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Cessation of Hostilities to take Effect Monday; World Leaders Condemn North Korea's Latest Provocation; Race for the White House; Children Reflect on Losing Parents on 9/11. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired September 10, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. and Russia reach a plan to ease the conflict in Syria but it depends on a number of parties holding up their ends of the bargain.

The U.N. struggles to come up with a solution to keep North Korea in check after the country's largest nuclear test yet.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She could walk into this arena now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted.

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ALLEN (voice-over): Donald Trump goes after Hillary Clinton by echoing a phrase he once used to describe himself.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

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ALLEN: The U.S. and Russia are hailing what they call a breakthrough deal for Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced a cessation of hostilities will take effect across Syria beginning at sundown on Monday. Our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is in Geneva with more details on the peace plan.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So key to the cessation of hostilities working, Secretary Kerry said, was for the United States to put pressure on the opposition to keep good on their obligations and for Russia, for their part, to keep Assad good on his obligations. He said the United States assessment was that that's what Russia would do. This is how he put it.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Today the United States and Russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria.

The Obama administration, the United States is going the extra mile here because we believe that Russia and my colleague have the capability to press the Assad regime to stop this conflict and to come to the table and make peace.

ROBERTSON: Another key point of this peace agreement, not just the cessation but humanitarian access. Secretary Kerry laying out in specific detail how that would take effect in Aleppo to give besieged areas there, up to 300,000 people living in besieged rebel-controlled parts of the city, give them much-needed humanitarian access. Also talked about the limits being put on the use of Assad's air force, his barrel-bombing helicopters, to prevent civilian casualties, that Russia and the United States would work together to target Al-Nusra, the former al Qaeda ally inside Syria.

From the Russian perspective, Sergey Lavrov stressing that this seven- day test period of the humanitarian and cease-fire, would allow and he said this was important, would allow and must happen after seven days, a separation of what he described, terrorist opposition elements and non-terrorist opposition elements.

This is how he put it.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): After the regime is fully functional for seven continuous days, we, as John just said, ought to create a joint implementation center, JIC, where the military men and the special representatives from Russia and the U.S. will be engaged in solving practical matters of delimitation and separation of terrorists from the moderate opposition.

ROBERTSON: And that has been a key issue for Russia in the past. A bone of contention with the United States going on for months. Wanting the United States to say who was a terrorist and who wasn't a terrorist. Who should be targeted, who shouldn't be targeted.

A lot of mistrust there. That seems to be overcome at this time now. Lavrov saying and laying out how he had told the Assad regime, Bashar al-Assad, he said, has been told of this plan and his responsibilities.

Secretary Kerry thanking him for that. But, of course, what has troubled peace talks in the past is that key point when the political transition part comes up somewhere down the road, that's when the expectation is that Russia will tell President Bashar al-Assad that he will need to step aside.

That hasn't happened in the past. And at this stage it's not clear how that will happen this time going forward. A long way to go yet -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Geneva.

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ALLEN: Reuters News Agency says Syrian government forces have retaken a very important road in Aleppo. That road is in the southwest of the city at the lower left in this map. It's the same general area that rebels captured in August to end a month-long regime siege. But government forces have now effectively --

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ALLEN: -- surrounded rebel-held areas again. That essentially prevents rebels from using a key supply route.

In Iraq, ISIS is claiming responsibility for an attack that killed at least 11 people. Two bombings targeted a shopping center in Baghdad on Friday. The markets were busy preparing for the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, which begins next week.

The terror group has been losing territory across Iraq. ISIS militants are relying on attacking areas that are not under their control.

The U.N. Security Council is strongly condemning North Korea's latest nuclear test, they're calling it a clear threat to international peace and security. But North Korea, itself, is celebrating. Officials claim it's their strongest test yet, nearly double the size of their last one in January. Our Paula Hancocks joins us now with more. She's covering the story from Seoul, South Korea -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, as you say, North Korea is celebrating. They believe that they have had a very successful fifth nuclear test. They claim they have tested a nuclear warhead and they now have the capability to put it on any of their ballistic missiles.

So clearly a great concern to the rest of the world, as you have seen from the reaction. We have heard from the United Nations secretary- general, Ban Ki-moon, saying he condemns it in the strongest possible terms, also saying we must urgently break this accelerating spiral of escalation.

And that really sums up why everyone is so concerned at this point. The second nuclear test in just one year, showing the incredible pace at which North Korea is pushing forward.

Even the intelligence officials here in Seoul briefing lawmakers said that the progression is going far quicker than they expected, which is why the United Nations is saying they will act.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The members of the Security Council also recalled that they had previously expressed their determination to take further significant measures in the event of another nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In line with this commitment and the gravity of this violation, the

members of the Security Council will begin to work immediately on appropriate measures under Article 41 in a Security Council resolution.

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HANCOCKS: In state-run media on Friday night, North Korea said that they were going to start to expand their foreign relations as befitting its position as an independent power and as a nuclear weapons state. Pyongyang is already referring to itself as a nuclear weapons state.

But U.S. President Barack Obama was very clear that was not something that Washington was ever going to accept, in a statement saying, "To be clear, the U.S. does not and never will accept North Korea as a nuclear state."

And that is a position that is held by Seoul, by Tokyo and many other countries around the world -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Whoever is the next U.S. president has quite a situation on his or her hands. And we know that the missile defense system that the U.S. and South Korea set up there in South Korea, that China does not like that.

Does that hurt the ability for the U.S. and China to work together to thwart North Korea's nuclear program?

HANCOCKS: Potentially, yes. This is the THAAD missile defense system, which China and also Russia don't want in the region. It hasn't been based here yet. But they've decided the location in South Korea, where they are going to put it to try and defend themselves against North Korean missiles.

But from China and Russia's point of view, they say that they believe it could interfere in their own security apparatus, China doesn't want more U.S. military hardware on its doorstep.

And so certainly I think it's possible, as well, according to some experts, that North Korea may have sensed that and may have believed that maybe it was a good time to do another nuclear test because there is not the Chinese support for Washington in Seoul that we saw back in March, when those very strong sanctions were passed, the sanctions described as ground-breaking and unprecedented.

So it potentially will be difficult. It will be very interesting to see that if there are sanctions put on the table at the U.N. Security Council, whether or not China signs up as it did back in March.

ALLEN: And how far will the sanctions go?

That's something we will be watching as well. Thank you so much, Paula Hancocks for us there in Seoul, South Korea.

(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: Candidate Hillary Clinton is calling for more sanctions against North Korea and is pushing China --

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ALLEN: -- to do more.

Donald Trump jumped on the chance to blame the nuclear test on his Democratic rival.

On Friday the Republican presidential candidate called the test "another massive failure" from the secretary of state. Trump also characterized Clinton in a way he once described his own impunity.

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TRUMP: Because she is being so protected, she could walk into this arena now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted.

OK?

That's what's happened. That is what's happened to our country. I never thought I'd see the day when this is happening to our country.

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ALLEN: Clinton did not respond to any of Trump's comments we mentioned about North Korea. But at a fundraiser in New York on Friday she did go after some of his supporters.

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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.

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CLINTON: The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.

That other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them.

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ALLEN: Earlier Friday, Clinton met with a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts. The news conference that followed appeared staged to draw a stark contrast with Trump. Here's our senior political reporter, Brianna Keilar.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPODENT: Hillary Clinton is showcasing her commander-in-chief credentials, meeting with the bipartisan group of prominent national security experts.

CLINTON: I asked him to join me for a candid conversation about some of the most challenging issues facing our country.

KEILAR: Among those at the meeting former CIA Director and Retired General David Petraeus and Michael Chertoff, George W. Bush's homeland secretary. After the meeting in a carefully staged event designed to a vocal White House press conference, Clinton came to the microphone to once again blast Donald Trump.

CLINTON: This just becomes more and more of a reality television script -- show. It's not a serious presidential campaign. And it is beyond one's imagination to have a candidate for president praising a Russian autocrat like Vladimir Putin.

KEILAR: But with North Korea's test of yet another nuclear weapon, Clinton is also in a political bind, Trump saying earlier its evidence, her time as secretary of state was a failure. Clinton condemned the test and says the U.S. must be recalibrate its approach with North Korea.

CLINTON: We are not going to let anyone who is a treaty ally and partner of ours be threatened and we are not going to let North Korea pursue a nuclear weapon with the ballistic missile capacity to deliver it to the United States territory. That is absolutely a bottom line.

KEILAR: Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine is accusing Trump of showing a shocking level of disrespect for President Obama in praising Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

TRUMP: He's been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.

TIM KAINE, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you don know the difference between leadership and dictatorship, then where do I start with you?

KEILAR: The Clinton campaign is out with a new ad, emphasizing the importance of Democrats and Republicans working together.

CLINTON: That's how we got health care for 8 million kids. Rebuilt New York City after 9/11 and got the treaty cutting Russia's nuclear arms. We got to bring people together. That's how you solve problems and that's what I'll do as president.

KEILAR: The national archives which runs the Clinton library said it also found 59 pictures of Hillary Clinton in 1994 at a fundraiser that Donald Trump attended. But they're not going to release them. They say they are protected as personal information -- Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

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ALLEN: Russia's show of force in Crimea, was it a provocation or simply planned maneuvers as the military says?

We'll have that story coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.

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ALLEN: Russia is flexing its military muscle in Crimea and that has some people wondering if Friday's war games in the territory were Russia stirring up trouble or just being prepared. Frederik Pleitgen was there.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Moscow putting on a huge show of force, war games from land, air and sea, in Crimea, the territory Russia annexed from Ukraine a little over two years ago.

(on camera): The Russians are sending a very clear message with these large-scale and top-flight military drills. Their forces are entrenched here in Crimea and they are ready to fight any time.

(voice-over): The maneuvers are called Kavkaz 2016 and take place not only in Crimea but in Russia's entire southern military district right on the border with Ukraine. The drills involve more than 12,000 soldiers, dozens of fighter jets flying mock dog-fight missions, strike aircraft hitting ground and sea targets and land forces in an amphibious assault.

Still, the defense ministry spokesman insists it is not a provocation.

"This is not at all a provocation," he says. "I want to stress that this is a planned event. We announced these drills last November. The troops have been preparing for a long time."

But they come at a time of heightened tensions with the U.S. and NATO over the annexation of Crimea and other issues. The Russian air force intercepted a U.S. P-8 Naval aircraft in the region just as the drills were getting under way. And only three weeks ago, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to smuggle operatives into Crimea for sabotage operations, a claim Kiev denies.

The Kavkaz military drills will likely cause more unease in Ukraine and eastern European NATO member states.

Russia's military chief of staff says the initial assessment is that they went smoothly.

"We need to fully analyze everything," he says. "But these drills were very beneficial to the southern military district and for the troops from other districts involved as well."

PLEITGEN: With Russia and the West at odds over Syria and Ukraine, Moscow is continuing to advance and refine its armed forces for all the world to see -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, at the Opuk military base in Crimea.

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ALLEN: Derek Van Dam is here with us now and he has got his eye on the state of Illinois in the U.S. because they are having tornadoes.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, late in the season, too.

ALLEN: Tornado season still, I guess.

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ALLEN: All right, Derek, thank you.

VAN DAM: All right, Natalie.

ALLEN: The U.S. marks the 15th anniversary of a national tragedy, the 9/11 attacks. Up next here, some children of parents killed that day tell us how terrorists changed their lives forever.

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ALLEN: Sunday will be a somber anniversary in the United States, 15 years since the 9/11 attacks. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump will be campaigning. Clinton will be in New York to pay her respects at the 9/11 Memorial but is not expected to speak there.

She was a U.S. senator from New York when the Twin Towers fell.

Many children who lost parents that day were too young to understand what had happened. Now as young adults, they reflect on what the past 15 years have meant for them.

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MATTHEW WISNIEWSKI, LOST FATHER ON 9/11: I was only 4 years old when I lost my father. So in a way, I never really knew my father. And I guess that was the worst thing about it for me initially. Being told that I'm like him and that I used to talk like him, sound like him, even have some of the same hobbies was weird. It made me feel kind of sometimes like a ghost almost. Like I was -- like someone I never knew.

NICK ZANGRILLI, LOST FATHER ON 9/11: Not having my dad around on a day-to-day basis was really tough for me. Not having that male figure to go to, or not having one of my parents around for big --

[00:25:00] ZANGRILLI: -- milestones in my life. And I do really try to make him proud whenever I can. Whenever I either like get a good grade or do good in lacrosse, I always think of him and think of how he feels or how he would have thought of it if he was like with us, with me today.

JULIETTE SCAUSO, LOST FATHER ON 9/11: I definitely felt his absence very strongly on the milestone of graduating high school. It was very difficult to move into college when you see all the other kids pulling up with carfuls of stuff and they have both parents and I only had my mom there. It was very hard because it was more in your face of physically seeing everybody else with their families. I definitely felt an absence there.

KEVIN PARKS, LOST FATHER ON 9/11: An event like that can bring out the best or the worst in people. And that was one of the lessons that I learned early on is it brought out the best in my family and people around me because it brought together such a big -- an amazing support group. You know, as close as my relatives, but then from strangers from across the country who would write letters and send their thoughts along.

The way people behaved in the days that followed, the weeks that followed really stuck with me and kind of framed how I think about hopefully helping other people and, you know, I think it's what my father would have wanted. And he kind of would have been proud to how everyone rallied around my family.

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ALLEN: We are getting a look at what happened inside the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the 9/11 attack. It's part of the award- winning documentary, "9/11," recently acquired by CNN. We want to warn you the images could be disturbing.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We parked right in front of the awning of 1 World Trade Center and I remember asking, "Can I come in with you?"

"I want to come in with you."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you stay with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come in with me and never leave my side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go in. And I hear screams.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And right to my right, there was two people on fire, burning. I just didn't want to film them. It was like no one -- no one should see this.

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ALLEN (voice-over): This Sunday you can watch CNN Films presents "9/11: 15 Years Later." You can see it at three different times.

That is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. "TALK ASIA" is next and our top stories.

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