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Clinton and Trump in Statistical Tie; President Obama Says U.S. Has Moral Obligation to Help Victims of Secret War in Laos; Refugee Crisis Ahs Devastating Impact on Children; Brazil President Rousseff Ousted; Obama Speaks at Town Hall in Laos. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 07, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00 15] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are in a statistical tie. We'll look why she's loosing support and he is gaining it.
VAUSE: Plus, during a historic trip, President Obama says the U.S. has a moral obligation to help victims of the secret war in Laos.
SESAY: And migrants and refugee crisis is having a devastating impact on children. Some 50 million children have either fled or been forced from their homes.
VAUSE: All right. Great to have you with us, I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
U.S. presidential candidates are focusing on national security as the race for the White House tightens up. The latest CNN/ORC poll of likely voters has Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton by two points, 45 percent to 43, that is within the margin of error.
VAUSE: Trump's campaign says he will call Wednesday for an end to the sequester on defense spending and propose a major investment in the U.S. military. That's similar to what Clinton outlined just last week.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot impose arbitrary limits on something as important as our military. That makes no sense at all. The sequester makes our country less secure. Let's end it and get a budget deal that supports America's military, our families and our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: While Clinton and Trump are raising new questions about each other's ability to become commander-in-chief, CNN Politics Reporter, Sarah Murray has that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 dog fight.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs.
CLINTON: 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 credentials.
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 and not cozy up to them.
MURRAY: That are 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 that we actually get 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.
BRIG. GEN. REMO BUTLER (RET.), TRUMP SUPPORTER: 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 American 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 in 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 communication devices or wiping her e-mail and called it shady activity.
Sara Murray, CNN, Greenville, North Carolina.
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VAUSE: Well, Donald Trump may have a slight edge in the latest national poll but those numbers don't tell the whole story.
SESAY: CNN Chief U.S. Correspondent John King spoke with Anderson Cooper about that.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Let's look first in our likely voters. Our likely voters has Trump ahead 45-43, that's a statistical tie but it's the first poll in a very long time national poll to show Trump ahead.
Now, I will tell you this, Donald Trump bragged about this today. His campaign is trying to raise money up and saying, see, we're in the lead, sending money. His own pollsters are telling Mr. Trump that their numbers, Anderson, shows Secretary Clinton still has a small national lead. The Clinton campaign says the same thing.
So let's watch in the days ahead. We'll see if this is an outlier up in sometimes or whether there's a shift for Trump among likely voters. They put Trump ahead, but there's no doubt that the race is tightening in part because Secretary Clinton, Anderson, has lost her post convention glow.
[02:05:03] After the Democratic convention, this is registered voters. She had an eight-point lead. Now, she has a three-point lead among registered voters. So, there's a debate going on about our likely voter screen, the sample and like but there's no question if you look deep into the data. This race is tightening and maybe Trump is on top a little bit and Clinton is on top a little, it was close.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN COOPER: What's behind the drop for her?
KING: There's no question. Again, when you look at this, number one, on the big issues. Coming out of the Democratic convention, Secretary Clinton, just look at this one issue in the economy. You see this another big issues as well.
She pulled in essentially a tie with Donald Trump, a little bit ahead of him on who would best handle the economy after trailing him for months on this big defining question in any presidential race. Now, among registered voters she's well behind Mr. Trump again. Maybe in part because he's been advertising on this issue in the past few weeks after not advertising much for a long time. That's one of the questions.
What were we talking about last week quit a bit? The Clinton Foundation, e-mail questions. Which candidate is more honest and trustworthy? After the convention, she still thrilled Trump here after vote conventions by eight points to 15-point gap now. There's no question, his honest and trustworthy. This personal character questions still a problem. COOPER: And one of the post-convention headlines was that Clinton was leading among independents, where (inaudible) group Romney won on Election Day. Has she kept that edge?
KING: She has not. And again, we talk about that right after the convention saying that she was going to lead among independent on Election Day, she would win. Because as you noted, Romney won that group by five points.
Now, among likely voters, this is the part of her poll that is controversial in some quarters. Trump has a 20-point lead now among independents. If you look just at registered voters, it's an eight- point lead. But that's still a big change.
If you just focus on the registered voters' part of this, again, we'll see if other polls back is up on the likely voter thing, but it just focus on the registered voters, post convention. Clinton pulled and essentially a tie, 35-33 a little bit ahead. Now, she's eight points down.
We know that independents don't love either of these candidates but they've been swinging back and forth and at the moment they're turning back to Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Outlier or not. The apparent shift in the poll has Hillary Clinton changing her strategy.
VAUASE: We spoke earlier with Democratic Strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican Consultant, John Thomas.
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DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Clearly, there's been a pivot, right? Because now she's making herself more open and accessible to reporters because she knows that she can -- she has to derive a message and if she sort of siloed off and allowing her surrogates to be the face of the campaign, she's not going to drive the news cycle like Donald Trump or she would. And so, I think there's been a clear shift in strategy and I think she fundamentally understands that she has to be the voice and the face of this campaign if she wants to create news and buzz.
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I think it's real simple. When you're ahead and quick talking, she went into the witness protection program to let Trump dominate the cycle and make mistakes. Now, Trump is not making mistakes but she starting to fade in the polls and she also is bad off script. So, what did she do? It was smart. She bought air time on ads. But that's not working so she has to switch it up.
VAUSE: It makes air of that, so let's get to that right now, because up until a few days ago, Hillary Clinton had spent almost $133 million on advertising, Trump, who only just recently said hey, she buying air time, almost $30 million. So, for the Clinton campaign she spend so much on advertising and to have this result in the polls to have this virtually dead heat, John, if you're looking at this, would you say something is going wrong within the Clinton campaign?
THOMAS: Well, yes. The -- it just shows you that there's so much earned media coverage about this election cycle, that advertising works. Dave and I both know it. But it can be undermined that quickly if a week long media cycle is a counter message to what the advertising is.
And so, Hillary is smart to be spending but she's going to need more than that. She's going to need a great debate performance. She's going to need for quick -- frankly, for Wikileaks not to have a bomb shell.
SESAY: Can she win the battle to gain control of the narrative? You know, if Trump isn't putting his foot in his mouth, and he is saying on message, can Hillary win? Because he's a master at that.
JACOBSON: Right. Well, I think that's the objective. She needs to get him off message. She needs -- and the thing is like you could spark his interest or something like that through like a simple tweet, right? And so, I think her objective here needs to go in, get him off message and make him sort of not discipline and get him to pivot onto some other issue, whether it's the Khan's or Judge Curiel. Assume these other outrages issues that he is really focussed on throughout his campaign.
VAUSE: But did you do listen to Trump today with General Flynn? I think he was -- he was very measured and his tune was calm, you know, he said he wasn't, you know, the irrational, bad tempered, you know, crazy guy the Clinton campaign is making him out to be. But what's interesting is, today we had this open letter from almost 90 military general, military leaders endorsing Trump on this on national security. This comes, you know, after 50 Republicans from the national security realms said they would never vote for Trump.
Clinton has her own generals as well backing her. And this saying gets to the question of the politicalization of the military. Is there a point now where -- for the good of military, and for the line between the military and politics, that this is going to stop?
THOMAS: I don't think you're going to see it stop because so much is at stake.
[02:10:00] You know, these leaders who endorsed Donald Trump were obviously very passionate about not just Donald Trump but the direction of the country especially from a national security standpoint. So, you're not going to stop these guys from doing this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Republican Consultant John Thomas and Democratic Strategist Dave Jacobson there.
VAUSE: OK. And just over an hour from now, the U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with young Southeast Asian leaders in Laos. He is in Luang Prabang. Before we head to the Asian Summit and that is a live picture of the room where Mr. Obama will hold that town hall. He's held similar town halls in Vietnam as well as Malaysia. SESAY: He'd the first U.S. President who visited Laos. He's pledged $90 million to help clear out millions of unexploded bombs, the U.S. dropped during the Vietnam War. It will send to help people who has survived the explosions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: As President of the United States, I believe that we have a profound moral and humanitarian obligation to support this war. We're nation that was founded on the belief and the dignity of every human being. Sometimes we've struggled to stay true to that belief but that is precisely why we always have to work to address those difficult moments in history and to forge friendships with people who we once called enemies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Andrew Stevens joins us now from Luang Prabang. So, Andrew, for the President talking about a moral obligation to help the victims of what was once a secret war that the United States conducted there in Laos, but no official apology from the United States. How is this all being seen?
ANDREW STEVENS, ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, no official apology. But he was very detailed in his description of what the U.S. did between the years of 1964 and 1973 and he laid it out, 2 million tons of bombs dropped on this country during the secret war. 270 million of these so-called cluster munitions would drop on this country. 80 million haven't exploded, are still lying on the ground here.
And what damage that's doing not just to lives, John, but to livelihood as well. The economic development of this country has been slowed significantly because of the ammunitions just lying around pretty much around the country. So, he was very clear on what the U.S. did here. And also clear on its responsibility. As he said its moral obligation to clear -- at least to help clear Laos, and that's being heard very loud and clear here in this country.
$90 million over three years compared with 100 million over the past 20 years. So, it is a significant increase and it is being well received here, John.
VAUSE: We're also waiting for that town hall which the President will hold within the hour or so. Any questions off limits? Will it be censored at all by the government there? Do we expect President Obama to talk about human rights in Laos, for example?
STEVENS: We suspect human rights will be mentioned, universal human rights, which the President mentions when he visits countries like this. This is a one-party authoritarian state. And universal human rights is always featured in talks between Mr. Obama and the leader of a state like this.
So, we're not being told that anything is off the record. This is something the President really enjoys doing, John. We've seen it several times now and most recently in Vietnam where it was a fairly open forum there among young people. Now, these are age between 18 and 35 years old. There are members of civil society here who have been invited to attend.
Now, civil society is a key that the U.S. administration think the development of civil society helps the development of democracy and open and freer societies. So, just the presence of that type of person here suggests that there will be questions on human rights which the President will answer.
You know, this is all part of a broader move, really, to reengage with Laos. As we heard, their former enemies becoming friends. It's all tied in with the pivot to Asia. So, he's not going to be completely critical of what the government is doing here. He says, if you look at he relations between the U.S. and Laos, how their life need develop, look what's happened between the U.S. and Vietnam. So, that seems to be the blueprint and U.S. Vietnam certainly moving close together. Vietnamese obviously still a one party state as well.
VAUSE: All of this happening of course in the shadow of China, and pivot to Asia, all that in the region too. Andrew, thank you Asian Pacific there. Andrew Stevens there live keeping on events there in Laos.
SESAY: Up next, children on the run from bombs and bullets, violence and persecution. The United Nation shares its reports on the world's child refugees and the numbers are staggering.
[02:15:00] VAUSE: And he was called a hate preacher in Britain that he always manage to avoid jail time. What's ahead for Anjem Choudary.
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(WORLD SPORTS)
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SESAY: Now to a story that we warn you contains disturbing images. Syria is being accused of using chemical that Aleppo despite being condemned repeatedly for similar previous attack.
VAUSE: Volunteers in Syria released this footage of a suspected chemical attack on the city. The Syria observed faith in human rights say Assad regimes plane got barrel bombs containing poison gas onto rebel held neighborhood. These images from the Syrian civil defense show children being hose down and given oxygen masks inside of makeshift hospital.
SESAY: The globe says more than 80 people suffered from breathing difficulties after the attack.
VAUSE: UNICEF has just release a new report looking at the growing crisis for refugee and migrant children. According to his findings, nearly 50 million children around the world are being uprooted from their homes.
SESAY: 28 million of them 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 roughly 75 percent between 2010 and 2015.
[02:20:07] Joining me is the 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 have been uprooted world wide. That is a staggering number. Help our viewers understand the challenges many of these children are facing day to day.
JUSTIN FORSYTH, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNICEF: Well, 28 million of that 50 million have been uprooted and fled conflict and violence. And we've seen, you know, in the last few years so many of those children on CNN and our television screens around the world who been in boats, have been fleeing violence for Sunni year ago that Alan Kurdi, the little boy was washed up on the beach in Turkey.
And I think every child that's surfed, 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 mention, Allan 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 that these are graphic images and they are difficult to see. We also saw this picture recently of Omran from Syria and his bloodied 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 little bit younger than the boy we're just seeing in the ambulance. And I think every one of those pictures has shock the world. And have taken action and there has been humanitarian out pouring and people have supported UNICEF and many other organizations, but it's hasn't as you say being matched by political will. We still have millions of children on the move. We have millions children at risk.
I was, 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 nine out of ten 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's been eight months on the road. She's been caught by traffickers and she'd be locked underground in a cell, in a prison in Libya and raped almost every day for eight months. And now she was being traded in prostitution in Italy.
So all of these Children whether they're fleeing from Central America, gang violence or for war in Africa or from Syria are threatened by traffickers and smugglers and they desperately need our protection as well as our help with getting an education and our a future.
SESAY: And its 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 think in some places like in Eritrea and in Northern Nigeria. The children are fleeing violence and conflict, their parents almost sending them ahead of them because it's safer to flee than it is where they are. In Syria most of children are fleeing with their families. So there are unaccompanied and alone children. They're also fleeing from Turkey into Greece and other places, so it different with different situation. 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 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 do 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 a lot of Eritrean boys who are fleeing with terrible situation, then he had escaped from Eritrea to Sudan and then being kidnapped by a gang and then sold literally into child slavery for two years in the Sinai desert. His parents paid for him with the whole village to free him and then he got to Libya and he told how he was locked in a room with 120 other boys. And every day taking out and force to work where they beat them and they use them hang them up actually upside down almost on the crucifix and beat them every day to try and intimidate them, to prevent them running away.
He escape and then go on a boat that sunk in the Mediterranean and he and the girl that I mentioned a few minutes ago that fled from Boko Haram and Northern Nigeria once they're safe, the first thing that they say they really want is an education. They're desperate to have an education so they can actually build their future. The young girl woman I met wanted to be a doctor and this Eritrean boy wanted to be a teacher.
[02:25:05] 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 is equal measures, opportunity.
What are you expectation for the up coming summits this month on migration 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 help. But in particular for children we want them to commit not to detain children. We know 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: 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. It is really difficult to contemplate all they go through.
Now Paris is planned to open its first refugee camp next month. The city's major says it design to replace the makeshift camp popping up on the streets. It will house about 400 men. Paris is putting the emergency center in a former railway depot. The mayor says that refugees can live there for up to 10 days so that they can get their parents and decide if they want asylum. They also planned to a second site in an old water sewage plant Southwest of Paris.
Coming up next for our viewers in the Asia CNN's "State of the Race with Kate Bouldin." The next on NEWSROOM L.A. 500 homicide in 2016 is far from over, violence surges in Chicago making it already one of the city's deadliest years on the record.
Plus, Fox News apologizes and pays big after former anchor sues for sexual harassment and there's even more drama at the network coming up.
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[02:30:00] VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headline this hour, U.S. President Barack Obama says the U.S. has moral obligation to help clear unexploded bombs in Laos. They're left over from years of U.S. bombing decades ago. President Obama says, they had killed or ended many civilians and prevented economic development.
VAUSE: Italy's coast guard is bringing at least 400 migrants ashore in Sicily at this hour. Also and all the bodies of six people found dead after they fell out of the leaking rubber boat. The coast guard rescued more than 2700 migrants off the Libyan coast on Monday.
SESAY: Hurricane Newton has back at the luxury resort area of Los Cabos, in Northwestern Mexico. The storm made landfall Tuesday as a category one hurricane. Newton is now moving towards the U.S. and could bring significant flooding to parts in Arizona.
VAUSE: Decades of skirting British law are over for a radical Islamist preacher.
SESAY: Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for encouraging support of ISIS, Phil Black has the details.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dishonest, calculating, dangerous, this were some of the words the judge used to describe Anjem Choudary as he explained why he believed Choudary needed a significant prison sentence after being convicted of the encouraging people to support a prescribed organization, specifically ISIS. It related to videos that Choudary had uploaded back in 2014 and 2015. There were speeches, sermons in which he supported ISIS, pledged allegiance to them, encouraged others to follow in his footsteps as well. It was evidence that really swung along standing police investigation into Choudary.
For a long time they had been concerned with the way they say, he walked a very fine legal line. Publicly supporting radical Islam, arguing its benefits even justifying specific terrorist acts but never encouraging people to behave violently or take part in terrorism. For that reason, Britain's counter terrorism police say, they are satisfied with the sentence Choudary received.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN HAYDON, MET POLICE COMMANDER: These are individuals, they are significants extremists in my mind. Had significant influence over a number of people across the U.K. and their sentence today is extremely welcomed. And of course, now what we have to do is work with communities to make sure that people don't step into their shoes and back through their positions.
So, we have to work with communities to make sure that we safeguard individuals, prevent individuals from traveling, actually count their known extreme speeches -- speech -- speakers and when necessary, people do cross the line, and start committing, you know, the criminal with terrorist offenses. We will bring them to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Choudary's lawyer had argued for a more lenient sentence saying that his client, Anjem Choudary regretted straying across that side of the law after decades of being so careful to avoid prosecution. But the judge didn't accept that. He said that Choudary knew exactly what he was doing. He had no one else to blame but himself and he believed he would continue to espouse radical views no matter where he was.
Now, the authorities here haven't confirmed where or under what conditions Choudary will serve his prison sentence. But the government here have a concern for the flourishing of extremism behind bars. Recently, announced new steps including known extremists being held separately to general population in British prisons. Phil Black, CNN, London.
SESAY: Well, it's been a dangerous time in Chicago. So, many killings, some call it a war zone. Over the long weekends just passed, the American metropolis logged its 500th homicide this year.
VAUSE: The tragic milestone makes that the deadliest in the city in at least two decades. CNN's Ryan Young hit the streets for a closer look.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, 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 the gun laws or what's happening in the streets and a lot of people are calling for action.
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EDDIE JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Everything is on the table right now in Chicago.
YOUNG: On this night we joined Chicago's top cop controlling the streets of Chicago.
JOHNSON: Because I was a black. Now we go back and look at detail.
[CROSSTALK]
YOUNG: 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.
JOHNSON: 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 Dwayne Wade. She was an innocent bystander caught in 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 him.
[02:35:03] So they took matters in their own hands, you know, grab a couple of pistols and started firing. And 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 how 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, 1400 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 tweeter message can turn into a gun battle?
JOHNSON: The simple honest truth to 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 the police issue, it's not. You know, these are the social and economic ills of the country.
YOUNG: The violent in Chicago was peaking and levels not seeing 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 P.D. and LAPD combined. This year in 2016, CPD has recovered one illegal handgun for every hour of the year.
YOUNG: All this during a time when trust between 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 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: And especially for your international audience, a lot of people travel to Chicago, you see the shot behind me. Chicago is a beautiful city where people talk about a tale of two cities. One where there's a lot of prosperity where people travel to. You can see the site but there's another side of 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 they have been -- they invested and they would like to see more money and more jobs plugged in 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 happen soon, maybe a plan that can help change the violence on the streets here in Chicago. Back to you.
SESAY: Thanks Ryan Young.
VAUSE: Yes. The violence in Chicago is an issue which does seem to be an outline right now in United States.
SESAY: Yeah.
VAUSE: When you look the violence statistics are decreasing everywhere except Chicago as many cities.
SESAY: I think, you know, back in the 1990s, New York was as violent as Chicago, but the violence is going down.
VAUSE: Oh she's right.
SESAY: But Chicago is going up.
VAUSE: OK. Moving on here, this construction of a controversial oil pipeline in the Northern United States is on hold for now.
SESAY: Protesters vandalized and chained themselves to equipment Tuesday to delay the project in North Dakota. And this kind of project isn't cheap. The Dakota access pipeline could cost almost $4 billion. The demonstrators want to make it even more costly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are costing money and they have to replenish them. This money they're being, you know, their investors are worried. We know that. We've been you know, informed to that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we're making a statement that our ancestors got, from that we shall remain that to us to do the same for our future generations. And we're going to protect our water and we're going to protect the native women and this man camps and the drugs and the sex trafficking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Green party presidential candidate, Jill Stein was at the protest. She could face trespassing charges for allegedly spray painting a bulldozer. Stein has not been arrested.
SESAY: If completed that that almost 2000 kilometer pipeline would carry 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to Illinois.
VAUSE: We shall break here. When we come back, top news anchor, Greta Van Susteren is out at Fox News, but that might not be end of the story. Why she was taken off air and why her husband is hinting there could be more legal drama ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Hello everyone. Dilma Rousseff as official need no longer Brazil's president. She left the presidential palace for the last time on Tuesday.
VAUSE: About 100 supporters escorted her from the palace. Her departure symbolically about the end of 13 years of the worker's party there (ph). Law makers vote last week to remove Rouseff from office. Well, there are big ceremony for the Paralympic games is in Rio De Janeiro later Wednesday. Organizers are hoping for a last minute surge in tickets sales.
SESAY: And then so far, they beat the number of ticket sold in Beijing. But the games financial problems are still an issue. Shasta Darlington explains.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Olympic flame is now here in Rio de Janeiro with all the excitement and the journalists to go with it. It had travels around the country five other cities. It was lit right here at the museum of tomorrow by Breno Viola, a judo fighter who also has Down syndrome who said he's excited to see his city get that olympic energy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENO VIOLA, BRAZIL JUDO FIGHTER: As I show my team.
This flame here inspires people to feel the Olympic spirit. The Olympic and paralympic spirit to have this flame here in front of me in my arm Rio de Janeiro.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: On Wednesday the opening ceremony will kick off the games for 4300 athletes from 161 countries. Noticeably absent is Russia. Their entire Paralympic team banned, thanks to the state-sponsored doping scandal. But that's not the only shadow overhanging these games. They've also been financial problems, forcing organizers to scale back affecting everything from seating, staffing and venues. The president of the Paralympic committee says, "He never wants to go through that again."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIP CRAVEN, INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE: Let us know if there's a problem, you know. And then we can start working things out months before or even maybe even a year before or even maybe even a year before it work or even more. Don't leave it to the last - as I said last 30 seconds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: In the end local and federal governments had to come in with a bailout package. They blamed that the financial problems on ticket sale at the end of the Olympic Games only 13 percent of tickets for the Paralympic games had been sold. Now, as they're just about to take off however 60 percent have been sold.
[02:45:03] That's more than we saw in Beijing and organizers say, enthusiasm is growing as the torch travels around the city. We prepare for the opening ceremony and of course for the games themselves. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio De Janeiro.
VAUSE: It's been a tumultuous 24 hours for Fox News and the legal battles may not be over yet. The network has reached the financial settlement with a number of female employees who accused Former CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. And that includes a $20 million payout of former anchor Gretchen Carlson.
She also received a stunning public apology from the paramount company, 21st century fox. It read in part "We are proud that she was part of the Fox News team. We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all our colleagues deserve." And with the environment of that word came that anchor Greta Van Susteren would be leaving the network effective immediately.
But her husband who was also a high profile lawyer told CNN, "There is the possibility of litigation in the future." But more, this, our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joins us now from New York. So Brian first, to that apology for Carlson, that seems almost seems almost unprecedented. So, what does that say about the case?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think it can have report. That's actually across corporate America. Normally these kinds of sexual harassment allegations are he said, she said battles. Normally the men are more powerful, they make these sorts of lawsuits or claims go away. But in this case the stories had a very different ending.
Within two weeks of Carlson filing her lawsuit, Roger Ailes have resigned and now, she's receiving this $20 million payout which signaled I think to everybody that the Murdochs found a lot of evidence that there was harassing behavior going on inside the elder's office of Fox News.
They heard from more than 20 women who came forward speaking to a law firm, there was hired to investigate this. Most of those remained anonymous but we know about Carlson's lawsuit. We know that several other women have now also reached smaller settlements with Fox News based on their allegations of harassing behavior by Ailes.
The former executive appears to deny the allegations he has expressed that the whole way through. But it was seems to me, the Murdochs were convinced that there was wrong doing and that's why they apologized.
VAUSE: And paid out $20 million to Carlson. A lot of money but Roger Ailes is rumored to have walked away twice that amount as part of the severance deal.
STELTER: Right.
VAUSE: Any blow back, any reaction to that?
STELTER: There has been a lot of reaction to that. In fact, you know, he was paid at least $40 million, maybe a bit more than that when he agreed to step down in last July. Now, this was because that's how much his contract was worth.
He still had $40 plus million that Fox was supposed to pay him for the remainder of his contract. But he wasn't fire for cause and lot of advocates in this world, people who believe that powerful men are left off too easily when there are allegations of harassment. Would say it was wrong for him to be paid $40 plus million while Carlson's receive were about $20 million here.
VAUSE: At the same time, all of this is happening Greta Van Susteren, former CNN anchor, a big supporter of Roger Ailes, she's out and her husband who's a lawyer like Greta. He is hinting to you to that this might not be over. There could be more legal action on the way.
STELTER: That's right and this is another aftershock from the Ailes' scandal. We're really talking about the biggest media world scandal. I would say, above the current decade. Roger Ailes was in some ways the most powerful man in media. The staff at Fox News was famously loyal to him, including on-air hosts like Greta Van Susteren.
Now, as a result of Ailes leaving, Greta is exercising that clause in her contract that allows her to leave. It's called "A key man clause" which allows her to walk out the door because the key man, Ailes walked out the door as well. So, that is the latest example of the continuing consequences of Ailes departing.
VAUSE: Another consequence of Ailes departing, now appears that he's working for the Trump campaign even though they're denying it?
STELTER: That is right. So, there's a needle being threaded here. Essentially Ailes is giving Trump advice, suggestions, guidance as Trump prepares for the first important debate on September 26th. Ailes and Trump's speak regularly on the phone. Ailes is also been out to Trump's golf course in New Jersey but the campaign says he is not a formal advisor. He's not wheels (ph). He's not working for the campaign. So, that's why I think they're threading the needle. And technically, Ailes is -- isn't being paid by Trump. He's not working with the campaign but he is in Trump's corner giving Trump advice. And that's going to be an awkward situation for the journalist of Fox.
VAUSE: To say the list. Brian as always, good to speak with you, thank you.
STELTER: Thanks:
SESAY: Well, so time for quick break but before we go, I want to show you these live pictures from Laos ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama.
SESAY: ... from loan to band (ph) with president Obama is about to address some young people. It's a Town Hall style event.
[02:50:02] You see the president there about to take the podium to speak to the assembled crowd. And wish, you're going to stay with us and hear what the president have to say.
VAUSE: It's all these Town Hall, the full of places in Vietnam and Malaysia as well. He likes this format.
OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Sawadee (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sawadee (ph).
VAUSE: So Let's listen to the president.
OBAMA: Well, it is such a pleasure to be here. Can everybody please give Em a big round of applause for that great introduction?
So, it is wonderful to be in Luang Prabang. I've always wanted to visit. It is said that this is where the Buddha smiled when he rested during his travels. And I can see why because it is beautiful and relaxed. I've just come from seeing, you know, Wat Xieng Thong, did I say that right? Sort of? And it was beautiful. And the entire area is spectacular.
I want to thank everyone at Luang Prabang for hosting me here today and I want to thank the people of Laos. I've been deeply touched by the hospitality that you've shown me. This is my 11th visit to Asia as the President of the United States but it is first visit to Laos.
And in fact, I'm the first United State President ever to come here and with the kindness that you've shown me, I'm sure I will not be the last. Other presidents will want to come as well and I promise you I will come back when I'm no longer president.
And the good thing about when I come back and I'm not president, I won't have so much security. And I can sit and relax and have some food and I won't be so busy. Now whenever I travel around the world I spend a lot of time doing business with world leaders and I meet with the presidents of big companies, but I try to balance spending time with young people like you. And I gave a long speech yesterday, so I'm not going to do a long speech today. I want to have a conversation with you. I want to hear what you have to say.
But I'm just going to make a few remarks. I think you know that this part of the world means a lot to me because I lived in Indonesia as a boy and my sister is half Indonesian. She was born there. She married a man whose parents were from Malaysia. My mother worked in Southeast Asia for most of her life working with women in villages to try to help them get more money through selling handicrafts and developing small businesses.
So, as I drive around here, it's very familiar to me, it reminds me of my child hood and my commitment to deepening America's ties to Southeast Asia is very real. That's why I'm the first U.S. President who's regularly met with Asian leaders. It's why we're working together to promote peace, protect human rights and encourage sustainable development, advance equality for women and girls and to meet challenges like climate change and other environmental issues.
While Presidents and Prime Ministers can help lay the foundations, it's going to be young people like you who build the future of this region and the world. Here in Southeast Asia almost 2/3 of you were born after 1980 which makes me feel very old.
In Laos, half of you were born after 1995 and from Rangoon, to Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur, everywhere I go I see the energy and the optimism of all the young people who live here. I've seen your desire to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and not war. I've seen your desire for prosperity though entrepreneurship and the rejection of corruption. I've seen your interest in promoting social harmony not by discriminating against anyone in the community but by upholding the rights of all people regardless of what they look like or what religion they belong to.
And because your generation is the most educated and because you're all connected through your phones, you have more power to shape the future than any generation that we've ever known. And that's why I've made connecting our young people a corner stone of American foreign policy. Three years ago we launched Weisili (ph) young Southeast Asian Leaders initiative.
[02:55:04] And what began as a small group of young people is now a network of 100,000 young people from all Asian Countries 10 countries. And in fact, across Africa, the Americas and Europe, we now have nearly half a million young people like you in our young leaders initiative world wide. And our goal is to empower young people with skills and resources and the networks that you need to turn your ideas in action and to become the next generation of leaders in civil society and in business and in government.
We have regional exchanges, workshops, online networking, hands-on training. We've offered grant competitions to support your efforts. We've welcomed hundreds of you to the United States to study in our universities.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: We've been listening to the U.S. President Barack Obama there in his opening remarks to this youth Town Hall in Luang Prabang in Laos, other history. Visit the -- they are able to take questions and describe what he will have. It will be a conversation with -- given the audience.
SESAY: And he's very keen to express that, you know, Laos having such a young populations, those gathered in the room are the leaders of tomorrow expressing why empowering young leaders has been corner stone of American foreign policy during his administration. And he's very engaged in a very warm crowd.
VAUSE: He seems very relaxed too.
SESAY: Yeah.
[CROSSTALK]
VAUSE: Over next shift, no time, enjoying himself.
SESAY: First sitting president to visit Laos. All right, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. The news continues in a moment with Rosemary Church.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A moral obligation, the U.S. Presidents vows to help Laos recover from the deadly legacy of.
