road to Russia, European qualifiers for the next World Cup are under way this week. Sweden and the Netherlands played to a draw on Tuesday while Albania nicks a last-minute goal to beat Macedonia 2-1. It's not going so well for the reigning European champions Portugal. They had a tough game away against Switzerland in Basel, and they had to manage without Cristiano Ronaldo. But it was the absence of an organized defense which was more costly. Portugal conceding twice in the space of six first half minutes. Breel Embolo and Admir Mehmedi with the goals. 2-0 the final score.

Cricket Australia posted a new best in a T20 International against Sri Lanka. The Aussies made 263-3. Scoring at an average of more than 30 runs per over, or more than 2 runs for every single ball. It was Sri Lanka's world record which had stood since 2007, which was beaten all around by Glenn Maxwell, blasting 145 not out of 65 balls. He had 9 sixes and 14 fours, as the Aussies won by 85 runs. And that is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

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[01:16:01] VAUSE: U.S. President Barack Obama has a busy day ahead of his historic visit to Laos.

[01:16:04] SESAY: He's heading to Luang Prabang for a town hall with young Southeast Asian leaders. Then he's off to the ASEAN summit. This all comes after a diplomatic dust-up with the Philippines' president over his war on drugs.

VAUSE: The White House canceled a bilateral meeting with Rodrigo Duterte after he appeared to insult President Obama. Appeared. But Mr. Duterte's office says the profanity he used was actually directed at a journalist, not the U.S. President. Andrew Stevens joins us now from Luang Prabang. So, Andrew, the U.S. and the Philippines at least now trying to sort of play down any harm, any long-term damage to the relationship between these two countries.

[01:16:44] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are, John. And the U.S. are very much focusing on the working relationship, if you like, between the two countries. And there has been a notice - a noticeable closing of the gap under the previous presidents of the Philippines. It definitely moving towards the U.S., particularly over the spat with China about South China Sea. And Duterte has certainly thrown a spanner in the works with his, "with his profanity." And there is a deal of skepticism I'd have to say, John, about the fact that he - they're now saying this was aimed at a journalist and not at the president, because if you look at the transcript and you listen to it, it did look pretty clear that it wasn't aimed at a journalist.

But as I say, the U.S. is focusing very much on the working operations of these two company - countries, and pointing out things like the - there's a much closer military ties now between the two countries. There's stronger economic ties. And the Philippines has actually been welcoming the U.S. in, and even Barack Obama at the height of the - of the tensions between the two when Mr. Duterte made this - made this attack, President Obama was focusing on the incredible warmth as he put it of the Filipino people towards him personally and towards the United States. So, I think that issue has moved on now.

The president as you say arriving here in Luang Prabang. He's going to be talking to about 400 or so younger Lao people. These are people from civil society. And this is really what we've seen of these presidential trips in recent years to Asia. Yes, there is the official duties, if you like, but President Obama does seem to be passionate about meeting the younger generation. ASEAN is a training block, more than half of the people who live here are under the age of 35. So, the president will be addressing people here. He will be talking about civil society. We don't exactly know what he will be addressing. A lot of questions will be coming, of course. And I suspect there will be reference by him to human rights. This is a country that has a very bad human rights record. It's constantly a bit of concerns about it or constantly being raised by amnesty, by human rights. The president himself in a meeting with the Lao president yesterday, talked about the need to instill universal values of human rights in this country. So, that may be a theme that he picks up on today, because he wants - or he believes that civil society really is a key to help unlocking democracy and bringing better human rights to a society, John.

VAUSE: Yeah. So - OK. Andrew, thank you very much. Andrew Stevens there live with the very latest on the president's historic visit to Laos. Thanks, Andrew.

Well, despite repeated condemnation, Syria is again accused of using chemicals in an attack on rebel-held Aleppo. And a warning here, what you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: The volunteers in Syria have released a disturbing footage of a suspected chemical attack on the city. Assad's regime planes dropped barrel bombs containing poison gas onto a rebel-held neighborhood. That's according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. This footage from the Syrian Civil Defense shows children being hosed down and given oxygen masks inside a makeshift hospital. The group says more than 80 people were suffering from breathing difficulties after the attack.

Now, the ongoing violence in Syria is one of the world's biggest catalysts for human displacement. UNICEF just released a new report looking at the growing crisis for refugee and migrant children. According to their findings, nearly 15 million children around the world have been uprooted from their homes.

VAUSE: 28 million have fled because of violence and conflict. Of those 10 million are refugees, almost all the others are displaced within their own countries. The number of child refugees jumped by about 75 percent between 2010 and last year.

SESAY: Joining me now is Justin Forsyth. He is the Deputy Executive Director for UNICEF. Mr. Forsyth, thanks so much for joining us. According to this report just released by UNICEF, nearly 50 million children had been uprooted worldwide. That is a staggering number. Help our viewers understand the challenges many of these children are facing day to day.

[01:21:04] JUSTIN FORSYTH, UNICEF DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Around 28 million of that 50 million have been uprooted and have fled conflict and violence. And we've seen, you know, in the last few years, so many of those children on CNN and on our television screens around the world who have been in boats, have been fleeing violence. It was only a year ago that Alan Kurdi, the little boy who was washed up on the beach in Turkey. And I think every child that has suffered, that has died is a reminder of this huge challenge that we face. 50 million globally children that either migrated or fled violence. And every one of them deserves our help.

SESAY: Yeah. As you mentioned, Alan Kurdi, whose little body in those distressing images washed up on that beach in Turkey, images that we will show our viewers once again, but want to remind them these are graphic images, and they are - they are difficult to see. We also saw those pictures recently of Umran from Syria and his bloodied and stunned face in that conflict. Again, just terrible pictures which shock the world, but yet there's this disconnect between the outrage for these individual kids and taking action for other children. Why is that?

FORSYTH: Well, I've got a little boy the same age as Alan Kurdi and a - and a little bit younger than the - than the boy we're just seeing in the ambulance. And I think every one of those pictures has shocked the world, and people have taken action, and there has been a humanitarian outpouring. And people have supported UNICEF and many other organizations. But it hasn't, as you say, been matched by political will. We still have millions of children on the move. We have millions of children at risk. I was just a few weeks ago on an Italian navy ship off the coast of Libya picking up refugees from the sea. Many of them on that route, 9/10 of the children are unaccompanied and alone. And they've been on terrible journeys. One young girl I met had fled from Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria. She'd been eight months on the road. She'd been caught by traffickers, and she'd been locked underground in a cell, in a prison in Libya, and raped almost every day for eight months. And now, she was being traded into prostitution in Italy.

So, all of these children, whether they're fleeing from Central America, gang violence, or from war in Africa or from Syria, threatened by traffickers and smugglers, and they desperately need our protection, as well as our help with getting an education and a future.

SESAY: And it's worth highlighting for our viewers that more and more children are crossing borders on their own. Why is this happening?

FORSYTH: Well, I think for a number of reasons. I mean, I think in some places like in Eritrea and in Northern Nigeria, the children are fleeing violence and conflict. Their parents are almost sending them ahead of them, because it's safer to flee than it is where they are. In Syria, most of the children are fleeing with their families. So, there are unaccompanied and alone children also fleeing from Turkey into Greece and other places. So, it's different with different situations. But often parents are judging that their children would be safer to move than to stay put. And that's a terrible decision. Can you imagine as a parent making that choice for your child to actually send them out into this very dangerous world rather than to stay at home because the violence is so appalling?

SESAY: Yeah. You talk to children on your travels. I know, you know, you're out in the field a great deal, meeting these children who are uprooted. What did they tell you about their experiences? What did they tell you they want most of all?

FORSYTH: Well, I met one young Eritrean boy, and I met a lot Eritrean boys who are fleeing the terrible situation there. And he had escaped from Eritrea into Sudan. And then being kidnapped by a gang, and then sold literally into child slavery for two years in the Sinai Desert. He then - his parents paid for him with the whole village to free him. And then, he got into Libya. And then he told how he was locked in a room with 120 other boys. And every day taken out and forced to work. But they used to beat them, they used to hang them up - actually, upside down, almost in a crucifix, and beat them every day to try and intimidate them to prevent them running away. He escaped, and then got on a boat that sank in the Mediterranean. And he and the girl that I mentioned a few minutes ago that fled from Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria, once they're safe, the first thing that they say they really want is an education. They're desperate -

SESAY: Yeah.

FORSYTH: -- to have an education, so that they can actually build their future. The young woman I met wanted to be a doctor, and this Eritrean boy wanted to be a teacher.

SESAY: Yeah. And that's the thing I always say to people, you know, children all over the world have the same hopes and dreams. What they lack in equal measure is opportunity. What are your expectations for the upcoming summits this month on migrants and refugees?

FORSYTH: Well, we shouldn't expect too much. I mean, these summits don't have a great track record of delivering. But what we're hoping for is that leaders will come together, they will make commitments to fund more of these refugees to provide education, to provide health. But in particular for children, we want them to commit, not to detain children. We know that they're abused when they're in detention, children, to keep families together, and in particular, to make sure even children on the move have access to learning and education. This is what children really want. Once we protect them, once we've met their basic needs, education, I think, is the most important thing we can provide to these child refugees and migrants.

SESAY: Uh-hmm. Yeah. I couldn't agree more. Justin Forsyth, thank you so much for joining us and just bringing home what these children are facing every single day. Thank you so much. Unbelievable.

VAUSE: Yeah. Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., 500 homicides and counting. Violence has surged in Chicago, making for one of the city's most deadliest years in decades. SESAY: Plus, Singapore is tackling the Zika virus indoors and out as the number of confirmed cases rises rapidly. The latest prevention efforts just ahead.

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[01:30:38] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. Here are the top stories this hour. The U.S. says its relationship with the Philippines remains rock solid. That's after the White House canceled a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte. He was upset that President Barack Obama planned to question him about the Philippines' war on drugs. But Mr. Duterte's office says the profanity he used was directed at a journalist, not Mr. Obama.

VAUSE: A new CNN/ORC poll shows a dead heat in the U.S. Presidential race. Donald Trump has a two-point lead over Hillary Clinton, 45 to 43, within the margin of error. Trump's campaign says he will call for a major investment in military spending in a speech on Wednesday.

SESAY: Singapore confirms 17 new cases of the Zika virus on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases there to 275. A recent study shows that 2.6 billion people across Asia and Africa could be at risk of contracting the mosquito-borne virus.

VAUSE: And CNN's Manisha Tank shows us what Singapore is doing to try and control the disease as well as protect residents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANISHA TANK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Hunting down the enemy. This is the front line in Singapore's battle against the Zika virus and the Aegis Egypti mosquito that carries it. This team takes the attack to this public housing development close to the latest cluster of Zika cases.

TANK (on camera): So here's another more conventional measure for inhibiting mosquitos. This gentleman is spraying oil into this drain. The idea is that it prevents the larvae from developing. Eighty percent of Singaporeans live in some form of high-rise living. And that is an oasis for the Aegis mosquito. So the battle is raging not just on the outdoors but indoors as well, and that presents a big challenge.

TANK (voiceover): Public outreach has been at the center of this campaign. Leaflets, posters, and volunteers have gone out in their hundreds to educate communities on the dangers. Leading the charge, Derek Ho (ph), who runs the National Environment Agency.

DAREK HO, PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR, SINGAPORE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY: In the past, we've always been banking on officers' inspections of the various premises. We have officers out there checking on a regular basis of those high-risk areas. So we're not just waiting for cases to happen. We're actually doing a pre-emptive approach.

TANK: Despite that, clusters of infection have cropped up like at this construction site. Workers here were struck by a local strain of Zika. Singapore's Ministry of Health says analysis of two cases found that they had likely evolved from a strain of Zika that was already circulating in Southeast Asia. So why wasn't it on the radar before?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zika is a virus. It belongs to the flavi virus family. In terms of genetically to the dengue to other virus family groups like the Japanese and (inaudible). So you can understand now that because they're also similar, so in other words, it's not so easy to differentiate them, one from the other.

TANK: Singapore's lush gardens against a backdrop of urban dynamism is a magnet for the Aegis mosquito. The country's experience with dengue fever is proving lessons in the march against Zika. With a well-equipped healthcare system and its manageable size, Singapore may be able to handle this outbreak well. But the same might not be said of its neighbors, which could be most at risk. Manisha Tank, CNN, Singapore.

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SESAY: Now, a bill to spend $1.1 billion to fight Zika virus in the U.S. has failed. Senate Democrats say they blocked the bill because it included a provision to prevent funding for the Planned Parenthood women's health centers. They say it also would have allowed confederate flags to fly at cemeteries for military veterans. Sixty votes were needed to move the bill forward. It got just 52.

VAUSE: Well, many who rallied around the satirical French magazine "Charlie Hebdo" are now outraged over its latest cartoon.

SESAY: It lampoons last month's deadly earthquake in Italy, comparing the victims to pasta. Ben Wedeman has more from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:34:44] BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The cartoon in the French satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo" shows two bruised and bloodied figures from the August 24 earthquake that left nearly 300 people dead, likening them to pasta dishes. And the third part of that cartoon is bodies crushed between the collapsed floors of a building titled, "lasagna". It's humor Italians find disgusting, in bad taste, and offensive. CNN contacted "Charlie Hebdo" but they said they do not respond to criticisms of individual cartoons. They did, however, add insult to insult by publishing another cartoon which was titled, "Hey, Italians, Charlie Hebdo didn't build your houses. The mafia did." Now, Italians are weary of such well-worn stereotypes about pizza, pasta, the mafia, and struck back angrily. Interior minister Angelina Alfano saying, "We wept for their dead. They laughed at ours. Using their sarcasm, I have a suggestion about where they should stick their pencil."

The French embassy in Rome, in damage control mode, quickly put out a statement saying that the cartoons of "Charlie Hebdo" do not reflect the position of France. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Freedom of speech, freedom to offend. Anyway. Next on NEWSROOM L.A., the sound of gunfire echoing across the windy city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This year, 2016, CPD has recovered one illegal handgun for every hour of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Big uptick in violence and hundreds of homicides make this year Chicago's deadliest in decades.

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SESAY: Hello, everyone. After years of accusations and denials, Bill Cosby will finally go on trial next year. On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania judge set the comedian's trial date for June 5.

VAUSE: Cosby is accused of three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault dating back to 2004. The 79-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

[01:40:07] SESAY: Now, it's been a dangerous in the city once known for speakeasies, illegal booze, and gangland violence. Over the long weekend, Chicago logs its 500th homicide for 2016.

VAUSE: The notorious milestone makes it the deadliest in the city in at least 20 years. CNN's Ryan Young went street level for a closer look.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I've been watching the numbers climb all year long. In fact, more than 90 people were killed just in the month of August. So a lot of people are paying attention not only to the gun laws but what's happening in the streets, and a lot of people are calling for action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is on the table right now in Chicago.

YOUNG (voiceover): On this night, we joined Chicago's top cop patrolling the streets of Chicago. Superintendent Eddie Johnson, in his new role for less than six months, was born and raised in the city and has patrolled the streets for more than 20 years.

EDDIE JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, we're at the spot where Nykea Aldridge was murdered.

YOUNG: Nykea Aldridge was a mother of four, and the cousin of NBA superstar Dwyane Wade. She was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, allegedly between two convicted felons, one wearing an ankle monitoring device. JOHNSON: They looked at each other and the shooters didn't like the

way he looked at them. So they took matters into their own hands. You know, grabbed a couple pistols and started firing. Unfortunately, she got hit.

YOUNG: So there was no prior altercation, no prior beef, no fight -- it was literally because of a look?

JOHNSON: Yes. And that just shows you how quickly things can jump off into violence.

Here in Chicago, most of the city is fairly safe from these types of incidents. This year, we have a list; 1,400 individuals are on that list. And they are the drivers of our gun violence. They are repeat gun offenders.

YOUNG: How can you police that? How can you police the idea that a look or a Facebook or Twitter message can turn into a gun battle?

JOHNSON: The simple, honest truth of that is you can't police something like that. You can't. There's just no way we can predict those types of incidents. People are mistakenly thinking this is a police issue. It's not. These are the social and economic ills of the country.

YOUNG: The violence in Chicago is peaking at levels not seen since the 90s. More than 90 people were murdered just in August, the highest total in 20 years. The windy city is on pace for more than 600 murders this year.

JOHNSON: It's ridiculous that CPD recovers more illegal handguns than New York City PD and LAPD combined. This year 2016, CPD has recovered one illegal handgun for every hour of the year.

YOUNG: All this during a time when trust between the neighborhoods and police continues to be described as extremely tense.

JOHNSON: It's a strained relationship, and it's a lot of work. But I believe -- you know, people around here have heard me say, the police department is only as strong as the belief that the community has in it. That's not lip service. I really believe that. We're arresting the right people. Holding them accountable is the issue.

YOUNG (on camera): And especially for your international audience, a lot of people travel to Chicago, you see the shot behind me. Chicago is a beautiful city, but people talk about a tale of two cities. One where there's a lot of prosperity, where people travel to. You can see the sites. But there's another side of the town, mostly on the south side, where people are facing some real poverty, where the average income is only $10,000 a year.

These are the areas where people will say they have been deinvested in, and they would like to see more money and more jobs plugged into those areas so kids can have a chance. More than 30 kids have been killed just this year. Innocent bystanders in the violence. People are hoping that something happens soon, maybe a plan that can help change the violence on the streets here in Chicago. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well thanks to Ryan Young for that.

VAUSE: OK. We'll move on to the weather now. Heavy flooding is forecast for Tucson, Arizona, as hurricane Newton churns its way from Mexico towards the United States.

SESAY: Lester was the last tropical system to impact this region of the country way back in 1992. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more. Pedram, how is it looking right now?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, right now it doesn't look too bad. But I think things are really going to go downhill quickly, at least have the potential to. And you just take a look at Tucson, Arizona. Desert environment. Last month brought in about 28 millimeters of rainfall. The next couple of days could almost double that. That would actually be about ten percent of its annual rainfall coming in over the next several days. So the flood potential extremely high across this region. And again, Isha, touching on the rarity of getting a tropical system to come across this region. In fact, only five storms have come in across Arizona and maintained tropical storm strength into the desert since 1929.

[01:44:49] We had of course Lester, as you heard, in 1992. The initial one in 1929. We had multiple storms. And really have to take an ideal track to come up the sea of Cortez or very close to it to impact this region as a tropical storm. And we do have not only tropical storm watches and warnings in place but also a hurricane warning near portions of Hermosillo, Guaymas as well. The storm system will make landfall somewhere around Guaymas and work its way into the desert and impact the areas just to the north over the next several hours. But we think by early in the afternoon hours of Wednesday, we can get tropical storm force winds and tropical storm conditions across parts of Nogales, Arizona, into Tucson, Arizona, and again, we have flood watches in place for almost 4 million people scattered across this region with the potential for heavy rainfall.

So here comes the storm system this afternoon. Notice the rainfall amount is going to be from moderate to severe at times across the area. Very quickly, this disturbance falls apart as it moves in onto the state of New Mexico. And then rainfall, again, the amounts would be extreme. We're talking upwards of a half a meter potential right across coastal portions of Mexico before it moves in to the Southwest.

Look at this. This is still what is left of Hermine. Still sitting there off the northeastern United States. It has lost almost all steering characteristics and locked in by an area of high pressure. So what is left of it will still produce some coastal rainfall across parts of the northeastern United States and just meander in this region for several days. Really unusual to see the storm as it has already traveled some 10,000 kilometers to get here and literally has pitched a tent and camping out off the eastern seaboard of the United States, but again, the vast majority of its impacts will remain offshore. We're watching another area of tropical activity, this being south of

Okinawa, Japan. High potential for this to form into what would now be our sixth tropical storm in five weeks. The last time we had such an active season for Japan was way back in 2004. This storm system could come in just south of Tokyo and it would be really a mess when it comes to the flood potential for later this week across Tokyo, guys.

SESAY: A lot to keep an eye on, Pedram. We appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

VAUSE: OK, thanks, Pedram.

SESAY: Quick break. Apple unveils its newest iPhone soon, and they could come without a very handy device.

VAUSE: That has many customers far from happy. Details next on NEWSROOM L.A.

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[01:50:53] VAUSE: Just hours from now, Apple will unveil its latest version of the iPhone.

SESAY: And we'll find out if Apple will get rid of the headphone jack in favor of wireless headphones. A rumor which has upset a lot of people.

VAUSE: Yes, they're very upset. For more on the news on the iPhone, CNN Money's tech reporter, Heather Kelly, joins us now. It seems, Heather, the most biggest and exciting thing we can expect out of this is whether or not they've got the headphone jack. That's kind of creating, that really annoying buzz.

HEATHER KELLY, CNN MONEY TECH REPORTER: Yes. The buzz around this phone is not really as exciting as usual. It's already a bit of outrage over the idea of getting rid of a port that's been on there forever, making people's headphones obsolete, making them buy new headphones if they get this iPhone. The other upgrades really aren't that major. They're expecting some camera improvements, some speed improvements, but nothing really earth shattering this round.

VAUSE: Yes, it's all about -- aww, where's the mojo gone? Where's all the excitement that we used to have with Apple where we all waited with anticipation to find out what it is they'd tell us that we needed that we never knew that we wanted?

KELLY: One problem is that the rumor machine has gotten very good at its job. There really aren't many surprises before Apple events these days at all. We pretty much know what's going to happen tomorrow. Another is that the iPhone is turning ten years old next year, and it sounds like Apple might be saving up some of its bigger upgrades for a whole new iPhone next year, maybe even skip ahead and call it the iPhone 8, redesign it completely, and that's expected to be the more exciting release, if we can wait that long. VAUSE: But again, it's still an iPhone. This is a company which is

spending, what, reportedly $10 billion a year on research, and still, it just continues to modify the products that are sort of already out there without coming up with anything new, which is leading to the question, what does Apple have to do to sort of get its mojo back?

KELLY: I mean, people are always looking to Apple for something really innovative. They've been doing it for the past five years, ever since Tim Cook kind of took over as CEO. I mean, Cook has done a great job. Apple stayed the most profitable company in the world. It's been very consistent with iPhone sales up until the last two quarters when it dropped for the first time ever. People are looking for innovation. The Apple watch was its first big stab at something radically new, and it hasn't really taken off yet. We're expecting a new model tomorrow. That sounds kind of like a mild upgrade as well. I mean, hopefully they have something in store for the next five years of Tim Cook's time there. There are rumors about cars. Hopefully there's something so secretive that none of us know about it.

VAUSE: Well, that's what we're waiting for, and I want it tomorrow. But one of the problems that I've read for Apple right now is that it's just -- it's not a fun place to work. Which means that the best and the brightest with the engineers and the developers and the designers just aren't going there to work and so they're not getting the best talent. Is that -- that's at least what I've been reading. Is that true?

KELLY: I don't know. Of all the companies, Apple has a pretty solid reputation as being a decent place to work. It may not be as exciting as some of the younger companies. Compared to something like Facebook, it might not have all the perks to it to attract the talented millennials. But they're building a giant new campus that looks like a spaceship. They have a pretty good work atmosphere there. There might be some frustration over not being able to innovate as openly as they do at a place like Google or Facebook where they can work on artificial intelligence openly, publish papers. So the culture of secrecy might make it a slightly less desirable place to work.

VAUSE: Tim Cook, you have to impress me. Anyway, we'll see. Heather, thanks for being with us. Heather Kelly, CNN Money. Appreciate it. Thanks, Heather.

KELLY: Good night.

[01:55:05] SESAY: All right.

VAUSE: I know.

SESAY: Trying to impress you.

VAUSE: I know. It's all good.

SESAY: Finally this hour, pop princess Taylor Swift had one of her biggest hits eight years ago with the song "Love Story". But sadly, it seems none of her own love stories can match the longevity of her career.

VAUSE: After just three months together, Swift has reportedly broken up with Tom Hiddleston, the British actor who is the star of the "Thor" movies. Naturally the Twittersphere is in meltdown.

SESAY: Yes, it is. A "Daily Beast" news editor tweeted out a mock press release from the Taylor Swift Boyfriend Factory, claiming that the singer had relieved Hiddleston of his duties.

VAUSE: There's also apparently some photographic evidence of the pair's fading love.

SESAY: And in reference to Swift's famously autobiographical lyrics, another user said, "hey, don't worry, Tom, in a few months or so, she should have a whole album to remember Taylor by".

VAUSE: As Taylor shakes another boyfriend off, we can only say Swift by name, swift by nature. Oh, bye-bye. It was never going to last.

SESAY: But we hoped.

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

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. We'll be back with another hour of news right after this.

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