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Republicans Dump Trump; Aleppo Peace Deal Derailed; Manhunt in Germany for Suspected Bomber. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired October 09, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Republican leaders increase their calls for Donald Trump to drop out of the race for the White House but the billionaire says he's standing firm.

A possible peace deal for Aleppo is derailed at the U.N. Security Council as two rival resolutions on Syria get voted down.

And police in Germany hunt for a Syrian man suspected of planning a bomb attack.

It's all ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for joining us. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Paula Newton.

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NEWTON: Just a month before Election Day the Republican Party faces a crisis like never before.

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NEWTON (voice-over): That is Donald Trump, greeting supporters outside Trump Tower Saturday. He's defying more than 24 top Republicans, who say they want him to withdraw from the presidential race. Some are calling for running mate Mike Pence to basically take his place at the top of the ticket.

But Trump says forget about it.

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NEWTON: He refuses to step aside despite this shocking video that surfaced Friday. We warn viewers, the content is graphic.

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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. You just (INAUDIBLE).

(INAUDIBLE). And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. BILLY BUSH, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD": Do whatever you want.

TRUMP: Grab them by the (INAUDIBLE). Do anything.

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NEWTON: Trump's degrading comments about women sparked outrage across the country. Even his wife released a statement, denouncing the remarks as offensive. She's calling on voters to accept Trump's apology, though, and support him on Election Day. But as MJ Lee reports, others are in no mood to forgive and forget.

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MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has certainly been a tumultuous 24 hours for the Donald Trump campaign. The most surprising development was when Trump himself stepped out of Trump Tower to greet his fans that were waiting for him outside.

When he came out, a lot of his fans breaking out into cheers and applause.

But even on a day like today, when the Trump campaign is really in full crisis mode, Donald Trump showing that he is a TV celebrity and a showman at heart.

Now even though Donald Trump did put on a happy face, of course, this day has been a very tough day for Donald Trump and his campaign.

A ton of Republicans have pulled their support and endorsement for Donald Trump and some have even suggested that Donald Trump should leave the presidential race.

Now with all of this going on around him, Donald Trump has spent the entire day meeting with his advisers, trying to figure out what to do to move past this controversy.

I'm told by a source that Trump even got some debate prep in with some of his advisers to prepare for Sunday's debate against Hillary Clinton in St. Louis.

Now a little while ago, Rudy Giuliani was seen coming out of Trump Tower. He did take some questions from reporters and here's what he said.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NYC: There is nothing that is going to cause his dropping out. That's a wishful thinking of the Clinton campaign and those people who have opposed him for a long time. He's in the race to win and he is going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you make of so many fellow Republicans backing out from supporting him?

GIULIANI: They largely didn't support him in the first place. So it's not so much of a surprise. If you look at it, they were all Republicans who opposed him and

didn't support him in the past. And this was basically the insiders against the outsiders anyway.

Donald Trump is the populist candidate. Most of the people that have turned on him are members of the establishment. So I would see this as -- you want -- if you want change in Washington, you vote for Donald Trump. If you want to keep things the same, you vote for Hillary Clinton.

LEE: So after a very dramatic day, both Trump and his advisers showing no signs of caving in to the pressure.

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NEWTON: And that was our MJ Lee there from New York City.

Now U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan is part of the growing crowd of established Republicans who have condemned Trump's comments. Ryan spoke out Saturday after revoking Trump's invitation to a Republican gathering in Wisconsin.

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REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Look, let me just start off by saying, there is a bit of an elephant in the room and it is a troubling situation. I'm serious. It is. I put out a statement about this last night. I meant what I said and it's still how I feel. But that is not what we are here to talk about today.

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NEWTON: Now in the statement released Friday, Ryan said, "I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation --

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NEWTON: -- "with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests."

Now officials -- moving on to other news now, officials in Haiti warn the death toll from Hurricane Matthew likely will rise as aid workers reach the worst-hit areas. A spokesperson for Haiti's civil protection service tells CNN at least 336 people have died since the storm made landfall Tuesday.

Other estimates, though, put the toll far higher. The hurricane flooded entire villages, wiped out crops and livestock and cut off parts of the island. Thousands are living in emergency shelters. The focus now is on getting clean water and food to those in hard-hit communities.

Now to get the latest on Matthew's location and strength, meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now. I mean, Matthew, it really is the marathon storm.

What is it doing to the United States right now?

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NEWTON: Still, those people still dealing with a lot there on the ground. We wish them well.

Derek, thanks so much for the update.

The United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator is calling for an investigation into deadly airstrikes in Yemen. The attacks in Sanaa on Saturday killed at least 155 people who were attending a funeral.

Mourners were at a wake for the father of a pro-rebel interior minister when the bombing began on the funeral home. Local authorities blamed the attack on a Saudi-led coalition. The coalition, though, denies responsibility.

The White House says the attacks on civilians are deeply disturbing. People in Sanaa say airstrikes, though, continued right through the night.

A U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at halting Syrian government airstrikes on Aleppo has failed. On Saturday, Russia used its veto to block the measure, which also called for access to humanitarian aid.

The veto was expected due to Moscow's support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. A Russian counter-resolution that didn't call for a halt to airstrikes failed to get enough votes to pass. Russia's U.N. ambassador was critical following the failed resolutions.

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VITALY CHURKIN, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (through translator): We are participating in one of the strangest spectacles in the history of the Security Council. We have to vote on two draft resolutions of the council while we are all well aware that neither will be adopted.

Given that the crisis in Syria is at a critical stage when it is --

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CHURKIN (through translator): -- particularly important there be a coordination of the political efforts of the international community, this waste of time is inadmissible.

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NEWTON: Russia's veto comes as the U.S. secretary of state says Moscow-backed Syrian airstrikes should be investigated as war crimes. John Kerry said on Friday the strikes were a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians. The deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N. continued those accusations on Saturday.

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DAVID PRESSMAN, DEPUTY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Russia has the privilege of serving as a permanent member of the Security Council, with a responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

But through the campaign it describes as counterterrorism, Russia has become one of the chief purveyors of terror in Aleppo, using tactics more commonly associated with thugs than governments.

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NEWTON: That was deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., David Pressman. He was speaking there about Russia's involvement in Syria.

A manhunt is under way in Germany for a 22-year-old Syrian national. Now authorities say he may have been planning a terror attack. Three people who may be connected to him have also been arrested. Isa Soares has the latest.

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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the man suspected of planning a bomb attack on German soil. His name is Jaber al-Bakr. He's 22 years of age, from Damascus in Syria. Police raided his apartment after receiving a tipoff from the domestic intelligence service. Within hours, they found an explosive mix of substances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We can announce that we have found considerable amounts of explosives in the apartment, several hundred grams. In fact, it's a very dangerous explosive material. So we have to take extreme precautions, which is done at this moment.

SOARES (voice-over): These substances were so volatile that police dug holes outside the apartment and set off controlled explosions.

SOARES: At this stage police don't know whether the man on the run is himself carrying any explosives or whether he is armed. They also don't know the where, the when or, indeed, the why. So you can indeed imagine they're not taking any chances.

SOARES (voice-over): They have been cordoning off key areas and have evacuated more than 80 people while they comb through some parts of Chemnitz. Police wouldn't say how long the suspect has been in Germany or whether he was a recent arrival from Syria.

Germany remains on high alert following two attacks this summer, both carried out by refugees in the name of ISIS -- Isa Soares, CNN.

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NEWTON: And that does it for us. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is next. You're with CNN, the world's news leader.

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