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Syria Ceasefire Appears To Be Holding Despite Reported Attacks; Hillary Clinton Takes a Sick Day; Typhoon Meranti Set To Strike; Pence Refuses To Call David Duke "Deplorable"; Possible MH370 Debris Found In Madagascar; French Police Regain Control After Prison Riot; NFL Quarterback Continues Protest In Season Opener Kaepernick National Anthem Protest Continues; Investigation: Top Officials Accumulate Riches from Sudan Civil War. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 13, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, it's now 8:00 in the morning in Syria, and so far, a ceasefire appears to have made it through its first test.
SESAY: Plus, Hillary Clinton was supposed to spend her night here in California. Instead she's out sick while Donald Trump stays on the attack.
VAUSE: And the strongest storm of the year gets closer to slamming Taiwan and China.
SESAY: Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Thank you for being with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.
A ceasefire between the Syrian government and rebels seems to be holding but just barely. Syrian jets and tanks reportedly carried out a small number of attacks during the first night.
SESAY: But if the truce continues, people trapped in war-torn cities could finally start getting the aid they need. Jim Sciutto reports. The next few days will be critical.
[01:01:16] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sunset in war-torn Syria. The official start of a tenuous ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and Russia. But in the final hours before the deadline, airstrikes by the Syrian Air Force rained down on north-western Syria killing at least 90 people, a rights group said. Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad vowing defiantly to "Retake every piece of land from the terrorists."
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Good afternoon.
SCIUTTO: Today, Secretary of State John Kerry said the agreement is based on verification, not trust.
KERRY: Promises are one thing. It's the actions that will define whether or not this will be able to come together.
SCIUTTO: The aim of the ceasefire is limited. At first, to allow much needed humanitarian aid to reach the devastated cities under siege such as Aleppo. Only if the fighting stops for a full seven days will the U.S. and Russia begin discussing cooperation in targeting ISIS and the Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front. In addition, under Russian pressure, Syria has agreed to suspend its airstrikes.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The Syrian government has been informed by us about these arrangements, and it is ready to fulfill them.
SCIUTTO: The next 48 hours are crucial, the first test of the deal's staying power. The fighters on the ground including the U.S.-backed rebels of the Free Syrian Army, skepticism still reigns.
OMAR, FREE SYRIAN ARMY FIGHTER: If it's a ceasefire like the previous ones, then we certainly won't benefit from it. There must be political motives behind it that will harm the people.
SCIUTTO: Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
VAUSE: Joining us now is Barbara Walter, is an expert on international security and terrorism, also a professor of political science at University of California, San Diego. And military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. And Colonel Francona, first you, the Aleppo Media Center is reporting a number of separate incidents overnight involving Syrian helicopters, jets, tanks. Is this what you would call an acceptable level of violence for the first 24 hours before things settle down?
[01:03:19] LIEUTENANT COLONEL RICK FRANCONA, MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the secretary said that this was going - the senator Kerry said this was going to happen. We could expect this to happen in the first few days. And he said as long as we're seeing a reduction in violence, he would consider this successful. The few strikes that the Syrians did conduct they claim were against terrorist groups, which they believe are allowed under the agreement. And of course, you know, the Syrians believe anybody that's not part of the government or part of the regime is a terrorist.
VAUSE: Yeah, it's a very broad definition. And professor, to you, if John Kerry is right, and this ceasefire is the last chance to save a united Syria, then it would be a very slim chance at best.
[01:03:59] PROFESSOR BARBARA WALTER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND TERRORISM EXPERT: That's true. I don't think the ceasefire is going to be successful over the long term. And there are three reasons for that. First, it was negotiated between the United States and Russia, not between any of the parties that are actually fighting the war. Second, it benefits the Assad regime. So, the opposition has few incentives to comply over the long term. And finally, there's no enforcement mechanism. So, no one has the ability to stop Assad from airstrikes if he wants to drop bombs, and no one has the ability to stop the opposition from fighting back. VAUSE: And Colonel Francona, under this plan, if the Syrian regime and the moderate rebels hold their fire for a week, we then get to the point where the Americans and the Russias could begin these joint operations. What could possibly go wrong with that?
FRANCONA: Well, the - if they set up this joint implementation center, that's where the coordination of strikes on the former Nusra Front and ISIS will take place. Also, they'll probably go after some of the other Islamist groups (INAUDIBLE) What this does in effect is take many, many of the combatants that are anti-regime off of the table. This plays right into Bashar al-Assad's hands, plays right into the Russian's hands, and it hurts the overall goal of the United States. We'd like to get rid of Bashar al-Assad, but what this does is actually keep him in power much, much longer.
VAUSE: And professor, there is so much about the ceasefire which is unclear, it is not defined or it's considered confidential, is that a deliberate play here by Americans and Russians simply to avoid to say anything publicly which would be a hard and fast deal breaker, so they can sort of muddle their way through for as long as possible?
WALTER: I think that's exactly right. I think there's also an interest in the United States not making the terms public. But this really is a deal that favors Assad. As the other guest stated, he does well if this ceasefire lasts for seven days and the United States and Russia begin targeting especially the Al-Nusra Front. If you weaken Al-Nusra Front, you weaken moderate rebels who are fighting against Assad.
VAUSE: And Colonel Francona, you mentioned President Assad that there is - obviously, the Americans and the Russians are at odds as to his future, hours before the ceasefire went into effect, he was out there publicly declaring that the government would take control of all the opposition territory which is lost. This is a man who has no intention of walking away, quite the opposite it would seem.
FRANCONA: I think you're exactly right, John. I watched that statement. He was walking through the town of Daraa, which they just took back from the rebels. He had that negotiated ceasefire. This is a suburb of Damascus. And he made a statement there. He's feeling emboldened now, because he's got the Russians backing him up, he's got the Iranians backing him up. He's on the ascension here. He knows that he's in the - in the driver's seat. If he goes along with the ceasefire, we eliminate most of the opposition. Why would he agree to any plan that removes himself from power? So, I think he's in a great position.
VAUSE: Which is why the opposition groups are so hesitant about this deal, because they see it only benefiting the government. Finally to you, though, Professor Walter. Is there a measure of success here, a very basic measure here that if aid deliveries make it through to some of these besiege areas, if it is a reduction of violence for at least a period of time, then this is at least to some degree of success?
WALTER: Absolutely. Secretary of State Kerry signed this deal for humanitarian reasons. I don't think he's under any illusions that this is likely to last or to lead to the end of the war. I think he's doing this because he thinks it's going to last for a short period of time or at least long enough for critical food and aid to get to civilians who are suffering.
VAUSE: And we'll leave it there. Professor Walter, thank you so much. Also, Colonel Francona. The insights from both of you is very much appreciated. Thank you.
WALTER: My pleasure.
SESAY: The candidates' transparency is becoming a focal point in the U.S. presidential campaign.
VAUSE: Hillary Clinton told Anderson Cooper, she didn't disclosed her pneumonia diagnosis right away because she didn't think it was a big deal. The Democratic nominee is at home recovering after canceling a campaign trip to California.
HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Compare everything you know about me with my opponent. I think it's time he met the same level of disclosure that I have for years. You know, you've got a medical report on me that meets the same standard as Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Donald Trump's doctor said he'd be the healthiest president in history. That's just not even serious.
SESAY: Well, Donald Trump said he hopes Clinton gets well soon. He said he'll soon release the results of a physical he had last week.
VAUSE: For more on this, we're joined by CNN's senior reporter for media and politics Dylan Byers and also by Dr. Michael Lewis. He's a board certify family practice physician at the Willow Healing Center here in Los Angeles. And Dr. Lewis, first to you. A short time ago, Bill Clinton said that Secretary Clinton, his wife, Hillary, is actually doing a whole lot better, but then he added this. Listen to what President Clinton said.
[01:09:17] DR. MICHAEL LEWIS, PHYSICIAN AT WILLOW HEALING CENTER LOS ANGELES: Sure.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Rarely, but on more than one occasion over the last many, many years, the same sort of things happens to her when she just got severely dehydrated. And she's worked like a demon, as you know, as Secretary of State and as a senator. And in the years since.
VAUSE: OK. So apart from the confusion, was it dehydration, was it pneumonia? We had Bill Clinton now saying that something like this has happened before. What do you make of President Clinton's remarks?
LEWIS: Well, thank you for having me. Obviously, these things can happen in random events. My thought about what's going on is that when I see different pieces of a puzzle, I like to think that they're all belong to one puzzle. And I don't mean to speculate and I don't mean to be a conspiracy theorist for that matter. However, when we see cough, since the Benghazi, you know, hearings and we see chronic dehydration, we see multiple blood clots or a hypercoagulable states, we call it. I tend to think something may be going on deeper than just the pneumonia. And I hope - hopefully not. But my due diligence as a physician would be to think about the worse things and then rule them out. Now, hopefully her medical team is offering that to her.
SESAY: Dr. Lewis, both campaigns, the Trump and Clinton campaign, have announced today that in the coming days, they'll be releasing more information about the health of the candidates. As you talk about puzzles and you talk about trying to build a picture of Hillary Clinton's health, what will you be looking for when that information comes out?
LEWIS: I think that's a great question. I think, looking at the whole picture, it's hard to do it from a distance, because I haven't examined her, I haven't put a stethoscope on her, I haven't seen her laboratories, and I haven't seen her up close. What we're getting is what we're getting as individuals here, as voters, and bystanders are second and third-party, you know, results. So, I think and I hope, one, that she's okay. Two, I hope that her medical team is really doing their due diligence, and, three, I think we're - I hope - I hope we're getting the truth, because it is an important time for us voters to know the truth and have transparency.
VAUSE: OK. And with that, let's go to Dylan, because I mean, that gets into the politics of the issue. Hillary Clinton tweeted this out a short time ago, "Like anyone who's ever been homesick from work, I'm just anxious to get back out there. See you on the trail soon."
The problem is this isn't just having a sick day. This goes to the question of transparency. Why weren't all of these issues disclosed long before this event happened on Sunday? And it feeds into the narrative, whether it's the medical records, a private e-mail server that something is being hidden. Yeah?
[01:12:22] DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA & POLITICS: Right. And I would say, with all due respect to Dr. Lewis, it allows you to sort of say OK. Well, she coughed here, and she coughed there, and she has pneumonia here and now her husband is saying she's had pneumonia in the past. What's the bigger picture here? What don't we know? Look, pneumonia is something that you can cure, you can take medicine for it. Coughing is something that happens to people. The real issue here is not one of health, the issue here is one of transparency.
SESAY: Uh-hmm.
BYERS: People want to know more. She has met the standard that was set by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. What neither candidate has done is set the standard that was set by John McCain in 2008. John McCain then 71, invited 20 reporters to Arizona to review 1,173 pages of his medical documents. It wasn't pretty, but in the end it showed that he was fit to be President of the United States. In 2016, that almost seems naively idealistic. No one - the transparency right now is at an all-time low. And, you know, Donald Trump won't even release his tax returns. He won't even release an IRS letter audit showing that he can't release his tax returns. And I'll just say, you know, at the end of the day, we need more transparency from both of these candidates. But I ultimately think as bad as this weekend has looked for Hillary, it's going to end up being a net win for her, because she's going to come out and say, "Fine, you want to spend 72 hours talking about my health, let's spend 72 hours talking about Donald Trump's tax returns.
SESAY: Yeah. And Dr. Lewis, just briefly, you heard Dylan say there, you know, Hillary Clinton, you know, what she's released right now meets the standards for a Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Your thoughts on that?
LEWIS: I hope those standards hold up. I'm sure they will. I hope we're getting all the information and I hope she's OK. It's a little disconcerning for me as a physician. And, you know, tax returns and health records, they're not mandatory. They're recommended. And I think it's important that we have all the information that we need to get as voters in 60 days from now when we're voting. So, I just hope everyone is doing their due diligence on either side, and that's the transparency side, the bureaucratic side, and the medical side.
VAUSE: And doctor, thank you for giving us your expertise on the medical side of things.
SESAY: And thank you, doctor.
VAUSE: We're going to look a little closer at the politics of that "deplorable" comment that Hillary Clinton made about Donald Trump's supporters. So, Dylan, you'll stay with us. The - clearly, this is something which the Trump campaign feels that they can run on. This is Donald Trump at a campaign rally today.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton still hasn't apologized to those she slandered. In fact, she hasn't backed down at all. She's doubled down on her campaign conspiracy and contempt. If Hillary Clinton will not retract her comments in full, I don't see how she can credibly campaign any further.
VAUSE: There is something incredibly bizarre and ironic or whatever you want to choose it, Donald Trump demanding an apology for something that someone has said.
BYERS: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BYERS: The same - the same man who has had interviews in which he said, "I never apologize because I'm never wrong."
VAUSE: And yet he said so many things. And even this morning in that interview with CNBC, I mean, time and time again, he engages in innuendos, speculation, he says things that are halfly false, he says things that he doesn't provide evidence for. He calls Mexicans rapists - let's go down the list the last 13, 14 months. Now, that said, if you flash back to 2012, when Mitt Romney said what he said about the 47 percent of voters that were never going to vote for him - what Hillary Clinton said isn't exactly the same thing. Talking about the voters is always risky. Remember when Barack Obama talked about voters who clung - cling to their guns.
SESAY: Uh-hmm.
VAUSE: And (INAUDIBLE)
BYERS: I mean, talking - you know, this, at the end of the day, this process is about - it's - you know, we spend, like, all this time focusing on the candidates, two years almost focusing on the candidates. It is about the voters and the voters don't like being disrespected. Now, on the other hand, I don't know if it's the best idea for Trump's supports to go out and embrace this deplorable thing. And start waving around confederate flags. I don't think that's going to help Trump's brand either.
SESAY: Yeah. Lastly to you - to you, Dylan. We hear Trump saying she's - the comments are disqualifying, she should apologize, and yet his running mate was asked whether he would label David Duke, the KKK leader - former KKK leader deplorable.
BYERS: Right.
SESAY: Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke's name. Donald Trump has denounced David Duke repeatedly. We don't want his support. And we don't want the support of people who thinks he is -
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Would you call him a deplorable? You would call him?
PENCE: No, I don't - I'm not in the name-calling business, Wolf. You know me better than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BYERS: Well, look, I - he's - Pence is put in a tough position there, right? You don't want to be associated with disavowing and you don't want David Duke to be in the headline, but if you don't disavow, it's going to be -
SESAY: Why don't you want -
BYERS: Because you are trying to run a campaign where you are trying to appeal to the David Duke faction along with other factions. Now, look, Hillary Clinton, when she apologized and she said - her apology said, "I'm sorry that I called half of his supporters deplorable." She didn't say, "I'm sorry that I called any of his supporters deplorable." The truth about the Donald Trump campaign, and you know, reporters like myself will get all sorts of invective from Trump supporters, saying we're not being fair. The truth is there is a nativist wing of the Donald Trump -
VAUSE: And that's being pointed out (INAUDIBLE) BYERS: Yes.
VAUSE: OK. Dylan Byers, thank you for being with us.
SESAY: Thank you.
VAUSE: Also, I'd like to thank Dr. Michael Lewis who is also here with us in Los Angeles for the medical input. We appreciate your inputs.
SESAY: Thanks to you both.
VAUSE: OK. We'll leave politics behind. We'll take a short break. When we come back, a tropical storm growing into a super typhoon in just one day. And now Taiwan is bracing for the most powerful storm of the year.
SESAY: Plus, a man claimed he's found possible debris from Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Hear what he thinks these pieces could reveal about the missing plane.
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[01:20:31] DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport Headlines. Everton have maintained their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season beating Sunderland away on Monday night. And they did it in style, too, thanks to their Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku who scored a (INAUDIBLE) in just 11 minutes. 3-nill, the score. And it was a miserable night for Sunderland's David Moyes. He was Everton's former manager.
The American Ryder Cup team is desperate to end the long losing streak in the (INAUDIBLE) competition. They have named three of their wildcards to the side, which will play Europe at Hazeltine on Monday. Captain Davis Love III added Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and J.B. Holmes. The Americans still have one more pick and Love will make that call after the tour championship next weekend.
And most of us simply cannot imagine the setbacks that Paralympic athletes have gone through. They are truly inspirational. But their lives are far from easy, and the plight of one silver medalist at the games in Rio is really quite sobering. The Belgian wheelchair racer Marieke Vervoort suffers from a painful degenerative spinal disease, and says she's considering euthanasia. Told journalists in Brazil that she has the legal documentation which allows her to take her own life. He says it gives her peace knowing that she has the option if her condition worsens. That is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:22:15] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Police in Western France are back in charge after a chaotic prison riot. Officials say an inmate grabbed a set of keys and unlocked a number of cells.
[01:22:25] VAUSE: Inmates set fire to part of the building. As it burned, smoke was visible miles away. No staff or prisoners were seriously injured during the incident.
SESAY: An American lawyer searching for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 says he may have found pieces of the missing plane that show burn marks.
VAUSE: He found the debris in Southern Madagascar and sent it to investigators.
BLAINE GIBSON, LAWYER HUNTING MH370: The top layer of paint has been singed, scorched black. It also shows some signs of melting. As you see, when something is exposed to fire. Because it appears to be from the interior of the plane, but not the main cabin. Perhaps the cargo hold, perhaps the avionics bay.
VAUSE: MH370 disappeared more than two years ago in March 2014 with 239 people on board.
SESAY: We'll see what happens next. All right. The super typhoon Meranti is already the strongest storm of the year and it is headed for Taiwan and China, where nearly 50 million people could be impacted.
VAUSE: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the very latest on the forecast from the International Weather Center. So, where is it at? What's happening?
[01:03:42] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, guys, this is as impressive as you will see a storm on our planet. In fact, are near the top of the theoretical limits of the strongest storms you'll see on our planet and how strong that it can get. Satellite presentation is impressive, but when you think about categories from one to two to three to four to five, the distance in wind speeds between them - this particular storm, if there was a - it's category 6. This would be right up there as a category 6. That's how much stronger it is in a five-scale. And that shows you the intensity associated with the storm system.
I want to show you the storm because align of - a lot of storms across this region of the Western Pacific. (INAUDIBLE) impacting portions of Vietnam and Laos. Of course, "Malakas" back behind it. Meranti is the one we're watching very carefully for the sheer wind speeds associated with this. Now, sitting up there at a sustained wind speed, almost 300 kilometers per hour. That is roughly right up there with what super typhoon Haiyan was when it made landfall. Now, the good news with the storm system, it will weaken before it impacts land. It will weaken just a little bit at least. And I want to show you what's happened in the past 24 hours. In fact, in 24 hours, this storm has gone from a category 1 to a category 5. Remarkable in and of itself and then pushing up to 300 kilometers per hour, which is where it sits (INAUDIBLE)
Now, in Taiwan, we've had plenty of such storms, and in fact, 19 of them since 1950. And notice the southern tier of it, just a handful have impacted the southern tier of Taiwan with category 4 and category 5 strength. At this point, we expect the storm to move just South of Taiwan, potentially just clip the southern tier of Taiwan some time, say, Wednesday afternoon, John and Isha. This will still be a super typhoon. It would weaken just a little bit. Unfortunately, John and Isha, you guys both know very well, places like Shantou, Zhangzhou, towards Fuzhou, tens of millions of people live across this region. This could come in as a category 3 storm, impacting that area on Thursday morning. So, we're going to follow this into the next couple days certainly as well.
VAUSE: Yeah. In that cloud of uncertainty, wherever it sort of makes landfall, you're going to hit a lot of people -
SESAY: Yeah.
VAUSE: -- on Mainland China.
JAVAHERI: Absolutely. Absolutely.
VAUSE: OK. Pedram, thank you.
SESAY: Thank you. Time for a quick break. Colin Kaepernick takes a knee during the 49ers opening game. Coming up, we ask a former soldier why he supports the NFL quarterback's right to protest.
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[01:29:19] VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
[01:29:23] SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour. A fragile ceasefire is in effect in Syria for the first time in months. It meant to allow humanitarian aid into devastated cities like Aleppo. There are reports of some attacks by Syrian jets and tanks in and around that city, but for the most part, the truce appears to be holding.
VAUSE: Taiwan is bracing for the most powerful storm in the northern hemisphere this year. In just 24 hours, super typhoon Meranti jumped from a category 1 to a category 5 storm. And it's expected to make landfall in Southern Taiwan Wednesday morning local time.
[01:30:00] SESAY: Hillary Clinton says she didn't reveal her diagnosis right away because she didn't think it was going to be a big deal. She cancelled a trip to California but could be campaigning in a few days. She says she has been transparent about her health and challenging Donald Trump to do the same.
VAUSE: Colin Kaepernick took a knee once again during the national anthem. All eyes were on the NFL quarterback before the season opener on Monday night.
SESAY: It's Kaepernick way of calling attention to racial injustice in the United States. But he wasn't alone. Safety Eric Reid knelt beside him.
Dan Simon is in Santa Clara, California.
Dan, Kaepernick keeping the process going. How did the protest go over with the crowds in the stadium?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You hear things from both sides. We saw a number of number-7 Jerseys. But I think the opinions vary. But a number of fans said that they respect the fact that, you know, he has the constitutional right to do this. Even though they may not agree with everything he is doing.
SESAY: And given that we saw this teammate by his side, for this opening game, any concern on the part of the 49ers' management this is something that is going to spread among other players on the team?
SIMON: It's going to be interesting to hear what some of the coaches say after -- the game just ended. There is going to be a news conference coming up shortly. We'll see if they address it but it's I think they feel like it is behind them now. It happened for four games, the preseason and now the first game of the regular season. You had a couple of Los Angeles rams players also, you know, holding up their fists which of course is another powerful symbol. And this has spread across the United States. You have high school football teams kneeling during the national anthem. What Colin Kaepernick has done is starting a phenomenon and they feel like they have got beyond the original headlines and this is a much bigger story.
SESAY: Dan Simon joining us there from Santa Clara, California. Appreciate it, Dan. Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: We are joined by former Green Beret and former NFL player, Nick Boyer.
Nick, good to have you with us.
NICK BOYER, FORMER NFL PLAYER & FORMER GREEN BERET: Good to be here.
SESAY: So Colin Kaepernick's protest continues. He took the knee tonight at the game and the protest seems to be spreading. As a former NFL player are you surprised to see this?
BOYER: Not at all. I met with Colin and Eric, actually just I guess ten days ago now, the night before their last pre-season game where the game before -- the two games before that, Colin had sat down on the Bench isolated from his team and he read that open letter that I wrote to him and he invited me down to have a discussion about everything. And he was looking for a more respectful way to demonstrate. Because he does have a big heart for our military and service members and he understands that most police officers are good people and do it the right way. But there are still these social injustices that he is recognizing. So he decided we kind of came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates.
SESAY: Did you help him come to that decision?
BOYER: Exactly. Yeah, we all -- the three of us sat in the lobby of the team hotel in San Diego and just hashed it out in plain view there. And it was pretty cool. But it was really cool to see that image spread versus sitting on the Bench alone. I just think it's more proactive, first of all. And it's also -- you know, alongside your teammates is the key there. You are still part of the unit even though you maybe think a little bit differently.
VAUSE: As a former Green Beret and former NFL player how you to explain to people that Kaepernick is not being disrespectful to the military?
BOYER: It's hard. There are a lot of people who don't agree with it. We fought for the right to people to disagree and have those opinions. But at the same time, this is what America is supposed to be about. You know what I mean? That's what is supposed to set us apart from the un-free world is those freedoms, that right for him to stand for or kneel for something that he truly believes in and what's important now I think is the action moving forward. And obviously the donating of the money is a huge step. But I would like to see him and all those taking a knee or raising a fist to get involved in the community on a grass roots level to be a part of the change they want to see.
[01:35:00] SESAY: You know the NFL from the inside as a player. Are we witnessing a turning point in the league? Are we going to see more of this kind of stuff, NFL players speaking out on important social issues, because until now, they have been kind of reticent? We've seen it more in other sporting leagues. Have we reached a turning point here?
BOYER: We are seeing in sporting leagues and in the entertainment industry. I love it. Because at least in this country as far as football goes, those guys are the heroes of many young people. You know what I mean? And if it's something they are passionate about and if it's something that is not drawing attention to themselves but for a cause. Which this is and I met with him and kind of understood that. I wanted to feel that out. And I feel that he genuinely cares and wants to see change. I think this is something that will grow in the sporting world and I think there's a place for it.
VAUSE: You mentioned that Kaepernick is donating money to these charities the sales from the Jerseys. And the 49ers are donating $1 million as well. Say what you will about Kaepernick but there is positive change already happening because of this protest. That is undeniable right now.
BOYER: Absolutely. After I went down there I met with some of the 49ers organization and throughout this week before the Seahawks protest they did that unified they were all interlocking arms. I talked with their players and coaches as well. It was really cool to be in a position where they were reaching out to me to filter it through. How would veterans see it through your eyes? I love the organization is getting on board as well. I hope the fans in the stands do too. That's what it is all about. It's about that platform making a difference for the community and obviously the community getting involved in somehow racism will exist forever, unfortunately but we can do better. We can always do better. That's what his message really is about, I believe. I could be wrong. But --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: It seems like we are almost at a point where there is an acceptable protest for all sides that they can make the point and people are happy with it -- or --
(CROSSTALK)
BOYER: For the most part. I think the far extremes to both ends --
(CROSSTALK)
BOYER: -- will always be upset about it in some way.
VAUSE: It's expanding the middle.
BOYER: Exactly.
SESAY: Thank you so much.
BOYER: Thank you. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And a short break. When we come back, George Clooney is calling for international intervention to end the civil war in South Sudan. A new report he co-commissioned and the allegations of corruption among the nation's top officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR & ACTIVIST: I think what's so explosive about it is that we have these guys nailed. We realize you really can't shame the bad guys, what you can do is you can follow the money and shame the people who are hiding it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:41:00] SESAY: A new report alleges South Sudan's leaders are profiting from the nation's civil war. The two-year investigation was co-commissioned by George Clooney.
SESAY: It found that top officials have accumulated fortunes despite modest salaries, they are living in mansions and driving luxury cars.
Jake Tapper spoke with Actor George Clooney and Activist John Prendergast who co-founded the human rights group behind the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLOONEY: This is a very deep, deep, long -- it's a two-year investigation. And you know, I think what's so explosive about it is that we have these guys nailed. We realize you really can't shame the bad guys, then what you can do is you can follow the money and, perhaps, shame the people who are hiding it which have much easier to shame.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: John, what does the report show?
JOHN PRENDERGAST, ACTIVIST: It shows at the top of the government of South Sudan, the president, the vice president, the major generals in the Army have suctioned that economy dry. They have taken -- they have stolen the resources of the country, which are plentiful. This is an oil-driven economy that had billions of dollars going into the coffers and they have diverted that for private use or to fund these deadly wars.
CLOONEY: We are meeting with Secretary Kerry later today. We are meeting with the treasury secretary today. We have a lot of asks that we're going to do and we're hoping to have the political will to do it. You know, that's the trick in all of this, as you know.
TAPPER: What do you want? You have a relationship with President Obama. What do you want him to do?
CLOONEY: Are there are a lot of things that can be done. Mostly we're looking for targeted sanctions. It's a tricky slope you're walking on. We don't want this to become Somalia. But we want it to make it difficult for those who are profiting using American dollars or working in the international community.
TAPPER: Obviously, it's uncomfortable to admit, but we are covering it because of George. What does it mean in terms of Washington and doors opening?
PRENDERGAST: I thought it was me. Anyways.
TAPPER: We love you very much.
(LAUGHTER)
PRENDERGAST: I saw a study two months ago in which a competent NGO, non-governmental organization, found the stolen assets of a particular country and the leaders and how they ferreted the money out of the system and no one covered it. With Don Cheadle and George Clooney being part of our work, not just showing up, but and being part of it throughout --
(CROSSTALK) PRENDERGAST: So not only do we get attention but we also get access to bring the policy expertise and say here's a different way of doing things.
TAPPER: I want to turn to a few other issues. You and your wife met with Syrian refugees. I'm wondering what that meant to you.
CLOONEY: I spent a good portion of 15 years dealing with refugees and raising money and trying to bring attention to it. This is the worst we've seen since World War II. We are all going to have a responsibility to step up along the way. There is a huge portion of this that doesn't have to be governmental in terms of educating people who are stuck in the refugee camps. We know what happens years from now with that group if they are not allowed -- if they are not afforded an education. It fosters all kinds of other problems.
TAPPER: It must frustrate you as someone who focuses on these issues.
PRENDERGAST: It doesn't have to be this way. What the common denominator in all of these places that are suffering so greatly is you have an authoritarian leader who shut out freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and independent voices from the government and use extreme violence to stay in power and siphon off the resources of the state. Dealing with this core issue of the corruption at the center is fundamentally important. It's a national security issue.
CLOONEY: For the people watching this, as you and I are talking, they'll say who cares? It's South Sudan. It's another corrupt government and, you know, big surprise. But the reality is if South Sudan is a failed state, we've seen what influences take over in a failed state. It's never good. And that's something we'll have to deal with for generations if we don't deal with it now. Now it's easy. It will be a lot hardener the years to come. So when people wonder why now? Why are we giving so much aid already to South Sudan it's because of that?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Regardless of the fact he is a movie star, what he is saying is important, and maybe because it's coming from him, people will listen.
Other big names in Hollywood are trying to raise the plight of refugees.
VAUSE: The video is aimed to give recognition to the plight of refugees. Celebrities perform a poem based on people who were forced to flee their homes. Here's part of the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Wallet.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Wallet.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Money. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Coins.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Pennies.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Torch.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Seeing more clearly out at sea.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Three bags.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Rucksack.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Truck.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yellow plastic bag.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yellow cards for refugees.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: A national I.D.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Army service record.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: An information booklet from the government.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Certificate from high school.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Passport if you have one.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Expensive one-way ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Fake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The video is based on a poem inspired by testimony from refugees.
SESAY: It was released on Facebook to promote the U.N. refugee agencies with the refugees campaign.
We're going to take a short break and be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:51:12] SESAY: U.S. Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte, is licking his wounds, I guess, after protesters stormed the stage during the live show --
VAUSE: I was watching Rick Perry on "Dancing with the Stars".
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I feel that you bought your best to this ballroom. You have a long way to go.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, back off!
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. OK.
I'll tell you what -- we'll take a break. We'll get the rest of the judges' comments. Take a deep breath and we'll be right back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: An amount of commotion there. Lochte and his dancing partner just finished their routine when these two men appeared to try to rush the stage.
VAUSE: Apparently, they own a gas station in Rio. Maybe, maybe not.
(LAUGHTER)
Lochte said he was heartbroken. He sparked outrage when he was caught lying about an alleged robbery in Rio.
SESAY: The latest edition of the Oxford English dictionary is out and includes 1,200 new words. Here are a few, non-apology, an insincere or unconvincing apology.
VAUSE: Clicktivism, signaling support for a political cause through social media. And Yolo, you only live once.
Sandro Monetti is here to talk about this.
OK. So --
SESAY: It's all going off the track.
Let's talk about splendiforous moobs.
SANDRO MONETTI, CELEBRITY JOURNALIST: You never thought you used that sentence.
(CROSSTALK)
Can we explain what those are?
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Splendiforous is one of the words. And moobs are used to describe unusually prominent breasts on a man. And yogalates, how do those manage to get in there? How did they manage to get in there?
MONETTI: Since 1884, the Oxford English dictionary has been assessing which words are part of the common vernacular. There are a team of 15 superheroes or geeks --
(CROSSTALK)
MONETTI: Geeky superheroes, who spend their year monitoring new words and seeing which ones make the cut. When the dictionary went online in 2000 they have a system where they check Internet, social media use to find which are the most commonly used words. And that's how we have splendiforous moobs.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Just because I hit 40.
SESAY: Can happen to the best of you.
VAUSE: Tell me about it.
SESAY: Or you could say forgot about it.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: You see.
MONETTI: You could also say Brexit but that's not in.
VAUSE: It's out.
MONETTI: Didn't qualify in time.
SESAY: But along with other, fuhgeddaboudit. The New York pronunciation of the phrase forget about it.
VAUSE: Thank you for explaining. I had no idea.
SESAY: I feel like our Mike, our cameraman, should say it. And also making the list is oompa loompa.
VAUSE: That took a while. I thought it was already in there.
MONETTI: It's the anniversary of Roald Dahl (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
MONETTI: From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" but it refers to people with those orange tans. They are referred to as oompa loompas.
VAUSE: The Republican nominee.
(CROSSTALK)
[01:55:14] MONETTI: With your basket of deplorables.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: And now Yoda is a noun.
MONETTI: Quite right. What took them so long?
SESAY: That's what I said.
VAUSE: What does Yoda mean?
MONETTI: The "Star Wars" having such an impact so that's --
SESAY: A person that embodies the personalities of Yoda, an elder, sage or guru.
Not me.
Not you either.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: No me. Must be you then.
Although do you think the folks at Oxford dictionary are using these words as click bait.
MONETTI: Quite possible. It used to take 50 years to get a new word in the dictionary and now about 50 days. It's all about going on-line and they have an on-line version. So clerk bait is the way to do it.
SESAY: I say forget about it.
MONETTI: As I say, you only live once.
VAUSE: We'll say goodbye.
Thanks, Sandro.
SESAY: Thank you for bearing with us and watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Wait, there's more. Another hour. I'm John Vause. Right after this. Forget about it.
SESAY: Forget about it.
VAUSE: Don't worry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
