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Fight to Free Mosul Enters Second Day; Russia Plans Temporary Halt to Air Strikes in Aleppo; Pressing for Peace Talks in Yemen; Melania Stands By Her Man. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 18, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The fight to free Iraq's second largest city from ISIS has entered its second day. We will bring you from the frontline to the fresher bound against the militants.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead this hour, Russia plans a temporary halt to air strikes in Aleppo after another day of carnage in Syria's former commercial capital.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: He's kind, he's a gentleman, he supports everybody. He supports women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Melania stands by her man, dismissing Donald Trump's lewd comments as "boy talk."

Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes in Erbil, Iraq. We are going to have much to come from this part of the country as the effort continues to get back Mosul from ISIS.

Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

CHURCH: Military leaders say the Iraqi-led coalition is making major advances against ISIS in the fight to liberate Mosul. Their troops have already dealt the terror group heavy losses.

Coalition forces have cleared nine surrounding villages and taken back large swaths of territory. But the fighting has been fierce, even on the outskirts of the city.

And it will only intensify as Iraqi forces approach Mosul's urban center. ISIS is already deploying suicide car bombers, and the coalition is expecting much more of the same. Our Michael Holmes he joins us now from Erbil, east of Mosul. So,

Michael what is the latest on the battle for Mosul?

HOLMES: And indeed, Rosemary, they were expecting much more of the same and they got it. In the last few hours, we got confirmation from the Iraqi military that a number of suicide car bombs were targeting Iraqi army troops.

Now, the military says that they repelled those attackers, but one Iraqi soldier was killed, two others were wounded. Ten ISIS fighters, according to the Iraqi military, were killed. Now this happened about 50 kilometers southeast of Mosul.

So you can see that today the fighting has begun all over again.

Now, Nick Paton Walsh he's been finding out firsthand just how dangerous one particular road towards Mosul is. He was with a convoy of Peshmerga fighters in their push towards the city. They came face to face with gun fire, shelling and suicide bombers.

Now we do need to warn you that Nick's report does show the violent death of one ISIS fighter and some of you may find that disturbing.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They've been waiting years to finally push through the lines and take on ISIS' brutality and when that day came it was still a dusty slow grind. Peshmerga into the desert to flank the main road to Mosul. Distinct of American vehicles with western occupants in that convoy.

Air strikes often hitting the places they were headed to first. Hopes that ISIS might not fight for the tiny settlements around Mosul quickly dashed.

This supposed village like they move down the road towards Mosul and they're encountering pretty heavy resistance for turning part is what they have which are often blunt and old.

They want this over fast. Suddenly there's panic. They spotted car, a suicide car bomb racing towards them. It's ISIS. One, two rockets trying to hit it. The third is lucky. It pushed on towards the main prize, the road itself to Mosul. Flanked by all fires lit by ISIS, and air strikes piling in regardless.

Shells still landing near the Peshmerga, a casualty taken away.

[03:04:59] Down on the main objective, the road itself, ISIS sent two car bombs at them, and attacked from both sides. The Iraqi military too at some point will have to push down here towards Mosul. But this has been an effort with much international support, a lot of coalition planning, American airpower.

(GUNFIRE)

Shut the doors.

Whoa. Move. Here's yours. Stay in the car now! ISIS still everywhere, even in the hills. They give chase to one man, an ISIS fighter. He shoots the Peshmerga. Humvees rescue him, and they hunt on. An ISIS fighter pops up from a tunnel, shoots. Then he blows himself up.

A tenacity and desire to die that will surely slow and bloody the fight ahead.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, near Mosul, northern Iraq.

HOLMES: Thanks to our Nick Paton Walsh for that report. Also, we should mention the crew that was there with him, photographer Scott McWhinnie and producer Ghazi Balkiz.

All right. Rosemary, that's it from Erbil for the moment. We'll be back a little bit later in the program. However, for now though, back to you in Atlanta.

CHURCH: All right. Thank you so much, Michael. We'll talk to you soon.

About 100,000 troops are involved in the Mosul offensive, in one way or another. Some fighting, some in support. That includes more than 54,000 Iraqi army troops, 40,000 Peshmerga fighters and 14,000 fighters from the popular mobilization unit militias.

Pentagon officials say about 500 U.S. troops also in northern Iraq, most working in support and logistical roles.

I'm joined now by CNN military analyst and retired air force colonel Cedric Leighton. Thank you so much for being with us.

Now as the battle to retake Mosul continues, we are learning the Iraqi-led coalition is inflicting heavy losses on ISIS. Is that your understanding of what's happening on the ground there? And how do you expect this all to play out?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Rosemary, yes, that's exactly what I think is happening right now, based on reports that we've heard. One of the big things that will happen in a situation like this is that the initial reports may be augmented by other information that we get as far as casualties are concerned and as far as territory taken is concerned.

So, right now we are talking about at least nine villages that Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been able to capture from ISIS. And these are villages that are on the eastern side of Mosul.

One of the key things here though, is that this territory is not very well populated. It is territory that is basically in a no man's land between where the front lines are and where the city of Mosul of south is.

So, what goes forth from here is going to be a very different kind of war. This part of the battle is in essence a very quick, take territory, hold the territory and then proceed to the next phase. That next phase is going to be the part that is going to be the toughest part. And that is going to be the most challenging for the Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

CHURCH: Now how significant will it be in the fight to crush ISIS if the Iraqi-led coalition is able eventually to retake Mosul and how soon would you expect that to happen?

LEIGHTON: Well, that's going to be a very significant development. If Mosul is taken, especially if Mosul is taken very quickly, then, of course, it is a complete game changer in the conflict against ISIS.

Now, one of the things that I think will occur here is that it will slow down the process and the progress that the Iraqis are making will, I think be checked to some degree by the very fact that we're dealing with an urban environment once they get to Mosul.

It will normally take a lot longer to go through a very big city, 1.2 million people still living there, a city that had a population of two million before ISIS took it over. That is going to be a difficult area for them to get in to, urban warfare, is going to be what they have to deal with and that is a slow, and arduous process.

[03:09:59] So, I think it could take around four to six weeks, and in the worst case scenario, best case scenario ISIS melts away and they find themselves in Mosul within a week or two. And that -- that could be the difference. One would be involve ISIS standing fast, the other would involve ISIS actually leaving Mosul open to the Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

CHURCH: So, urban warfare you would see probably as the biggest challenge here once they make it to Mosul. If they do go ahead and take Mosul back from ISIS what impact will that have overall on where ISIS stands right now in that region and globally?

LEIGHTON: And globally it will have a huge impact, Rosemary, because what they are going to be doing here is they are going to be sending the message that ISIS not only has been checked, but it has been defeated.

And if that is the case, if that happens in a way that is decisive and that also shows that the momentum continues to reside with the Iraqi and Kurdish forces, ISIS will have to change its tactics, and they probably will.

But for right now, militarily on the ground in the Middle East, if they are defeated in Mosul that will be a huge game changer. And it will also spell the end of the caliphate as we know it right now and will also, in essence, the preamble to the fight to take Raqqa. And Raqqa being the de facto capital the town in Syria that ISIS is using as its headquarters when that disappears then it will be the actual end of ISIS as a caliphate.

It will not however be the end of ISIS as a terrorist group.

CHURCH: Yes, that is a critical distinction there. Colonel Cedric Leighton for talking with us. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Rosemary. Thanks for having me. CHURCH: Well, with ISIS militants lying and wait inside Mosul fears

are growing about what might happen to the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children inside the city right now.

We will examine that just ahead.

Plus, Melania Trump is breaking her silence after her husband's comments about groping women, who she is blaming for his boy talk. That is still to come. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORTS)

CHURCH: With just three weeks to go until the U.S. presidential election, new polls revealing the current state of the race. The latest CBS News national poll shows Hillary Clinton gaining even more ground over Trump with a nine-point lead.

Clinton is at 47 percent with Trump at 38. But new CNN/ORC poll shows tight races in some key swing states. Nationwide, though, Trump is lagging farther behind Clinton. CNN's poll of polls puts her at 47 percent, eight points ahead of Trump.

Now Trump is pressing his claim that the election is rigged against him, but he's not offering any evidence to back it up.

Sara Murray reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Donald Trump trailing in the polls and plagued by allegations of sexual misconduct, and he is falling back on his favorite safety net.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The election is rigged. It's rigged like you've never seen before. The investigation of Hillary Clinton was rigged. It's all rigged. It's all rigged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: The GOP nominee now insisting there's a monumental conspiracy to rig the entire election against him. Trump tweeting today, "Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before Election Day. Why do republican leaders deny what is going on. So naive.

But Trump's claim aren't true. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud and the candidate's claim are putting election officials even though it's in his own party on edge.

Today, Ohio Secretary of State, a republican who plans to vote for Trump blasted the candidate's claim as reckless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUSTED, OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE: It's irresponsible. He should focus on issues that matter to people. I can reassure people I'm in charge of elections in Ohio and they are not going to be rigged. I'll make sure of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: While Hillary Clinton's running mate warns that Trump's claims are the protest of a sore loser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE, (D-VA) U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an insult to American voters and it's an insult to county registrars to say that America don't know how to run an election. We know how to run an election. And this is clearly a guy who feels like he is losing and strangles a line in a dance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: As Trump's running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence said he will accept the results on November 8th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE, (R-IN) U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As Donald Trump said in that first debate I will say to you again today, we're going to accept the will of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Even he is warning about voter fraud on the campaign trail today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: Voter fraud cannot be tolerated by anyone in this nation.

(APPLAUSE)

Because it is (Inaudible) republicans, independents, democrats (Inaudible) in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: In fact, a Loyola Law School professor found just 31 potential instances of voter impersonation out of more than 1 billion ballots cast from 2,000 to 2014.

Now, tonight, if he is campaigning in Wisconsin Donald Trump kept up his claim of a rigged election citing people who have passed away who are still on the voter rolls. And instances of non-citizen voting in American election.

But while all elections come with fraud instances or the potential of fraud, so far no one has found widespread systemic fraud in their studies of American elections.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Melania Trump is defending her husband after his lewd remarks about groping women on a 2005 videotape.

[03:20:03] Several women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct after the Washington Post released the audio. He denies those allegations. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper Melania Trump calls her husband's comments unacceptable but blames then Access Hollywood host Billy Bush for encouraging him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. TRUMP: I said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate. It's not acceptable. And I was surprised, because that is not the man that I know. And as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on, it was only a mic.

And I wonder if they even knew that the mic was on. Because they were kind of a boy talk. And he was lead on, like, egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me is Lynn Sweet, she is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. Thank you so much for being with us.

LYNN SWEET, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Thank you.

CHURCH: Now as we just heard, Melania Trump spoke with our Anderson Cooper and made it clear she believes her husband in the midst of all these sexual assault allegations and she also thinks that he was egged on by Billy Bush in the Access Hollywood tape.

How important is it for the Trump campaign to hear from Melania at this particular time, given she has been very quiet of late and is not with her husband on the campaign trail. What impact does an interview like have on Trump's campaign?

SWEET: Well, the interview may not have the impact that they want because she really didn't add anything that would change the story line. When she said that her husband was egged on, really, a 59-year- old man was egged on to say inappropriate things with a live microphone that she is now saying he may not have known was on?

Well, that didn't seem to be as helpful as she could have been. But having said that, the one person in a politician's life who can lend them credibility and testify to their inner worthiness is a spouse. And she did that. It took her a while to come forward. The tape has been out for more

than a week now and she kind of went in to a safe environment in a one-on-one interview, but it's maybe just an opening bid by her. I don't think just an appearance or two is going to fix the problem for her husband.

CHURCH: And what we have saying too, is Trump intensifying his claims that the election will be rigged, without showing any evidence, it has to be said. But even his own party isn't buying it. How reckless is this? And what could the ramifications be if he pursues this line of attack?

SWEET: It's extremely reckless because he is fabricating a lie about ongoing, current, wide voter fraud in the United States. It's not true. And even in past elections it's not true. People do studies on this.

There are minuscule numbers of problems and that is not the same as widespread, systematic voter fraud that he says is going to cheat him out of a victory. And it's dangerous because he then is trying to set up the case to question the -- his failure, his defeat and the election of Hillary Clinton.

He is trying to delegitimize the United States election and that is dangerous because the United States is very -- very corner some in the United States is how we in the United States peacefully hand over power from one president to the next. It's almost unheard of to question this process when there is no evidence.

CHURCH: And of course on the other side of the political spectrum, trouble there, as well. What about the latest WikiLeaks dump from Hillary Clinton's campaign chair John Podesta and what she said to speeches to Wall Street. How damaging will this leak ultimately be for her campaign? Could that be a game changer, or is all the attention on what's happening with Trump?

SWEET: Well, the WikiLeaks are getting attention. The memos that are controversial because they show what she was saying in private might not have squared with what she was saying in public. But that is not a -- and she -- her big problem in polls is that no one trusts her.

[03:24:59] That's why she has not just run away with this campaign. She is unpopular, Trump is unpopular. But I think her unpopularity has more potential to be negated or to be mitigated. She has -- she is actively working to expand her base of support. Doing various things that frankly are routine in American campaigns.

In contrast, Donald Trump is playing to his base by putting out this kind of red meat rhetoric about rigged elections and isn't doing what is usually the standard work to reach out beyond the base of people who are already supporting him.

CHURCH: Lynn Sweet, great to talk with you. Thank you so much.

SWEET: Thank you. CHURCH: We'll take a very short break here. But still to come, as

many as one million civilians live in Mosul. The last ISIS stronghold in Iraq. But the offensive to liberate the city could put them in immense danger. What's being done to help them? That's next.

And what made another day of bombing in Aleppo especially devastating Monday, those stories still to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A very warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Time to update you on the main stories we have been following this hour.

Melania Trump blames former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush for egging her husband on to engage in what she called 'boy talk.'

On Monday, she came to Donald Trump's defense for his lewd comments about women on a 2005 videotape. Several women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct in the wake of his remarks. He denies the allegations.

[03:30:01] Russian and Syrian forces will pause their attacks on rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Thursday to allow civilians and rebels to leave.

Russia says the air strikes will stop for eight hours and six corridors will be open for safe passage. The U.S. calls the pause too little too late.

The U.S. Central Command says the noose is tightening on Mosul. Less than 24 hours in, the Iraqi military says it has dealt heavy losses to ISIS as it closes in on their last foothold in Iraq.

But the toughest fight is yet to come, inside Mosul's urban centers.

So let's bring back our Michael Holmes, who is fighting the latest developments in Erbil. Michael, bring us up to date on the situation there.

HOLMES: Yes, Rosemary. The fighting does continue. It is another day. There was plenty of activity yesterday militarily and there has been this morning. About 50 kilometers southeast of Mosul, the Iraqi military says they were hit by a number of suicide car bombs.

They say they repelled the bulk of those attacks. They have did lose one soldier, killed two, wounded. But they say they killed 10 ISIS fighters. It's just an indicator of what's been going on the ground. But it is not just the ground battle against ISIS that's been fought.

There is an air war also being waged to kick the terror group out of Mosul.

Now my colleague Fred Pleitgen joins me now from London. He was just aboard the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle which is playing a key role in the effort to oust ISIS. And, Fred, what did you learn on that aircraft carrier? I mean, the

air campaign is so vital, not just in terms of surveillance but in terms of targeting.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is, Michael. And you know, one of the things that we are seeing as this Mosul offensive has been getting underway the early hours the early days of that offensive that has really the air strikes that in many cases are paving the way for the advances of those ground forces there on the ground that are trying to oust ISIS from a lot of those areas.

And essentially what the coalition does is there's planes that many countries bring to the fold and they are then combined in a joint operation center and those then conduct those air strikes. And the strikes are really fall into two categories, Michael.

On the one hand, there is a mission called close air support. And in that mission what happens is that some of these jets will loiter over the battlefield to get refueled a couple of times and then ground forces which could be the Peshmerga which also be the Iraqi Security Forces.

It could also be, for instance, U.S. forces in the rear echelon; they call in air strikes on front line battle positions to directly help those troops advance in those areas.

The second mission that they conduct is called battlefield air interdiction. What happens there is basically pre-planned strikes where there is some sort of reconnaissance that tells the coalition, look, there's an ISIS leader here or there is an ISIS fuel depot or an ammunitions depot in this location, and then in a pre-planned strike those areas are taken out.

Again, in the early hours of the campaign, in Mosul we've seen a lot of those strikes take place. We have seen in the air some very heavy B-52 U.S. bombers over the battlefield, as well. So, certainly the air campaign is one that's really been paving the way for this operation to begin. And it is now of course playing a key role, as this operation gets into high gear. Michael?

HOLMES: Yes, and a couple of things, Fred, you were on a French aircraft carrier, who's doing most of the bombing?

PLEITGEN: Yes.

HOLMES: And the other thing, and you touched on this, is coordination, how are they coordinated?

PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes, you know, coordination is one of the things that's obviously key in all of this, especially when you have so many countries in the fold. The U.S. is by far, the largest contributor of aircraft and also of air strikes to this campaign.

Of course, some of those U.S. forces taking off from an aircraft carrier, others taking off, for instance, from Incirlik, in Turkey, as well and also some other bases. There's usually a lot of activity in the battlefield over Mosul going on.

But coordination is obviously a very important thing. And if you look, for instance, the French air strikes and the French are probably the country that is the second only to the U.S. in contributing. They have 30 jets in total, 36 jets in total contributing to the campaign.

What happens is they will put a jet forward, they'll see these are the capabilities that it had. An air strike will get called in and that gets called in to a place in Qatar, to the joint operation center and that air strike then gets approved.

However, before that air strike takes place, a member of the French military also has to approve that air strike, as well, to make sure that it's in line with France's rules of engagement. And that's the way all of these militaries work there.

They will put aircraft forward, they'll put them at the disposal of the joint command center. However, every air strike has to be approved by a member of that country to make sure it's in line with those countries rules of engagement there on the ground against ISIS.

[03:34:58] There are some countries, for instance, that will only bomb in Iraq not bomb in Syria. All these countries have their own rules on top of being a part of the coalition, Michael.

HOLMES: The men that you were with on that aircraft carrier, their sense of mission this sort support they're getting from their own in public?

PLEITGEN: Yes. And you know, absolutely. I was -- I was say surprised. But certainly it was eye opening to see the sense of purpose and the sense of mission that these people have. And we have to keep in mind, of course, that of the European countries that France is the one that's been hit hard by ISIS' terror.

You had obviously the Paris attack in November 2015, where more than 130 people are killed, you had the Charlie Hebdo attack, you had a lot of follow on attacks as well. And that certainly is something that does contribute a lot to the morale.

I was speaking to one pilot who flies a lot of missions. He's the commander of one of the squadrons that he says, look, on the one hand, of course we want to take out ISIS, we want to destroy this organization. But on the other hand, we of course also want to prevent future attacks like the ones that we witnessed in France in the future.

And so, there is a big sense of purpose. There is also a big backing by the French public as well. And the French were very quick to say, look, we're not just going to put jets on the ground. We're also going to put our aircraft carrier in theater to make sure that we can add that extra fire power, and of course, Mosul is the center of their attention. Michael?

HOLMES: All right. Our Fred Pleitgen back in London. But just off the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle taking part in that all- important area of campaign.

That will do it for us here in Erbil for the moment. Back to you, Rosemary in Atlanta.

CHURCH: Thanks so much, Michael. You stay safe there. I appreciate that.

Well, as Iraqi and other forces push closer to Mosul, thousands of families are still inside the city. If they stay they risk getting caught in crossfire or even possibly being used as human shield by ISIS militants. If they try to flee they could face snipers booby traps and hidden landmines.

Tarik Kadir is the Mosul response team leader for Save the Children and joins us now from Erbil in Iraq. Thanks so much for talking with us. Now, the biggest challenge for families living in Mosul is what to do next as we explain, if they stay they can't get food and water. If they leave there are no safe routes out of Mosul, so what do they do?

TARIK KADIR, SAVE THE CHILDREN LEADER: Well, this is the center of question and all depend as discussed previously on how the military campaign unfolds. We are calling for safe rounds to be established so that people who are innocent, the victims of all this clashing can get to a safe area where our aid can be provided in those of our partners.

CHURCH: And there are about a million people living in Mosul, about of them are children. What happens if hundreds of thousands of people try to leave if they do find safe routes, then what? How many people can be safely housed and looked after?

KADIR: That's an essential question. There had been a lot of changes in the planning around that for the last 6 to 12 months. And the honest truth is that with the emergency of this size there is no good way to do it. And simply cannot as the humanitarian community respond to the needs of half a million children alone.

The safe routes will be important also immediately housing the tents that are being establish in that camp, those need to be fast forwarded because we simply don't have the capacity yet on the ground to get safe house for everybody.

CHURCH: Now as you explain your organization is looking for safe routes out of Mosul, but how likely is it that they can be establish to get families safely out of that city. And if it's not done what is going to happen to these children and to their families.

KADIR: (AUDIO GAP) is the city itself will be the culmination but also the surrounding areas which are very much populated as well. And if we don't have the safe routes the best to guess at this point which is the people will have to flee by (AUDIO GAP) can't find that they might (AUDIO GAP) conflict in case (AUDIO GAP).

CHURCH: All right. We are having some technical problems there, but talking with Tarik Kadir who is the Mosul response team leader there for Save the Children. Thank you so much, sir, for joining us and explaining the situation there, the dire circumstances. I appreciate it.

Well, children are also among the innocent victims in Syria. Coming up, the bombardments staggering toll on one family in Aleppo.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: There will be a pause in the bombing of Aleppo, Syria, this week. Russia says the air strikes will stop for eight hours Thursday so civilians and rebels can leave.

There's growing diplomatic pressure on Russia to halt the bombing and disturbing new pictures from the city show the civilian toll.

Fourteen family members were killed in an air strike on Monday. Ten of them were children.

Our Ian Lee joins us now with the very latest. And, Ian, so disturbing these pictures, particularly these children wrapped up, being laid out in the streets there. Talk to us about these heartbreaking stories and what the latest is happening there.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we have an update actually on that number from the family. Sadly it has risen. There are now 20 family members of members of that family who were killed in that air strike. And the youngest, two 6-week-old babies, a boy and girl, killed in that air strike.

And it is just shows that the humanitarian disaster that is that the siege part of eastern Aleppo. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday called it the largest humanitarian disaster since World War II. And there are these bombings all across that besieged part.

And there is just a lack of food, a lack of medicine, a lack of fuel, everything that people need to survive. And so, there has been a push for this humanitarian pause in fighting so you can get humanitarian aid in there. Although Russia vetoed that in the U.N. Security Council on Saturday.

And now they come out with these humanitarian corridors, two for rebel fighters to lay down their weapons and go across in previous corridors we've seen them granted amnesty and there are six for civilians to cross over, as well.

[03:45:01] CHURCH: And, Ian, you mentioned that eight-hour pause, what all can be achieved in that time?

LEE: Well, really there's two things to consider here. With the Russians in the past, when they have announced these corridors last August they said that anyone who comes over, the fighters will be granted amnesty, there will be humanitarian aid waiting for anyone to crossover.

And when we've talk to people in the past about these, inside these besieged parts they're very skeptical because they point previous incidents where when civilians have crossed over the men were separated from the women and children and those men were never seen them again.

And in the last one that happened, according to Syrian state media roughly 200 people crossed over. And so, when you consider that there are roughly 250,000 people in that besieged part it really is a drop in the bucket.

So people, again, are skeptical about these corridors. They don't trust the Russians. They don't trust the Syrian government. And so, it looks like not many people will cross over on Thursday when this eight-hour ceasefire begins. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Our Ian Lee watching what is happening in Aleppo from his vantage point there in Istanbul, Turkey. Many thanks to you.

A 72-hour ceasefire is scheduled to start in Yemen Wednesday night. The U.N. Envoy says the pause in fighting should allow humanitarian aid and personnel to reach all parts of the country.

The ceasefire could be extended. The U.S., the U.K. and the United Nations are pressing for talks to end the violence between Iranian backed Houthi rebels and Yemen's government.

We'll take a very short break here. But still to come, Donald Trump is no stranger to Saturday Night Live comedy. He's even hosted the show. Why he wants it taken off the air. We will explain on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: All right. You might not recognize the young man behind me. But he is in fact, Adolf Hitler. Austria is planning to tear down the house where the Nazi leader was born. They want to stop it from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHURCH: All right. Back to the U.S. presidential race now. And it has been a ratings gold for Saturday Night Live. They get big laughs every week as they skewer the candidates, but one man isn't amused. Here CNN's Jeanne Moos.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe it was Alec Baldwin portraying him as jaws that made Donald Trump want to bite back. And SNL, the Donald called it "a hot job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And number four...

MOOS: Baldwin himself must not have been too heard because he re- tweeted Trump's insults and to think Donald himself as graced SNL over the years. Apparently before it was boring and unfunny.

TRUMP: A special thing. It's a great honor. You know, it's like a feather in your cap.

MOOS: OK. So, Trump says Baldwin stinks but what does Hillary think about how she's been portrayed?

CLINTON: When Kate McKinnon came out with the walker, I thought I was going to fall off my chair.

KATE MCKINNON, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SHOW CO-HOST: I'd like to begin tonight by attempting a casual lean.

MOOS: Obviously SNL won't be saying sorry to Trump.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I deeply apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you trying to say apologize?

BALDWIN: No, I would never do that.

MOOS: Another thing Trump almost never does -- have you ever seen Donald Trump laugh? You rarely see the Donald genuinely cracking up. And found only a couple of instances from this campaign. The jolliest was when a screech interrupted a Trump rally.

TRUMP: This is something you shouldn't -- what was that? Was that a dog?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary.

TRUMP: It's Hillary.

MOOS: It won't catch the Donald doing this while watching SNL.

BALDWIN: Wrong, wrong, wrong.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: Well, the Saturday Night Live cast isn't alone into writing the Donald this week. A parade of stars turned out on Broadway Monday night to raise money for the Hillary Clinton campaign.

And emcee Billy Crystal couldn't resist taking aim at her republican rival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY CRYSTAL, EVENT HOST: To me it's the anti-JFK. Ask not what your country can do for you but what my country can do for me.

[03:55:01] But he's vulnerable. He's a force of nature. And in real life I really think he is a human form of the hurricane season.

Well, think about it. He starts out with a lot of hot air. You went out spinning out of control. It hits America. Causes a lot of damage and panic but it's completely over by November.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And we have only three weeks to go to see if that forecast is

accurate.

And finally this hour, it's one of the greatest honors most writers could ever imagine, but apparently, legendary rocker Bob Dylan isn't overnighted excited by his surprise awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature.

The Swedish Academy has told state radio that it has given up trying to contact Dylan in the aftermath of last Thursday's announcement. The 75-year-old may have released 37 studio albums but he hasn't yet found the words to express what he thinks about his latest accolade.

And so, it's fair to say the chances of him turning up in Stockholm into Sandberg to receive the prize are at this point still blowing in the wind.

Now thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Remember to connect with me any time on Twitter @rosemarycnn. And stay tuned for more news with our Max Foster in London.

And you have yourself a great day.

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