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Hala Gorani Tonight
Government Forces Slam Rebel-Held Aleppo; How Diplomacy Crumbled Back To War; Family Releases Cell Phone Video Of Charlotte Shooting; Tulsa Officer Charge, Free On $50,000 Bond; Yahoo: 500 Million User Accounts Hacked; U.S.-Russian Tensions Mount Over Ceasefire; Iraqi Forces Recapture Town Ahead Of Mosul Push; U.K. Defense Secretary Speaks About Mosul Operation; Clinton And Trump Debate Styles Differ; Clinton Showed Humor On "Between Two Ferns"; Busy Week Of Diplomacy At U.N. General Assembly. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired September 23, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are coming to you live from CNN London. Thanks you for being with us on
this Friday. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Well, it is over. Syria's ceasefire is now as much in ruins in large parts of the country itself. All-out war is breaking out over rebel-held areas
of Aleppo once again.
Well, over 100 government airstrikes smashed into the city on Friday alone. Activists tell CNN more than 80 people have been killed. Many other
trapped beneath the ruins of bombed out buildings like this one.
We want to show the reality of that now. This report from CNN's Fred Pleitgen begins with some graphic video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tragic result as diplomacy seems to have failed once again. Tiny
toddlers in rebel-held Aleppo wounded in airstrikes as the Syrian government has announced a new offensive on the rebel-held parts of the
city. A nightmare that a joint U.S.-Russian peace plan was supposed to resolve.
Instead, more violence. The air raids worse than before the ceasefire went into effect the opposition says. After an attack on an aide convoy, which
no one has fessed up to and the new fighting, the U.N.'s head acknowledging the international community is failing.
BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The Syrian tragedy shames us all. The collective failure of the international community should haunt every
member of this council.
PLEITGEN: America pointing its finger at Russia and the Assad regime blaming them for the breakdown of the cessation of hostilities and
demanding they ground all military aircraft.
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: The only way to achieve that is if the ones who have the air power in this part of the conflict simply stop using
it. Absent of a major gesture like this, we don't believe there is a point in making more promises or issuing more plans.
PLEITGEN: For their part, Russia and the Assad government blamed the opposition for breaching the truce noting alleged violations by rebels and
claiming fighters were using the ceasefire to regroup.
(on camera): The Syrian government says the offensive is comprehensive and it's using both air and ground forces with all the devastating consequences
for the people inside Eastern Aleppo.
(voice-over): The U.N. says it's still working to try and revive what may be left of the peace process, but the prospects seem bleak. A meeting
between Washington and Moscow this week was described by the U.N. as both long, painful, and disappointing. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, speaking just a short while ago, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said his country still wants a ceasefire. He says
it's the other side that broke it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: So we're all in favor of the ceasefire, but without separation, Nusra or other deposition from Nusra,
the ceasefire is meaningless.
During the period from 12th of September when the Russian-American document was formally enforced, after this date, almost 350 attacks of the
opposition in Aleppo alone against the government and some residential quarters. Many people were killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Sergei Lavrov there. There is so much back and forth, there seems to be more words than action towards actually achieving peace in Syria.
CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin joins me from Washington. CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, is with us from New York.
Elise, let me start with you. Not a great week for diplomacy. You asked John Kerry if he spoke with Sergei Lavrov today, what did he say?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he spoke to him, Hala, on the margins of some of the other meetings in New York. It doesn't
sound like any real kind of meaningful discussions are taking place the last couple of days particularly between Secretary Kerry and Foreign
Minister Lavrov.
After negotiating this ceasefire just over a week ago to be here where they are right now, you really hear the disconnect between these two men.
They're both saying that the ceasefire is meaningless, but they're both blaming the other side for why it is.
The U.S. blaming Russia for not stopping the regime from bombing the civilians. And even as Kerry was talking yesterday at the Syria Support
Group meeting, the offensive by the regime forces, this new offensive of airstrikes had begun.
And today in the U.N. General Assembly, Sergei Lavrov is blaming the United States for not separating Al-Nusra militants from the opposition and saying
that is why the regime is going after them.
So I don't know where they're able to find some common ground. They both know that the ceasefire isn't working. The U.S. is looking for concrete
proposals, and Russia is calling them meaningless and saying it is up to the U.S. certainly as the two sides in Syria continue to fight, so are the
U.S. and Russia.
GORANI: Right and there is more -- there is so many more than two sides which makes the matter even more complicated. Josh Rogin, what is it going
to take? It seems intractable at this stage.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I agree with everything that Elise said. There seems to be a break down in the common perception of the
reality on the ground. Without any agreement on basic facts about what is going on in Aleppo, there cannot be trust and without trust there cannot be
an agreement.
And therefore the ceasefire simply cannot go forward. The dynamics here are that the Obama administration in pushing this ceasefire seems to have
greatly overestimated the willingness of the Assad regime and Russia to some degree to see the pause in fighting as part of their self-interest.
There is just simply not the impetus on that side to make the moves necessary that would allow a cessation of hostilities to proceed, and the
lead today a political settlement. What does that leave?
Without those basic facts, there really is only one alternative and that is an escalation and that escalation is now ongoing. Now the question is will
the U.S. and the coalition participate in that escalation?
Will they give Syrian civilians, opposition groups, rebel groups the means to protect civilians especially from airstrikes and barrel bombs and to
combat the escalation that we are now seeing on the Russian side.
GORANI: But we were talking about this with Josh yesterday and Elise, of course, in just a few months we'll have a new president in the United
State, and one has to wonder whatever diplomatic effort is made, all the parties are really kind of in a wait and see situation until there is new
leadership in America, right?
LABOTT: Well, that is right. Certainly the Russians are hoping that it's going to be Donald Trump because you've heard what Donald Trump says.
Wouldn't it be great if we could work together to combat ISIS and basically go along with the Russian line on Syria.
So they're hoping that Trump will get elected, he will make a deal with President Putin on keeping Assad in power, and then everything will go
forward in the U.S. and Russia can work together, I got to say that's not too different than what we are seeing on the ground right now.
The U.S. trying to make a deal with Russia, but I totally agree with Josh, they're over estimating the desire by the Russians to stop this. And then
the Russians also know that the U.S. has no cards to play.
They can escalate it as much as it wants, and Secretary Kerry has been clear that President Obama has no intention of escalating this military
conflict. So Russia has all the cards here.
GORANI: Certainly, this is the way perhaps that Russia is viewing this, Josh, right? Because I mean, calling for Assad planes to be grounded with
no mechanism for accountability or verification, no military engagement, no fly zone situation, I mean, you know, why even ask for that? Is it
meaningless at this stage?
ROGIN: I think it is meaningless. I think John Kerry is grasping at straws. He has not been empowered by President Obama to put any real
pressure or exert any real leverage over either Russia or Syria.
So first stance was to try to convince the Russians and the Syrian government that in was in their interest to lay down the arms. Now he is
simply kind of begging for them to do it. There is no expectation that this will have any effect. It's simply the only thing he can say.
[15:10:02]While we talk about what Donald Trump's plans were, we should also talk about what Hillary Clinton's plans are. She understands that the
only way to make progress is to increase leverage against Russia and the Assad regime by increasing the U.S. material commitment and support for the
opposition. That's exactly what she plans to do is she's elected.
GORANI: Lastly, Josh, when I speak to Hillary Clinton's surrogates, and I asked them about Syria, and you know, unfortunately, one can say in the
current political climate, it is almost become impossible to get Syria's foreign policy questions in because of the discourse.
But Elise, I want to ask you, one of her surrogates told me, one of her campaign aides told me that a no fly zone over Syria, militarily enforced,
is something Hillary Clinton might be a supporter of and that would be a big change from the Obama administration.
LABOTT: Well, she is kind of sending mixed messages on that, isn't she? I mean, she had originally said that she supported a no fly zone, then as the
Democratic primaries and debates went on, she seemed to distance herself from that.
Certainly she knows. She's worked with President Putin before and she is very skeptical of him and she knows really a lot about the balance of power
just as John Kerry does.
And as Josh said, he just didn't have the cards that he needs to play. She knows what she needs to do to turn this around so that is either a no fly
zone, increasing aid to Syrian rebels, or working with allies in the region who were willing to do that.
But given what she's been saying about President Putin, I don't think she's going to be willing to make a deal. I do think she's going to have to ramp
up her commitment, but whether she's willing to enforce a no-fly zone and what does that mean.
It means that if Russia is going to violate that no fly zone, that the U.S. or its partners will shoot it down. I don't know if any U.S. president is
willing to escalate into a full-on war with Russia, which that could start.
GORANI: Right. Well, this is something that could have been a lot more easily a few years ago. That's for sure. Now it is so complicated. Josh
Rogin, Elise Labott, thanks to both of you for joining us on our top story this evening.
To the United States, the wife of an African-American man killed by police in Charlotte, North Carolina, has released just in the last hour her own
cell phone video of the shooting.
An attorney for the family of Keith Lamont Scott says, the footage is being released because police will not release their own video of the incident.
We're going to share it with you, but the clip is pretty disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't shoot him, don't shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. He
didn't do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI. He's not going to do anything to you guys. He just took his medicine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, don't let them break the windows, come out of the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, don't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, get out of the car. Keith, Keith, don't you do it, don't you do it. Keith! Keith! Keith! Don't you do it! Did you
shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be (inaudible) dead. He better not be (inaudible) dead, I know that much. I
know that much, he better not be dead. I'm not coming near you, he better be alive. You better --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: It is very difficult to watch, those shots that you heard are the shots that killed this man, Keith Scott, and you clearly hear his wife
yelling that her husband doesn't have a gun, he has a TBI, a traumatic brain injury, he just took his medicine.
Brian Todd joins me now live from Charlotte. First, why is the family or the wife of Keith Scott releasing this video now?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, their attorney, Eduardo Curry, has given some guidance on why they decided to release that now and
essentially he is putting this on the fact that the police have not released the dash cam and body cam videos that they have of this incident.
That decision, by the way, now rest with the State Bureau of Investigation of North Carolina and they have not released it yet either. But Eduardo
Curry, the attorney for the Scott family said that the told CNN the tape was released by the family because the officials would not release their
tapes to the public.
Eduardo Curry said, quote, "We want the public to take a look at this tape and see what was in the video before he was shot, and what was there
afterward and asked how it got there. Curry did say they are not imploring anything, but they want transparency.
So clearly, you know, again this morning, we heard from the police and the mayor that they do not feel that now is the right time to release the dash
cam and body cam videos of the shooting of the incident.
[15:15:11]Because they believe it might compromise the investigation and the police chief said it may even escalate the tension on the streets.
They're maintaining that Keith Lamont Scott did have a gun on him.
The police chief said in the video that he has seen, he has not seen evidence that Scott was pointing a gun at the officers, but the police
still maintain that he did have a gun on him when he exited that vehicle.
Now the decision to release the police body cam and dash cam videos has been kicked over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations and
we're pressing them on when or if they might release it and we're not getting any answers as of now, Hala.
It maybe some days before they decide to release it, but the public pressure here in the United States is intensifying for that to happen.
Hillary Clinton just called for the public release of those police videos. So it's gone to the highest levels at this point.
GORANI: Now we have the video from the wife of Keith Scott, does it answer any of the questions that people have about whether or not he was a threat
to police, whether or not they were justified in shooting him to death?
TODD: You know, Hala, when I reviewed this thing in totality. I'm not sure it answers those questions. I'm really not. You know, you clearly
hear the police yelling at him repeatedly drop the gun, drop the gun. You do hear his wife saying he doesn't have a gun.
Later on in the videotape, you hear repeatedly yelling at him "Don't do it, Keith." "Don't do it, Keith." Now what is she telling him not to do? We
don't know. That's the thing -- is she telling him not to exit the vehicle?
Is she telling him something about what he is holding in his hand? We don't know any of that. The family may be speaking later, or maybe not
today, we're not sure, maybe they can give clarity on that.
In my review of it, it certainly illustrates how disturbing this incident was and how chaotic it really was, but does it move the needle on
determining whether Keith Lamont Scott was a threat to the officers. In my review of this tape, I can't really say that it does right now.
GORANI: And of course, for a couple of night, we had some violence on the streets of Charlotte. It was calmer yesterday, but I mean, after this
video, it is always so emotional and difficult to watch, even if you don't see the actual killing itself, hearing the gunshots, knowing they killed
this individual, and then seeing him laying down on the ground. It will stir something up, isn't it? There has to be concerns that tonight might
be another difficult night in Charlotte.
TODD: It is possible, Hala. You know, I've learned, I was out last night during the protests in Charlotte. I've covered the Baltimore riots and the
protests there. The one thing I know that it is impossible to predict what's going to happen on the streets after something like this happens.
I've heard a lot of speculation, one way and the other about what could happen tonight here in Charlotte. I don't think there is any way to know,
really. It is tense here. I know that. It has been tense in the last three nights and we are going to see what happens tonight.
GORANI: Is the curfew still -- I mean, the midnight curfew is that still happening tonight? I know it was the case yesterday.
TODD: Yes, they have a curfew of midnight to 6:00 a.m., but what I did get the police to tell us last night after the midnight curfew past, I was
walking with a police captain, who is one of the ones who is kind of determining how things were going on the streets.
And he said they would not enforce the curfew if the protests remains peaceful, and they did. So the protest went on for some time after
midnight and it was fine, you know, they say that look they're going to be the protesters some leeway. They won't enforce the curfew if they remain
peaceful. Last night, they did remain peaceful.
GORANI: All right, Brian Todd, thanks very much in Charlotte. We'll continue to follow your reporting from North Carolina.
Now to the other high profile police shooting in U.S. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when the officer there was freed Friday on $50,000 bond. No court date has
been set.
The woman, you see her picture behind me, she has been charged with first degree manslaughter in the killing of an unarmed black man whose vehicle
had broken down on the side of road. CNN's Ana Cabrera has the latest from Oklahoma.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby turning herself in and released on bond overnight, charged with the
shooting of death of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher.
DAMARIO SOLOMON-SIMMONS, ATTORNEY FOR CRUTCHER'S FAMILY: We know that nothing that happens, not charges, not convictions, not sentencing,
nothing, will bring Terence back.
STEVE KUNZWESLER, TULSA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I determined that the filing of the felony crime of manslaughter in the first degree against
Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby is warranted.
CABRERA: The felony manslaughter charge coming less than a week after the shooting was caught on this police helicopter video. Crutcher walking with
his hands up just moments before he's gunned down by Shelby.
[15:20:03]The prosecutor's office alleging that Officer Shelby reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation with Mr.
Crutcher who was not responding to verbal commands and was walking away from her with his hands up becoming emotionally involved to the point that
she over reacted.
Shelby told investigators she feared Crutcher was reaching into his car potentially for a weapon. No weapon was found at the scene.
SCOTT WOOD, OFFICER SHELBY'S ATTORNEY: She thought if she didn't take action right then, everyone would be a peril of serious bodily harm or
death.
SOLOMON-SIMMONS: All we know is what we saw in the video. We didn't see at any point Mr. Crutcher being noncompliant.
CABRERA: Crutcher's family attorneys questioning the officer's story by pointing to an enhanced picture of the window.
BENJAMIN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: You see that it is completely up, and there is blood going almost to the top of the window.
CABRERA: CNN has independently analyzed the video frame by frame zooming in. It does appear that the window is up, and this a reflection of his
arms in the window is visible.
DR. TIFFANY CRUTCHER, TERENCE CRUTCHER'S SISTER: We want full prosecution. We want a conviction and when that happens, this is a small victory, but we
know we have to get ready to fight this war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right, that was Ana Cabrera reporting from Tulsa. A lot more to come this evening, if you have a Yahoo account, it might be a good idea
to change your password in the wake of a massive data breach. We'll discuss that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: If you're a Yahoo! user, I'd recommend changing your password right now. Basically on Thursday, the company confirmed that hackers had
stolen personal data from at least half a billion users. It could be the biggest cyber security breach ever and Yahoo! says it happened two whole
years ago.
Why are we just learning about this now? Our senior tech correspondent, Laurie Segall joins me now live from New York. So first of all, how did it
happen and why are we just hearing about this today?
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I think that is a question a lot of people have. A little bit of background on it, in
July, a hacker in these underground web forums was talking extensively about having a lot of information from Yahoo!, having a lot of data.
Yahoo! went and investigated it after the media covered it and it wasn't until yesterday that not only was there information out there, but that it
was really bad. We are talking 500 million accounts affected.
Let me get to what exactly they took. We are talking names, birthdays, e- mail addresses, passwords, Hala, phone numbers, security questions and answers. And I will say this, the passwords that have been leaked were
encrypted and what they call hash so it's very difficult to crack those.
But what wasn't encrypted, and I don't know if enough people are talking about this, Hala, what wasn't encrypted were those security questions.
[15:25:01]So think about when you try to reset your password on a web site and it asked you your mother's maiden name or what street you grew up on.
A lot of times people have those same security questions for all of different web sites.
Whether it's Facebook, Google, Twitter, so they were able to get access these and they could go and (inaudible) passwords all over. This is how
Sarah Palin's inbox attacked back in the day, how Jennifer Lawrence so this is a big deal.
If you're a Yahoo! user, immediately you should be changing your password. You should be thinking about this.
GORANI: Even if you change it now, this happened two years ago, so for two years all these information including the security questions were hacked
for 500 million accounts.
SEGALL: Yes, it's a huge deal and what makes it -- this is terrible timing, if you look for Yahoo! Yahoo! is in the process -- (inaudible) in
the process of acquiring Yahoo! for $4.8 million. So people are wonder is this will impact this.
I mean, this is a credibility in a trust thing or if you're a Yahoo user, not only were you hacked, but they didn't find it or they were not candid
about it for two years, which is a big thrusting.
So I think you have a lot of folks asking questions. You know, let me get to what --
GORANI: Are there accusations that Yahoo! knew about this earlier and didn't divulge it early enough?
SEGALL: No. You know, I think what we're hearing is they started looking into it and they didn't find out about it until later, which in and of
itself, by the way, Hala, is a huge issue.
You have a company like Yahoo!, you want top security. I'm told there was a lot of security changes, by the way, about four years ago when Marissa
Myer came in.
You know, so I think people are going to be speculating, did they do enough to protect their users.
GORANI: What are they suggesting people with Yahoo! accounts do apart from obviously changing their passwords?
SEGALL: What you can do is change your password, change your password across platforms especially if you have a password that is similar, change
those security questions, I cannot emphasize that enough, and you know, change other accounts with the same information. You can always set up two
factor authentication.
You know, there are different types of online services that help you with managing your passwords, but you know, it certainly seems like a lot of
Yahoo! users are thinking that doesn't feel like enough right now.
You know, we want to know in the future we will be safe and I think a lot of folks are worried about that.
GORANI: Well, also the security questions, there aren't enough of them. You know, you have six or seven options, and they're the same with every
website, and you know, eventually there is going to be overlaps. So perhaps that's something they should think about.
SEGALL: That is true, I was thinking about this, and yes, you know, look, maybe we need to be rethinking also the security process, right? And the
future far down the road, maybe they'll be in biometrics. There will be different kinds of security in general.
Even passwords, when you change your passwords, there are only so many combinations you can come up. What people say is maybe come up with a pass
phrase. We actually think of a long sentence or something, but you know, - -
GORANI: You're going to remember as well probably.
SEGALL: Yes, exactly. But we do want security folks to think ahead and think that maybe this process isn't 100 percent working.
GORANI: All right, Laurie Segall, thanks very much for joining us from New York with that.
And coming up, the operation to encircle the Iraqi city of Mosul will begin in a few weeks. That's according to Britain's defense secretary. Find out
what else he had to say about the fight against the terrorist group.
And the countdown to the showdown is on. We'll unpack the strategies and preps ahead of the first presidential debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back. A look at our top stories, the Syrian government says an all-out military offensive is under
way against rebels in Eastern Aleppo. Activists now say some 120 people have been killed by it so far on Friday as airstrikes relentlessly pounded
the city. Many others are trapped beneath the rubble, and the ceasefire is definitely dead.
The wife of an African-American man killed by police in Charlotte, North Carolina has released her own cell phone video of the shooting death of her
husband. An attorney for the family of Keith Scott says the footage is being released because police will not release their own video of the
incident.
I have a clip to share with you. This was released just in the last hour and a half or so, but I want to warn you, it is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't shoot him, don't shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. He
didn't do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Shortly after this, the police do end up shooting Keith Scott. You can clearly hear his wife telling police not to shoot.
Also among the top stories we are following, at least 162 migrants are now known to have drowned off of the coast of Egypt after their boat capsized
in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday. A 164 only have been rescued. Many others were on board are still missing.
Let's return to our top story, Syria, and the seemingly impossible search for peace there. Relations between the United States and Russia have had
their testing times in the past, but the pointed accusations this week between the two sides could be, very well be a new diplomatic low. Matthew
Chance is in Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A furry of Syria's military and its allies unleashed once more on the city of
Aleppo as the truce in this country is shattered, relations between Russia and the United States, sponsors of the peace deal have also been pushed to
new depths.
Not since the end of the cold war this rhetoric between Moscow and Washington backing opposite sides in Syria have been so acute.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: How can people go sit at a table of the regime that bombs hospitals, and drops chlorine gas again and again and
again, and again, and acts with impunity? You're supposed to sit there and have happy talk in Geneva.
CHANCE: It was the bombing of the U.N. aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday that appears to have been the last straw, at least 20 civilians and aid
workers were killed and the desperately needed humanitarian supplies they were preparing to deliver incinerated. Russia denies its war planes or
those of its Syrian government allies are to blame.
SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I think we need to refrain from emotional reactions and make comments immediately, public comments, but
first to investigate and be very professional.
CHANCE (on camera): Of course, this diplomatic clashing of swords over Syria didn't come out of a vacuum. The United States and Russia have been
at a head for years over issues from the Gulf War in 1990 to the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010.
Add to that NATO expansion into former Soviet territories and you get a sense that even though the Cold War ended the mutual rivalry and suspicion
never really did.
(voice-over): The latest round of U.S.-Russian tensions could be traced to Ukraine and the fighting that followed popular pro-western uprising there
in 2014.
[15:35:08]As well as backing the rebels, Russia quickly annexed the strategic Crimean Peninsula where its black sea fleet is based. The U.S.
responded with outrage and economic sanctions, and continues to criticize Russian policy in Ukraine and elsewhere.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force.
CHANCE: But it all only seems to have bolstered Vladimir Putin. His muscular foreign policy in Ukraine and Syria forcing the world to recognize
Russia as a major power once again, and the major critic of the United States.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we have violence, poverty, and social
disaster. I cannot help but asking those that caused the situation do you realize now what you have done?
CHANCE: When it comes to Syria, the test of whether Putin and the United States can work together now hangs by a thread. Matthew Chance, CNN,
Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: While the eyes of the world have been focused on the deteriorating ceasefire in Syria, Iraqi forces are advancing toward the critical city of
Mosul. It was overtaken by ISIS a couple of years ago.
Now they recaptured on their way the town of Shirkat (ph) from ISIS on Thursday, and it is a key step forward in the campaign to liberate Mosul
from the terrorist group.
The British defense secretary, Michael Fallon, spoke to my colleague, Nima Elbagir, and said that that offensive will start very soon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL FALLON, BRITISH DEFENSE SECRETARY: The troops are trained now. They're being assembled. We expect the operation to encircle Mosul to
begin in the next few weeks. That will then lead to the attack on Daesh in the city and the eventual liberation.
We don't know whether Daesh will fight until the last man in Mosul or whether they will simply melt away. We can't be sure of that. A lot of
planning has been going on to make sure the civilian population is protected.
That humanitarian aid continues to get into the city. There is temporary accommodation available, and that the people in Mosul are informed at each
stage of the campaign. Millions of leaflets being dropped on the city to prepare them for what is about to happen, and we will do everything
possible to minimize the risk of civilian casualties.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mosul, of course, it's not even the beginning of the end game?
FALLON: No, there is more work to be done. There are returns to the north of Mosul. There are still some pockets of resistance along the Euphrates
River Valle to the south, and then the border with Syria also has to be secured. So this is not the end, but it is quite possibly the beginning of
the end.
ELBAGIR: I know that there has been a lot of disappointment about the fact that there was no significant amount of aid. Did any aid actually even in
the end make it through? You characterize it as hanging by a thread, but isn't it really over now?
FALLON: It is collapsed as the previous ceasefire collapsed, and we obviously regret that. And I think the international community was right
to try for a ceasefire, but clearly neither Russia nor the regime had any real commitment to respecting the ceasefire or any real interest.
I'm ashamed to say, in getting aid through to the people that have been needing it for months so Russia should come clean, sort of manufacturing
over more bogus explanations and excuses.
They should do what the west does which is they should have a proper investigation and they should be prepared to publish the findings. If this
was a mistake then they should then come out and apologize. If it was deliberate, then the commanders responsible should be held to account.
ELBAGIR: And this is extraordinary billion dollar in cash figure that we have been hearing, tell us about this.
FALLON: This was an airstrike on a large holding of cash that Daesh had in Raqqa and it made it more difficult to take the cash out of circulation,
the notes have been destroyed. And now it's more difficult for Daesh to pay its fighters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Michael Fallon, the British defense secretary and as you heard there the time line is hazy. How much involvement the U.K., and other
western countries will provide, of course, will depend very much on the success of that campaign in terms of advice to some of those Iraqi troops
that are leading the battle.
Five years of carnage in Syria has created the biggest refugee crisis in generations, the biggest since World War II in Europe. While many make the
perilous journey to Europe, millions have fled to the countries nearby including that became a city in its own right, the Zaatari Camp just over
the border in Jordan.
[15:40:07]Actor and Save The Children supporter, Michiel Huisman, has recently been to this camp and he took a picture with some of the kids in
the mirror there. This is of the sprawling camp itself.
Now Michiel Huisman is in Holland right now, and he join me now live via Skype. So talk to us while we show some of our viewers some of the photos
that you took, about your impressions, what did you take away from your visit to Zaatari?
MICHIEL HUISMAN, ACTOR AND SAVE THE CHILDREN SUPPORTER: Well, the first thing that struck me is that I was expecting something that would feel like
a temporary camp. You know, tents and stuff like that. Being there I realized this was not a temporary situation for a lot of these people.
And, you know, I think in my life, you know, it is so much about where do I want to go, and making plans, and dreams, and stuff like that. As I was
there in the camp, I could not help myself and conversations with people, I said so you have been here for a while now, what is the plan?
Do you have dreams? Do you want to go somewhere? And then it struck me and hit me so hard that these people can't make those plans, you know?
GORANI: What do they tell you when you ask them that? What are your dreams? Especially the kids because you took lots of pictures of kids,
there is the cute girl with the big tails, the selfie with the young boys, what do they tell you when you say what are your dreams and plans?
HUISMAN: Talking to the parents, I feel the vacuum in time that these people are in. Talking to the kids, though, you see the hope, you know?
Kids being kids, they always dream, right? Thank God that gives me hope.
We mentioned the picture of me, the selfie with the girl with the pigtails, for example. She together with a group of other girls, they were doing
performing like a play for me that basically told their story of fleeing war-torn Syria, the journey, and landing at the refugee camp.
And so they thought it would be nice for me to also participate in the play, so I play a rescuer. So at some point, I had to come on stage and I
had to pick up the little girl you see, because she got injured badly in the performance, right, in the story.
So as I'm picking up this little girl, I realize that for this little kid, this is not some sort of abstract story. This is her story. This is the
story that she lives in, and I, you know, I realized the importance of stuff like that, you know?
Of being able to be a kid, being able to try and deal with trauma through play and stuff like that, you know.
GORANI: And like you said, this is essentially starting to look more and more like a proper, permanent city there on the other side of the border in
Jordan. Does any of these kids -- do they watch -- I don't even know if they watch the show that you're on, do they know who you are?
HUISMAN: I think most of them did not. There is one picture, I don't know -- yes, I see it right now, my image is delayed. There is an image of
these kids alongside the soccer field wearing orange jerseys. They were super excited they thought -- I think they thought I was a professional
soccer player and we were about to play a game, and fairly quickly they figured out I was only acting.
GORANI: I'm sure they were really glad. You're an ambassador, was this your first visit to Jordan or your first visit to a refugee camp with
Syrians?
HUISMAN: Yes, it was.
GORANI: And what message do you have. We have been covering this for years and years and I'm always curious when someone experiences this misery
on such a large scale, what do you want to tell people about it?
HUISMAN: I got to visit a couple programs, the organizations like "Save The Children" are running, for example, in Zaatari, but also in Haas
communities, and I could tell that these programs are like oxygen for these kids, you know?
This is the tiny glimmer of hope, room to play, and we need to do whatever we can to make sure we don't take that away from these kids and that
hopefully in the future we can reach more kids because there are still a lot of kids that are left behind.
[15:45:11]GORANI: All right, thank you so much for joining us, Michiel Huisman talking to us about your trip that you made with "Save The
Children" to Zaatari refugee camp. We appreciate it. Thanks for sending us your photos as well.
We are going to take a quick break on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Breaking news for you, Ted Cruz, the man that went all of the way to the convention in Cleveland to say he will not endorse Donald Trump,
well, he is today endorsing Trump for president. It is surprising given what a contentious relationship the two had throughout the primary.
Cruz's statement was very much anti-Hillary Clinton, but back to the match up at hand, if you need any more evidence that Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton are polar opposite candidates, you will get that Monday night when Trump and Clinton will go toe to toe in the first presidential debate.
The polls are becoming almost too close to call. Take a look at the swing state of Iowa, Trump has the lead over Clinton, 44 to 37. It's the
opposite in Virginia, another battleground state, Clinton tops Trump, 45- 39.
These are just polls, but it is worth noting that early voting has started in some states. Let's get more on the strategies and the prep work. I'm
joined by CNN political commentators, John Avlon and Lonnie Chen.
John is a former political speech writer and the editor-in-chief of "Daily Beast" and joins us from New York, and Lanhee Chen is a former Mitt Romney
public policy director and he is on Skype from California.
Lanhee, you have been in those pre-debate prep tense moments. What's going through mind right now and what is your expectation for Monday between
these two?
LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's unlikely that whatever is going through Donald Trump's mind is anything like any previous candidate.
He'S had a very unconventional prep process. I think Hillary Clinton has had a much more conventional process.
They've been studying issues, determining best lines of attack against Donald Trump, and figuring out how to defend her own record. In terms of
what I expect, I do think that she will come out a little bit more aggressively than most, I think.
I think she will do that precisely to knock Donald Trump off of his game because remember the worst thing that can happen to Hillary Clinton is for
there to be 90 minutes on Monday, and for the American people to being to visualize a Donald Trump as commander-in-chief.
If she allows him to skate and doesn't try to tip him off balance that very could happen. So she does have a big task ahead of her.
GORANI: And John, what is the biggest challenge for each of these candidates? Because Donald Trump, we know that sometimes when he goes off
script he hurts himself by saying some outrageous things. We know that Hillary Clinton needs to get a little bit aggressive in this sort of one-
on-one match up. What is the biggest challenge for each one of them here?
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think one of the challenges and opportunities is to address the conventional wisdom negative wrap on you as
a candidate. So Hillary Clinton needs to show that she is strong and decisive, and that she isn't kind of an automaton when it comes to
stiffening up and going all facts and no heart.
She really needs to make sure she's emotionally connecting with the audience, being authentic, but also tough, a credible commander-in-chief.
Donald Trump needs to show that he is not a reflexive bully that spouts back nonsense all of the time.
He needs to make swing voters see that he actually has been a successful individual who could be a successful president. That means playing up
against very much his own instincts and type. So you know, this is going to be an epic debate, a cage match of sorts and probably unprecedented
ratings.
All of America will be watching. These are high stakes as it gets in. The first debate as Lanhee can tell you often carries bigger thrill rate than
the other two.
GORANI: Right. It's at 2 a.m. London time. I am staying up for it for sure. But Lanhee, I was to ask you a little about, for Hillary Clinton
here, this is a make or break for both candidates, right? That is fair to say? Here what they're trying to do is appeal to swing state voters.
People that might not be sure, so they can't play to their bases as much, right?
CHEN: Yes, I think that's right. I think in particular the battle here is over independent voters that have not made up their minds, and by and
large, their opinion of the two candidates is pretty negative.
So I think John raises a good point. Hillary Clinton does need to be in the business of humanizing herself and ultimately that could be a tough
thing to do in that kind of environment where the pressure is on.
But I do think that are couple of strategic objectives you can achieve. I think she'll remind people that she's got a grasp of the issues and I'm
sure they are preparing this in this prep session. But also I think she needs to sprinkle in stories about how her policies or experience can
influence people's lives. I think that would be a great benefit to her.
GORANI: Do we have time? She was on "Between Two Ferns." Some people were surprised she had great comedic timing. It is a fictional, grumpy,
ineffectual TV host and interviewer. I want to run some of this, and then I will get John to talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, HOST, "BETWEEN TWO FERNS": As secretary, how many words per minute could you type, and how does President Obama like his coffee?
Like himself? Weak?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Zach, those are really out of date questions, you need to get out more.
GALIFIANAKIS: What happens if you become pregnant? Are we going to be stuck with Tim Kaine for nine months? How does this work?
CLINTON: I could send you some pamphlets that might help you understand --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I actually personally thought this was hilarious. John, I don't know -- I mean, this type -- this side of her personality could come out
more?
AVLON: Yes, I mean, you know, you don't often associate Hillary Clinton with humor, but I mean, the fact is, her cameo appearances on "Saturday
Night Live" and she has pretty good comedic timing particularly playing a dry, wait for it repertoire.
And in private when she can relax and she has a good sense of humor. That is almost entirely absent from her public persona much like Al Gore. So
that is a good note.
GORANI: Right. We'll see how it plays out on Monday. John Avlon, Lanhee Chen, thanks to both of you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: It has been a week of manic diplomacy at the United Nations. More than 140 heads of state in government have descended on New York for the
General Assembly.
[15:55:07]Let's bring in our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, for a look back. You've covered just a few of these, Richard Roth. Let's talk
about what was achieved, Syria was certainly a failure.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN U.N. SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Syria dominated for the third year in a row here, that would be a major failure, though, I don't
think that many people were optimistic. Let's take people behind the scenes here at the United Nations.
As always, I think being here, the procession of the heads of state, prime ministers, executives, VIPs, dignitaries, all over the United Nations.
Look, it was not as exciting as last year. You had the 70th anniversary last year including the pope, Raul Castro of Cuba, and Vladimir Putin of
Russia.
The guest list was not that exciting, but the pace was so intense especially if you come from elsewhere around the world and try to keep with
all of these leaders. There is a photograph that was tweeted today by the Swedish Mission to the United Nations showing a photographer passed out.
How many people are feeling like this? We don't mean to make fun of him, but they would just do it in a minute.
GORANI: We have all been there, check on me in ten minutes and I will look just like that guy. You kind of became the world's most famous
entertainment correspondent.
ROTH: This happened when on Tuesday, I think. The news of the splint between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt broke around the world possibly the
number one couple in the world, and it just so happened by coincidence that George Clooney, all three have worked for the U.N. in different capacities,
I believe, or international charities.
So he was in the building, we looked for him, and I first asked him about refugees, which was the meeting he had attended, and then I had to face
asking about the divorce, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: -- I think what was interesting for our part is about the private sector, and ways they can be involved, so it's not just
governmental. I think that is an important way of doing it.
ROTH: All right, don't shoot me on this last question, it's a big story, your friends with both of them, any thoughts on the humanitarian whirlwind
on Angelina and Brad?
CLOONEY: About what?
ROTH: The news of their divorce?
CLOONEY: I didn't know that. That's a sad story and unfortunate for a family, an unfortunate story about a family, I feel very sorry to hear
that, it's the first I have heard of it, so --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: All right, Richard Roth at the U.N. We have run out of time, thank you for sharing your look back at your week at the U.N., we'll speak to you
soon.
This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
