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FBI Conducts Traffic Stop Related to NYC Bombing; Governor Calls Saturday's Blast "Terrorism"; Russia Accuses U.S. of Undermining Ceasefire; Samsung Rolls Out Galaxy Note 7 Fire Fix; Indian Soldiers Killed in Army Base Attack; Refugee Cooks Serve Up Cuisine in Egypt; Brazil Paralympic Games Close in Rio de Janeiro. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 19, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:15] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.

And we have breaking news from the New York bombing investigation. The FBI says agents and police made a traffic stop Sunday night in relation to Saturday's attack but at this point no one is charged with the crime and the investigation is ongoing.

And there may be another clue as well. Officials tell CNN a man was seen in surveillance video at the site of the explosion and near where police found this pressure cooker four blocks away. It was rigged with wires, duct tape and what appeared a cellphone.

CNN producer Shimon Prokupecz has been working the story for us for the past 24 hours. He joins us now in New York with the latest. And Shimon, what do you know about this arrest?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN PRODUCER: So there have been -- I just want to clarify something. There have not been any arrests in this incident. Five people were stopped, it was a traffic stop along the Verrazano Bridge; I believe, more on the Brooklyn side. But we've been told that no arrests -- the FBI has told us no arrests have been made. They have questioned some people what their role is, what their involvement is. It's unclear, the FBI is not telling us.

And which is understandable because they're still trying to figure out what happened here. Who was involved? If there was more than one person involved. Is there something more? Is something bigger? Is there something else going on?

So they're sort of running down leads and this could be just one of those leads that they intercepted and they wanted to question some folks and they pulled them over. And so they've been questioned.

ALLEN: All right.

PROKUPECZ: But they've stressed to us that no arrests have been made.

ALLEN: All right. So we got it. Got it. No one has been taken into custody. They've been questioned.

Do we know whether they'd been let go at this point or are they still being queried by police?

PROKUPECZ: That's a good question. We don't know if they've been released or where they are. The NYPD has told us that they assisted in the traffic stop and that the individuals were taken to the FBI offices in Manhattan. But the FBI is not confirming that for us.

So that's all we really know at this point. We don't know why they were stopped. What their role is perhaps. If they had any role or this was just a precaution that the FBI wanted to talk to them.

ALLEN: All right. So Shimon -- what do we know in the past hour since this happened 24 hours ago other than these people being questioned? Have there been any other leads? We know that somebody was seen in surveillance video, perhaps near the scene.

PROKUPECZ: So that's correct. So there are two scenes here. We have the scene where the bomb explodes on 23rd Street where police recovered some surveillance video of a man walking with a duffel bag. They then went and scoured the area, have found more video several blocks away on 27th Street and also found video of the same man walking with the same duffel bag on 27th Street sort of pulling this duffel bag along which some described has wheels on it.

He then places this duffel bag near where police eventually find the pressure cooker and what happens is he leaves the duffel bag, two other men walk over to the duffel bag, emptied whatever maybe inside the duffel bag which is this pressure cooker that you're seeing now on your screen and take it out of the duffel bag and just leave it there and they walk off with the duffel bag.

It's not clear if those men knew that there was a pressure cooker in the bag. It's not clear if they were involved and obviously police and the FBI are still working to try and figure that out.

ALLEN: Have they released any information about what these men look like?

PROKUPECZ: No, we've not received any. They've not released any information about what the man in the surveillance video looks like. They have not released any portions of their surveillance video. And really they've sort of been very quiet on what they have and what they're working with.

The surveillance video has provided them with a significant clue so presumably they have some idea of who they're looking for but they have not told us publicly what they're looking, who they're looking for. Just that they have some surveillance video but they would not really describe it in any way to us.

ALLEN: And lastly Shimon, do we know anything about how many perhaps eyewitnesses they've talked to. This was a very, very crowded area on a Saturday night in New York. PROKUPECZ: I would say there's probably been dozens but I don't thing they learned much from witnesses. I know that there had been some witnesses who gave them -- told them some things about what they may have seen on 27th Street where the man left the duffel bag. There are some witnesses who they spoke to on 23rd Street, you know.

And they've sort of been receiving a lot of leads that, you know, this afternoon I was told there are somewhere up to about 2,000 leads that they were received tips from folks. But I'm sure that number has grown quite dramatically since this afternoon.

[00:05:09] ALLEN: All right. Well, we thank you Shimon Prokupecz there in New York for us. And we know you'll get back to us if there are more developments. Thanks -- Shimon.

CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore is a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI. He joins us live via Skype from Los Angeles. Steve -- thanks again for speaking with us. We talked with you shortly after this story broke 24 hours ago. And now we hear there people being questioned but I want to make sure and crystal clear they have not been arrested. Nobody is in custody. They're questioning them. But clearly a lot of investigators are working the story in many corners.

What do you make of what we're hearing?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CTOR: Well, I think as we discussed yesterday, this is not going to be a whodunit. This is not going to be very difficult to find because when you set up a bomb you usually don't wipe it down for fingerprints. You don't clean it out. You don't take the phone. You don't worry about whether you made calls with that because it's all going to be blown to smithereens.

If it doesn't go off, you leave fingerprints. You leave phone information. And I'm not surprised the bureau is on this, this quickly.

ALLEN: So they have a lot, you're saying, to go on.

MOORE: They should. I would assume they do. And if you -- the other sign here is the FBI and NYPD are not showing photographs to the public and saying do you know who these people are, it means the FBI and NYPD know who those people are.

And the other indicator here is the FBI will, on routine cases, will door-knock somebody. They will come to their place of residence or their business. Traffic stops mean there's a little bit more going on.

ALLEN: Yes, that was going to be my next question -- why they haven't released the surveillance video. So your take is they've got some definite leads on this. Do you expect that will happen at some point in the investigation?

MOORE: I think it's possible they'll release it, but the reason they're not releasing it is that they don't have to. They don't need to release it right now. And if you get a fingerprint, you run the fingerprint and the photograph and the driver's license comes up and it looks exactly like the guy in the video, you don't need to send it out to the public and say, do you know who this guy is.

ALLEN: They have all these people, the last thing that the mayor said was this was intentional but he didn't call it terrorism. So they're still piecing this thing together. But they certainly have a lot of counterterrorism information at their disposal, don't they, to kind of put the -- cross the t's and dot the i's to see if there are some suspicious names that come up involved with this.

MOORE: Absolutely. Absolutely. And the fact that the FBI and the NYPD, the joint terrorism task force is still working it after they've gotten preliminary information should tell you something. They haven't handed it off to major crimes. They haven't handed it off to robbery homicide, something like that.

The terrorism task force is obviously taking control of this case. And there's a reason for that. It's terrorism-related. But until you can put the numbers together, until you can make a cogent case, politically, the lawyers will tell you, don't call it that. And you know, politically, it's not expedient to do that.

ALLEN: Right. Because, yes, that changes the narrative. It certainly does when they do that.

All right. Steve Moore --

MOORE: Sure.

ALLEN: -- thank you so much. We'll probably be talking with you again if there's another break in this case in the next few hours. Thanks -- Steve.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called Saturday's explosion intentional, as I just mentioned, but he didn't call it terrorism as New York's governor did. Andrew Cuomo spoke with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield about the blast and how New Yorkers are responding. Here's that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: This was a frightening experience for many New Yorkers. We went through 9/11, obviously. 1993, we had a bombing at the World Trade Center. So you watch the TV news almost on a weekly basis and you see terrorist activities. So this is a frightening experience.

We want to say to New Yorkers, there's no reason to panic. There's no reason to have your life disrupted. That's exactly what they are trying to do. And we're not going to let them do it. And we're going to go about our business, and you should feel good that you have the best police agencies on the globe here in New York.

And just to -- out of an abundance of caution, to err on the side of caution, we now have state police and national guard at the airports, bus terminals, et cetera as part of our normal protocol and we're going to increase it by about a thousand people just to make sure there's no continuation and, frankly, so New Yorkers feel their government is doing everything they can.

[00:10:10] And we go about our business on Monday morning. We have a nice Sunday today. And then tomorrow morning, we go back to work.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And Governor, earlier today you said this is obviously an act of terrorism. But then you hear a different language coming from the city of New York. The mayor saying, while this act was intentional, the city is not quite ready to call this an act of terrorism.

What is behind this kind of conflicting language? And someone leaving an explosive device many people in this city are arguing, doesn't that terrorize the city? Isn't that terrorism?

CUOM: Yes, frankly, it's semantics. The mayor and I viewed the site together. We have the same information, the same observation and the same conclusions. And everything else is just semantics.

This was -- there were two devices that were planted. One exploded. One didn't. They did tremendous damage. It was an intentional bombing. It was not accidental. It was criminal. It was violent.

There was no apparent link at this time to any international terrorist organization. No international terrorist organization is taking credit for it. And there was no apparent political purpose.

There was also no apparent target besides the general populace. And you don't get to set off a bomb in New York or any city in this country without -- to try to frighten people, cause terror -- period. And that's -- do you call that terrorism until it's linked to an organization or not? That's just semantics. All the facts are the same.

And our message is very simple. We are going to find who did this and we will bring them to justice. As I mentioned before the FBI, New York Police Department, the state police, the Department of Homeland Security, they're all working hand in glove. You put them together, you're deal with the best police forces on the globe, I believe. We will find who did this. We'll bring them to justice. And in the meantime, we're not going to let them win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The governor talking with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield there.

On the same day as the explosion in New York, a stabbing attack at a shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota wounded at least nine people, one critically. An off-duty police officer shot and killed the assailant. An ISIS-linked news agency claims the attacker was one of their soldiers. CNN has not confirmed that.

Police say evidence suggests he acted alone. The FBI says it is investigating the incident as a potential act of terror.

So that's another story we're following there. More developments there -- but again, the assailant was shot and killed.

One week after the ceasefire began in Syria residents at east Aleppo still have not seen any of the humanitarian aid they were supposed to receive. Russia says the U.S. is to blame after a coalition air strike killed or wounded dozens of Syrian government troops Saturday. The U.S. says it thought it was hitting ISIS.

Now America's top diplomat says Moscow needs to, quote, "stop the grandstanding, stop the showboating and get the humanitarian assistance going".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The opposition feels threatened because the bombs continue, even as there's supposed to be a cessation of hostilities.

Let me just say this clearly. Russia signed up to a cessation of hostilities. Assad said he would live by it. Then he needs to stop and let the joint implementation center get set up so Russia and the United States can coordinate in order to avoid the kind of terrible thing that happened yesterday, which we all acknowledge and regret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Let's get the perspective now from Russia. Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has more now on the increasing tensions between the U.S. and Russia. He's in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russia says the U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Deir Ez-Zor, which killed so many Syrian government troops has endangered an already shaky ceasefire. U.S. and Russian diplomats have been trading barbs over the incident with the latest salvo from Moscow accusing the United States not only of defending ISIS but also of engaging in a, quote, "bloody experiment" in Syria aimed at regime change.

[00:14:58] Even before the air strike, which Russia says hit Syrian forces, as they were battling Islamic state fighters, tensions in the truce were already starting to show with both sides accusing one another of failing to meet their commitments.

U.S. officials criticizing Moscow for failing to ensure its ally, the Syrian government that have withdrawn from a key road into rebel-held eastern Aleppo. A humanitarian convoy was unable to set off from across the border in Turkey until that road was open, safe and clear.

And Russian defense officials say dozens of rebel attacks have taken place since the truce was (inaudible), despite a promise by Washington to rein in anti-Syrian government fighters -- all this during what was meant to be a trust-building phase. Instead, it's illustrated just how little trust there is between the warring sides in this Syrian conflict.

Matthew Chance -- CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And that mistrust is having repercussions inside Syria. We want to turn to that next. Air strikes killed at least one person in Aleppo Sunday. It's the first time the city has been bombed since the ceasefire began last Monday.

Our senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen looks at how people there are carrying on with their lives amid the ruins. Here he is from Aleppo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Driving through a battered city, the ceasefire is barely holding in Aleppo. Breaches becoming more frequent.

Still, the residents are cleaning up, even the youngest. Ali is 12 years old; he and his siblings among the many displaced now finding shelter in a bombed out hospital.

"We have to keep working until we totally clear this room and the room next door," he says, "because this is going to be our new home."

As calm prevails, at least most of the time, the Syrian government is moving an increasing number of displaced people into the bombed out ruins of former front line districts.

These families forced to move several times -- the baby Abdul Malik born in a tent.

"We lost three homes," his grandmother says. "Every one got destroyed. Now we're displaced. If we had the money, we would flee."

Despite the fact that the ceasefire is very fragile, the people here aren't wasting any time. They're getting to work picking up the pieces, hoping that against all odds the truce may hold.

And while few are optimistic about the chances, some, like Hussan Masri (ph) also displaced several times say even the current tenuous ceasefire is a blessing.

"The ceasefire is good so far," he says. "I've been here a few days and the situation is better. We can hear some shelling, but it's much less than before."

As the warring factions and their backers struggle to keep the truce alive, Aleppo's people like 12-year-old Ali hope the hard work they're putting in will not be wasted again.

Fred Pleitgen -- CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: What an unreal situation there. And it's heartwarming no matter what these kids have gone through and what they've seen -- when the camera is there, they still light up and smile and wave. It's hopeful.

Coming up here, fierce fighting in Kashmir -- an Indian army base is ground zero for one of the worst militant attacks in that region in decades. What's behind it?

Plus, incidents of burned up Galaxy Note 7 smart phones went viral online. Look at that one. What the phone's maker, Samsung, is doing now to fix the problems for millions of buyers? That's ahead here.

You're watching CNN live coverage.

[00:18:52] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A trio of active tropical weather across the Atlantic Ocean. Starting off close to the United States -- what is left of tropical storm Julia. Of course, we have tropical storm Karl across the eastern and central portion of the Atlantic Ocean and back toward the East -- a high probability of formation off the coast of Africa as we're watching for the next several days.

But notice, just a lot of convection, a lot of thunderstorms. Generally, some of this is associated with Julia remaining offshore and pumping up some moisture toward this region. So some scattered showers as you expect in the eastern Seaboard of the United States. But again, not a washout as a lot of the tropical weather this season so far has seemed really to be limited, minimal and just a nonevent. That certainly has been good news.

But notice, you get a transitional pattern. We get some cool air coming in here. This is of course, right there for the beginning of the first day of autumn across the northern hemisphere which would be on Thursday.

Temperatures start off rather toasty around Montreal, Chicago upper in mid-20s. You're going to miss these temperatures, trust me you know, in a couple of weeks across this region. The pattern changes rather quickly. At least that's what it indicates.

But down towards the tropics, we'll keep it into the lower 30s. San Juan, scattered thunderstorms -- what you expect this time of year. Cartagena also seeing temps around 33 degrees and scattered storms. And around Bogota, like it at 19; Quito, same score; Lima coming in also at 19 but dry conditions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back. I'm Natalie Allen, live in Atlanta.

We want to update breaking news from the New York bombing investigation. The FBI says its agents and police made a traffic stop Sunday night in relation or what could be in relation to the attack.

Our CNN producer Shimon Prokupecz says five people were stopped but no one at this point has been arrested or charged. At -- the last time I talked with Shimon about 30 minutes ago, these people were still being questioned to the best of his knowledge.

Also, investigators may have an important clue. They say a man was seen in surveillance video at the site of Saturday's explosion and near where police found this pressure cooker here four blocks away. They say it was rigged with wires, duct tape and what appeared to be a cell phone, but it did not explode.

One of our experts told me a few moments ago they haven't released this surveillance video likely because they have strong leads in this case.

So stay with us. We'll be live here for the next few hours and we'll bring you any new developments.

We turn now to the Samsung story. Samsung, as you know, has begun replacing its Galaxy Note 7 devices with new phones. The world' biggest smart phone maker was forced to recall 2.5 million Note 7 phones after reports of those battery fires like this surfaced online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, YouTube. Just wanted to post this and share what just happened to my Note 7.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: How about that? And we've seen a lot of that online. These people holding these phones, Paula, showing us the problem -- quite obvious.

Paula Hancocks is live outside Samsung center in Seoul. They have started replacing them, Paula. What do you know about how that's going?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, this is certainly a big week for Samsung. This is day one here inside Korea. There's about 400,000 of these devices sold around the country.

And we know that from today, customers are able to come into service centers like this one. This is in Yeouido, in the business district of Seoul. And they can hand over their old device and be given a new device.

[00:25:01] I'm going to be honest. So far it's fairly underwhelming. There haven't been many people coming in. You can see just behind me, this is the area where you would actually change your phone.

There's been a handful of people coming in -- many just coming really to investigate and to ask how they go about this. One man did come in and change his phone. We spoke to him and asked him how he felt about the situation. He said he was only really concerned when authorities started to say that you shouldn't take these phones or power up these phones, charge these phones on flights or buses or trains. That's when he started to get concerned and come here and exchange his device. But he said he is still loyal to Samsung. He has no intention of changing to another brand. Another woman came in as well. She had bought hers online and was told she couldn't change hers here. She had to actually physically send her device back and be given the replacement that way. She also said it was an inconvenience but she would stay loyal to the Samsung brand. And we heard this from another gentleman as well.

So this is an interesting point here in South Korea, the home of Samsung. There does seem to be that underlying loyalty. Certainly it will be interesting later in the week when the recalls and exchanges happen in the U.S., in Europe, to see if that loyalty stretches that far -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Absolutely. Because the question remains, what the long-term impact will be on Samsung. Paula Hancocks for us there, live at Samsung Center. Thank you -- Paula.

Up next here, we'll have the very latest on Saturday's New York explosion after a short break and some developments in the case.

Also still to come South America's first Paralympic Games are in the books and the athletes paid tribute to a cyclist who lost his life. We'll have a wrap-up from Rio.

Plus, an army base comes under attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir with deadly consequences. More about that here as we push on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:15] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News."

ALLEN: Natalie Allen here back with our live coverage and the breaking news is out of New York on the explosion that happened just over 24 hours ago.

Police and the FBI apparently made a traffic stop, Sunday night, a short time ago in their investigation of this weekend's bombing attack in Manhattan. Five people were pulled over, but as of now, we are told no arrests have been made. No charges filed.

29 people were injured in Saturday's explosion. As a result, New York's governor is adding 1,000 more police and troops to patrol bus terminals, airports and subway stations because there's still somebody out there that placed these explosions, and they don't have that person or those persons yet.

Our CNN investigative producer Shimon Prokupecz has been working the scene now ever since this story broke. And I know you're still talking with sources.

What do we know, Shimon, about this traffic stop and what perhaps were their suspicions?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: Well, we first learned of this maybe around about an hour or so ago. A local state senator tweeted that some -- about five people were questioned by the FBI. They were taken into custody. The FBI, the only thing that they are confirming at this hour is that they did, in fact, stop a car that they wanted to -- where the occupants inside the vehicle, they wanted to question.

They did pull them over. They did question them. We believe they've been taken back to the FBI offices, but the FBI has stressed to us that, yes, while it is related to the explosion that occurred here in Manhattan, the men have not been charged. And that no one has been arrested. That no one has been detained. That these individuals are just being questioned in connection to the investigation.

ALLEN: And so perhaps they have found some relationship. So we'll stay with that for now.

I want to be clear because while you were talking, we were showing video of police surrounding a car that had been roped off with police tape. That is not the car that they pulled over, right? They are investigating a car that they found parked somewhere in Manhattan as what we know?

(CROSSTALK)

PROKUPECZ: Yes. So all day long, there have been different cars that they've investigated. Some of the cars were just happened to be -- may have driven by and were hit by shrapnel. Some of the other cars, maybe there's some shrapnel that's lodged inside the vehicles.

We have not been given any indication by law enforcement that the people or the person behind the explosion was driving a car. So we don't know exactly what the relationship is between their car and the crime scene. It could just be something that, you know, have been some sort of evidence inside the car and they felt like they needed to take it back to examine it further. Besides that, we really don't have any other information.

ALLEN: All right. Do we know if there are still roads that are shut down in this area? Closed-off. I mean, we are about to hit a Monday morning in New York City.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. So some of the roads are still closed, but I think we expect all the roads to be open by tomorrow morning or by the morning, I should say. But, you know, traffic is slowly being reopened, and life is -- you know, they're trying to sort of restore life back in this community and let people sort of get back into their homes and live their lives. Sort of, I guess, restore some kind of normalcy. But everything should be reopened by tomorrow.

It doesn't mean that law enforcement is going to leave the area. I think there's still a lot of work that they're doing there. They're still talking to witnesses inside the buildings. They're still looking for more surveillance video, though they haven't found, you know, some very helpful video. They are still looking for more video.

So I think law enforcement is going to remain there. But it's just a question of, you know, how much longer. But I think the streets are all going to be reopened by tomorrow. ALLEN: All right. One of our experts has said earlier perhaps they're not releasing this surveillance video because they have enough to go on right now.

We certainly hope that is the case because even though New Yorkers get right back in there, there certainly has to be tension and worry that -- that whoever did this has not been caught at this point.

Thanks so much Shimon Prokupecz, working the story for us there out of New York.

Well, as we mentioned, the summer games have now officially been handed over to Tokyo in 2020 with the Paralympics closing ceremony has just wrapped up in Rio de Janeiro.

And we'll tell you how the Paralympics finished on a positive and a poignant note. We'll have that story right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:38:00] ALLEN: In case you're just joining us, we do have breaking news from the investigation into Saturday's bombing in New York. The FBI says it made a traffic stop with police on Sunday of a vehicle of interest in this case.

So far, though, no arrests, no charges, and the investigation we are told is ongoing.

There may be another clue as well. Officials tell CNN, a man was seen in surveillance video at the site of the explosion, and near where police found this pressure cooker four blocks away.

As we've told you, it was rigged with wires, duct tape and what appears to be a cell phone. It did not explode. It's been dismantled. And no doubt, they are using that quite closely in their investigation.

In other news, 17 soldiers were killed when militants attacked an army base in Indian administered Kashmir, Sunday. Four militants also died in the gun battle near the India/Pakistan border in this heavily disputed region. India's home affairs minister called Pakistan a terrorist state. He stopped short of blaming the country for the attack.

Sunday's attack was one of the worst strikes on security forces in this region in almost three decades.

Our Paula Newton spoke earlier with an analyst, Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center about this complex and potentially volatile turn of events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL KUGELMAN, ANALYST, WILSON CENTER: In previous years, whenever there would be something like this, whether it was an attack in India that India would blame on Pakistan, the U.S. would tend to respond with a diplomatic statement in which it would say the two sides need to work things out and have dialogue.

And yet that was not said this time. It was very clear that the U.S. was siding with India. And that the U.S. is behind India in its fight against terrorism.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And yet, you know, there is a back and forth going on now in India especially a debate at how best to handle the conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir and obviously terrorism issues.

India has practiced this kind of strategic restraint now. And yet some people actually believe a harder line from India, although would be more dangerous might be more productive.

What do you think?

[00:40:15] KUGELMAN: Well, it's a really tough decision for India. Let's face it. It will be very difficult for India not to respond in some way. I say that for several reason.

One, this is a particularly devastating attack. 17 soldiers lost. That's a lot of soldiers. I mean, the Indian military has been hit hard before, but that level, for a single attack, it's been a long time.

The other thing is that India has responded so forcefully, verbally. Even more than it typically does when it's hit like this. It's been coming out extremely hard against Pakistan. And so if it eventually does what it's done in the past, where it basically does do not do anything at all, then I think that could make the government and particularly a Hindu national government like the current one, look a bit silly. But that said, it is very difficult.

What exactly could it do? No one really knows because of the nuclear reality, the fact that Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons. Any military response that India may take, no matter how modest could certainly start to raise concern about some sort of nuclear scenario. Of course, India doesn't want to go there.

NEWTON: Yes, no one wants to go there. And that is what scares everyone about this situation. Any kind of a nuclear standoff in terms of it involving more military action.

But given that India might be emboldened by the U.S., do you think there is some kind of room to take a harder line? Of course, Pakistan is not going to like this and it could still lead to a lot of tension, a lot of military tension.

But do you think we're moving into a difference era of how India handles this in the coming weeks and months?

KUGELMAN: Well, I mean, I think we could move into a new era in the sense that's India could well decide that it's worth the risk of taking some sort of action. Even if it's not any sort of overt action, but you know, the sense of trying to use covert operations to take out some terrorists here and there based in Pakistan. Doing something that would give India an opportunity to essentially stay plausible to deniability. India, again, did not want to do anything overt, anything visible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, we've been talking in the past few days about the plight of Syrian refugees, those in Aleppo that desperately need aid. Other refugees that are caught in the desert. No one can get to them. They're getting no assistance.

Well, now we have a positive story that we certainly want to share with you when we find them.

A group of Syrian refugees who are now in Egypt are making themselves more at home and turning a profit by putting their expertise in the kitchen to good use.

And our Ian lee has that story from Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The secret to good Syrian cuisine is care and variety. That according to Lina Kassah, a bit of a top chef.

Her family encouraged her to share her culinary prowess. Her chance came unexpectedly.

We left Syria because our house was destroyed, and there was no school for my children, says the mother of three.

Lina landed in a kitchen in Cairo along with six other Syrian refugee women. Their catering service is called Zeit Zeitoun, olive oil in Arabic.

Now wafting aromas of home fill this community center. On the menu, classical Syrian dishes like stuffed grape leaves, croquette and sambosek.

The women don't always see eye-to-eye over recipes. But consistency is key.

(on-camera): Pomegranate is a signature crucial ingredient in Syrian food. It gives it that perfect combination of sweet and sour. It also gives the food its darker color.

(voice-over): The end result, delicious. But it goes deeper than that.

When we cook, we bring the memories of the mothers and grandmothers to every boy, girl and family who tastes our food. And we continue the legacy, she says.

Tamara Al-Rifai founded Zeit Zeitoun. She, too, is Syrian but a long- time Cairo resident. She turned her love of cooking into a passion of helping others.

TAMARA AL-RIFAI, FOUNDER, ZEIT ZEITOUN: And I always thought that you don't truly empower people unless you give them a source of income. It gives people back some of their dignity. It makes people less insecure about saying they're refugees.

LEE: Egypt is home to roughly 115,000 Syrian refugees. Cairo's little Damascus also offers flavors of home, even specific, like Aleppo-style chicken. Typically only men work in these restaurants, but Zeit Zeitoun is special from that it only hires women.

[00:45:00] We have families working with us here that don't have a male breadwinner. The women depend on themselves to support their families, she says.

If Zeit Zeitoun succeeds, more women will be hired. But success won't only be measured in just food and money.

AL-RIFAI: The cuisine, the kitchen, the love of food and the centrality of food in any Syrian home is extremely important for us now when we feel that everything else is dividing us.

LEE: Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Love that story. It makes you want to try some Syrian cuisine as well.

Just ahead here, South America's first Paralympics wrapped up in Rio with poignant and defiance. We'll explain.

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ALLEN: We continue to bring you the news out of New York on the bombing investigation. The FBI saying its agents and police made a traffic stop Sunday night in relation to the attack. It's all they're saying.

[00:50:00] CNN producer Shimon Prokupecz says five people were stopped. No one has been arrested or charge as of now.

Also, investigators have an important clue. They say there is a man seen in surveillance video at the site of Saturday's explosion and near where police found this pressure cooker four blocks away. As we've been saying it was rigged. We knew it was suspicious. They've taken it apart and no doubt they are following all of these leads and we'll certainly let you know if there is indeed any more breaks.

Well, a powerful typhoon is approaching Japan.

Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is following that one. And this is a typhoon following right behind another one that, is that right, that just came through Taiwan? Pedram, it's hard to keep up.

(WEATHER REPORT) ALLEN: One of the actors who played the Von Trapp siblings in "The Sound of Music" has died. And you'll probably remember this classic scene with her.

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(GIRL SINGING)

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ALLEN: Yes, she'll always be 16 for so many fans of the movie. This a favorite moment from movie featuring Charmian Carr. She played Liesl, the eldest of the Von Trapp children. She died, Sunday, at the age of 73 from complications of a rare form of dementia.

South America's first up close and personal experience with the Olympic movement has now officially been handed over to Japan in 2020. The Paralympics flame was extinguished in a closing ceremony a short time ago. And our Shasta Darlington was there. Here's a wrap-up from Rio.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 2016 Paralympics closed with another musical extravaganza on Sunday at the Maracana Stadium. Also a tribute to Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad who crashed during a competition on Saturday and died casting a shadow over the rest of the competition. He was remembered by fans and colleagues and organizers both inside and outside the stadium.

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PHILIP CRAVEN, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE: This is an absolutely tragic day for the Paralympic movement and also for the Games here in Rio. I learned about this situation at approximately 1:00 this afternoon, and it's changed the way that I feel today, obviously.

And I think I should say to you all that the most sincere and deep condolences from the Paralympic family. I think that's important from the family go to the Islamic Republic of Iran's National Paralympic Committee.

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[00:55:04] DARLINGTON: South America's first Paralympic Games overall deemed a success. Despite the absence of Russia with their entire Paralympic team banned as part of the state-sponsored doping scandal and despite serious financial problems that affected everything from seating to staffing. It started with dismal ticket sales.

Just a couple of weeks before the Games kicked off, only 12 percent of tickets had been sold. But eventually, Brazil really caught that Paralympic spirit. In the end, more than 80 percent of tickets were sold. That's more than were sold in Beijing helped along by cheap ticket prices. Some were cost as little as $3. And with the weekend competitions, almost completely selling out.

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CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Rio is giving a boost to the spirit of inclusion, the spirit of Olympism, the spirit of Paralympism and the opportunity that those who have a disability can compete. They can be on that same stage. They can be a success and they can inspire others.

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DARLINGTON: The road to Rio finally coming to an end with both the Olympic and Paralympic flags passed off to Tokyo 2020.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen in Atlanta.

My colleague George Howell will be here in a few minutes with more on the New York bombings and other news from around the world.

I'll see you back here in an hour. Keep it here. You're watching CNN.

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