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Fighting for Iraq; Philippines Not Severing Ties with U.S.; Race for the White House; Crisis in Syria; Crisis in Syria; Russian Flotilla Streams for Eastern Mediterranean; Race for the White House; The Duck that Flew Coach. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired October 22, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): ISIS lashing out: the militants move against civilians trying to escape fighting around Mosul as Iraqi-led forces step up their offenses.
Clarifying the terms of separation: what the Philippines president is now saying about the comments that he made about the United States.
Plus: brushing aside his slipping poll numbers, Donald Trump tries to rally his supporters with the U.S. election less than three weeks away.
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: And first to Iraq. The military has launched a large-scale offensive to retake the city of Qaraqosh. It is about 15 kilometers southeast of Mosul. So far, they have liberated several buildings and raised the Iraqi flag.
Officials say coalition troops have killed at least 50 militants so far. And we're now learning that they are also now advancing on a town of Kalkaf (ph), which is just about 10 kilometers north of Mosul.
In the meantime, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, has just landed in Baghdad for a surprise visit. He'll be getting an update on the offensive very soon.
Joining us now live, CNN's Arwa Damon is in Irbil, Iraq, to tell us more about what's happening.
Arwa, first of all, what about these new pushes by the Iraqi-led forces?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are saying that they are closest to Mosul than they have been throughout all of this. Moving on that town of Kalkaf (ph), that is just about 10 kilometers to the north of the city, and also pushing from the southeast.
You have the Kurdish Peshmerga moving in from the east as well. But they are still facing some pretty tough resistance, even though some fronts are moving faster than others.
What they're going to presumably try to be doing, the closer they get to the city itself, is try to move on Mosul from numerous sites at around the same time. So some fronts are doing better than others. Others still getting bogged down.
Officer, you have the continuous ongoing threat of suicide car bombs that really seems to be the ISIS not just a weapon of choice but also most effective weapon.
And then you also have ISIS demonstrating its capabilities by reopening or opening yet another front yesterday, when around 30, 40 ISIS militants stormed the city of Kirkuk. There they had gun battles, pretty intense throughout most of the day, and some clashes continuing at this point as well.
Some analysts are saying that this is perhaps an attempt to try to divert some forces away from the front line or, at the very least, send a message that ISIS may be under attack from all sides when it comes to Nineveh province and the city of Mosul but they do still have sleeper cells, they do still have ways to infiltrate the population, which then allows them to carry out these types of attacks.
So this is, of course, creating an even more difficult scenario for the civilian population, that now need to be even more stringently searched by the security forces as they are trying to flee.
And then you have what is of great, great, great concern to the United Nations and to all who are involved in this and that ISIS' use of civilians as human shields.
And the United Nations reporting around 550 families from villages on the outskirts of Mosul, taken by ISIS, forced to be human shields, positioned around key buildings, around key buildings, administrative buildings, that may be targets of the coalition air force but also so that ISIS can use them for safe passage into other parts.
We have heard from an Iraqi intelligence source that some 248 men and boys included as well, George, were executed for trying to resist in some way being used by ISIS as human shields.
HOWELL: And that was to some degree expected, that ISIS would use these civilians, these people who have, Arwa, been caught up in the middle of this, as human shields. Again, you're pointing out that we now understand that there have been executions as this offensive continues.
Arwa Damon, live for us, Arwa, thank you for the reporting. We'll stay in touch with you as this continues.
ISIS is also losing ground in Libya. Libyan forces, with the help of -- [04:05:00]
HOWELL: -- U.S. airstrikes, are making progress, pushing the militants out of the city of Sirte. Sirte is the last ISIS stronghold outside of Syria and Iraq.
And Reuters News Service reports Libyan troops have recaptured five more buildings in the last area under the terror group's control. But ISIS fighters are resisting with improvised bunkers, with booby traps and with car bombs.
Thirty-three hundred migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya. Seven bodies were also recovered there. The U.N. says that more than 300,000 migrants have arrived in Europe after the Mediterranean crossing, trying to cross that this year.
Thousands more have died at sea, escaping brutal conflicts in Africa and in the Middle East.
At least 70 people are dead and 300 others injured after a packed passenger train derailed in Cameroon.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Rescue workers pulled dozens of people from the overturned wagons that you see here. The train was traveling between the capital city and Cameroon's economic hub. It's still unclear what caused this accident. Eight extra cars were added earlier to that train to accommodate extra passengers.
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HOWELL: Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is insisting that he is not calling for his country to sever relations with the United States. Mr. Duterte seemed to suggest earlier this week that he would cut economic and military ties with the Philippines' long-time ally, the United States, while boosting relations with China.
But at a news conference on Friday, he said that he merely was trying to pursue a more independent foreign policy. Listen.
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RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT, THE PHILIPPINES: It's not severance of ties. With severance of ties, you cut the diplomatic relations. I cannot do that.
Why?
It's in the best interest of my country that we maintain that relationship.
Why?
Because there remain Filipinos in the United States or Americans of Filipino ancestry. Why?
Because the people of my country is not ready to accept a separation. What I was really saying was separation of a foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: An about-face perhaps.
CNN's Will Ripley was at that news conference of the -- President Duterte and got reaction from Filipinos about their president's comments and then walking back those comments.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A slice of Americana in the middle of Manila, serving up burgers, fries and friendship between the U.S. and the Philippines.
DUTERTE: I announce my separation from the United States.
RIPLEY: A 70-year bond the new Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte seems ready to break in exchange for billions in trade, tourism and low interest lows from China.
Vicente Sia says his new president's anti-American rhetoric doesn't sit well with him.
VICENTE SIA, BUSINESS MANAGER: I am very disappointed that he wants to cut the ties with the America and pairing to the relationship with China.
RIPLEY: He doesn't understand why Duterte is so willing to overlook China's aggressive claim to most of the South China Sea. A recent poll found most Filipinos have little trust in China and much trust in the United States.
So by pivoting towards China and away from the U.S., the Philippines populist president seems to be out of sync with many of the people who got him elected.
Near one of the Philippines largest Roman Catholic churches, a marketplace full of Duterte's key demographics, working-class Filipinos, usually more than happy to speak on camera about their president.
RIPLEY (on camera): Ask you about Duterte, President Duterte.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The silence, a sign of the divisive tone of Duterte's presidency. Locals say anyone who openly criticizes Duterte is swiftly and sometimes viciously attacked.
RIPLEY (on camera): What do you think when he said he wants to separate from America?
MARISA LAGUITAN, STREET VENDOR: I don't think so. It's better to be friends than enemies.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A street vendor, Marisa Laguitan, worries that the president's word could hurt her country, poverty, crime and lack of infrastructure continue to plague this nation of 110 million.
Ian Dulay says he's proud of his president for taking a stand against the U.S., even when Duterte used vulgar language to describe President Obama.
RIPLEY (on camera): What do you think when he uses language like son of a whore when talking about the American president?
IAN DULAY, CALL CENTER EMPLOYEE: Well, I have nothing against that. It doesn't matter what you say, it's how you say it. But he is just being real.
RIPLEY: Do you worry he can provoke other countries by being so real?
DULAY: It doesn't really matter. It's about --
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DULAY: -- standing up for your people.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The same people who stand to win or lose from Duterte's risky power play between the world's superpowers.
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HOWELL: CNN's Will Ripley there for us, reporting.
Mexican authorities have arrested a possible mastermind behind the disappearance of 43 students. The former police chief of the city of Iguala, Felipe Flores Velasquez, has been captured after two years on the run.
Officials are now hoping that he could help with that investigation. Prosecutors believe police officers handed the students over to a gang and that they were later killed and their remains tossed into a river.
Venezuela's opposition leader is accusing the government of a coup d'etat. He made the claim after the country's election council halted a petition to hold a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro. Federal courts said many signatures on that petition were fraudulent.
The opposition coalition tweeted that that decision deepened the crisis in that country that it is experiencing.
Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the financial push in the U.S. presidential race is on. And the candidates kick it off into high gear. And Republican Donald Trump, though, already looking beyond Election Day. We'll tell you about that.
Plus, the U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, makes a schoolyard threat against Donald Trump, prompting us with response from the presidential nominee's team. This is CNN NEWSROOM. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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HOWELL: America's choice 2016: Donald Trump's campaign team says that he will reveal what they call his, quote, "closing argument," on Saturday, a blueprint for his first 100 days in the White House if he is elected to be president.
During campaign stops on Friday, the Republican dismissed polls that show him behind Democrat Hillary Clinton. And he stuck with his accusation that the election is rigged, which all studies indicate it is not rigged and has not been rigged for the history of the country.
CNN's Sara Murray reports.
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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a bunch of babies running our country, folks. We have a bunch of losers. They're losers, they're babies --
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sharp-elbowed Donald Trump is shrugging aside his sagging poll numbers and vowing to hustle through the final stretch.
TRUMP: Win, lose or draw, and I'm almost sure, if the people come out, we're going to win. But I will be --
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TRUMP: -- I will be happy with myself because I always say, I don't want to think back if only I did only one more rally I would have won North Carolina.
MURRAY (voice-over): The GOP nominee still claiming the election is rigged.
TRUMP: It's a rigged system. It's a rigged system. Don't ever forget it. That's why you got to get out and vote. You got to watch.
MURRAY (voice-over): As Trump's complaints became mere fodder for laugh lines for Hillary Clinton Thursday evening.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a 4, maybe a 5 if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.
MURRAY (voice-over): That's as the two traded barbs at the annual Al Smith dinner to benefit Catholic Charities.
TRUMP: The media is even more biased this year than ever before -- ever.
You want the proof?
Michelle Obama gives a speech. And everyone loves it. It's fantastic. They think she's absolutely great.
My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech --
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TRUMP: -- and people get on her case.
MURRAY (voice-over): But at times Trump's jokes were perhaps too pointed, even drawing boos from the crowd.
Despite the tension, Cardinal Dolan had this to say about how the candidates interacted off camera.
CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN, ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK: And after the little prayer, Mr. Trump turned to Secretary Clinton and said, "You know, you are one tough and talented woman."
And he said this has been a great -- a good experience in this whole campaign, as tough as it's been.
And she said to him, "And, Donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards."
MURRAY (voice-over): With the major political moments, the convention, the debates behind him, it remains unclear how Trump hopes to turn his fortunes around. But he is certainly relishing the lighter moments at rallies packed with his faithful supporters.
TRUMP: I just got caught in the rain. I'm soaking wet.
How does my hair look?
Is it OK?
MURRAY (voice-over): Sara Murray, CNN, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
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HOWELL: Thank you for that reporting.
Police say that a white powdery substance that was sent to Hillary Clinton's office in New York has tested negative for anything harmful. Police say that envelope was first delivered to Clinton's office in midtown Manhattan, then forwarded to her Brooklyn campaign headquarters. Clinton's campaign says none of its staffers have reported any health issues and that the office will remain open.
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HOWELL (voice-over): In the meantime, the Democratic presidential candidate is in several battleground states this weekend. Clinton reminded Ohio voters of her opponent's comments, at this week's debate, when Donald Trump refused to say whether he will absolutely accept the results of this election.
She says that Trump is, quote, "threatening our democracy."
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CLINTON: He is basically saying, hey, we've been around 240 years. And we've always had peaceful transitions, no matter who won or who lost.
Look, if you lose an election, I've lost elections.
You don't feel very good the next day, do you?
But we know in our country the difference between leadership and dictatorship.
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HOWELL: That WikiLeaks hack also still plaguing the Clinton campaign. Those hacked e-mails posted by WikiLeaks show bad blood --
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HOWELL: -- between Hillary Clinton and the former U.S. vice president, Al Gore.
In the e-mails dated last November, top Clinton aides discuss Gore's public refusal to endorse her campaign. He ultimately did endorse Clinton and then campaigned with her this month.
This marks the latest batch of hacked e-mails that U.S. officials say most likely comes from Russia in an attempt to influence the election results. WikiLeaks says that it will continue to release e-mails.
The U.S. vice president Joe Biden raised an eyebrow when he apparently suggested that he would like to fight the presidential nominee Donald Trump. The comment came during a campaign speech for Hillary Clinton. Listen.
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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said, because I'm famous, because I'm a star, because I'm a billionaire, I can do things other people can't. What a disgusting assertion for anyone to make.
The press always asks me, don't I wish I were debating him?
No, I wish we were in high school. I could take him behind the gym. That's what I wish.
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HOWELL: And Trump's campaign manager then seizing on that, suggesting there is a media double standard. Kellyanne Conway tweeting the following, that it would have been "a hair-on-fire breaking news moment" if Trump had said anything like that.
Of course, we have seen bitter fights on stage between these two candidates but the presidential debates are now over. But still, their supporters, they're keeping up the fight. CNN's Martin Savidge visited a Trump rally yesterday and Martin got an earful.
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Clarence Bartlett (ph) is no fan of Democrats.
CLARENCE BARTLETT (PH), TRUMP SUPPORTER: Them blame Democrats and all them ticks (ph) has ruint (sic) this country and we're trying to get it back.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Outside this Trump rally near Asheville, North Carolina, I ask him, what's going to happen if Trump wins?
His answer's a shock.
BARTLETT (PH): Oh, they'll kill him if he gets elected. That's how bad they are. They're the most evilest (ph) people I ever seen (ph), lie and deny.
SAVIDGE: Who would kill him?
BARTLETT (PH): Well, the Democrats the ones that's trying to cause riots and everything. It's obvious. It's in the news.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Bartlett isn't the only one predicting violence. Janet Stengel (ph) thinks it could happen if Trump loses.
JANET STENGEL (PH), TRUMP SUPPORTER: Personally, I think it could turn into a civil war because they're --
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: You really think that?
STENGEL (PH): -- absolutely. First of all, I think that we're going to have terrorist attacks. And we have all of these protests and all of that. And so I think people are going to be very upset.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): I found Ann Brooks (ph) quietly waiting in line. She's a Clinton supporter and proved Trump backers don't hold the monopoly on ugly talk.
SAVIDGE: What are you doing here?
ANN BROOKS (PH), CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think I wanted to experience what it's like to be in a room with a sociopath.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): I ask if she's willing to live with a Trump victory.
BROOKS (PH): I might move to Canada. Truly, I mean, truly, because I think there will be blood in the streets. I really do think that's going to happen. I think it may happen either way.
SAVIDGE: Who would cause that?
BROOKS (PH): I think either side could.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): As troubling as this talk is, most we speak to say they do not expect violence.
SAVIDGE: When this campaign is over, do you think as a nation we can come back together again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we have to. This is the greatest country in the world.
SAVIDGE: Do you believe that, as a nation, we could heal, we could get over what has been a very hard-fought campaign?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy, I would hope so. I mean, I would hope so. I mean, I'm not a vicious person.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): But it has been a vicious campaign with some of the strongest, crudest and ugliest language in living political memory, most recently when Trump interjected in the last debate.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Such a nasty woman.
SAVIDGE: So you think the depiction "nasty woman," in this case, fit?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I wouldn't come out and say it but if the shoe fits, wear it.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): One thing is clear, healing won't begin until the election is over. And with more than two weeks to go, there is still plenty of nasty out there.
SAVIDGE: We've been asking people about the tenor of the campaign --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure --
SAVIDGE: -- whether it's --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- pigs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute. That's not nice.
SAVIDGE: So sort of stuff like that.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Martin Savidge, CNN, Fletcher, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: The FBI is investigating a massive cyber attack Friday that targeted a number of popular websites, Twitter, Amazon and Netflix among those sites. Those and other sites went down for many users. The outages began in the United States but reached Europe as the day progressed.
The attack flooded the sites with so much data that it overwhelmed the service used to route Internet traffic. No one has claimed responsibility.
Still ahead, the biggest Russian naval task force since the end of the --
[04:25:00]
HOWELL: -- Cold War is headed for Syria's coast. We'll have details on that story and more ahead. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. .
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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers around the world, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.
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[04:30:00] HOWELL: A cease-fire in Aleppo that is meant to allow civilians and rebels to leave the Syrian city is set to end in eight hours' time. But, so far, there are few reports of anyone evacuating. Joining us now is CNN's Ivan Watson, live in Istanbul following this story.
Ivan, what more can you tell us about why no one is using these humanitarian corridors to escape?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, first of all, George, we have to point out that the people in the besieged part of Eastern Aleppo that's controlled by the rebels, many of them were very worried that, overnight, the airstrikes would resume again after this four-day pause.
Well, fortunately for them, the Russian military and the Syrian government have not, up until now, resumed those punishing and deadly airstrikes we've seen those really grisly images of. So it was another night of relative calm there.
When it comes to these humanitarian corridors, the Russian military and the Syrian government announced and they published maps indicating where these are and have even streamed video from these checkpoints.
The United Nations has said that it's simply not safe enough to begin what the U.N. describes as the, quote, "safe, secure and voluntary" evacuation of the sick and critically wounded and the families.
So the U.N. saying that this is not the proper situation to try to evacuate some of the trapped civilian population of tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of people, from this rebel-held enclave. And from our conversations with ordinary people inside Eastern Aleppo,
they've indicated the same. Though some would like to go, there is a fair amount of distrust, either with the Syrian government and possibly evacuating to Syrian government-controlled territories.
And in some indications we've gotten statements from residents, saying that the rebels themselves are not interested in allowing members of the civilian population to leave.
So it is a very, very complicated situation -- again, with a large number of civilians, who have been besieged and surrounded for some two months in what the United Nations' top human rights official has described as crimes against humanity -- George.
HOWELL: Yes, Ivan, let's talk about those civilians trapped in the middle of this. We talking about the fact that they -- and if we look at this map again, it really gives a very clear indication of what we're dealing with here.
You talk about people who are caught up in the middle and did, indeed, squeeze in by these different forces, many of them concerned that rebels will not let them leave; many of them fearful and mistrustful of the regime itself and not using these corridors.
But the question, Ivan, that I have for you is the humanitarian situation, the food and medicine that many people need. Just talk to us, if you could, just about what people are dealing with who are caught in the middle of all this.
WATSON: Well, for people who have been beneath the Russian and Syrian government bombardment for these past weeks, the accounts that we're hearing amount to basically shell shock, the trauma of the nightly and daily airstrikes.
Those images that we've seen emerge, of rescue workers pulling out bloodied, dazed children, elderly, that is a reality that people have lived with in a city that's been at the focal point of the civil war for more than four years now.
The descriptions we've gotten is that these people have, in some ways, been taken over the edge, beyond a line that many of us would think is already basically inhuman, not possible to live through.
We've done a fair amount of reporting on this trapped civilian population. Some people saying, yes, we'd like to go but we simply don't have the money to pay for it, to smuggle out -- to try to smuggle across the border to Turkey -- which no longer maintains its open borders policy -- would require payments of thousands and thousands of dollars to smugglers.
And that is something that this population simply doesn't have. Some of these people are the families of some of the rebel fighters. But others are simply those who are so poor, so destitute that they have nowhere else to go.
And as one rescue worker put it to me yesterday, they haven't gotten a single slice of bread in the last two months since the Syrian government forces and the Russian military succeeded in encircling and trapping this rebel-held part of Eastern Aleppo -- George.
HOWELL: And we continue to get these images, Ivan, from what's happening in Aleppo, these images of people, these images of children, who were killed, who have been injured. They're haunting. Ivan Watson live for us, Ivan, thank you for the report.
[04:35:00]
HOWELL: A fleet of Russian warships has steamed through the English Channel headed for the Syrian coast. Those ships will boost Russia's military presence in that region. Our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance reports from Moscow.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this flotilla is part of what's been called the biggest naval task force that Russia has assembled since the end of the Cold War.
It's led by the flag ship of the Russian navy and its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov (ph), which is being escorted by at least seven more surface ships, including the nuclear-powered battle cruiser, the Peter the Great.
Russian defense official say it's making its way to the Eastern Mediterranean, where It will join several other Russian ships already positioned off the Syrian coast.
The purpose is twofold: first, it's a show of strength. It sends a powerful message about the capabilities of the Russian navy. This deployment puts Russia into a small category of countries able to project naval power in this way.
And being seen, of course, as a top-flight military power is a priority for the Kremlin.
When the ships arrive off Syria, they'll also provide major reinforcements to the rest of the Russian military forces in the country.
For instance, the Admiral Kuznetsov (ph) is armed with up to 50 combat aircraft, including state-of-the-art warplanes and helicopter gunships that could be used to intensify Russian airstrikes on rebel positions inside Syria -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Matthew, thank you.
Now switching to weather, a second typhoon in a week to slam into southeastern China continues to move inland. Our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, is here with the latest on that -- Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George, there has been 22 named storms in the Western Pacific so far this season that runs from May to October.
So we're really wrapping things up. But we've done some of the numbers and we have noted that over 7 billion U.S. dollars in damage from these 22 collective storms. And Typhoon Haima was one of them.
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HOWELL: Derek, thank you so much.
Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the battleground state of Utah, Donald Trump could be in danger of losing the traditionally Republican state -- but to someone other than Hillary Clinton, the man right there. We'll tell you about that ahead.
Plus, some people in Nigeria say their president and Donald Trump have something in common. You're watching CNN.
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HOWELL: America's choice 2016: a race like no other, fair to say. This year's presidential race has defied countless political conventions. Case in point: the state of Utah, where Republicans hold the governor's office, both Senate seats and every congressional district and most state house and Senate seats.
So here's the question: why is the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, in danger of losing that state -- and not to Hillary Clinton?
Phil Mattingly reports for us.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump has a very real Utah problem. It's largely because of this man, Evan McMullin.
EVAN MCMULLIN, UTAH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our campaign is a three- month presidential campaign.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): You haven't heard of him?
You're not alone. In a year where third-party candidates like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein have made waves, McMullin has been an afterthought. Yet he's now in position to have the largest impact of all three on the general election. He's in position to win Utah.
MCMULLIN: People like to say that mountain -- or that Utah is a Republican state or a deep red state. I say that it's a principled, conservative state. MATTINGLY (voice-over): For Trump, trailing in the polls and with an extremely limited path to 270 electoral votes to begin with, it's a major headache. But it's one that has been percolating for months and now appears to be peaking.
A drive through Salt Lake City produces political yard sign after political yard sign, yet no hint of the presidential race. It's a reflection captured in the polls of a general disgust with the tone of this race and one with roots in the state's dominant Mormon faith.
And its GOP leaders who have been cold to Trump's fiery and, at times, deeply offensive rhetoric...
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I better use some Tic-Tacs just in case I start kissing her.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): -- willing to pull their endorsements in the wake of revelations about crude remarks.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I'm out. I can no longer endorse Donald Trump for president...
[04:45:00]
CHAFFETZ: There's no possible way I'd vote for Hillary Clinton but these are abhorrent.
CHAFFETZ: -- or outright denounce the candidate altogether.
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: Now I'm far from the first to conclude that Donald Trump lacks the temperament to be president...
MCMULLIN: We knew all along, as did many Americans, that Donald Trump was the type of guy who would talk about women the way he did in that tape.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Enter McMullin, a Utah native, practicing Mormon, former CIA officer and Capitol Hill staffer. What he lacks in national profile, he's made up for in increasing momentum in the state, steadily creeping up in the polls for months.
Trump's tape has sparked a moment for McMullin and his running mate, Mindy Finn (ph), one that has leading in the state, according to at least one recent poll.
MINDY FINN (PH), MCMULLIN RUNNING MATE: What they'll tell us is you're offering us a glimmer of light in what has been a sea of darkness in the 2016 election.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Now a single-state strategy is hardly a recipe for electoral success. But McMullin's goals are twofold.
First, open the door to this exceedingly unlikely scenario...
MCMULLIN: And we've said that if the race is very, very close between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we could win a state or two and block them both and take the election to the House.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): -- but second and, given recent poling, most importantly for McMullin and Finn, create an alternative for those turned off by Trump.
MCMULLIN: If Hillary Clinton is dominating Donald Trump, then what the outcome here in Utah and in other states doesn't matter quite as much. And so we're saying, even in that case, stand on principle, stand for what you know is right, stand for the kind of leadership you'd actually like to see in this country. And let's build from there.
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HOWELL: Phil Mattingly reporting there for us.
For perspective here, consider this: it's been 48 years since a third-party candidate secured any electoral votes. And it's been 52 years since the state of Utah has supported any nominee other than the Republican nominee.
Around the world, people are reacting to Donald Trump's sexist comments, some even drawing a comparison now between Donald Trump and the president of Nigeria. Our David McKenzie has more from the Nigerian capital.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the weekend market in Abuja, Nigeria, a (INAUDIBLE) vendor, Ibrahim Mohammed, has followed every American election since George Bush Sr. He says business and politics shouldn't mix.
"Trump is a business person." he says.
"He learned how to trade. He's a trader. If he wants to be a politician, he should learn politics."
As for Trump's sexist comments, Muhammad has a unique suggestion.
"If Trump wants to say he doesn't respect woman," he said, "he should go and divorce his wife and marry a man like him."
But here in Nigeria, just like all around the world, people are focusing on the American elections. And there's also parallels. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari said that his wife belongs in his kitchen.
MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: A woman should know her place.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Aduma Edwa (ph) says Nigeria's first lady shouldn't comment on politics.
But Hillary Clinton's place, she says, is in the White House. ADUMA EDWA (PH), NIGERIAN RESIDENT: For the first time in the history of America, a woman is coming out and positively to represent not only the womenfolk but probably anybody who is democratic in nature.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): We did find one Trump supporter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
MCKENZIE: Think he's all right?
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Two supporters in fact. Austin Mohama (ph) says one President Clinton was just enough.
MCKENZIE: Who do you think is going to win the elections?
AUSTIN MOHAMA (PH), NIGERIAN RESIDENT: Oh, for me, I give it to Trump.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Abuja sits in the middle of Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south. Muhammad Sijir (ph) says Trump's talk of banning Muslims is just that: talk.
Still, God willing, he says, Hillary Clinton will defeat Trump.
"Some say God is exactly what America needs right now."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Must pray for them.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): David McKenzie, CNN, Abuja, Nigeria.
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HOWELL: Well, fair to say we've all had those flights where you felt like you were sitting next to an odd duck in the seat beside you. But for passengers on this particular flight, well, there was an actual duck on board. Why he was there as NEWSROOM continues.
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[04:50:00]
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
So a duck walks onto a plane. No, it's not the start of a joke but it's something that actually happened -- right there. CNN's Jeanne Moos shows us how a flightless fowl ended up a high-flying Internet star.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Passengers seemed delighted when they spotted a duck occupying a window seat on a flight from Charlotte to Asheville, North Carolina.
What is his full name?
CARLA FITZGERALD, DUCK OWNER: Daniel turducken Stinkerbutt.
MOOS (voice-over): Daniel for short; it turns out he is an emotional support duck.
FITZGERALD: Without Daniel I would stay home for the rest of my life. I would never leave the house because I can't.
MOOS (voice-over): Carla Fitzgerald suffers from post-traumatic stress as a result of a serious accident. Her horse and carriage were rear-ended by a car.
FITZGERALD: I love you.
MOOS (voice-over): Carla's psychologist vouched for her therapy duck in writing.
FITZGERALD: So they know that I'm not just some wacko who's bringing her duck with her just because.
MOOS (voice-over): Daniel went viral when passenger Mark Essig (ph) began tweeting photos, including one of the duck gazing out a window.
MARK ESSIG (PH), PHOTOGRAPHER: Looking kind of contemplative.
MOOS (voice-over): It was as if Elton John was singing about him.
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MOOS (voice-over): To protect his tender webbed feet while traveling...
ESSIG (PH): He was wearing some really sharp red shoes.
MOOS (voice-over): -- and gently quacking, this 4-year-old duck is used to showering...
FITZGERALD: No, I'm not getting in with you, Daniel.
MOOS (voice-over): -- wearing diapers...
FITZGERALD: He is wearing his Captain America underpants.
MOOS (voice-over): -- and eating macaroni and cheese.
FITZGERALD: Was it worth the wait, Daniel?
MOOS (voice-over): When you call Carla, you are liable to get --
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MOOS: -- Daniel as well.
MOOS: I think he wants to be interviewed.
FITZGERALD: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, Daniel sometimes gets a little jealous of my phone conversations.
MOOS (voice-over): Daniel is a breed of duck that cannot fly.
ESSIG (PH): So I like to think he was looking out at those clouds and it triggered some deep ancestral memory of what it had been like to fly.
MOOS (voice-over): Or maybe he was just dreaming of mac and cheese.
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MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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HOWELL: Daniel, the duck that flew coach. That story really quacks me up. Sorry. I couldn't help it.
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HOWELL: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world. Thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
