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NYT: 2 Women Accuse Trump of Inappropriate Touching; Trump Brags about Seeing Naked Pageant Contestants; WikiLeaks Releases More Hacked Clinton Camp E-mails; Trump's Campaign Manger on Why Trump Pushes for Clinton Jail Time; Clinton Has the Electoral Votes to Win Presidency; Town Devastated by ISIS Still Burns; Worries over King of Thailand's Health. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired October 13, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: There are fiery new accusations against U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, as he fights a slump in the polls. Two women tell "The New York Times" that Donald Trump groped and kissed them, one was 30 years ago and the other back in 2005. CNN has not independently confirmed the women's story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA LEEDS, ACCUSES TRUMP OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING: It was a real shock when, all of a sudden, his hands were all over me. He started encroaching on my space. I hesitate to use this expression but I'm going to. But it was like he was an octopus. It was like he had six arms. He was all over the place. If he had stuck with the upper part of the body, I might not have gotten -- I might not have gotten that upset, but when he started to put his hand up my skirt and that was it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump's campaign says the report is fiction, meant to assassinate his character before the election. His lawyers are planning to sue and have sent a letter to "The Times" demanding an immediate retraction. It reads in part, "Your article is reckless, defamatory, and constitutes libel, per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article that it is nothing more but a politically motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump's candidacy."
Earlier, I asked our panel to weigh in on the latest allegations on Trump and his treatment of women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GINA LOUDON, BEHAVIORAL & PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT: I counseled women who have been in situations like this and it's devastating, and it's also devastating, and I've also counsel men who have been falsely accused. I finally learned over years -- in fact, at one point in my career, it was my job to look for holes in stories. And one of the big holes in the story is the fact that, first, it is close to the election, which makes it suspect. She waited all of this time. There was no lawsuit, anything. But also as a previous guest on your network mentioned, first class is very open. But perhaps even more interesting, she mentions very specifically how Mr. Trump moved the armrest. Armrests in first class don't move and they never have, no on any plane. And I have done research. So there are holes in her story that I would want to least have explained before I would believe this to be a credible story. Of course, people are going to come out of the woodwork to try to destroy the anti-establishment candidate who is trying to take down the elite in the GOP, the elite in the Democrat party and the elite media.
LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY: What more do you need than a taped confession. And that's what was revealed last revealed last Friday with Donald Trump saying I kissed women, married women even, without their consent, and I sexually assault women, or at least I can, if I want to because I'm a star. We have, I don't know what the count is as of this moment --
VAUSE: Eight.
BLOOM: Eight as of now. I can guarantee tomorrow it will be 10 or 12.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOOM: And a taped confession. What more do you need?
VAUSE: I want to talk about the timing issue. A lot of people say it is suspicious, close to the election. But you are representing a woman who made similar accusations but she made them months ago.
BLOOM: Yes. Jill Hert, my client, sued Donald Trump for sexual harassment in 1997. That's a matter of public record. He settled the case quickly three weeks later. She came out publicly about three months ago. Why? The same reason these women say they are coming out because they have been called a liar, because in the debate last weekend, Donald Trump answered the question from Anderson Cooper, he had to ask it three times, but he finally said, no, I haven't groped anyone. That's why they are coming out now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Been a busy night of denials from the Trump campaign. They are also denying a story in "People" magazine published online Wednesday. In it, a reporter said that Trump physically attacked her in 2005 at his resort in Florida. She said this, "We walked in to that room alone and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat."
Meantime, CBS News released a video from '92 from the show "Entertainment Tonight." And Donald Trump is talking to a 10-year-old girl when he mentions about dating her when she's older.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thursday night. You are going up the escalator?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yes.
TRUMP: I am going to date her in 10 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump's behavior at beauty pageants is also under fire. By his own admission, he would walk backstage when female contestants were naked because he could.
Here's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump loves a beauty pageant, and by his own admission, he was no stranger backstage while owning parts of three pageants for nearly two decades.
TRUMP (voice-over): I would go back and say, is everybody OK? And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.
[02:05:11] LAVANDERA: In 2001, Tasha Dixon was Miss Arizona, competing in the Miss USA pageant. She experienced this awkward moment firsthand.
TASHA DIXON, FORMER MISS ARIZONA: Our first introduction to him was at the dress rehearsal and half naked changing into her bikinis.
LAVANDERA: Dixon was 18 at the time, and said seeing Trump storm in to a dressing room was shocking.
DIXON: To have the owner come waltzing in when we are naked or half naked in very a physically vulnerable position and then to have the pressure of the people that work for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him, get his attention.
Who do you complain to? He owns the pageant? There's no one to complain to. Everyone there works for him.
LAVANDERA: In 2005, four years later, Donald Trump bragged to Howard Stern about what he could get away with since he owned the pageants. The conversation uncovered by CNN.
TRUMP: I'll go backstage before a show --
HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes.
TRUMP: -- and everyone is getting dressed and ready and everything else, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it.
STERN: You're like a doctor.
LAVANDERA: Later in that same show, Trump is asked if he had ever had sex with Miss USA or Miss Universe contestants.
TRUMP: I don't comment on things like that.
(CROSSTALK)
STERN: Give us the first letter of the country of the contestant.
TRUMP: How many letters are there?
LAVANDERA: This comes just weeks after Hillary Clinton brought up Trump's attacks on former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Trump once described her as Miss Piggy and then told his Twitter followers to find her sex tape.
TRUMP: And what qualifications would you say you have?
LAVANDERA: And another interview where Trump is seen interviewing "Playboy" playmates, and basks in the glow of a question from CNN's Jeanne Moos.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever dated a "Playmate?"
TRUMP: I refuse to answer that question.
MOOS: On the grounds that it may be true?
TRUMP: It may be true.
LAVANDERA: Tasha Dixon says she is speaking out so voters can get a better understanding of his personality.
DIXON: I'm telling you Donald Trump owned the pageant for the reason to utilize his power to get around beautiful women.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: On the campaign trail on Wednesday, Donald Trump repeated his calls to send Hillary Clinton to jail for her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state. Clinton's campaign is scrambling to explain the latest batch of stolen e-mails released by WikiLeaks.
More now from Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Hillary Clinton looks west, her campaign is keeping an eye on the latest batch of stolen e-mails released by WikiLeaks. The daily deluge of Campaign Chairman John Podesta's stolen e-mails becoming an unwanted distraction for Clinton, the contents offering a glimpse into the inner workings of the Clinton campaign.
One e-mail revealing a disagreement between top Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, and Podesta over Clinton's trust strategy. Abedin wondering if Clinton can survive not answering questions from press at events with Podesta responding, "If she thinks we can get to Labor Day without taking press questions, I think that's suicidal.
Donald Trump is seizing on the cache of hacked e-mails to make the case against Clinton.
TRUMP: This is the most heinous and most serious thing I have ever seen involving justice in the United States, in the history of the United States. We have a person that has committed crimes that is now running for the presidency.
JOHNS: Podesta brushing aside the attacks claiming Trump's scorched- earth tactics are designed to turn off everyone else and energize his supporters.
JOHN PODESTA, HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It seems to be their strategy to disgust everyone with, you know, Democratic dialogues, to keep people from coming out to the polls.
JOHNS: Clinton is trying to make sure that doesn't happen, rallying supporters in Colorado and Nevada.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His campaign said they're going to use a, quote, "scorched-earth" strategy for the remaining four weeks of this race. Now that just shows how desperate they are. That's all they have left, pure negativity, pessimism, and we're not going to let Donald Trump get away with it, are we?
(CHEERING)
JOHNS: Ahead of her trip, the Clinton campaign put out this Spanish- language ad featuring a Nevada woman who entered the U.S. illegally with her parents when she was 4.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are going to have a deportation force.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: In Florida today, a federal judge granted an extension of the voter registration deadline due to the effects of Hurricane Matthew, giving the Clinton and Trump campaigns until next Tuesday to register additional voters.
(on camera): If it is true that there is an effort to depress turnout by turning off voters, the Clinton campaign says the way to fight it is continuing push for voter registration, emphasizing early voting. And they hope to counter it by selling their voters on something to vote for and not just voting against Trump.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:10:15] VAUSE: Trump says not only should Clinton be locked up for the way that she handled the e-mail issue but so, too, should her lawyers.
CNN's Brianna Keilar pressed Trump's campaign manager about why he is pushing for jail time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNE KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We were talking about going the Democratic process. I mean talking about jailing your political opponent is something that --
(CROSSTALK)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: No, he's not. He's talking about the results. No, he not. You're taking it literally and you're just stuck on this one thing when -- again, I know I'm on CNN often. I love CNN. I'm just completely mystified why --
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: It's your show. You can talk about what you want.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: But in a court of law -- but in a court of law, Kellyanne --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: In a court of law, the end result is not determined before a trial. So if you are talking about investigating --
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: That's right. I said that publicly, many times this week.
KEILAR: I'm talking about what your candidate is saying, which is more important than what you are saying. He is saying she has to go to jail. He is not talking about she has to stand and be judged. He is saying she has to go to jail.
CONWAY: And? In other words, what are you saying, he had to stop and say, here's how you get to jail, here's the process. That's completely ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: It shouldn't be. He is talking about a pre-determined end result here.
CONWAY: No, he is talking about what a lot of Americans want to know, why the heck this woman wasn't punished at all, and why news outlets think that's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The FBI conducted an extensive investigation of Clinton's use of a private server and, while he called her handling of e-mails careless, he did not recommend criminal charges.
Less than a month to go before voting begins, and CNN's latest battleground map shows Hillary Clinton with enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
CNN's John King breaks down the numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here's our CNN electoral map, 272 for Hillary Clinton, 196 for Donald Trump. That's enough for her to win. We are being conservative right now. You could make the case that North Carolina is close but the polls all have Hillary Clinton in the lead. Same with Florida, same with Ohio, same with Nevada. Again, we are being conservative. We want more data. We want to see if the backlash against Trump with the groping tape dissipates in the next several days. But at the moment, the trend line for Hillary Clinton is very good in all the toss-up battleground states.
Here's another point that is important to note. We could make the case to make that one a toss up, Utah, one of the most Republican states in the country. And some evidence that Georgia is moving into the toss-up category.
The map is not good for Donald Trump at the moment. Let's explain why. Let's switch maps to do that. Look at this. The most stunning thing today, if you want piece of evidence that the map is not in Trump's favor, Utah, a new poll shows the Republican nominee in ruby red Utah, getting 26 percent of the vote in a tie with Hillary Clinton. And coming up close behind him, the Never-Trump Republican, Evan McMullin, a journalist who jumped into the race because conservatives don't like Trump. That is stunning. Mitt Romney got 72 percent of the vote in Utah four years ago. Donald Trump at 26 percent right now. That's evidence enough.
Here's another number to think about. Why is Donald Trump sounding so hard right on the campaign trail? In part, because he is bleeding a little bit of his base. 83 percent of Republicans plan to vote for Donald Trump. That's a pretty good number. But nine in 10, 88 percent, or nine in 10 Democrats plan to stick with Hillary Clinton. He is losing his base, one of the reasons he is being conservative on the trail, so attacking Hillary Clinton to try to get them back. The problem is, sometimes when you do that, you pay a price elsewhere.
Another stunner, among white women with a college degree, Hillary Clinton leads by 29 points. Mitt Romney won that constituency four years ago by six points. Again, white women with a college degree. Not only is Donald Trump under performing Mitt Romney, that is a thumping.
You switch maps and say, at the current state of play -- polls can change. 27 days is a long time. Give this whole groping-tape fallout a few more days. But at the moment, you could make a case that she is not at 272. That true state of play is something like that, maybe even more. Donald Trump has time to turn it around, but the clock is ticking. As
of today, the recipe is in place for a Clinton blowout. If he is going to change the map, he better do it quickly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:14:37] VAUSE: Thanks to John King for that report.
We will take a break. When we come back, we will take you inside of an Iraqi town liberated from ISIS in August. But the inferno left behind still burns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Top diplomats from the United States, Russia and other countries will reconvene Syrian ceasefire talks on Saturday. A volunteer group says another day of air strikes killed at least 25 people in Aleppo on Wednesday.
In his strongest appeal yet, Pope Francis is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Syria for civilians to flee and to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. He spoke to thousands of people during his weekly audience in St. Peters Square.
In Iraq, the U.S. says it have the pieces in place to retake Mosul from ISIS. The coalition could launch the military assault as early as this month. And south of Mosul in August, but the terror group was forced out of the town of Qaraya in August.
But as senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, reports the town is still devastated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a scene that conjures up images of the darkest depths of hell, a lake of fire, thick black clouds obscuring the sun and the down of south of Mosul.
(on camera): ISIS set this oil well on fire months ago. The purpose was to obscure the view of aircraft overhead but ISIS is gone and this fire continues to burn right on the edge of a town in which many people are now living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): In its shadow lives Halil, who takes us to his house somewhere in the midday darkness. The smoke has stained his 2- year-old and his sisters. Halil and his wife cover the children with a sheet at night, scant protection from the toxic fumes.
"That well is really hurting us," Halil says. "The wind has changed direction and now it's all blowing on us."
He says they have nowhere else to go. We could barely stay with him for 10 minutes.
Engineer Hussein Suleiman and his team are trying to put out the dozens of fires, but it's a time-consuming process.
"It took 30 days to put out one fire," he says.
(SHOUTING)
[02:20:26] WEDEMAN: Outside the mayor's office, people line up with requests and complaints, usually about the smoke.
"It's poison," says this man.
Since ISIS was driven out of Qaraya in late August, the mayor has struggled to bring the town back to life. He worries about the long- term effects of the fires.
"Those who aren't sick now will become sick," he warns.
(SHOUTING)
WEDEMAN: In the main street, some shops have reopened. Also here, the smoke hangs heavily on residents.
"It's another ISIS," he says. "It's cancer."
Daesh, as they call ISIS here, left behind a poisoning legacy of death, destruction and disease.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Qaraya, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A Syrian refugee suspected of planning a terrorist attack has committed suicide in jail. That's according to German media. Authorities say that he was planning an attack similar to those in Paris and Brussels. Officials suspect the 22-year-old had links to ISIS. Authorities found explosives in his apartment. He was arrested after a massive manhunt. Two Syrian men tied him up and called police.
In Australia, two teenagers are in custody charged with planning a terror attack and for links with ISIS. The 16-year-olds were arrested on Wednesday. Police say knives were also confiscated. The teens were denied bail and are due to appear in children's court.
Hundreds of people in Thailand are showing support for their king. The national palace says the 88-year-old remains in unstable condition in hospital. He's the world's longest-reigning monarch.
We are joined live by Will Ripley in Bangkok.
Will, it is difficult to overstate the esteem and reverence so many have for the king. How worried are they about his health?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very worried. It's hard to go anywhere around Bangkok or Thailand and not see images of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is considered the soul of the nation. You can see the crowds here have doubled in the last 24 hours. People from within the city and also people coming in from the rural areas where the king is adored pretty much universally in this country.
He has been the monarch here for 70 years, since he was 18 years old, and now at age 88, he has a track record of bringing more education to the rural areas, reforming the agricultural system.
He and his wife have been married since 1950, Queen Sirikit. There they are. People look at the couple as grandparents but, even more than that, they have almost risen above what you can consider as far as a family relationship because this country, in a country that is so deeply divided, the king and queen have really been a glue that has held Thailand together over more than a dozen military coups, at times pulling the country from the brink of civil war.
People have genuinely hoped and prayed the king maybe alive for another 30 years. He's the only king that the majority of the 65 million people who live here have known in their lifetime. The thought of a succession is such an uncertain topic because not only do they not know what will happen when the new ruler comes in, the heir would be the crown prince, but also people can't really talk about it openly because of the strict enforcement of this country's les majesty laws -- John.
VAUSE: And with that in mind, they are not releasing a lot of details about what is wrong.
RIPLEY: That's right. We know the king is being housed somewhere in this hospital building behind me where he has been in and out of hospital for the better part of the last five years. The people are used to health scares in regard to the king but this one feels different because of the fact that all four of the royal children, we know, have come to the hospital to visit with the king, the three princesses and crown prince, who is believed to be in the hospital behind me right now. According to media reports, the prime minister cut off a trip in eastern Thailand to come here to meet with the crown prince. He flew back earlier than anticipated.
Unlike previous health scares where the royal household agency will say the king was ill but now he is better, the latest updates say they have not been able to stabilize his condition. So by all indications, his health is a major concern, which is why you see all of these people out here, hoping and praying, praying out loud, really, for their king to make a recovery.
[02:25:19] VAUSE: Obviously, many people there feel concern for the king, but there's also reverberations felt in a practical sense, in particular, in the markets.
RIPLEY: Yeah, the stock market, just yesterday, dropped by 3 percent. Ever since the news broke, within the last few days that the king's health is a major concern, we have seen the markets in a downward trend. There's a good reason for that. I mentioned how the king served as a unifying force in this divided country. There have been multiple times, several times over the course of his reign, his 70- year reign where the country has been at the brink of civil war, and the king has been able to sit the two sides together and smooth things out, even though he tries to stay out of politics. As the king has been infirmed in recent years, there's been more
stability. There was the military coup in 2014, the military coup in 2006 after the king celebrated his 60th anniversary of his reign. And there are fears here that perhaps the situation could destabilize, if this unifying, calming force is not present. That's why you see the markets reacting in this way because there's so much uncertainty about how could anyone fill the shoes of somebody so revered here.
VAUSE: My experience in the region has been that when the king speaks, everyone listens. He's had the power to bring both sides together for so long. A lot of concern right now.
Will, thank you. Will Ripley, live in Bangkok.
Coming up next for our viewers in Asia, "State of the Race" with Kate Bolduan.
For everyone else, we will take a short break. What Russia's foreign minister has to say about allegations of war crimes in Syria and cyberattacks on the U.S. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:35] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
VAUSE: Top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia will resume Syrian ceasefire talks on Saturday at a time when relations between the two countries are especially strained. The U.S. joined other Western nations in calling for an investigation of war crimes in Aleppo. And Washington accuses Moscow of hacking the Democratic Party's computers.
Christiane Amanpour spoke with Russia's foreign minister about those charges.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I asked Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, about this chorus of criticism and the U.S. and others you have just mentioned basically, suggesting that Russia and Syria be investigated with war crimes. Sergei Lavrov denied that. Said this was not war crimes, we are not bombing civilian targets. He took the line they have always taken. I kept insisting, why bomb hospitals, medical facilities, water and all of those civilian infrastructure. He kept putting it back to, well, why doesn't the United States separate the terrorists from the civilians? That went back and forth on that regard.
He also, himself, brought up, before I even had a chance to, the hacking allegations by the United States into the Democratic party and in to the U.S. electoral system, and the fact that the U.S. has now said the administration threatened proportional, unspecified retaliation against Russia for this. I asked him about that, and this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It's flattering, of course, to get this kind of attention for a regional power, as President Obama called us some time ago. Now everybody in the United States is saying that it is Russia which is running the United Nations' presidential debate. It's flattering, as I said. But it has nothing, you know, to be explained by the facts. We have -- we have not seen a single fact, a single proof. And we have not seen any answer to the proposal, which one year ago, almost one year ago, November 2015, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office conveyed to the Department of Justice to start professional consultations on cybercrime.
AMANPOUR: Let's get back to the facts. You deny this, the international community --
LAVROV: We did not deny this. They did not prove it.
AMANPOUR: Are you worried about this proportional response that the White House has suggested is going to happen?
LAVROV: It's really -- it's not worth, I believe, speculating. If they decided to do something, let them do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: There you have it.
So I asked him again, what about motive, you deny this hacking, but what about motive. President Putin, I quoted to him, who has said the hacking and leaking of the DNC, the Democratic committees e-mails was, quote, "a public service." That is what President Putin said. Then I said also you have ordered your U.N. ambassador to criticize the U.N. human rights commissioner for specifically attacking Donald Trump and other European political parties, including the Hungarian government, for demagoguery and populism in the words of the U.N. high commissioner. And this was an unprecedented demarche on the behalf of Donald Trump and others. He said, "We didn't mention names but U.N. diplomats say so." I kept pushing him on that, because that is motive. And Hillary Clinton said in her debate she is sure the Russians would prefer she didn't win the election.
[02:35:31] It's an intense moment right now between these two nations. To that end, Sergei Lavrov told me that there would be more talks with the United States but not bilateral. Because, remember, the U.S. broke off bilateral talks, but more Syria talks coming up soon with the U.S., Russia, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and maybe even Qatar. The U.S. will have more to say about the where and whens and ifs of that. But this is what Sergei Lavrov told me. So, obviously, they want to get back to the talking table rather than a war of words and these actions in Syria and the cyberspace, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Christiane Amanpour reporting there.
A Syrian teen was overjoyed to get a chance to start a new life in Germany but wasn't expecting what happened next. He caught up with a new friend, who happens to star in one of television's biggest shows.
Robyn Curnow has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAM ALHERAKY, SYRIAN REFUGEE LIVING IN GERMANY: -- my last English exams.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two unlikely friends, one a TV star, the other a refugee.
LIAM CUNNINGHAM, ACTOR: She was good, she was kind and you killed her!
CURNOW: You may recognize Irish actor, Liam Cunningham. On screen, he is in "Game of Thrones."
CUNNINGHAM: All of them fooled.
ALHERAKY: In Syria, I was in pi school.
CURNOW: While 16-year-old Hassam is far from famous. One of the refugees from Syria's civil war.
To Cunningham, war is a fantasy played out on a fictional battlefield.
(EXPLOSION)
CURNOW: But for Hassam, it is all too real. He was forced to flee Syria after his school was hit by an air strike, killing several friends and other students.
Cunningham and several "Throne" cast mates visited refugee camps in Greece earlier this year trying to raise awareness to their plight. He met Hassam in Jordan and the two hit it off.
The teen hoped to eventually join his father and brother in Germany. Hassam started to teach himself Germany and English so he could easily integrate in to society. That was a month ago. He made it successfully to Germany and is living in Stuttgart, when Cunningham decided to surprise his friend.
ALHERAKY: Oh, my gosh.
(LAUGHTER)
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
CUNNINGHAM: Good to see you.
CURNOW: Both friends delighted to be reunited. CUNNINGHAM: Welcome to Europe.
ALHERAKY: What are you doing here?
CUNNINGHAM: I came to see you.
ALHERAKY: Really happy. Really happy. It's like unbelievable. Yeah, yeah. I can't explain my feelings, yeah.
CUNNINGHAM: I'm overjoyed. I'm incredibly happy because of the generosity of the German people.
CURNOW: While the two were busy catching up, Hassam admitted he never heard of "Game of Thrones."
(MUSIC)
ALHERAKY: I didn't realize my friend here, Liam Cunningham, is big famous. Just when the ladies told me that he is a big actor and famous actor. Oh, my god. So I give him a hug.
CURNOW: Hassam promises to start watching the show once he and his family get settled in their new home.
Robyn Curnow, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, North Carolina struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The storm may be gone, but the rivers are still rising.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:41:05] VAUSE: Hurricane Matthew may be gone but the eastern U.S. is still dealing with the aftermath from the storm, which claimed 29 lives, 19 in North Carolina alone, where still-rising rivers are devastating parts of the state. Roadways are under water and homes are flooded. Thousands of people have taken refuge in shelters.
Before hitting the Carolinas, Matthew battered Florida. Phones were down. The power was cut for days. One man who lives thousands of miles away was worried when he hadn't heard from his grandmother. So he came up with a creative way to make sure she was OK.
Phil Sutton, of CNN affiliate, WFTV, explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL SUTTON, REPORTER, WFTV (voice-over): This is the only Papa Johns in Flagler County, when the restless people of Palm Coast realized the worst was over, the phone rang off the hook.
(PHONE RINGING)
SUTTON: Lance Tyler told me tips on his deliveries have been good. LANCE TYLER, PAPA JOHNS EMPLOYEE: They sure do order pizza after a
hurricane.
SUTTON: But as he grabbed a pizza destined for Parkway Drive over the weekend, he had no idea that the pay off he was about to receive.
TYLER: It was quite a surprise to me.
SUTTON: The surprise started with a man named Eric, who called in the order -- from Nebraska.
(on camera): When he got to the neighborhood, he pulled out the box and looked at the receipt. There were some special instructions, a phone number to call. He figured at the time it was because the owner of the house had dogs they needed to put away.
TYLER: The way he answered the phone, is she there? Is she OK? It sounded like he was worried.
CLAIRE OLSON, FLORIDA RESIDENT: He knocked on the door and said "delivery" and I said, "I didn't order anything." He said, "Your grandson did."
SUTTON: At 87, Claire Olson has weathered her share of hurricanes but never had a pizza delivery guy put his phone to her ear and heard her grandson.
OLSON: Grandma, I haven't talked to you in two days. I must be worried about you. You must be hungry by now.
SUTTON: The pizza was plain pepperoni.
OLSON: It was fantastic.
SUTTON: And much appreciated.
Tyler told me it topped every tip he's gotten.
TYLER: Her expression was priceless, the way she was, like, whoa.
SUTTON: Even with every topping on the menu, nothing could have been as good as the grandson who cared enough to call for pizza.
(on camera): Is it glaring for you?
TYLER: Yeah. I'll put it there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: He's a better grandson than I am.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
"World Sport" is up next. You are watching CNN.
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[02:45:03]KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Welcome to "World Sport." I'm Kate Riley at CNN Center.
Just over seven months ago, FIFA got a new man at the top. Gianni Infantino took charge of football's world governing body. His mandate was to bring change to FIFA and restore the tattered image from years of scandal and corruption. The new president admitted there are forces that do not embrace his efforts to bring an era of transparency and reform.
However, in an interview with CNN's Amanda Davis, he insisted this had not dampened his resolve to lead FIFA to a future of good governance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GIANNI INFANTINO, PRESIDENT, FIFA: When you are the FIFA president and when you try, as I do together with my team, to really change this organization and to change its culture, definitely you address some issues that people don't want to address. Some people don't want to change. Some people hope maybe a new president but we continue as before. No, we don't continue as before.
AMANDA DAVIS, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Have you got any reasons to be worried?
INFANTINO: Certainly not.
DAVIS: Why do you think these stories keep emerging? Is there someone trying to undermine you?
INFANTINO: Definitely. Definitely there are forces who don't want change. There are forces who don't want maybe things to come out, I don't know.
DAVIS: Do you know who they are?
INFANTINO: No I don't care who they. I don't care, to be honest. I go my way. We go ahead.
DAVID (voice-over): One of Infantino's top priorities is the organization of the World Cup in Russia that is less than two years away. But given what we know about the bidding and voting process that took place in 2010, the current political situation in Russia and the spate sponsored doping in Russian sport should it be hosting football's flag ship event?
INFANTINO: Yes, the decision was taken before I was president of FIFA. The world is big.
DAVIS (voice-over): But particularly given everything that has happened in FIFA you don't want to talk about negative stories.
INFANTINO: We are not talking about this. You are talking about this.
DAVIS: Maybe you should be.
(LAUGHTER)
INFANTINO: But we are dealing with these issues, which is a different angle. Russia is also certainly realizing that the spotlight of the world is focusing on Russia and the World Cup will give Russia the possibility to show itself in a different light.
DAVIS (voice-over): Infantino had no role in granting the next two World Cups. He will be the man in charge of FIFA as the 2026 hosts are decided.
The bidding process is back on the agenda at the council meeting this week. While his suggestion of expanding the competition to 48 teams from 32 has received a mixed response, he's positive it can work.
INFANTINO: We have to look at our requirements, and our requirements cannot be for one country to have 12 or 14 top stadiums, airports, facilities and so on, but to look at co-hosting, which allows to maybe two or three or four counts together to present. So everyone can present a reasonable way with much less costs involved.
DAVIS (on camera): Would you be in favor of the continental rotation?
INFANTINO: I'm very much in favor of continental rotation. Football is not the product of one or two can't continents but the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:49:00] RILEY: The man who headed Russia's Olympic Committee during the doping scandal is to step down. Alexander Zukof was the man at the top of the crisis. He told Putin he wants his focus to be on his first deputy speaker role. As a result of the doping crisis, 108 Russian athletes were banned from the Summer Olympic Games in Rio.
One team who aren't saying sorry to their fans for once are the Chicago Cubs. That's because, could this really be their year after waiting over a century the Cubs have taken a major step toward a World Series win.
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RILEY: If you're a long-suffering Chicago Cub baseball fan you are desperately hoping this is the year. After all, you have to go all the way back, over a century, in fact, to 1908 for the last time they won the World Series. So yet again we ask could this finally be their year. On Tuesday night the San Francisco Giants had to win to keep their playoff series with the Cubs alive with a three-run lead going into the last inning it looks like they would but don't doubt Chicago's determination to win. They scored four runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead. And Chapman closed it down for his team. Every pitch over 100 miles an hour. Cubs win 6-5 and advance to the National League championship.
Earlier, Patrick Snell talked to Chicago radio host, Mark Carman, about the seemingly invincible Cubs. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK CARMAN, CHICAGO RADIO HOST (voice-over): It's completely un-Cub like. You go back in time. You have to go to 1910 for the last time the Cubs were down three runs in the eighth inning or later and came back to win a post-season game. So this is absolutely historic, and they are in the national league championship series back to back years, which is also historic. This is something new. It is something different. You have to have hope if you are a Cub fan that you are finally going to get over the hump and 108 years will be the last year they go without winning a World Series.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: They reached the same stage as they did last year. They are back there, as you were. What do you feel on that occasion they lost to the Mets, didn't they? What do you feel they should have learned from that experience moving forward?
CARMAN: Well, you know, last year was a honeymoon. They weren't expected to be there that soon. They had an incredible victory over the cardinals taking them out in the division series. This is totally different. The Cubs are not going to be satisfied getting this far. They are all about winning the whole thing. There's sort of the OK, this is the next step. There isn't a huge, oh, my god, we have really done something feel. It is like we have won three and now need eight for, four in the World Series and four in the championship series. A level headedness they didn't have last year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RILEY: The Cubs will face the winner of the Dodgers and Nationals. They are in a winner-takes-all situation after the Dodgers tied up the series on Tuesday. Utley knocking in, in the go-ahead run, and the eventual game winner in the eighth inning. The Dodgers win 6:5. The deciding game five is on Thursday.
We have reported a lot on China's passion and commitment to developing young football talent. With a population of just under 1.4 billion, there are ambitious plans to in you are basketball stars of the future, too. The NBA says it is launching three special training academies aimed at developing elite male and female players. They will be given a chance to receive instructions from NBA-trained coaches with the very best able to travel to compete internationally.
[02:55:14] A packed house was there of the see the latest global games clash in preseason, never a good time for injury, of course. This was in Beijing. The Chinese crowd witnessed an injury scare to the New Orleans star player Anthony Davis. The 6'10" forward sprained his ankle but it is not diagnosed as serious. The game wasn't close. Houston building a lead, as much as 28 points before winning by 12. The Rockets top New Orleans in Shanghai on Sunday, part of the global initiative. And in Barcelona we will see three regular season NBA games in January in London and Mexico City.
That's it for this edition of "World Sport." Before we go, we stay in China for all the very latest from this
week's high-profile tennis tournament in Shanghai. Just like basketball, the sport is experiencing a surge in popularity over there right now, as you are about to see in our latest "Rolex Minute."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAT CASH, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: With 14 million players the popularity of tennis in China is at an all-time high. For local fans, the Shanghai Rolex Masters it is a chance to watch the most talented players in person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spectacular event hosted in Shanghai, throughout Asia, a significant increase in the fans coming and supporting the tournament's exposure to tennis. The crowds are fantastic and a great moment to be here in China.
CASH: Day three offered him his first chance to take to the court in Shanghai. The Canadian number five seed wasted no time hitting 14 aces over Italy.
(CHEERING)
CASH: On center court, 14-time grand slam champion, Rafael Nadal. The unseated serve defeated him in four sets to produce the shock of the tournament so far.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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