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In Charlotte, North Carolina, Violent Protests and Looting Have Broken Out After Police Shot and Killed Black Man; Suspect in New York and New Jersey Bombings Facing Four New Federal Charges. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 21, 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] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

We are following breaking news from Charlotte, North Carolina, where violent protests and looting have broken out after police shot and killed a black man.

You are looking at interstate 85. I know it is hard to see there. And this is where earlier protesters started blocking the highway and looting tractor-trailers.

Now, they also started a fire in the middle of the road. We haven't got a view of that. There you see it there. At least 12 officers have been injured in those protests. Police say it all started when they were trying to serve a warrant Tuesday and killed Keith Lamont Scott at an apartment complex.

They say Scott was armed, but he was not the man they were looking for. Some of the protesters claimed Scott did not have a gun. But police say they found a gun Scott was holding at the scene. The officer who fired the shots is now on paid leave while an investigation is underway.

And we will continue to follow the story and keep an eye on what is happening there.

But I do want to move to another story we're watching very closely. The suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings is facing four new federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction.

The criminal complaint against Ahmad Rahami says he bought the supplies on the internet and shot video of himself testing explosives in a back yard two days before the bombings. A friend of Rahami told CNN the suspect had a difficult relationship with his father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMARJIT SINGH, AHMAD RAHAMI'S FRIEND: His relationship with his father when he spoke to me during work times, which was 6 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., a lot of time in between, he spoke to me, told me like he didn't really get along with his father as much. Due to because he had a daughter that was not in his race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now, we are learning a lot more about how Rahami allegedly carried out his attack and what may have inspired the plot as well as his father's point of view.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two years before allegedly detonating a bomb in Manhattan, Ahmad Khan Rahami came to the attention of the FBI in New Jersey. In 2014, agents interviewed Rahami's father, Mohammad, following a domestic dispute in which he allegedly called his son a terrorist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you call the FBI two years ago? What happened?

MOHAMMAD RAHAMI, AHMAD KHAN RAHAMI'S FATHER: Because he's doing bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's doing bad. What did he do bad?

RAHAMI: He stabbed my son. He hit my wife. And I put him to jail. Two years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: At the time Rahami had just returned from a year-long trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Officials tell CNN FBI agents did not interview Rahami after conducting internal database reviews, interagency checks and multiple interviews. The FBI ultimately concluded it was a family dispute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SWEENEY, FBI NEW YORK ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: We had a report of a domestic incident some time ago that was -- the allegations were recanted. And I don't have any other information. We'll keep digging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: However, because of his repeated trips to areas associated with terrorists, when Rahami returned to the U.S. in 2014, Customs and Border Patrol agents pulled him aside for extra screening.

A law enforcement official telling CNN that information was sent to the FBI before the family dispute. While the FBI so far does not believe Rahami was part of the terror cell in the New York/New Jersey area, investigators are digging on Rahami's connections in the U.S. and overseas to determine if he had any help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES O'NEILL, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Moving forward, we have to identify everybody involved and see what their backgrounds are, see where they've been, see what they've been up to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Rahami allegedly built at least 10 bombs, 8 pipe bombs and 2 pressure cooker bombs. A federal law enforcement source tells CNN Rahami used a highly volatile chemical explosive, easy to make at home. The material is so powerful it could create an even bigger blast than the one caused by the Boston bombers.

Tonight, investigators are learning more about what could have inspired Rahami. After a shootout with police, investigators discovered he had a notebook on him with a bullet hole.

According to a law enforcement official, it referenced the Boston marathon bombers and American-born Al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in Yemen by a U.S. drone strike.

Rahami's wife is cooperating and she's already spoken to U.S. authorities.

[03:05:00] She could provide crucial information as to her husband's travels throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan to areas that authorities call high risk.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: Joining us now to talk more about this is CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the U.S. Marshal's office, Art Roderick. Thanks so much for being with us. Good to talk to you.

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good to talk to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, New York and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami has been arrested and charged as we've seen. What is the latest on the investigation to determine his motive and of course whether he self-radicalized or whether he's linked in some way to a larger terror cell?

RODERICK: Well, at this particular point in time they're actually dissecting his whole life. His early -- as early back as his elementary school days. You know, what his friends were in high school. They're getting comments from friends in high school, associates at work.

The interesting thing about his background is he has hardly any social media footprint at all. So, the evidence that they're getting a lot of it is coming out of the notebook that had the bullet hole he had on his person at the time of his arrest.

And there's a lot of good information that they're gleaning out of that particular notebook. Also cell phones that he had, or that the family had, that the FBI has obtained during search warrants actually show him testing some of these explosives out behind the restaurant in New Jersey. So, there's a lot of evidence that's being picked up and as they peel

back this onion they're going to find more and more information about this particular individual.

CHURCH: They still don't have motive, though, or whether he worked as a lone wolf here or with a larger cell. They still don't know that at this point, right?

RODERICK: They still are investigating it. There was some reference to other individuals in this journal that he had. Anwar al-Awlaki, there was reference to him. There was reference to the marathon bombers, up in Boston.

So, it appears that there is some radicalization going on. They just don't know at this point. Did it occur during his trips over to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And that will all be sorted out over the next coming weeks and months as the charges go toward -- you know, as they move this case toward trial.

CHURCH: Yes. And you mentioned those multiple trips back to Afghanistan.

RODERICK: Yes.

CHURCH: And to Pakistan. A lot of people saying he should have been on a terror watch list. And of course now this new information coming in that due to a domestic dispute his father actually called him a terrorist.

All of those things combined and the fact that the police, the FBI in fact, were brought in on that particular dispute, should that have been enough? Should that have been a red flag to put him on a terror watch list or not?

RODERICK: Well, I don't think there was enough there. The FBI did investigate it. Apparently, he actually spent three months in jail before the father recanted that particular statement regarding him being a terrorist. So, there was an investigation conducted. Of course this was all two years ago.

Now we have him committing this type of act, in hindsight being what it is should he have been on a terror watch list. Just the mere fact that he did travel to these locations in Pakistan and in Afghanistan does not in and of itself put him on a terror list.

There's hundreds of thousands of people that take these types of trips not necessarily to these particular locations in these two countries but to other locations where we have had terrorist come to the U.S.

So, that in of itself would not have put him on the list. (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).

[03:10:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... the White House said the same thing as well. The only thing that could possibly be -- it doesn't seem as though Russia would have any incentive to do something like that deliberately. There could have been a mistake in targeting. There could have been a mistake in information.

There's many reasons why something like that could happen by accident. We also have to keep in mind why, for instance, the U.S. coalition appears to have bombed Syrian government positions a couple days ago by accident as well.

It is a very messy battlefield, a very complicated battlefield out there. So, really unclear to see what anybody would have to gain from something like this. We've been looking into exactly what happened there on the ground. Let's have a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the red house of the Syrian Red Crescent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: An aid convoy in Aleppo completely destroyed. Eighteen trucks in a warehouse struck in a direct attack. Some 20 people killed. And a seven-day ceasefire negotiated by the U.S. and Russia almost literally burned to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refugee isn't...

PLEITGEN: In this social media video a rescue worker shows the fiery aftermath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These trucks full of aid, medicine and mattresses.

PLEITGEN: Among the dead, Omar Barakat, a local head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, a father of two, according to activists who circulated these images online. As the sun rose, the full scale of the damage became clearer.

Boxes full of life-saving food and medicine intended to provide relief for nearly 78,000 people burned to ash. The new violence all but spells the end of the current ceasefire here in Syria, a ceasefire that was supposed to provide some respite for people in heavily destroyed areas but also aid to the many places under siege.

Now the United Nations has suspended all aid operations in the country and activists say bombs are raining down on rebel-held Aleppo once more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS LAERKE, UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN OFFICE SPOKESPERSON: This very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and I'd say across the world because I think there's been a moment of shock and frankly, disgust.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PLEITGEN: As Moscow and Washington traded allegations, U.N.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties to stop the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: Yesterday's sickening, savage, and apparently deliberate attack on a U.N. Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy is the latest example. The humanitarians delivering life-saving aid were heroes. Those who bombed them were cowards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: More diplomatic squabbling, but still little action to douse the flames once again fanning Syria's civil war.

[03:15:04] And, Rosemary, we also have to keep in mind that at least the U.S. still believes that there is still a ceasefire going on in Syria. At least officially. The U.S. has come out and said it doesn't believe that the ceasefire is totally dead even though judging by the events that we've been seeing on the ground, and also we've been hearing in other cities as well with a lot of violence that has erupted there over the past few days.

It really looks as though, the ceasefire at this point in time if it is still in place is certainly in a lot of trouble, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. And even shakier than it was in the initial stages, Fred. Of course as we mentioned, you and your team visited a suburb of Damascus earlier. What all did you see?

PLEITGEN: Well, it's completely destroyed. This is a suburb of Darayya which was under siege for a very long time. It was in the hands of rebels. Saw some very, very heavy fighting. It's a place that was then evacuated later by one of these deals that the Syrian government has been brokering also with the help of the United Nations as well.

Where the rebel fighters inside that area were bused to another province of whereas the civilians then were evacuated from there. And we went through the place is absolutely abandoned. And really in many ways it shows tragedy of the civil war where you have this unbelievably heavy fighting for a lot of these places.

You have the place essentially turned to a pile of smoldering rubble. The civilians all having to leave. So, you have this very, very hard fighting and really in the end the prize for the victor is just absolute destruction. Very little else. It really shows the whole tragedy of this war that's been going on for such a very long time that's claimed so many lives, Rosemary.

CHURCH: It most certainly is. Our Fred Pleitgen joining us there live from Damascus, Syria, where it is 10.16 in the morning. Many thanks to you, Fred.

And back in the United (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

[03:20:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: ... the manager has said he will not play the veteran again until he receives an apology for comments made by the agent after the player was left off the Champions League squad.

Dimitri Seluk said that Toure felt humiliated after the omission and added Guardiola can't stop him from speaking his mind but the manager demands an an apology nonetheless.

And Serena Williams has told CNN that she's unsure whether she'll be in action for the remainder of the year. The 34-year-old has been battling knee and shoulder injuries withdrew from the tournament in Cincinnati a couple weeks ago, and has been replaced by world number one Angelique Kerber.

And you can find her full interview by searching cnn.com/sport.

And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CHURCH: Let's update you on that breaking news from Charlotte, North Carolina. There have been violent protests after police shot and killed a black man. The protests started Tuesday and spread to interstate 85 overnight.

Dozens of people were blocking the road. Some were seen looting tractor-trailers and burning items in the middle of the highway. Now those crowds have mostly cleared out at this time. It is 3.21 in the morning.

Police say this all started when they were trying to serve a warrant Tuesday and killed Keith Lamont Scott at an apartment complex. They say he was armed but he was not the man they were looking for. Police say they found a gun Scott was holding at the scene but some protesters claim Scott did not have a gun. Now they want answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But as far as my child, my nephews, I am concerned, I'm worried about them. Something has to be done, whether it's our city leaders, whether it's our state leaders, these presidential candidates that are coming onto the scene, something has to be done.

There was a terrorist, New Jersey, New York. He was taken alive. They said they wanted to question him. So, because of you wanting to question him does his life mean more than our black men across the nation? It doesn't make any sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: At least 12 officers have been injured in the protests. Police say one was hit in the face with a rock. The officer who fired the shot is now on paid leave while an investigation is underway.

And we've also just learned from the local NAACP that Scott's family will hold a news conference Wednesday morning, and CNN will bring you full coverage of that as well.

The issue of race has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential election this year. And as tensions rose in North Carolina, Donald Trump was in that very state, trying to address claims of inequality.

Both presidential candidates are just days away from their first face- to-face debate. The polls show a tight race. So, the stakes are high.

Jim Acosta reports on how Trump and Clinton are preparing for the confrontation.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Less than 50 days until Election Day and a bare-knuckle fight to the finish is on. The latest round on keeping Americans safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton talks tougher about my supporters than she does about Islamic terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Donald Trump is once again questioning whether Hillary Clinton can go the distance, poking fun at her recent bout with pneumonia and showing off his busy campaign schedule, saying in a tweet, "Hillary Clinton is taking the day off again. She needs the rest. Sleep well, Hillary. See you at the debate."

Clinton isn't exactly napping. She's prepping for their first debate and making it clear she knows what's coming.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can take that kind of stuff. I've been at this. And you know, I understand it's a contact sport. But I'm not going to take what he says about everybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

CLINTON: You know, his attacks on African-Americans and immigrants and Muslims and women and people with disabilities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there you go. There you go.

CLINTON: It's just -- it's just something we cannot tolerate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: But in the aftermath of the terror in New York Trump isn't backing off his fiery rhetoric, keeping the door open to the profiling of Arabs and Muslims if he's elected president, even as he's denying it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

You want to profile Arab or Muslim men. How would that work?

TRUMP: We have no choice. Look, Israel does it and Israel does it very successfully. But I'm not using the term Muslim. I'm saying you're going to have to profile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:24:59] ACOSTA: Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. are continuing to sign the alarm over the flow of Syrian refugees into the U.S. Trump Jr. said in a tweet, "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem."

The makers of skittles were not amused saying in a statement, "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy." A former aide to President Obama responded by tweeting the image of a bloody Syrian boy. But Trump says it's Clinton who doesn't get it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Where is her condemnation of these people? Where is her condemnation of these countries?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump is also facing serious new questions about his charitable foundation. The Washington Post is reporting the Trump Foundation spent more than a quarter million dollars to settle lawsuits including $120,000 in fines he racked up in a dispute over the placement of a flagpole at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. A potential violation of U.S. tax laws.

One dispute he hasn't settled is with the Bush family. After years of Trump's taunts aimed at his family, the former republican president George H.W. Bush reportedly will vote for Hillary Clinton. So says former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who said in a Facebook post, "The president told me he's voting for Hillary."

On that skittles tweet the Trump campaign is defending Donald Trump Jr. saying he's a tremendous asset to the campaign and was speaking the truth about the subject of Syrian refugees.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Kenansville, North Carolina.

CHURCH: And stay tuned for the very latest from Charlotte, North Carolina, where protesters have blocked major roads after the police shooting of a black man in the city.

Also ahead, Brad and Angelina going their separate ways. Coming up a little later, why this Hollywood power couple is breaking up and why some say it could get ugly. Back in a moment.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CHURCH: Welcome back. We are following this breaking news here in the United States, where violent protests seem to be winding down after the police shooting of a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday.

Overnight, protesters have been blocking a major interstate, i-85. Some were looting tractor-trailers and burning items in the road. Those crowds have mostly cleared out at this hour. It is 3.30 in the morning.

Police say this all started when they were trying to serve a warrant Tuesday and killed Keith Lamont Scott at an apartment complex.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the man who was shot the man who the warrants were for?

KERR PUTNEY, CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE CHIEF: That we don't quite know yet. What we do know is I don't believe he was the one with the warrants but we don't know if there's a connection. At this point all we know is they're in the apartment complex parking lot and this subject gets out with a weapon. They are engaging and one of the officers felt a lethal threat and fired -- fired his weapon because of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the warrants weren't for the man but we're not sure if this man was connected.

PUTNEY: Absolutely. They were not specific to the deceased but we don't know if there's a connection of the deceased with the suspect that we're looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: While police say Scott was armed, some of the protesters claim he did not have a gun. An investigation is underway to sort out every detail here.

Meantime, Scott's family will hold a news conference in the coming hours, and we will bring it to you as it happens.

Well, Barack Obama gave his final address as U.S. President to the United Nations on Tuesday. He recapped his foreign policy and laid out his version for solving world problems.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration or we can retreat into a world sharply divided and ultimately in conflict along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Obama addressing leaders from around the world for his final time in office, wrestling with humanity's biggest struggles, greed, inequality, authoritarianism, intolerance, and calling out what he sees as the causes even within America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Religious fundamentalism. The politics of ethnicity or tribe or sect. Aggressive nationalism. A crude populism. Sometimes from the far left but more often from the far right which seeks to restore what they believe was a better simpler age free of outside contamination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: False populism is a phrase the president has used before to describe Donald Trump's words. And he made more than one more than obvious reference to the big choice America is facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself. And the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: But the president also saved rebuke for the leaders and countries that deny their citizens freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: History shows that strong men are then left with two paths -- permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: He called out North Korea for its nuclear tests, Russia for caking over its neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And China for militarizing islands in the South China Sea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: A peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: With the world watching, President Obama made a sweeping case for liberal democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that "Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God." This is what I believe, that all of us can be co-workers with God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Four times in his remarks here President Obama criticized the idea of building walls. Then he also hosted this refugee summit urging countries to contribute more.

[03:35:00] Although the U.S. has been criticized for taking in fewer Syrian refugees than some other countries but it does contribute more in humanitarian aid. But the president called what's happening in Syria unacceptable, a test of our common humanity.

He said too often leaders in the world focus so much on trying to maintain power when they should be more unified in trying to end this crisis.

Michelle Kosinski, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: We'll take a break here. But still to come, there's a lot of talk about the white working class in this election season. So, CNN is taking a closer look. Next, we will head to West Virginia, where some people feel forgotten. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Announce: This is CNN breaking news.

CHURCH: Let's update you on that breaking news. We've been watching violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina after police shot and killed a black man on Tuesday.

Now, we're told that man's family will hold a news conference Wednesday morning. And CNN will bring that to you when it happens.

Police say this all started when they were trying to serve a warrant Tuesday and killed Keith Lamont Scott at an apartment complex. They say he was armed but he was not the man they were looking for. At least 12 officers have been injured in the protests that followed. The officer who fired the shots is now on paid leave while the city investigates.

This week CNN is taking a closer look at a group of Americans who are often credited with helping fuel Trump's rise in politics, the white working-class. Those without four-year college degrees. CNN worked with the Kaiser family foundation to poll this critical group and explore their concerns.

The survey found that they are not all Trump supporters. Just 60 percent of these voters would consider voting for Trump. But they are upset about the economy. Seventy percent of white working-class adults say they are either very dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with the country's economy.

And more than others, they blame the federal government for working- class economic problems. Sixty two percent say the federal government deserves all or most of the blame. Thirty four percent said it deserves some of the blame. Only 2 percent said no blame.

[03:40:03] One place where white working-class voters are facing economic hardship is West Virginia. The last time that state voted for the Democratic Party in the presidential election was in 1996 for Bill Clinton.

This year, his wife, Hillary, will likely not be as successful. During the democratic primary she lost the state by a large margin to Bernie Sanders, partly because of this comment in a CNN town hall back in March. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country. Because we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. Right, Tim? And we're going to make it clear that we don't want to forget those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The problem? Well, West Virginia's economy heavily relies on coal mining, and the shortened version of that statement, leaving out the important last line, got serious air play nationwide.

Well, now Donald Trump looks poised to win the state by a large margin. One county gave the republican candidate his biggest margin of victory during the primary season. McDowell County is coal country and also one of the poorest areas in the United States. Here are some of the voices from that part of the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's depressing to watch the population disappear. Business disappears and the activity just stops. Back in the '50s, '60s, '70s it was hard to walk up the sidewalk because there were so many people. Now you walk up the sidewalk, there's nobody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our main industry has been coal. So, when you don't diversify and then the coal miners, you know, are laid off, either they stay and they have no money to spend or they eventually have to pack up and move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's been four or five years, I guess, since I had any business. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look different, we talk different, and people

seem to think we don't exist. But if you're hungry, we'll split our last meal with you. If you're cold, we'll get you some kind of -- to stay warm. We give everything that we got. And we get nothing back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 69, and I don't see retirement. I hope to God I can live long enough to do better and help others. That's what we're here for. Sometimes I come here at 8 o'clock. I get out of here 8 or 9 at night and you're going to say, well, that's good. No. Any job comes you don't turn it down and say tomorrow. If you say tomorrow, tomorrow won't be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a natural disaster in the country, everybody shows up. We're the same as a natural disaster here, without the effects, even without the storm or without the flood. We're the same thing.

At the end of the day Donald Trump will wake up a billionaire. His life will not be affected by this election. Hillary Clinton will wake up a millionaire. Her life will not be affected by this election.

There's a whole lot of just regular common working-class people that when we wake up the morning after the election our roads are going to be getting worse, our sewer, our water, our schools are failing and they want us to keep paying more. And we keep getting less.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like Hillary. She has some issues with coal and issues with fair state. I would prefer to see Trump even though I have some issues with some of the things he says. I don't agree with. When I see Trump as a businessman, I think he will help Air County definitely. But I think he will help our country as a whole because he knows what he's doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say at least he had enough guts and say I'm going to do this, that, and the other. At least he's thinking.

[03:45:01] She's thinking how can I double-cross you now? What am I going to do? I'm not both to vote for either damn one of them. Because there's not much difference. They're really not. We're the forgotten tribe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What don't you like about her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wants to shut down the coal industry. That's going to put me out of a job. So, it's going to be real smart to vote for somebody that's going to put you out of a job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the average person thinks of the coal business as people. But it's not so. Coal business now is machinery. You can't put workers back to work. Coal mining was done by men with their hands. That's all in the past. It's machines now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go over to Ballmer County, you tear it all to hell, build it all back up, and they tear it down again. And then if we just had one-tenth of that for our infrastructure and coming down here and say we're going to clean your waterways, we're going to do this, and that -- listen, it's time to take care of home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: All right. We'll take a short break here. But still to come, speculation is running wild about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's divorce. Why there could be a nasty custody battle. We'll take a look. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, one of the hottest summers on record about to be completely over with here across the northern hemisphere and across the United States certainly as well.

But you take a look the change in the season officially occurs at 2.21 in the afternoon on Thursday. Meaning autumn begins in the northern hemisphere. Of course, in the southern hemisphere spring begins. And it also means that days and nights are spread apart equally at 12 hours apart for each one.

But we're watching a couple of disturbances. One is tropical storm Karl, another one is now tropical storm Lisa sitting there across the Atlantic Ocean. Both storms look to remain mainly over open waters. Still watching for Karl to potentially threaten portions of Bermuda sometime late this week into early this weekend.

And that is really the only main weather-maker as far as the tropics are concerned. Here's what's left of Julia. Notice spinning up some wet weather across portions of the southeastern United States. That moisture coming in across the southwestern United States associated with hurricane Paine.

So, you know we're in the heart of the tropics season where anything as far as rainfall scattered about the country seems to be derived from some residual tropical weather. But that's what going across that region. This is what's going to happen here as we go and transition into autumn.

Some very cool weather beginning to shift in towards the northeastern United States. Still going to be in the upper 20s in New York City. But I think those temps will be closer to 20 degrees by say, Saturday and Sunday.

Down to the south, Nassau, not a bad day. Around 32 and partly cloudy.

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CHURCH: One of the highest-profile marriages in Hollywood is over. Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after just two years and one month of marriage, although they have been together since 2004. She cited irreconcilable differences.

Now, the couple is asking for privacy, of course, but rumors are already starting to fly and the divorce could get nasty. Jolie is seeking sole physical custody of their six children. And as far as assets go, the couple is worth an estimated combined total of $400 million.

Both Pitt and Jolie were married before. Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston, in case any of you didn't know, when he met Jolie on the set of the film "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." Jolie had two husbands before Pitt. And the couple is also known around the world for their humanitarian causes.

Jolie is a U.N. Special Envoy for refugee issues. And CNN spoke to fellow actor George Clooney, who was at the United Nations on Tuesday. He's friends with the couple, and he seemed pretty shocked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: And I didn't know that. Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She files.

CLOONEY: I'm very sorry, then. That's a sad story and unfortunate for a family. It's an unfortunate story about a family. I feel very sorry to hear that. It's the first I've heard of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, entertainment journalist Holland Reid is with me now to talk more about this surprise announcement.

HOLLAND REID, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Yes.

CHURCH: Of course, we saw George Clooney was surprised. The world was shocked when it found out the news. And the big question everyone is asking is why.

REID: Why.

CHURCH: So, what is likely behind Jolie filing for divorce?

REID: Well, we know that speculation has run amok today on Twitter, on social media and of course just in inner circles. There's so much to be said saying that it was drug abuse, substance abuse, that his treatment of the children had changed drastically.

There's of course, rumors of a third party although no -- none of the representatives of Angelina Jolie's manager has confirmed that. They did say that it was irreconcilable differences. And she, again, like you said is seeking sole physical custody only asking for visitation rights for Brad Pitt, which is very interesting.

If it was amicable split, if it was an amicable split maybe there would be joint custody, and she's not asking for that. So, that was kind of maybe a teaser on something deeper that's going on involving his relationship with the children.

But they are saying that his anger issues coupled with substance abuse, coupled with excessive partying, people are saying he's having some type of mid-life -- mid-life crisis. Who knows at this point? There are so many conspiracy theories. They're saying that Angelina

Jolie hired a private investigator to follow him around in London while he's filming. Possibly linked up to his co-star of the movie he's shooting in London. So, there's definitely a lot that's going to unfold as the story continues to have the light shed on it for sure.

CHURCH: Yes. There's certainly more to this, isn't there. And of course as you pointed out, she has filed for sole physical custody of the six children.

REID: Yes.

CHURCH: He will get visitation rights. That is a signal immediately that this will not be a smooth split.

REID: Definitely not going to be a smooth split. Six children. One or -- I'm sorry, two of which he adopted after they, you know, got together and were together for a while. And then of course his children he had with Angelina Jolie. Excuse me. Biological children.

And then the money involved. And then the custody battle. And there's going to be so much that plays out. We don't even know if there's a pre-nup right now. They're saying that they just want to keep the assets separate up until, I guess the time of their divorce. And there are people are saying there might not have been a pre-nup, $400 million, six children, this is going to get nasty, and it's probably going to get messy pretty fast.

CHURCH: Yes. And of source, social media lit up, particularly Twitter, and Jennifer Aniston's name kept popping up. And the word "karma." So talk to us about what a lot of people were saying about this on social media.

REID: I have to say, I mean, Jennifer Aniston cannot get a break from this. This has been 10 years and counting that she has not been married to this man. She got her divorce, let her be. But what we have here is the classic underdog story.

Team Jennifer Aniston really felt their vindication today on Twitter. They felt like they finally had the 'a-ha, we got you,' you know, because she was, you know, reportedly cheated on by Brad Pitt while they met on the set of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and that's how their whole relationship began.

Of course, nobody has really come out and even confirmed that. But we know what the timeline of Jennifer Aniston's split from Brad and then Brad and Angelina then getting together. There definitely with some overlapping there.

[03:55:00] So, I think anybody who's a fan of Jennifer Aniston, she's America's sweetheart. She is, you know, is now married to Justin Theroux. She's not losing at all, guys.

So calm down, Twitter. She's doing just fine with her million-plus dollars an episode still in syndication from "Friends" and all of her endorsements. But with that being said when you have the good girl and the girl next door that gets wronged by the bad boy, that goes after the bad girl, the vixen, everybody wants to see that bad girl go down.

CHURCH: Yes.

REID: And as much humanitarian work as Angelina Jolie has done, I don't think she ever got that same kind of good girl status that Jennifer Aniston had. So, Twitter went ablaze in all its glory definitely with the memes and the gifs.

CHURCH: Yes.

REID: It was quite entertaining. Although divorce is sad. But it was a little bit of the break of the -- of the seriousness of it all.

CHURCH: And people just so hungry to get more.

REID: Oh, yes.

CHURCH: We'll have to leave it there for now. Holland Reid, thank you so much.

REID: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

CHURCH: And you can find much more about the Brangelina divorce and its implications by checking our web site. Go to cnn.com to learn more about the custody details and the possible financial fallout from the split.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemarycnn. I love to hear from you.

For our viewers here in the U.S. Early Start is up next with much more coverage of those protests in North Carolina. And for everyone else, stay tuned for more news with Max Foster in London.

Have yourselves a great day.

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