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Trump Now Believes Obama Born in United States; Accusations of Death Squads During Duterte Tenure as Mayor; iPhone 7 Hits Market as Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Faces Recall; Syria Ceasefire Holding, Despite US-Russia Tensions; China Facing Typhoon-Related Flooding; Irish Military Ship Reaches Italy with Rescued Migrants; Libya Claims Successes Against ISIS; Swedish Court Expected to Rule on Assange Detention Order. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired September 16, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: The Trump campaign confirms Donald Trump believes Barack Obama was born in the United States. But Trump is yet to say that himself. What's the deal? We'll look in to it.
Plus, shocking allegations from the Philippines. One man claims President Duterte had death squads while he was the mayor.
And later, the tale of two smartphones. While the iPhone 7 hits the shelves the Samsung Galaxy Note is hit with a recall. One perhaps a little less smart than they wanted it to be.
Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
And thank you for joining us.
Tension is growing between the U.S. and Russia over the ceasefire in Syria. But for now, the truce is holding. That doesn't mean food and medicine are getting to the people of eastern Aleppo. It's not.
The only road in to the rebel-held sector is still not safe to travel. The U.N. is pleading for the security guarantees it needs to get the trucks rolling.
Russia is flying a drone over rebel-held eastern Aleppo to look for ceasefire violations.
CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen has more now from government-controlled western Aleppo.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than five years of civil war have scarred large parts of Aleppo. Neighborhoods, like this one, controlled by the government in ruins. Now finally with the ceasefire some respite and seemingly little things become special.
For the first time in months, 9-year-old Abdul Majeed (Ph) and his friends can go out, collect firewood for their families.
"We need this wood to cook dinner because we have nothing else," he says. The Shihan (Ph) neighborhood was on the front line until recently. Rebels shelled this district from a nearby hill laying waste to many of the buildings.
Meanwhile, government forces used air power to bomb the opposition areas. Amid the destruction, families continue to live in the ruins. Ahmed Yaski (Ph) has been here for three years and stayed even after the rebels fired makeshift rockets into the flat next door, blowing away the wall separating the two apartments.
"It was very dangerous," he says, we were too afraid to go out because there was also a sniper covering the street and we couldn't even go into this living room."
Now he stays here with his wife and eight children. The kids trying to rest in the badly damaged flat.
By all accounts, the situation is even worse in the rebel-held parts of Aleppo. Russia and the U.S. trying to ensure safe passage for U.N. aid into to the besieged areas.
If the agreement holds and Syrian forces withdrawal from this area, then this road, the Castello road will be the main entranceway for aid into eastern Aleppo. This is the road that the U.N. trucks are going to use.
The ceasefire has brought much-needed calm for the residents of this once so beautiful, now so battered city. While many of them cherish the calm, few are convinced that it can truly last.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.
ALLEN: CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins us now from Moscow. And it's just really incredible, Matthew. We just saw that story by Frederick to see children out and about in the rubble of Aleppo. That anyone is still alive there. The question is how far can they go with this? Any word on whether that road has been opened yet?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right. It is incredible to see these children playing in the rubble in those areas of Aleppo. But remember, there are 250,000 people approximately that are inside that city and who are desperately waiting for deliveries of aid convoys that at the moment are stuck the other side of the border with Turkey for a number of reasons.
The first one is, perhaps that that road that you mentioned is called the Castello road. They call it locally the road of death. And it's the main access point, if not the only access point, into the rebel- held areas of eastern Ukraine.
And part of the cessation of hostilities agreement between Russia and the United States was that this road would be demilitarized, that Syrian forces that currently hold it would pull back allowing the safe passage of those aid trucks from Turkey under the flag of the United Nations to deliver those much-needed supplies to the people of eastern Aleppo.
[03:05:01] That hasn't happened so far. Although, the Russians say, and the Russians remember are close allies of the Syrian government, that the Syrian armed forces have begun the very gradual process, they say, of removing their military hardware and their personnel back from that road to allow free access.
Although that plan (Ph) is contradicted, of course, by rebels on the ground.
The other issue, Natalie, that's holding up the delivery of aid convoys at the moment is that the U.N. say they haven't received the proper permissions yet. The letter of authority granting safe passage to the truck drivers that would be taking those U.N. trucks across the border into eastern Aleppo. That's something they need to guarantee the safety of those U.N. workers. And so far that has not been forthcoming from the Syrian government either.
ALLEN: And just to think that it's just one road that is not safe that is prohibiting this life-saving provisions that people need. What's been the reaction to Russia in this as far as the ceasefire deal? Is there a belief that they are upholding it?
I'm sorry. We've lost Matthew Chance's signal. So, we will follow developments in this story, of course.
We turn to the U.S. presidential race right now. And it's tightening dramatically. The latest CNN poll of polls shows Hillary Clinton's lead over Donald Trump has been cut in half. The democrat has 43 percent of support among likely voters.
Republican Trump has 41 percent. This as CNN/ORC poll shows Trump holds a narrow lead over Clinton in Ohio and the two are nearly dead even in Florida both, as you know, key battleground states.
In another story, the Trump campaign says Donald Trump now believes President Obama was born in the United States. This would be a huge reversal for Trump, who has questioned Mr. Obama's birthplace for years.
On Thursday, Trump told the Washington Post, quote, "I'll answer that question at the right time. I just don't want to answer it yet." End quote. That prompted this response from Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today, he did it again. He was asked one more time where was President Obama born? And he still wouldn't say Hawaii. He still wouldn't say America. This man wants to be our next president? When will he stop this ugliness? This bigotry?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: After Clinton made those remarks the Trump campaign released a statement saying this "Having successfully obtained President Obama's birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States."
Again, Trump himself has not said that the President was born in the U.S. The Clinton campaign seized on that tweeting this "Trump needs to say it himself, on camera and admit he was wrong for trying to delegitimize the country's first African-American president."
The effects of the 'birther' movement that Trump led persists in public opinion in the CNN/ORC poll as recently as last year. Twenty percent of people believed the president was not born in the United States.
Barack Obama is clearly dismayed by this fiery rhetoric in the campaign. The president appeared to take a shot at Donald Trump for injecting ugliness into the immigration debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: And look, throughout this political season the talk around these issues has cut deeper than in year's past. It's a little more personal. It's a little meaner. A little uglier.
And folks are betting that if they can drive us far enough apart and if they can put down enough of us because of where we come from or what we look like or what religion we practice then that may pay off at the polls. But I'm telling you that's a bet they're going to lose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Clinton is trying to assure people about her health after pneumonia forced her to leave early from a 9/11 Memorial this week.
Trump in the past has accused Clinton of lacking the stamina to be president. But now she is out campaigning again looking to prove him wrong.
Our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has that.
[03:10:03] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton is back on the trail after three days of recovering at home from a bout of pneumonia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Welcome back to stronger together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing?
CLINTON: I'm doing great. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Campaigning in North Carolina. And trying to put questions of her to rest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: I'm not great with taking it easy under ordinary circumstances, but with just two months until election day...
(CROWD CHEERING)
... sitting at home was pretty much the last place I wanted to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: After nearly collapsing when she left the 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero early on Sunday, following the Clinton campaign releasing more medical information about her yesterday and a letter from her doctor, Clinton criticized Donald Trump for revealing the results of a recent physical on a television show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I'll never be the showman my opponent is, and that's OK with me. Just look at -- look at the show he put on with Dr. Oz today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Trump has made a habit of questioning Clinton's stamina and she seem to answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: People accused of all kinds of things, you probably have seen that. But nobody ever accuses me of quitting. And I will never give up, I'll never walk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Deadlocked or uncomfortably close with Donald Trump in national and battleground state polls, Clinton is trying to rally the coalition of supporters that propelled President Obama to two terms in the White House. Young people, Hispanics, who she will address tonight in Washington and African-Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I am well aware that I still have work to do and I'm very committed to continuing to travel across the country, to talk about it and hear from young African-Americans about the struggles they face daily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: CNN's Brianna Keilar reporting there. She is following the Hillary Clinton campaign. Trump is now going after the pastor who interrupted him during a speech in her church in Flint, Michigan.
The republican nominee started attacking Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, and the reverend stopped him and it's now become a political controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary failed on the economy. Just like she's failed on foreign policy. Everything she touched didn't work out. Nothing. Now Hillary Clinton...
(CROSSTALK)
FAITH GREEN TIMMONS, BETHEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PASTOR: Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Oh, oh, oh, OK, OK, OK. That's good.
TIMMONS: ... not give a political speech.
TRUMP: OK. And I'm going to go back onto Flint, OK.
(APPLAUSE)
OK.
When she got up to introduce me, she was so nervous she was shaking, and I said, wow, this is sort of strange, and then she came up. But she was so nervous, she was like a nervous mess.
CLINTON: It's not only insulting it's dead wrong. Reverend Faith Green Timmons is not a nervous mess. She is a rock for her community in trying times. She deserves better than that. And Flint deserves better. In fact, so does America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, Donald Trump is changing up his tax plan. He outlined a new proposal Thursday in New York. Trump makes some big promises for economic growth. Critics doubt he can deliver on those promises.
Here's Phil Mattingly.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump pledging a major boost in economic growth as he seeks to tie together his discreet economic proposals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My economic plan rejects the cynicism that says our labor force will keep declining, that our jobs will keep leaving and that our economy can never grow as it did once before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Trump's speech in New York light on new details but heavy on laying out Trump's vision and guarantees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Under our plan, the economy will average 3.5 percent growth and create a total of 25 million new jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: But a major hole in Trump's promise, that the plan would be deficit neutral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You can visit our web site. Just look at the math. It works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: It remains unclear that it actually does. Trump pledging not to raise taxes, not even addressing the growth of entitlement programs in his remarks, two of the most common targets for raising revenue.
Trump instead relying on regulatory, tax and energy reforms and his promise economic growth, all as he belittled Hillary Clinton's economic proposals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Her tax increases are unbelievable. The only thing she could offer is a welfare check.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:15:03] MATTINGLY: But the new insight into Trump's economic plan will not extend to his taxes, at least according to his son Donald Jr., who told a Pittsburgh newspaper it wasn't the ongoing audit that was keeping Trump from releasing his returns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: That would create probably 300 million independent financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that are going to distract from his main message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Even as House Speaker Paul Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential nominee said otherwise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I released mine. I think we should release theirs. I will leave it to him when to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And likely means that Paul Ryan is going to be waiting a long time if he gets to see them ever. The reality remains this, so long as Donald Trump campaign doesn't feel they are being hurt for releasing his tax returns they are not going to. And then all the Trump advisors that I've spoken to have said this
privately what Donald Trump Jr. said publicly for a couple of weeks now. They don't feel like they're being punished at all.
That means the Clinton campaign is going to try to intensify their efforts. A couple if advisers said that will be their goal going forward. But again, there is no sense whatsoever that Donald Trump is going to acquiesce and return his taxes to the public anytime soon.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, Laconia, New Hampshire.
ALLEN: Shocking allegations against the Philippine president, including claims that his death squad fed a body to a crocodile. And there's more. And we'll have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
After a busy two days of Champions League action the attention turns to the Europa League.
On Thursday, the Manchester United began their second straight campaign in the competition. They face the Dutch side finals who are sailing through that season so far with five wins from five in that domestic league.
The game was deadlocked with 10 minutes to go until Tonny Vilhena puts one beyond the reach of the United goalkeeper David de Gea. That's how it would end 1-nilto the Dutch side.
We saw the true definition of comeback elsewhere on Europa League on Thursday. Zenit Saint Petersburg were three goals down against Maccabi Tel Aviv with 14 minutes to go in a match which saw a red card and eight yellows.
We saw the Russian side scores four with the winner coming in the last minute of action.
And to tennis where we are already getting set for the Davis Cup Semifinals on Friday, Andy Murray will lead defending champ Great Britain against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro.
[03:19:56] It's a rematch of the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medal match. Mixed emotions though, for Murray. He is chosen to miss his grandfather's funeral in order to represent his country.
And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
ALLEN: Welcome back.
A former hit man says the Philippine president ordered a death squad to kill criminal suspects and personal enemies when he was mayor of Davao City. The man says Rodrigo Duterte himself killed a government official with an Uzi submachine gun. The president's office denies the allegations.
Let's bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson, he's live in Hong Kong, who was recently in the Philippines doing some reporting.
And, Ivan these are horrific claims made against this president.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Astounding and very detailed allegations made by this witness, Edgar Matobato at the Senate inquiry on Thursday in which he really made these astounding accusations that the current President of the Philippines, during his quarter century as the mayor of this Davao City that he was effectively in charge of a death squad that was tasked with killing suspected criminals.
One of the many allegations that this witness made was that some of the people he had been ordered to kill, at least one victim, was actually fed to crocodiles. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now of course a spokesman for the president has denied these accusations. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think the president is capable of giving such a directive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think he is capable, no, I don't think he is capable of giving a directive like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: What's important to note here, Natalie, is that during the 25 years that Rodrigo Duterte was mayor of Davao City, there were hundreds of vigilante style killings of victims in that city that led a Human Rights Commission in the Philippines to investigate the killings and calls and condemnations coming from groups like human rights watch, as well.
And Human Rights Watch is now chimed in calling for an independent investigation in the wake of the allegations that came out in Thursday's Senate inquiry. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD ADAMS, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ASIA DIVISION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: I do think this was a big day in the Philippines. This was a testimony in the Philippines Senate, under oath by a man who said that he personally was involved in 50 killings. That he heard Duterte and saw Duterte give orders to kill people. He saw Duterte kill people with his own eyes and he came across as credible. Now it has to be said these are just allegations but they need to be investigated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, Natalie, why is this relevant now that Duterte is no longer the mayor of Davao? He is now been president for close to three months. The reason is since his first day in office he has launched a very deadly drug war in which police have killed more than 1,000 suspects all, if you can believe it, according to police officials, all in self-defense when those suspects resisted arrest.
So, the mounting pile of bodies in the Philippines in just under three months is part of why this inquiry is underway in the Senate, in the Philippines, in to the past record of Rodrigo Duterte as well as the current record. Natalie.
ALLEN: Yes. And, Ivan you were there covering the overcrowding of the prisons now due to the rounding up of certain people by this president. Obviously this is a story that we'll continue to cover. And we thank you. Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong.
China is dealing with some dangerous flash flooding after a Typhoon Meranti blew through this 871-year-old bridge. You can't even see the bridge is hardly there. It was destroyed by the flood. The wooden structure was a protected heritage site.
The typhoon is the strongest storm to hit Fujian province since recordkeeping began. Nine people were killed, officials say restoring power is the most pressing priority right now. That says something.
Derek Van Dam is with us right now. A bridge that stood for 871 years wiped out in one storm.
(CROSSTALK)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All it takes is one storm. Yes.
ALLEN: It falls in line with these extreme storms.
DAM: That keep lining up and lining up and lining up. No rest for the weary. Quite literally. Because we have yet another typhoon waiting in these wings. I mean, we are talking not 72 hours after a landfall in typhoon we are monitoring another in the same region. Unreal. This is a very active time at the moment of the Western Pacific.
[03:25:09] Let's get to the details, Natalie, we want to show you this. You've seen some of the images. You saw the bridge being taken away by the flash flooding event there. Did you see this photo? How about that? An entire tanker just on its side. This is the leftovers from Meranti as it lashed southern Taiwan.
Remember, at one stage it was 10 kilometers per hour weaker than the strongest land falling typhoon ever recorded. That was Haiyan back in November of 2013 in the Philippines. Meranti was a monster. And I've never seen anything like this. Wow. A juice can right through the middle of some of this wind screen. Wow. That is amazing. It just shows you what mother nature can do. All right. So, this is what we've got to deal with, I mentioned another typhoon coming and I'll mention -- I'll show you exactly where in just a moment.
But this is the remnants of Meranti. It is moving north of the Fujian province at the moment. It's going to get stuck with an approaching cold front but it will bring that heavy rainfall into mainland Japan. They've got a rough next few weeks as well. Because significant amount of precipitation anticipated there.
But look at what's developing across the Western Pacific, specifically near Taiwan. Welcome to typhoon Malakas. This has already seen explosive growth over the past few days and we are also start to notice some of the outer rain bands already reaching the western or the eastern-facing shores of Taiwan.
Now this is called the cone of uncertainty. We can project the path of this particularly storm. What I want you to notice is that it does include the Taipei region. Fortunately, Taipei is tucked away quite nicely on that northwest corridor of the island nation, but nonetheless, they still have the potential to at least experience tropical storm-force winds, especially to the east of the city. That's where the strongest of winds will be felt.
And so this area needs to pay a very close attention to the exact path of the storm. Here it is. The main concerns going forward will be the heavy rainfall and the potential for flash flooding. This is mountainous part of the world. So, landslides and mudslides are also a major concern.
But, Natalie, this is a stunning figure. I have to end with this. We are actually below average for typhoons over the Western Pacific, even though we seem to you and I, to be talking about this every week.
ALLEN: Yes, we do.
DAM: Especially we have two lining up not three days apart from each other. But we are actually below where we should be for this time of the year.
ALLEN: That's really odd.
DAM: It is.
ALLEN: All right, Derek, thank you very much.
Well, there's much more ahead here, including ISIS losing ground at its stronghold in Libya. We will tell you how it's happening.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: And welcome back to all of our viewers around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN Newsroom live in Atlanta.
Here are our top stories. The ceasefire in Syria is holding but aid has not reached hundreds of
thousands of people trapped by the war. Russia says Syrian troops have begun to withdraw from the only road in to eastern Aleppo, but rebels there say they've seen no signs of that pull back.
Reuters says an Irish military ship has arrived in Italy carrying hundreds of rescued migrants, as well as five bodies. The U.N. says thousands of asylum seekers continue to make this very dangerous journey across the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East.
Donald Trump's campaign says the republican candidate believes that President Obama was born in the United States. It credited Trump with compelling Mr. Obama to release his birth certificate in 2011 when the so-called 'birther' movement, which Trump spearheaded made headlines.
Earlier Thursday, Trump refused to tell the Washington Post if he thought Obama was born in the U.S. His campaign though, says again that he was.
Libyan forces say they are making progress against ISIS in the key port city of Sirte. It's something of a litmus test for the U.S.-led battle against the terror group.
CNN's diplomatic editor Nic Robins -- Robertson, excuse me, explains.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Explosion by explosion. ISIS stronghold in Libya is shrinking. Aided by the U.S. air force, government-backed militias are advancing through Sirte.
That deadly IEDs left by the terror group are hampering efforts and suicide car bomb attacks and snipers in this sprawling Mediterranean town are slowing progress, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): The snipers attack usually at the spine here, the choose to fire at the spine because brain injury and heart injury if the injured survived he's going to fight again.
ROBERTSON: Once in the hometown of Libyan leader. Moammar Gadhafi, Sirte became a hold out for ISIS more than a year ago.
A base of operations, none of the country's fractured militias dare tackle alone. The tide turned about a month ago. ISIS's defenses would breach.
The U.N. brokered Government of National Accord or GNA, got international help to stop ISIS growing to Syria-like strength.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHTON CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Does GNA aligning forces have now cornered ISIL in one small section of the city of Sirte and I expect that they will eliminate that any remaining opposition shortly.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: Libyans, too, say they want this war done, tired of battles and the cost they cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us who help to finish the day much better than yesterday. Because we get tired from war, from 2011 war after war. If the patient dies it's OK, but the problem is the handicap people and most of them teenagers, young and active people in the war, active people in our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: But the end of ISIS in Sirte will not be the end of Libya's wars. Many of the terror group's fighters have slipped away and the country is still so divided. The battle for Sirte may yet seem like a side show.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
[03:34:58] ALLEN: A Swedish appeals court is set to rule on an appeal from Julian Assange in the coming hours. The WikiLeaks founder wants his detention order cancelled.
Swedish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Assange in 2010 based on allegations he sexually assaulted two WikiLeaks volunteers.
Assange denied that claim. He has been hold up right there in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012. Assange said he fears an extradition to Sweden would lead to an extradition to the United States where he could face the death penalty if convicted of publishing government secrets.
But in a Thursday tweet, WikiLeaks said Assange would serve U.S. prison time. He wants something in return, though, clemency for Chelsea Manning. The tweet reads, "If Obama grants Manning Clemency, Assange will agree to U.S. prison in exchange despite its clear unlawfulness."
Manning is the former army intelligent analyst convicted of leaking classified material. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013.
Another fugitive whistleblower, former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is the focus of a scathing report just issued by a U.S. House Intelligence panel. It accuses Snowden of lying about his background, feuding with co-workers and leaking secrets that caused tremendous damage to U.S. security.
Experts blame Moscow for repeated cyber attacks on U.S. institutions, and now the World's Anti-Doping Agency. So, Washington is stepping up intelligence efforts against Russia.
Chief security correspondent Jim Sciutto explains.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN'S CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: U.S. intelligence focused on Vladimir Putin and Russia. Viewed as increasingly assertive and ambitious in countering U.S. leadership and national security interests around the globe.
Russia's activity now includes what appears to be an unprecedented effort to undermine confidence in the upcoming presidential election. As chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Mike McCaul detailed on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MCCAUL, THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN: The idea of a foreign power particularly one like Russia, a foreign adversary attempting to mess with our elections, and director Comey basically told us that the motivation was to undermine the integrity of the American political electoral process. These facts and allegations are very disturbing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Sources tell CNN that the intelligence community is expanding resources aimed at Moscow to match Moscow's evolving threat to the U.S. Those resources includes human intelligence, electronic surveillance and cyber capability.
Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff tells CNN, quote, "Putin has taken Russia in a much more hostile, aggressive and adversarial direction. And the U.S. is directing more resources and focus towards Russia and that's a necessity."
Russia's cyber threat is of particular concern. The deputy director of the NSA has told us that Russia today has alarming capability not just to hack places like the Democratic National Committee but to harm the U.S. homeland via cyber-attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: You are saying that foreign actors have the capability of shutting down key U.S. infrastructure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
SCIUTTO: Via cyber-attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Russia?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Some intelligence analyst say the renewed focus is leaked and has allowed Moscow to gain an advantage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a failure to properly resource our intelligence agencies vis-a-vis the Russian problem is really coming home to roost right now. And because of that failure on our part, we're playing catch-up in a very large way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: U.S. Intelligence officials tell me that they never took their eyes off of Russia but they grant it is very difficult to judge Russia's intentions, in particular with President Putin.
They say he has a very insular decision-making circle and that he can, in their view and their description make decisions in the foreign policy realm that they describe as impulsive.
Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
ALLEN: The family of an African-American woman has settled a lawsuit over her death for $1.9 million. Sandra Bland that was found hanging in her jail cell. A police officer in Texas had arrested her three days before for not using a turn signal. Here's part of that controversial arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA BLAND, ARRESTED BY POLICE: Don't touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car.
BLAND: Don't touch me. I'm not under arrest. You don't have the right to touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are under arrest.
BLAND: I'm under arrest for what? For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another unit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car now!
BLAND: Why am I being apprehended? You're trying to give me a ticket on failure.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said get out of the car.
BLAND: Why am I being apprehended?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm giving you a lawful order. I'm going to drag you out of here.
[03:40:02] BLAND: So, you are going to drag me out of my own car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car. I will light you up. Get out!
BLAND: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now! Get out of the car!
BLAND: For failure to signal. You are doing all of this for a failure to signal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get over there.
BLAND: Right, yes. Yes, let's take this to court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That is difficult to watch. That police officer was eventually fired. Authorities say Bland committed suicide but her family said she would never kill herself.
Officials have now agreed to change procedures to ensure jail guards check on those detained as often as required.
U.S. regulators react to reports a popular smartphone catches fire. What they are telling Galaxy Note 7 users to do. We'll have that when we come back. Look at that.
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ALLEN: The 2016 Paralympic Games wrap up this weekend in Rio de Janeiro.
And while many athletes are leaving with gold around their neck, their pockets aren't exactly lined with silver.
Shasta Darlington has that from Rio.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Team USA dominated the podium during the 2016 Rio Olympics. From Michael Phelps to Simone Biles, 121 medals in total, 51 more than second place China.
Fast forward to the Paralympics. Now team USA at fourth place in the medal count behind China, Great Britain and Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I think one thing to look at is a lack of government funding. The U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic effort is the only one that is not funded by a government entity in the world. And the same goes for the Paralympic Games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: Which leads Paralympians rely on sponsorship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:45:01] BRENNAN: The problem is the trickledown effect isn't there yet. That money, while it is plentiful for many U.S. Olympic athletes, it's just not there in the same way for the Paralympic athletes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DARLINGTON: The U.S. Olympic Committee has steadily increase the
amount of money it pays directly to its disabled athletes. So, here in Rio, they are receiving about $4 million. And that's up from 300,000 back in 2005, but still just a fraction of what the Olympic Games gaze.
Paralympic like football player Greg Brigman have turned to crowd funding sites to make ends meet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG BRIGMAN, U.S. PARALYMPIC ATHLETE: I was working full time in an engineering company. And they gave me an ultimatum to play for the team or be full time with them. The passion of the team and the honor to represent my country and, you know, play on the, one of the world's greatest stages and, you know, here in Rio and I couldn't turn it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: The Paralympic Games are also treated different by the media.
In U.K., the London Games heightened interest so did Channel 4's extensive coverage and addictive ads. In the United States, however, fans have to tune in to a cable channel to take in the Paralympics, leaving American Paralympic stars virtually unknown at home.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
ALLEN: Well, that doesn't seem right. We got four years maybe they can change that.
The Apple iPhone 7 is already in short supply. The new model has just gone on sale in Tokyo where employees counted down the seconds as they always have to do for the store to open.
(APPLAUSE)
One buyer, who had been waiting in line, said she was happy with the improved camera. Another was excited about using the new iPhone to pay subway fares and bills.
Australians were the first in the world to purchase the iPhone. And as you can see buyers waited in the rain to get one.
U.S. regulators are officially recalling one million Samsung Galaxy Note 7 after dozens of reports of the phone bursting into flames. Customers have been urged to stop using the devices immediately.
Here's our Mary Moloney with that.
MARY MOLONEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A massive recall for a product some can't live without.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELLIOT F. KAYE, U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: One million Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLONEY: People around the world say while they charge their phone it caught fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone rock in the new Note 7 might catch fire, you know.
MOLONEY: Since August, Samsung sold 2.5 million phones around the world. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says in the United States Samsung received 92 reports of batteries overheating. That resulted in 26 reported burns and 55 reports of property damage from fires.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Because this product presents such a serious fire hazard, I'm urging all consumers, all consumers to take advantage of this recall right away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLONEY: If you have a Galaxy Note 7, look at the back of your phone. There should be a code etched on the bottom. Either call Samsung or go to samsung.com and enter the code to see if your phone is under the recall. Chances are it is. Federal regulators say 97 percent of the Galaxy Note 7s in the United States have the faulty battery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Now it is the time to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLONEY: If under recall, you have a choice, get a replacement phone or get a refund. But it must come from the place you originally bought the phone your wireless carrier, or retail outlet or Samsung.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And we want consumers to act to get these phones out of their hands and have a safe replacement that they can use.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLONEY: I'm Mary Moloney reporting.
ALLEN: That is one scary looking phone.
A London tube station is being overrun by, can you guess? Cats. We'll explain. What's leaving commuters with a fuzzy feeling and why are these cats taking over where ads used to be? It's actually cool idea. And we'll talk with the person behind it in a moment.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DAM: Good day. I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam with a quick look at your weather watch for North America.
We look at tropical storm Julia. The latest information has this system actually pulling away from the Southeastern United States which is good news because we removed that chance of flooding rains across the Carolina Coast in to Georgia. This system really should start to dissipate over the next several days and not be a concern for the region.
You can see the forecast that run keeping the bulk of the precipitation of shore with Julia. SO, let's talk about the rest of the United States, still comfortable temperatures for the West Coast San Francisco to Los Angeles. Vancouver, however, 21 degrees. We do have an area of low pressure that will bring wet weather to the Pacific northwest of the U.S. by the second half of the weekend.
Chicago 25, scattered thunderstorms for you, and look at that, New York City, 23, the first taste of fall. The temperatures will stay on the cool side or comfortable side, I should say, through the course of the weekend even into next week. Still, though, we continue with the heat and humidity across the Deep South including Atlanta, Georgia.
Look at Central America from Belize City to Guatemala City, as well as Nicaragua region, we have showers and thunderstorms in this forecast. Mexico City still remaining wet with afternoon and evening thunderstorms developing across this region.
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ALLEN: You don't need to watch "Mad Men" on TV to know the power of advertising, do you. Wherever you look you are being told what to buy. But in one of London's tube station, instead of ads, cats will be staring back at you for a short time.
A campaign group simply wanted people to be surrounded by something cute instead of the tacky ads.
So now these posters of the cats are clinging to tube station walls. The campaign raised enough money to keep London Clapham Station covered in kitties for the next two weeks. The campaign argues that the broad appeal of cats has been proven by videos on you tube - I can't really argue with that - and getting London commuters to smile is no easy fete apparently.
Joining me live is James Turner, the founder of Glimpse, a collective focused on positive influence with past dreamed up this underground scheme. Hi, James. Thank you for joining us.
JAMES TURNER, GLIMPSE FOUNDER: Hi, there.
ALLEN: And first we should mention CATS is an acronym for what?
TURNER: Yes, it the Citizens Advertisement Takeover Service or CATS for short.
ALLEN: I love that. I want to talk to you about how did you and your group think this up? It's quite clever. And what was the reaction when you first started telling a friend or two or your mom or dad about your new campaign.
TURNER: So, we got together really as a group of friends back in February of this year. And we tried to imagine a world where public spaces made you feel good, where they reminded you that the most valuable things in your life for your friends and your family and the experiences yu have and not necessarily the things you can buy in the shops.
So, from there, we had the idea of crowd funding to replace a bunch of ads with something different. And we thought what could that be, maybe some beautiful forests or a picture of a family camping, but then we realized well, we want this to be big on the internet, we want people to talk about it.
And from there the answer was pretty obvious and that was cats.
[03:54:59] And you asked about, you know, what did family and friends think of this, I think just when you started to explain this idea people's eyes light up and the ideas start to flow. They want to get involved and they want to help. And this project just has been about uncorking that energy and really kind of enjoying it. And that's something we are so happy to see.
ALLEN: And, yes, one of the reasons you are doing this is because it's exhausting, as you say on your web site being asked to buy stuff all the time. We do get hit with ads everywhere from airplanes with banners, to every elevators, bathroom stalls and of course our iPhones now.
So, the cats aren't necessarily advertising anything. They are just prettying up the space and taking ads away. What kind of reaction are you getting?
TURNER: Well, that's right. They're not really asking anyone to do anything at all apart from just maybe think a little bit differently about the world and how it works. And you know, I think if one thing people take from this is that they realize that even things seem really fixed and hard to change, things like advertising.
A small group of friends that kick start a campaign, we've actually managed to change, yes, a very small corner of London. And the reaction to that has just been great. It feels very empowering and people feel like they are taking a space back. And you know, we have a web site catsnoads.com, we've just been getting a huge number of positive messages on there and it's just been so refreshing to see.
ALLEN: Also, nice reaction from dog lovers.
TURNER: Not so great from dog lovers although we did have a few dogs come down on the first day and I think they looked quizzical more than anything else. I'm not sure what the dogs make of it. ALLEN: Yes, exactly. Well, maybe another station, two station could
be another animal perhaps. So, where do you hope this will go? What's the, is there a grand plan here?
TURNER: Well, as I say, Glimpse is a new collective. So, we are just getting started. But what we are interested in doing is trying to use the kind of techniques and the power of advertising in the creative industry but to train it on different things.
So, this time we are talking about what is most valuable in our lives. Next time we might be talking about the power of community or the importance of tolerance in our society.
And really we are going to try to generate more popular ideas like this to get people talking and hopefully bring a lot more people in to the Glimpse collective. So, I can't tell you exactly where we are going next, but hopefully it's going to be as fun as this.
ALLEN: Well, yes, and fun with a good cause and a deeper meaning about things. The aesthetic that we are inundated with every day in our lives. Very, very true. Listen, we wish you all the best. James Turner talking with us from London.
TURNER: Thank you.
ALLEN: And people can find out more on your web site. What's your web site?
TURNER: Catsnotads.com.
ALLEN: Catsnotads.com. All right. Thanks so much. All the best.
TURNER: Thank you.
ALLEN: I love that one.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen. The news continues next from London with Max Foster. Thanks for watching.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
