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Trump & Clinton Make Case To Be Commander-In-Chief; Trump: I'd Give Generals 30 Days To Draft ISIS Plan; Trump: Current U.S. Generals "Reduced To Rubble"; Trump Stands Firm On Refusal To Release Taxes; Powell E-mail Advised Clinton On Personal Email Use; U.S. and Russia Trying to Broker Syria Ceasefire; Obama Wades into South China Sea Dispute; A First Look at IPhone7; "World Sport" Update. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 08, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:04] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, the commander-in-chief town hall. Clinton and Trump make their case, but who is best to lead the U.S. military. A battle with too many sides. Washington and Moscow may be close to a joint solution to the Syrian War. And the world was all ears as Apple launched its latest iPhone, but many did not like what they heard.

Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause heading into the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. right now. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are making their case to U.S. voters that they are the ones best qualified to be commander-in-chief. They took part in a national security forum hosted by NBC News followed by a little tit for tat. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted this out, "Hillary Clinton was angry and defensive the entire time. Her smile and uncomfortable - upset that she was caught wrongly sending out secrets. The Clinton campaign says that what's - that's what it looks like to take the office of the president seriously.

Meantime, Trump stood by a 2013 tweet that implied sexual assault in the militant is a result of letting women serve, and each candidate talked about how they would defeat ISIS.

HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to defeat ISIS. That is my highest counterterrorism goal, and we've got to do it with air power, we've got to do it with much more support for the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against ISIS.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I have a very substantial chance of winning, "Make America Great Again." We're going to make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don't want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.

VAUSE: And earlier, Trump was calling for a big hike in U.S. Military spending. Here's CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta.

[01:02:15] JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Laying out a national security vision he dubbed "Peace through strength," Donald Trump pulled out the heavy artillery on Hillary Clinton. TRUMP: Sometimes it seemed like there wasn't a country in the Middle East that Hillary Clinton didn't want to invade, intervene in or topple. She's trigger happy and very unstable.

ACOSTA: Promising a policy of diplomacy, not destruction under a Trump administration. The GOP nominee pledged to boost military spending, enhance the nation's cyber defenses, unleash a state-of-the- art missile defense system, and demand a new military-led plan to destroy ISIS.

TRUMP: I will ask my generals to present to me a plan within 30 days to defeat and destroy ISIS.

ACOSTA: That's a new plan approach for Trump. And claimed he already had a secret strategy for defeating ISIS earlier this year.

TRUMP: I said I have a great plan. It's going to be great. Well, what is it? I'd rather not say. I want to be unpredictable.

ACOSTA: To achieve his goals, Trump would end the forced budget cuts on defense spending known in Washington-speak as sequestration.

TRUMP: As soon as I take office, I will ask congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester. And we'll submit a new budget to rebuild our military. It is so depleted. We will rebuild our military.

ACOSTA: That's a reversal for Trump who said three years ago sequestration didn't go far enough.

TRUMP: Frankly, this is a very minor amount of the cuts that have to be made, ultimately, and a lot of people are saying that. Even Democrats are saying that.

ACOSTA: But time and again, Trump tried to chip away at the public perception backed up by poll numbers that Clinton is more fit to be commander-in-chief. Arguing her use of a private e-mail server was a disqualifying mistake.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton has taught us, really, how vulnerable we are in cyber hacking. That's probably the only thing that we've learned from Hillary Clinton.

ACOSTA: Yet it was Trump who once invited Russia to hand over Clinton's missing e-mails. A remark he said was a joke.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

ACOSTA: There is one area of defense that Trump can work on as a candidate, and that is his campaign war chest. A Trump campaign official tells CNN that Trump raised $90 million in August. That's a lot less than Hillary Clinton raised last month, but enough to start firing back at all those damaging ads she's running all over the country. Jim Acosta, CNN, Philadelphia. VAUSE: Donald Trump says the current U.S. generals have been reduced

to rubble in their fight against ISIS, implying they've been beaten down and disregarded by the Obama administration. And I've been speaking with CNN's military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling about this.

MARK HERTLING, CNN'S MILITARY ANALYST: The generals and the colonels, all the soldiers in the fight have been doing exceedingly well under some very difficult circumstances over the last - the last 14 years. They are tired to be sure, and they are adapting to the fight as best they can, but truthfully, for a guy like Mr. Trump who claims he is a supporter of the veterans to say that, "Generals have been reduced to rubbles," is somewhat insulting to me. And I know it's insulting to all my former colleagues who are still wearing the uniform and still taking the fight to the enemy.

VAUSE: OK. He was also asked about ISIS, and whether he would ask the same generals for a plan to defeat the terror group and, of course, there's that 30-day timeframe. This is what Donald Trump said.

TRUMP: Well, they're probably be different generals, to be honest with you. I mean, I'm looking at the generals today, you probably saw, I have a piece of paper here, I could show it. 88 generals and admirals endorsed me today. And these are -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a numbers game. Hillary Clinton claims more numbers.

TRUMP: Well, it's not really - it's not that we had numbers. The people that have been losing for us for a long period of time. I mean, the fact is we have had the worst - and you could even say the dumbest foreign policy. Our results are so bad.

VAUSE: And again, we're talking about a situation where Donald Trump is going out after the military leadership in this country, producing bad results, he says with very dumb foreign policy.

HERTLING: Yeah, it's somewhat insulting. This is a very challenging and complex fight that we're in, John. You know that. And to have someone who is actually somewhat amateurish in his approach suggests that people don't know what they're doing when he hasn't seen the plan and to imply that it's not going to be the same generals. It seems to me that what he's thinking is he can just arbitrarily pick and choose the generals that he wants. That's not the way it works. It also is an indicator that he not only doesn't know military art, science, war planning and operational concepts, but he doesn't even know how the promotion system works within the military and how it is separated from civilian influences as he's claiming.

VAUSE: Maybe under Hillary Clinton. She was also asked about her plan for ISIS. This is some of what she said.

CLINTON: We're going to work to make sure that they have the support, they have Special Forces, they have enablers, they have, you know, surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance to help. They are not going to get ground troops. We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again. And we're not putting ground troops into Syria. We're going to defeat ISIS without committing American ground troops.

VAUSE: OK. So, she was talking about assisting Iraqis on the ground, maybe rebels or so in Syria, but is it realistic to defeat ISIS without committing U.S. troops in any significant number? And aren't there already a lot of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq right now?

HERTLING: Yeah, there are. There is certainly some misspeak in Mrs. Clinton's comments on that. There are ground troops there. There are special operations forces, and there are certainly a significant number of soldiers. Not as much as we had in northern Iraq. But I was in Iraq for over three years, John, and one of the things we've learned was they have to want it more than we do. And the plan and the campaign over the last several years has been to in place indigenous forces in these areas that know more the terrain, the enemy they're fighting and the language that they're speaking and the culture. That's what's going on. And I think over the last year-plus we've seen some significant advances by both Iraqi security forces, but also more recently as they've gotten help with intelligence and air power, the Free Syrian forces and some of the rebel groups in Northern Syria.

VAUSE: Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling speaking a little earlier. Meantime, the Clinton campaign is ratcheting up the pressure on Donald Trump to release his tax returns, but the billionaire businessman is standing firm not before an audit is complete, he says. CNN's Phil Mattingly looks at what the documents might show.

[01:09:02] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump claims he can't release any of his tax returns while under routine audit even as the IRS has made clear, there's no legal requirement for Trump to withhold them.

TRUMP: Just so you understand. I'm under audit, a routine audit. And when the audit is complete, I'll release my returns.

MATTINGLY: And even Trump's own lawyers note the IRS review of his 2002 through 2008 returns is complete. Even his own running mate, Mike Pence, preparing to release his taxes this week.

MIKE PENCE, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll give mine to you all this week, and he's going to provide his after a routine audit is done.

MATTINGLY: Trump's refusal has drawn sharp attacks from Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: Clearly, his tax returns tell a story that the American people deserve and need to know.

MATTINGLY: And despite Trump's contention, a series of polls show voters do in fact care about Trump's tax returns. So, what exactly aren't voters seeing? JOSHUA BLANKS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY TAX LAW PROFESSOR: Voters could see the type of taxable income that he has, whether it's ordinary income or capital gains income. Voters could also learn how much a candidate has given to charity.

MATTINGLY: A CNN review of Trump's available financial documents shows four potential areas that may shed light on Trump's reluctance. Number one, Trump's charitable giving. An extensive Washington Post review of Trump's personal charitable donations has raised major questions of what Trump has actually given. Despite Trump's bold claims to the contrary.

TRUMP: This is my check for a million dollars.

MATTINGLY: Number two, Trump's tax rate. It's an issue that dogged the Republican Party's 2012 nominee for months. Trump has made clear, as a businessman, he's done everything in his power not to pay more tax than necessary.

TRUMP: I pay as little as possible. I use every single thing in the book.

MATTINGLY: But Trump's involvement with real estate raises the very real possibility, he pays nothing at all, according to tax experts.

BLANKS: An obvious benefit is that a tax payer who owns property, real estate, a building, can trade that property for another building. And as long as that property is going to be used for investment purposes or in business, the taxpayer won't pay tax on the gain at all.

MATTINGLY: In fact, CNN has identified at least three years, 1978, 1979, and 1984, where he definitively paid zero dollars in federal income tax. Document show another two years, 1991 and 1993 where Trump likely paid little to no income tax as well. And when asked about it during the campaign, he's been hardly forthcoming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your tax rate?

TRUMP: Oh, it's none of your business.

MATTINGLY: The third potential area is Trump's net worth. Now, to be clear, a few years of tax returns wouldn't shed light on whether Trump is actually worth the $10 billion he claims, but it would show Trump's net income and adjusted gross income, providing more detailed insight than the financial disclosure form filed by Trump in May. And last, but perhaps most importantly for Trump's opponent, a detailed release of Trump's returns would provide a window into his business connections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he doesn't want people to see that he's got some connections.

MATTINGLY: Trump's own lawyers making it clear that Trump is the "sole or principle owner in approximately 500 separate entities." Those entities engage in hundreds of transactions, deals and new enterprises every year. For the moment, however, there is little indication that Trump's returns will be revealed before Election Day. Though, Trump himself appears willing to make a deal.

TRUMP: In the meantime, she has 33,000 e-mails that she deleted. When is she going to release her e-mails? She probably knows how to find it. Let her release her e-mails, and I'll release my tax returns immediately.

MATTINGLY: Phil Mattingly, CNN New York.

VAUSE: Joining me now, Mo Kelly, host of the Mo'Kelly Show and the Mo'Kelly Experience, radio programs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Thanks for coming back.

[01:13:02] MO KELLY: Thank you for having me back.

VAUSE: Let's talk taxes this time. That last quote that we just heard from Donald Trump, "I'll release my taxes when she releases her e-mails." It's a clever line. Doesn't that kind of imply that if he wanted to, he could release his taxes?

KELLY: Well, there's nothing precluding him from releasing his taxes. But if I'm -

VAUSE: You know that I know that.

KELLY: Well, yeah. But at the same time, if I'm Donald Trump or anyone representing him, I would say there's no upside to it. He's not being hurt by not releasing it. So what does he gain by releasing it? Even though every candidate since Richard Nixon has released their taxes, Donald Trump is an unconventional candidate, so he's playing it true to form.

VAUSE: There is this poll out there which shows that 3/4 of voters -

KELLY: Right.

VAUSE: -- 78 percent, I think it was, want him to release his taxes. And you say it's not hurting him. I mean, that could be debatable, but is there a calculation going on now that what's in the taxes could be worse than any damage by not releasing his income taxes.

KELLY: Oh, absolutely, because you're giving all sorts of material to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. And not all things are actually scandals, but they could be made into scandals. We get to look at Donald Trump as far as his business relationships. We get to look at if he's actually worth $10 billion. His whole foundation, his campaign as he's a successful businessman who's created jobs. What if those jobs are actually exported and not actually created? There are a lot of questions that could be answered, and we may not like the answers if you're a Trump supporter. So that - you're exposing him to all sorts of questions.

VAUSE: So, whether all the taxes are released will be when that equation changes, whether damage from releasing the taxes is greater than the damage of releasing the taxes - income taxes. KELLY: Yeah. And there's no reason to expect that they're actually going to be released at this point.

VAUSE: OK. Voters also want to see Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Donald Trump is calling for that. She was asked about the e-mail controversy and using a private server, just a few hours ago. She finally - it seems has an answer to that. Listen to what she said.

CLINTON: It was a mistake to have a personal account. I would certainly not do it again. I make no excuses for it.

VAUSE: She makes no excuses. I made a mistake. It's short, it's concise, but it's still is an issue of transparency and honesty for Secretary of State.

KELLY: Yes. And you're looking for someone, a commander-in-chief who may not just make a glib remarks about making a mistake. The same could be said about her Iraq War vote, "I made a mistake." And that's not people want - what they want to hear as far as engendering a degree of trust and confidence and somewhat -

VAUSE: She needs to say - what should she say?

KELLY: I don't know - I don't know if she can undo what has already been done.

VAUSE: Right.

KELLY: She did make the mistake, but unfortunately, she spent the last two years explaining how she doesn't have an excuse.

VAUSE: Yeah.

KELLY: I don't know a reasonable person can reconcile those two things.

VAUSE: OK. One of the things that the Democrats have done, they've released this e-mail from Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State of George W. Bush, a republican. This is an e-mail exchange between Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell. Well, he basically said that he was using his own private e-mail for personal businesses. This is part of the e-mail. "What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient) so I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department servers. I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the department on their personal e-mail accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels."

So clearly, what, you know, many democrats are saying, "Well, Colin Powell did it. Everyone loves Colin Powell, we have a lot of respect for Colin Powell. He's a conservative, he's a republican, therefore it's all fine.

KELLY: Yeah. And we always look at our children and say, "Why did you do it?" And they say, "Well, so and so did it." VAUSE: They did it?

KELLY: Yeah. And that doesn't - that doesn't remove you from blame or fault. And if you're going to be commander-in-chief and say, "Yes, I did it. It's my fault. It's responsibility," then stick with that. For me, I could - I could more respect a person who's going to remain in their truth regardless of the consequences as opposed to try to explain it away and blame it away.

VAUSE: There was an interesting part of this e-mail exchange between Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton where he talks about if you are using one of these personal digital devices, and then, you know, if you are using it for official business, it could become an official record, and he sort of explains how he tries to get around that by not saying too much. Which seems to be almost like breaking the law in some ways for giving Hillary Clinton advise on how to break the law.

KELLY: I think as we move through this technological age, we're very aware that all of our communications are available for review on some levels, especially if you're a government employee.

VAUSE: Yeah.

KELLY: And all of these political figures, they do have personal lives which they would like to keep separate, because we know that all of that information is going to be come out for public view at some point. So, I understood what Secretary Powell was trying to communicate.

VAUSE: Right.

KELLY: But at the same time, Secretary Powell is not running for president.

VAUSE: And then also, the other difference, too, is that he didn't set up his own private e-mail server.

KELLY: Right. There's no conscious decision -

VAUSE: Right.

KELLY: -- on his part to go down a certain path which led us to this - to this moment.

VAUSE: So, it's not an excuse, otherwise Secretary Powell did it.

KELLY: No, it's not an excuse. Yeah. But at the same time, Hillary Clinton, she was the one who chose and she's running for president.

VAUSE: Right.

KELLY: This may or may not be an issue in the eyes of voters, but at the same time, she's painted herself into a corner where she says she has no excuse, then she needs to act accordingly.

VAUSE: OK. Mo, good to speak with you. Thanks for coming in. KELLY: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Always a pleasure. We'll take a short break. When we come back, the U.S. president's trip to Laos is wrapping up. And a closer look at what is being accomplished or hasn't been accomplished. Also ahead, what the U.S. and Russia are doing now to try and reach a ceasefire in Syria.

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[01:20:29] PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Patrick Snell you're your world sport headlines. Starting off in New York where Japanese tennis star, Kei Nishikori has sprung a major shock on Andy Murray in Wednesday's quarterfinal clash in the Big Apple. The sixth seed, who reached the final of the event two years ago, had to come from behind to win a thriller, they went to five sets. Nishikori still looking to remember for his first Grand Slam title. He have a chance to is through to his second career major semi.

All eyes now back on Rio de Janeiro. The Paralympics took place on Wednesday at the famed Maracana Stadium. Remember, just like the summer games, the build-up to has not been without controversy after a dramatic short fall in funding, a blanket ban for the Russia's athletes after allegations of state-sponsored doping and low ticket sales, too. Well, please remember our South America's first ever Paralympics and more than 4,000 competitors and 170 countries will be taking part.

For quite some time now, we've all been wondering just when and indeed if Tiger Woods will return to golf. Well, now we know. Woods admitted his intentions depends on his continued progress and recovery, saying he aims to play in the Safeway Open in California in mid-October at the PGA Tours 2016 17th season open, by the way, as well as the Turkish Airlines Open in November, as well as the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December. Woods will turn 41, by the way, just before Christmas. That's a look at your CNN World Sport headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.

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[01:22:12] VAUSE: Renewed efforts are underway to end Syria's five- year long civil war. But the main world powers involved, the U.S., Russia and Turkey are at odds with each other. The top diplomats of the United States and Russia meeting Thursday in Geneva to try and work on a ceasefire deal. But both are not happy with Turkey's actions within Syria. The U.S. State Department says it wants to put the finishing touches on an agreement, but there are still some gaps. MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN OF U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: I can say that the secretary remains committed to continuing efforts to try and resolve the remaining or outstanding issues in order to reach an arrangement on Syria that will put in place a durable ceasefire - or a cessation of hostilities and provide humanitarian access to all the areas and lead to a resumption of talks between parties in Geneva. And we hope to get there, but we won't agree to an arrangement, as we said before, that does not meet our core objectives.

VAUSE: Jill Dougherty is CNN'S former Moscow bureau chief, now a researcher at the International Centre for Defense and Security. Jill, it's always good to speak with you. Thank you for being with us. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter had some pretty blunt words for the Russians. Listen to this.

ASHTON CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Obviously, if we could get them to a point where they stop doing the wrong thing and started doing the right thing in Syria will be very good for that. That's a decision they're going to have to make, but meanwhile, they bear the responsibility of the consequences of things that they could avoid.

VAUSE: And Jill, the tension right now between these two countries, that tense meeting between Obama and Putin in China. What are the chances that Secretary Kerry and Prime Minister Lavrov can actually finalize a deal to work together to fight ISIS in Syria?

[01:23:57] JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, I think you have to say that they are very low at this point. The expectations are very low. Look at the phrase that President Obama used, "A gap of trust." And there are gaps in trust, very deep gaps. I mean, both sides feel that the other side isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing. The United States, of course, wants some type of movement toward the end of the regime of Assad. And the Russians say that it's the United States' responsibility to separate - let's call them, you know, the normal, healthy opposition from terrorists. And each side says the other isn't doing it. In the meantime, you have these hideous attacks, the latest one apparently a chlorine attack. And so, you know, whether they can come to some type of agreement, I think at this point, you'd have to say is pretty low. And the Americans, at least at this point, seemed very frustrated. There seems to be coming from the White House, maybe less from the state department, but from the White House, the idea that this is it. This is the final moment, and if it doesn't work, then of course, no one knows what, but they're reaching a frustration point.

VAUSE: Yeah, it's good you bring that up, because in some of the reading that I've done, it does seem that the Russians are may a little more optimistic or portraying this is a little further down the road than the Americans are. Why is that?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think let's take the Americans really do feel frustrated that, you know, you have - the problem of having the Syrian army working with the Russians, and then the Syrian army going over the border - or going over - let's say a line of attacking the civilians. And so, the Americans are frustrated. The Russians, I think, feel that the Americans talk a good game but really won't do much of anything. They are - I think you'd have to say they feel that the Americans are holding them back, too. And then, ultimately, what the Americans want, the Russians would argue, is regime change. And the Russians simply aren't going to go for a regime change.

VAUSE: Looking at another peace plan which is on the table. This one put together by 30 opposition groups, it happened in London yesterday. It was interesting, though, because no one from the Syrian regime was there, no one from Iran, no one from Hezbollah, and yet they put this very comprehensive peace plan forward. Exactly who are they putting that peace plan forward for?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, that the peace plan has really been out there pretty much for quite a while. That's a very good question, who it's for? It may be to show that they are serious. It certainly does reveal some type of path. And there is one good thing about it, which is it's really the first indication of what could come after Assad. Now, granted, after Assad could take 6 months of negotiations, 18 months of creating an interim government. But eventually, supposedly, he would go. But that's what both sides are asking. The Russians want to know what comes after Assad? Is it the terrorists? And the Americans want to know, what comes after Assad and when is there going to be an after Assad? So, that's one of the problems. But that plan, again, is very hard at this point to believe that it could be carried out.

VAUSE: And you touched on the fact that while, you know, these sides are - all these sides are talking and the diplomacy continues, Assad continues to use chemical weapons in Aleppo. It would seem that he has very few concerns about being forced from power. He can't win this war, but as it stands right now, he can't lose it either.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, it's a terrible dilemma, isn't it? Really, because - obviously, he can't win it. But as you said, "Maybe he won't lose it or maybe for the foreseeable future, he will not lose it, especially with the help of the Russians. So, his concern is to keep the Russians on his side. And to make sure that the negotiations don't lead to his stepping down. And of course, when the Americans look at that, they think that it's ridiculous, that eventually this has to happen. So, I've - once again, John, you know, we've been here so many times. You almost want to throw up your hands and just say what can possibly happen? Because there was great hope or at least some hope -

VAUSE: Yeah.

DOUGHERTY: -- that the Americans and Russians could work together. And at this point, if this fails, it's pretty serious. There is no plan out there that would seem to be possible. They're giving it their all.

VAUSE: Yeah. When you say it's going to get worse in Syria, that's a pretty dire statement given how bad things are right now. But Jill, it is always good to have you with us. Thank you so much.

DOUGHERTY: Thanks, John. Time for a quick break. When we come back, a controversial issue has been left off the agenda. And what has been going on at the summit in Southeast Asia?

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[01:32:46] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: President Barack Obama is wrapping up his visit to Laos at the ASEAN summit. He touched on the dispute in the South China Sea, saying the arbitration in July clarified the issue. An international court ruled against Beijing's claims to the sea.

CNN's Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, joins us now from Laos with more on the summit.

Andrew, Obama gave a subtle nudge to China over the South China Sea from Mr. Obama?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: That's right, John. He's waded into this issue. This is an issue that comes up repeatedly. Four members of ASEAN are in dispute with China over its plans with the South China Sea. What the U.S. President said today in opening remarks before a meeting with the ASEAN members is that the decision or the ruling taken in July by an international court declared China's claims to the South China Sea, the large swath it is claiming, as illegal, and the president said this is binding. That decision, let's listen to what he had to say.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With respect to maritime issues, we'll continue to work to ensure that disputed are resolved peacefully, including in the South China Sea. The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped clarify maritime rights in the region. I recognize this raises tensions but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively work together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and regional stability.

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[01:35:18] STEVENS: Binding in the eyes of the U.S., John, but certainly not in the eyes of China. They have dismissed that international tribunal as being illegitimate and not taking this sort of decision which puts ASEAN in the middle of things slightly and ASEAN has been walking a line which does appear to favor China at the moment. There was a statement from the chairman of ASEAN yesterday, the whole South China Sea was boiled down to serious concerns. If I read you what it said: "There remains serious concerns over recent and ongoing developments in the China sea." But this statement from ASEAN did not mention China or that ruling in any shape or form as being binding. So we're being told China put a lot of pressure on Laos, which is an ally of China because of its economic dependence on China, put a lot of pressure on Laos as the chairman of ASEAN not to include the South China Sea in that international ruling in the ASEAN meetings and they appear to have been successful. It wasn't mentioned in the chairman's statement. At this stage, ASEAN looks like it is falling into line more with what China would like to see than the U.S. would like to see despite the fact that four out of 19 members are in dispute with China.

And one quick aside on that, President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines leader, who had that spat with the U.S. president, who called him some profane phrases just in the last couple days, didn't appear to be at that meeting between Mr. Obama and the ASEAN leaders earlier today. We're trying to check whether he was there and missed or if he wasn't there, why wasn't he there? We're looking at that one as well.

We've got a press conference from the U.S. president in about three or four hours from now. And the Chinese talking to the media later as well. Interesting to see what their take is particularly on Mr. Obama's comments that the ruling was and is legally binding.

VAUSE: Thank you, Andrew. Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, live, there, in Laos.

And Andrew was mentioning the Chinese will be holding a news conference, to find out what they say. Probably an indication of what might come is an editorial in the Chinese newspaper the "Global Times." It reads, in part, "China has won in the last round of competition over the South China Sea. The airport on the island is ready and the new political waves are under control and China has gained some experience of games between great powers." The Chinese, according to this editorial, see it as a win.

A short break. When we come back, Apple says it is pushing the envelope with its new iPhone. But the company is getting a lot of push back over its decision to cut one key feature.

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[01:40:32] VAUSE: Apple has unveiled its latest iPhone with new features but overshadowing all of that is one change that Apple has made and some customers are not happy.

Here is "CNN Money's" digital technology correspondent, Samuel Burke.

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SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: The real news isn't what the iPhone 7 has but what it doesn't have. They are getting rid of the audio port that dates back to the Walkman. Now there will be a new type of headphone you will connect via the charging port and there will be an adapter for the time being. If you have a set of headphones you can plug them in to the new devices that won't have the little hole. They will be launching a new product called air pods, wireless headphones. They will set you back $159. The iPhone 7 will set you back $649 minimum. The 7-plus, $769. A little bit of news about the Apple watch. It will be water resistant but you need your iPhone to make it work. A lot of people were hoping it would be independent but not for now -- John?

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VAUSE: Samuel, thank you. You're too young to know what a Walkman is.

Apple's vice president of marketing said there is a method to their madness over the nixed headphone jacks.

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PHILIP SCHILLER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, APPLE: Our Smartphones are packed with technologies and we all want more. We want bigger, brighter displays and larger batteries and faster processors, we want stereo speakers and it's all fighting for space in that enclosure. And maintaining an ancient big connector doesn't make sense because that space is at a premium.

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VAUSE: And those new wireless air pods will last five hours of listening time per charge.

When it comes to romantic gestures, the guy we are about to show you is an overachiever. He went paragliding over western Turkey. That wasn't enough romance. He took his violin along and serenaded her before landing on the beach.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I wanted to make a surprise. So I brought my violin and I wanted to play it while paragliding. So seeing the scenery and playing the violin in the air is extra happiness for me. I'm so happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): It's so wonderful to listen and go paragliding at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Oh, the happy couple.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news.

But first, "World Sport" with Kate Riley starts after a short break.

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[01:45:10] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Kate Riley, with the CNN "World Sport" update.

We're going to start in New York City where Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori sprung a major shock on the 2012 champion Andy Murray in Wednesday's quarterfinal clash in the Big Apple. Nishikori in a brilliant five setter to book his spot in the semifinals. Just as Murray looked to be in control of this one, his opponent is looking for his first grand slam title hit back to the annoyance of Murray who could see his path to the final was taking a diversion. It went to the fifth and the Japanese player held it firm against the rival who won 11 of his previous five setters. Nishikori is heading to the semifinals.

Fresh off the back of his Olympic silver medal, Del Potro looking to continue his good form. The number three seed would dig deep. The Swiss is through to the U.S. Open for the second straight year.

So on the women's side of things, an upset was looking likely. Serena Williams facing Simona Halep. All was looking fine until she lost her first set of the tournament in the second on Wednesday. She rallied hard, though, to come back into contention to win in the third. 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 is how she wrapped things up. It's not just history at stake here. If Williams wins the tournament she will have 23 career grand slam titles beating Steffi Graf's report 22.

A piece of history for Czech tennis made on Wednesday with Pliskova being the first Czech into the U.S. Open semis since 1998. She was too good for her opponent from Croatia who is just 18. Getting the job done in straight sets to book her spot in the last four in less than an hour. Pliskova will next face the world number one, Serena Williams.

It's been reported that Ryan Lochte will face a 10-month suspension. The American athlete will not be allowed to compete in the 2017 world championships. It is all been related to his involvement in a gas station incident in Rio during the Olympics. A joint announcement by the United States Olympic committee and U.S. swimming the national governing body for the spot is expected Thursday. On Wednesday, however, the USOC told CNN it had nothing to report and U.S. swimming did not respond to a request for comment.

Less than three weeks since the curtain fell on the Olympics in Rio but now the eyes of the world are firmly trained on the Paralympics. Just like the summer games the build up to these games has not been without controversy following a dramatic short fall in funding and a blanket ban for Russian athletes. But all that fell to one side on Wednesday. And a carnival-like atmosphere returned to Maracana Stadium as the opening ceremony of South America's first ever Paralympics games got underway on Brazil's Independence Day. The athletes paraded in the Maracana Stadium. The country's new president was booed by protesters as well.

With more on the day's events here's CNN's Shasta Darlington.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Paralympics Games have begun. Less than three weeks after the closing curtain fell on the Olympic Games here in Rio de Janeiro, another opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium. With fireworks, samba music and some pretty unique elements, starting at the beginning with a wheelchair extreme athlete who dipped down a mega ramp through a circle of fireworks. We had a surprise visit from the Olympic mascot as he shimmered down in his golden gown. Also some unique performances by some of the Paralympics athletes.

Now the games begin. 4300 athletes. They run through September 18. People coming from more than 160 nations. Noticeably absent is Russia. Their entire Paralympics team was banned as a result of the state-sponsored doping scandal.

Plenty of problems here in Rio as well. They got off to a shaky start with financial problems but now organizers say 60 percent of tickets have been sold. They're optimistic more will be sold now that the opening ceremony has set the tone.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

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[01:50:19] RILEY: Coming up on the show, for Tiger Woods fans, the wait may be over. The former world number one golfer has revealed his plans for his comeback to the sport. We'll tell you exactly when and where.

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RILEY: For some time we have been wondering when and if former world number one golfer, Tiger Woods, would return to the sport he once dominated. Now at least we know when he is planning on a comeback. The last couple years have been challenging to say the least for the now world number 711. It has been a never-ending battle for the 14- time major winner who has twice undergone back surgery since the last time he played competitively just over a year ago. In April of 2014, he revealed he would miss the Masters for the first time in his professional career after an operation on a pinched nerve in his back. In September 2015, he announced he had undergone a follow up procedure aimed at relieving discomfort. And now Woods says he aims to play in the Safeway Open in California in mid October. That's the PGA tour's season opener as well as the Turkish Airlines Open in November and the hero world challenge in the Bahamas in December. In a statement, the 40-year-old admitted his intentions depend on his progress and recovery. He added, "It was difficult to miss tournaments that are important to me but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn't rush."

Two of the world's most well known golfers were asked for their reactions. Here are the thoughts of Rory McIlroy. But first, Jason Day.

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JASON DAY, PRO GOLFER: I think the hardest thing for him is get to rust out and really get back to game-ready sharpness, which is obviously a very difficult thing to do. Although, you know, we're expecting big things from him I don't expect too much from him. I'm looking forward to seeing him play again and what the state of his game is. Obviously, this time, I think he's done it the right way by waiting and not coming back too soon because there's been a couple of times where I feel like he may have come back too soon and injured himself more and that's what kept him out of the game so long. RORY MCILROY, PRO GOLFER: He seems to be doing better. You know, I

think he was probably pretty close to making a comeback earlier on this year. But you know, I think he's learned from previous years that you know, you have to really take time to let things heal and really be, you know, 100 percent before getting back out here. It will be great to see him back again. I think that's the big thing to see him back on the course.

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[01:55:13] RILEY: And just before we go we take a look at just who to keep a close eye on at the 2016 Paralympics. The games have kicked off after the conclusion of the opening ceremonies. And among the 4,000 competitors is the Brazilian athlete Fabio Debordigno. He says he is living proof that Paralympians have every reason to believe in a dream and also achieve.

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FABIO DEBORDIGNO BRAZILIAN PARALYMPICS ATHLETE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

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RILEY: That is it for this edition of CNN "World Sport" I'm Kate Riley. Great to have you watching, as always. Stay with CNN.

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[02:00:08] VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour --