Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Fighting for Iraq; Battle for Aleppo; Race for the White House; Syrian Cease-Fire Holds but Aid Stalled; Migrants in England Face Xenophobia; Duterte Ordered Killings as Mayor; Frantic 9-1-1 Call Leads to Woman's Rescue. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired October 22, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): One step closer to Mosul. Iraqi troops advance on a town north of that embattled city, the closest they've come yet to the finish line.
A few hours left: a cease-fire comes to an end in Aleppo and the U.N. condemns what it calls "crimes of historic proportions."
And mixing up words: the Philippines president says he must clarify some pretty harsh comments that he made about the United States.
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. And first to Iraq. The battle to retake that nation's second largest city from ISIS, the Iraqi military now advancing on a town just north of Mosul. This is believed to be the closest that security forces have gotten to that city.
Within the past hour we've learned that the military has launched a large-scale offensive to retake the city of Qaraqosh. That city is about 15 kilometers or nine miles to the southeast of Mosul.
So far, they have killed at least 50 militants and have raised the Iraqi flag. The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, is also in Baghdad for a surprise visit and getting an update about the battles that are taking place.
We get the very latest this hour from CNN's Arwa Damon, live in Irbil, Iraq, following the story.
Arwa, great to have you with us.
First, what can you tell us about these new pushes by the Iraqi-led forces? ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is bringing them closer to, of course, what is going to be the main and most difficult battlefield, Iraq's second largest city of Mosul.
And they have been encountering, the closer they've been getting to this city itself, on the different fronts an even stronger resistance from ISIS.
And, of course, the organization's best weapons is these suicide car bombs, that it sometimes keeps laying in wait as the troops get closer when they have perhaps let their guard down or when they think they've cleared the city, all of a sudden, a vehicle comes careening toward their various different defensive positions that they do set up.
And of course ISIS has been demonstrating its ability to launch attacks elsewhere, striking the city of Kirkuk with about 30 to 40 fighters, gun battles, they're pretty fierce yesterday and still sporadic clashes going on.
But to give you an idea of what the front line looks like, we were down with the Iraqi special forces, who are with the counterterrorism unit, as they advanced on the Christian town of Bartala (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice-over): Attack helicopters swoop overhead and fire, A truck bomb is detonated by forces on the ground.
"That's what's left of it," 25-year-old corporal Mohammed al-Yasich (ph) says, as we push forward.
His Humvee has been hit so many times, he can barely see through the bullet-proof glass.
"When we finished liberating Mosul, I'm going to ask for my sweetheart's hand in marriage," he tells us.
Al-Yasich (ph) dreams of the future but now has to focus on surviving the present.
A bulldozer barricades side roads to defend against one of the biggest ongoing threats: suicide car bombers.
DAMON (on camera): It's one of the ways that ISIS was mounting its weapons, firing at troops as they were coming down.
DAMON (voice-over): We're with the Counterterrorism Division's Special Forces. The men are tired. They have been fighting non-stop since ISIS swept through Iraq more than two years ago.
But morale is high. They've reached the town of Bartala (ph), just 20 kilometers from Mosul.
DAMON (on camera): The forces have been pounding this area. This is the front line. And being this close to the fighting, one can't help but to think, but to wonder about the fate of the civilians who potentially might be trapped inside.
DAMON (voice-over): Thankfully, it seems, there are none.
DAMON: The vast majority fled this peaceful Christian enclave two years ago.
That's when we were last here, just after ISIS captured Mosul, when Yusuf (ph) and his friend tried to pretend that everything was normal, when 22-year-old Mariana (ph) swore that she would stay, even if she was the only one left, and when Father Ben's Hamlalu's (ph) church --
[05:05:00]
DAMON (voice-over): -- was a tranquil sanctuary.
This shattered community, this shattered country, has already suffered so much.
Staff Sergeant Dervan (ph) doesn't tell his wife and four children he's at the front.
He does not call them to say goodbye before heading into the fight.
"What would you tell your wife and children if you could call them now?" I asked.
"God willing, I will return home when we have liberated all of Iraq's lands," he responds.
But liberating the land is only the first part of the battle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: And, George, part of the challenge, of course, of liberating the land is the civilian population, upwards of 1.2 million people still believed to be trapped inside Mosul. And the United Nations reporting that around 550 families were taken by ISIS from villages outside of Mosul, positioned in areas in the city where there may potentially be coalition airstrikes.
We are hearing from an Iraqi intelligence source that around 248 men and boys were executed for trying to resist ISIS' efforts to force them and their families to be human shields -- George.
HOWELL: It's terrifying to hear about this news of these executions that are happening. These civilians also, Arwa, that are caught up in the middle and the efforts to try to have supplies in place for them as they try to escape Mosul.
Arwa Damon, live for us in Irbil, Iraq, Arwa, thank you for the reporting, we wish you safety and those teams. And we'll stay in touch with you.
And when it comes to Iraqi and Peshmerga fighters, they aren't just battling ISIS forces on the ground. They are also up against bomb- dropping drones in the skies, as our Nick Paton Walsh reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: ISIS trying, I think, to catch their adversary on their back foot by attacking the city of Kirkuk far away from the lines around Mosul. About 30 militants sustained attack over hours against key security and government buildings, seven of them dead, many casualties on the Peshmerga Iraqi Kurd side.
The pictures of that assault captivating many here in Northern Iraq. A sort of way, I think, of suggesting ISIS are able to strike where they want asymmetrically. But still the violence continuing around Mosul itself.
As we saw ourselves yesterday, ISIS able to use drones both to spot the positions of those attacking them but also deliver explosives. A tense, bloody time on those front lines.
WALSH (voice-over): Day four and perhaps the biggest push yet from the north into the plains around Mosul.
Trying to dislodge determined and deranged remnants of ISIS, the Peshmerga backed with staggering airpower. And our common sight of American special forces, who the Pentagon says are advising, not assaulting, positioned in the front of the attack.
The work was slow, destructive, begging the question, what becomes of the wreckage under new masters?
Suddenly, in the sky, a hail of bullets. They have spotted a drone. Trace-arounds dance around it and finally take off its nose.
ISIS use them to spot targets for artillery, even drop small bombs. This one tumbles down, its wreckage picked over. It's still unclear whose it is. Yet, progress down the road to Horasabad (ph) is agonizingly slow.
WALSH: This is the source of so much of the fighting this morning but still full of ISIS. And in fact, we have heard the Peshmerga have listened to those militants on their radios this morning, discussing how they should wait and only launch a counterattack once the Peshmerga are inside.
WALSH (voice-over): Two Peshmerga are killed by a mine and others injured in intense clashes when they flank the town, heading left across barren farmland. ISIS still here, haunting the dust, pushed back moments earlier.
Through each one unit pinned down on a hill. They say the drone is observing them but also dropping these tiny bombs on them, like grenades, we are warned.
Rocket after rocket lands. Over the hill there is --
[05:10:00]
WALSH (voice-over): -- fiercer fighting and still the rockets come in. Exposed, trudging through land turned arid in the fight.
WALSH: The U.S. are identifying the casualty there reported yesterday as Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finnen, age 34, of Anaheim, California, a part of an EOD team, that's basically a demining squad.
We have seen ourselves, though, how there are so many American special forces in armored vehicles very close to the front, often going in with the first column of Peshmerga armor into ISIS-held territory.
The White House admits they are in harm's way. But it is clear over the past few days, the past really four or five days of this offensive, that this will be long and bloody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Nick Paton Walsh for us reporting, Nick, thank you for that.
And as major fighting continues in both Iraq and in Syria, one neighbor to both countries is watching and worrying.
Turkey has accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iraq and Syria. The government has also been demanding a seat at the table when it comes to military operations that are taking place against ISIS.
Following this story this hour, Ivan Watson is live in Istanbul, Turkey, with us.
Ivan, good to have you this hour. So first, let's talk about Turkey sharing a border with both countries and now demanding a voice in this fight.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, there is a very public disagreement, argument basically, between the Turkish and Iraqi governments after Turkey insisted that it must be part of this operation in Mosul.
And then the Iraqi government firing back, saying that this would be an infringement on Iraqi sovereignty.
And what we saw on Friday unfold here was that the U.S. Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter, paid a visit here to meet with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to try to shore up support and help try to resolve some of these differences between different American allies here in the region in the middle of this critical and very deadly battle taking place in Mosul.
After that meeting, Carter told journalists that it appeared that there was an agreement in principle for Turkey's future participation in the Mosul operation but that the practicalities still had to get sorted out.
Now in part, why would Turkey be so concerned?
Well, part of it is that it has taken in millions of refugees, mostly from Syria but also hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iraq. Mosul is considered to be a largely Sunni Muslim city in the north of Iraq that Turkey has a longstanding historical and cultural ties with.
The Turkish President Erdogan sees himself very much as a protector of Sunnis. And he has expressed concern that Shiite Iraqi militias could unleash sectarian tensions and even killings in Mosul, even though the Iraqi government, the Shiite-dominated government, has vowed that that would not take place.
So these are part of the tensions here and some of the concerns that, again, the U.S. Defense Secretary was trying to address in his high- level talks here in Turkey on Friday. And he has since made a surprise visit to Baghdad to then talk to Iraqi counterparts as this Mosul battle unfolds -- George.
HOWELL: All right. So that's the situation with Turkey. Ivan, I'd also like to talk to you about what's happening in Aleppo with these civilians that are caught in the middle of all of this.
I'd like to show our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world this map of Aleppo. And you really get a sense here, this is a city that is surrounded by various forces. You see rebel-controlled areas around it. You see regime forces and Kurdish forces.
Humanitarian situation in the middle of that city has got to be dire for people that are just unable to escape.
What can you tell us, Ivan, from your discussions with people about what's happening in Aleppo, about the people that are in the middle and also why they're concerned, many of them, why they haven't used humanitarian corridors to escape?
WATSON: Well, you know, the siege of Aleppo and those just punishing deadly airstrikes that the Russian military, that the Syrian government has been carrying out over the course of the last two months, it has, fortunately, calmed over the course of the last four or five days since the Russians and the Syrian government announced a unilateral cease-fire and then declared the creation of what they call humanitarian corridors, to allow the civilian population trapped inside, that are feared to be in the hundreds of thousands, to allow them to come out.
The United Nations has declared that it's simply not safe to evacuate wounded civilians through these humanitarian corridors, no matter what the Russians and the Syrian government may say. And the residents we've talked to inside have indicated the same, some saying they would like to leave but that they simply don't trust --
[05:15:00]
WATSON: -- the Syrian government to escape to Syrian government- controlled areas.
So you've got a standoff there. But, fortunately, at least for four or five days, that part of the city has not been bombarded by the Russian and Syrian government aircraft.
There is fear that, any hour now, the airstrikes could begin again. And we've also talked to civilians inside, saying that even though there's been this unilateral cease-fire, there have been no deliveries of humanitarian aid into this besieged area, so that there's still major concerns about just access to food, again, after this two-month siege -- George.
HOWELL: Ivan Watson, live for us in Istanbul, Turkey, Ivan, we appreciate the reporting today. Thank you.
Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the race for the White House and the Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, facing serious competition in a state with a long tradition of voting Republican. Now they're looking toward this man. That story ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell, right here with Mr. Derek Van Dam, our meteorologist, to talk about this typhoon that slammed into southeastern China.
It continues to move inland. This is a serious situation.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:20:00]
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The first North American ski resort is open in the USA. And that is Arapaho Basin in Summit County, in Colorado. That is the first people on the chair lifts.
HOWELL: That is awesome.
VAN DAM: Those guys are happy, too, you can see.
(LAUGHTER)
HOWELL: OK, I'm a little concerned, though, Derek. So it will be a little warmer in those places that we like to go skiing.
VAN DAM: That's right, which is not good news for skiers and snowboarders. We can only hold thumbs or cross our fingers.
HOWELL: All right. Let's cross our fingers. Derek Van Dam, thank you.
VAN DAM: You're welcome, George.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: America's choice 2016: hacked e-mails posted by WikiLeaks show bad blood 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 Hillary Clinton and campaigned with her, in fact, 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 U.S. election results. WikiLeaks says that it will continue also to release e-mails.
Donald Trump's campaign team says that he will reveal what they call his closing argument on Saturday, a blueprint for his first 100 days in the White House if he is elected to be president of the U.S.
The Republican presidential candidate said Friday that he would lay out his plan during a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Trump didn't offer specifics but campaign aides say that he will present the 10 key principles driving his candidacy and will share more details about his policies.
Trump also has some unexpected competition in a U.S. state that has a deep tradition of voting Republican. It's the state of Utah, where Republicans hold the governor's office, both Senate seats and every congressional district.
So the question is this: why is Donald Trump in danger of losing Utah?
And we're not talking about losing it to Hillary Clinton. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 -- there's no possible way I'd vote for Hillary Clinton but --
[05:25:00]
CHAFFETZ: -- these are abhorrent.
MATTINGLY: -- 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: A lot to talk about here. Joining me now live via Skype from Washington is CNN Politics reporter, Eugene Scott.
Eugene, always a pleasure to have you. Let's talk about this situation with the state of Utah. Trump's troubles there, it has been 52 years since that state supported any nominee other than the Republican. So this would be significant if Utah did not go for the Republican.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It really will be a big deal because, as you mentioned, it will be history-making. But I think it's important to realize that Utah voters have not been on the Trump train for a while.
You remember that Senator Ted Cruz won that state in a primary. And even Ohio governor John Kasich beat Donald Trump in Utah prior to this general election. But we have seen that gradual lack of support increase following the videotape, where Donald Trump discussed how he handles women and the conversation with Billy Bush.
HOWELL: Also, Eugene, want to talk about this situation with Hillary Clinton's e-mail troubles, these hacked e-mails from John Podesta, and this latest batch, talking about the former U.S. vice president, Al Gore.
This constant drip as we get closer to Election Day, Eugene, does this hurt Hillary Clinton significantly?
Are there any smoking guns so far?
SCOTT: There doesn't seem to be. At this point, it's just mainly for voters' interests at this point. Nothing is coming out that has made her have a significant decrease in the polls with voters. Nothing has come out that has been a smoking gun. But that certainly has not kept the Trump campaign from criticizing Hillary Clinton and the e-mails and trying to create mistrust in her and what she could do as a president.
HOWELL: All right. No more debates to be had, Eugene. It's just down to these candidates hitting the trail, doing their best to get those last-minute, those independents or swing voters.
But when it comes to women voters and Donald Trump, from what we have seen from the last debate performance, does he have a problem with women voters?
And will he be able to, does it seem, overcome that, if so? SCOTT: At this rate, it honestly does not appear to be something he can overcome. With each week, there seems to be something coming from the campaign that women voters find problematic.
The most recent example was the "nasty woman" comment lodged at Hillary Clinton. Whether or not he can get more surrogates who can get on the trail and encourage fewer women voters to leave his support remains to be seen.
But, honestly, at this point, it's not looking like it. It looks like a demographic that he has lost. But it's still early and perhaps we shouldn't call it yet.
HOWELL: Shouldn't call it yet for sure. We have to wait until November 8th to see what happens. These candidates doing their very best to get those last-minute voters. Eugene Scott, live for us, via Skype in Washington, Eugene never sleeps, he's always here for our viewers in the U.S. and around the world to give perspective.
Eugene, thank you so much for your time.
SCOTT: Thank you.
HOWELL: This is CNN. And still ahead, the president of the Philippines stunned the world when he announced that his country would separate from a long-time ally.
Is Rodrigo Duterte now walking back those comments about the United States?
We'll tell you what he's saying -- ahead.
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we are following for you this hour.
(HEADLINES)
HOWELL: The U.S. has sent about 40 special troops to Turkey to help battle ISIS in Northern Syria. The Pentagon said their mission is to train, to advice and assist the Turks. Turkish troops entered Syria in August to clear ISIS out of the border region there.
That cease-fire in Syria is still holding for now. But civilians still haven't received the food and supplies that they desperately need. Some of those U.S. special operations forces are receiving a very cold reception there. Our Jim Sciutto has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American special operations forces taunted as they leave Syria by the same rebel group the U.S. government is arming and backing.
In an embarrassing confrontation, the rebels chant, "Down with America," while the man behind the camera calls the American troops "pigs" and threatens to cut off their hands.
These troops are part of 40 American special operations forces now on a new mission accompanying and assisting Turkish troops in an attempt to clear ISIS out of Northern Syria. But this chilling send-off shows their presence may not always be welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SCIUTTO (voice-over): One person filming the U.S. soldiers' departure says the rebels cannot accept fighting alongside America.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: If it's true, obviously that kind of rhetoric is not acceptable as part of what should be a coalition designed to go after a common enemy, which is daish. And we certainly wouldn't condone that kind of bombastic and pugilistic rhetoric against, frankly, our forces or anybody else.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): In a separate incident, U.S. special forces raised the American flag in an outpost in Northern Syria after coming under fire by what they believe were the forces of U.S. ally Turkey.
Meanwhile, in Aleppo, a U.S. and Russia brokered cease-fire appears to be holding as it enters its fifth day. But desperately needed humanitarian aid convoys are still blocked by Syrian government forces.
The only way into one of the hardest hit areas of the city is one highway fittingly nicknamed Death Row. Until that humanitarian relief starts flowing, the Pentagon does not consider Russia or the Syrian regime to be in compliance with the cease-fire.
Threatening the plan to establish a joint center in Switzerland aimed at coordinating U.S. and Russian airstrikes against ISIS and other terror groups.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: That was our chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, reporting there for us.
A 21-year-old British man has been sentenced to life in prison for an ISIS-inspired murder. Prosecutors say that he and an accomplice planned to murder an imam because the cleric practiced a form of faith healing that ISIS rejects.
The 72-year-old imam was followed as he left prayers at the mosque. He was then beaten to death with a hammer. Authorities say the accomplice may have fled on to Syria.
The United Nations says that authorities in the U.K. need to do a better job at condemning and prosecuting hate crimes. A U.N. report says the campaign for Britain to leave the E.U. incited dangerous anti-migrant and xenophobic rhetoric. Our Isa Soares visited a town in England where immigrants from Poland feel targeted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nita (ph) comes here every day, in silence --
[05:35:00]
SOARES (voice-over): -- with a simple blessing. She pays her respects for life taken away.
Arkadiusz Jozwik was only an acquaintance to her. But his death had made many Poles here in Harlow feel like he was family. He was knocked unconscious and left for dead on this very spot by a group of six teenagers, an incident local police are treating as a hate crime, one of more than 30 against Poles since Britain voted to leave the European Union, according to the Polish embassy.
Nita (ph) has experienced the racism first-hand, both pre- and post- Brexit vote.
NITA (PH), POLISH NEIGHBOR: My neighbor told me to (INAUDIBLE) his country but since Brexit, it's worse, like beautiful balloon blow up. And many hates come on people. Many people are not political correct anymore. And they say what they think, what they always think but never then tell about that.
SOARES (voice-over): It's these experiences that have left the Polish community here on edge. So to ease tensions, Polish police have sent two officers to Harlow to patrol the streets for a week. We bumped into them in the center of town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here basically to help our colleagues from the Essex police. That's our main role. We want to speak with the Polish community, see what their concerns are.
SOARES: Sixty-eight percent of people here voted to leave the European Union. Whilst we can't say that the incidents here are related to Brexit vote, what there have exposed a huge fault line in a community that has one of the highest levels of Eastern European immigrants in the country.
SOARES (voice-over): The locals, many outraged by the death of Arkadiusz tell me this isn't a racist town. They say it's just anti- social behavior by a group of unruly youngsters.
But as we walk through the city center, the social divide is palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've not come across any racism. People argue and get annoyed but we are getting a lot of Europeans coming into the town. And Harlow Council seem that they have given them (INAUDIBLE) housing, when people who've lived there all of their life are struggling to get on that council list.
SOARES (voice-over): Economics clearly play a part here. Harlow, once a vibrant town full of opportunities, with factories dotted around it, is now full of boarded-up properties with unemployment among the highest in the county. And those who have been here for years with little to do are looking for someone to blame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This didn't happen before Brexit, put it that way. It's as simple as that. It didn't happen. Before Brexit, everything was going on all right. But they are blaming Eastern Europeans. You can't blame them. I can understand it. I mean, I'd go somewhere if I could get a better life, get everything paid for me. Of course I would.
SOARES (voice-over): For this 40-year-old night shift factory worker, nothing was for free. And in the pursuit of a better life, he was the one who paid the highest price -- Isa Soares, Harlow, Eastern England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Isa Soares, thank you so much for that report.
Leaders of the European Union have agreed on a road map for the future for that bloc. They held a summit in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava without the United Kingdom. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, says talks about the U.K. split from the E.U. cannot begin without a formal notice from Britain which could possibly come next year.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says the U.K. shouldn't rush into it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: It's crucial London has a seat around the table.
Why?
Because London is a powerhouse for our country. We need to make sure, for example, even outside the E.U., we could have access to a single market. You're right to remind me, we've got to make sure, even outside the E.U., we can possible threshold (ph) services.
And that's why it is important we don't rush in to negotiations with the E.U.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Those complications don't include the chance that Scotland could leave the U.K. in order to stay within the E.U.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, the United States is reacting to shocking allegations against the Philippine president, including claims that a death squad that he controlled fed a body to a crocodile. We'll look into that.
Plus, a U.S. woman made a frantic 9-1-1 call as her alleged abductor slept nearby. What police found when they got into the house -- still ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
In Venezuela, the non-align summit is set to begin. Leaders from nations that are not affiliated with the major power blocs are all gathering to discuss global affairs there.
But before things got underway, Venezuelan officials unveiled a statue of their late president, Hugo Chavez. Some Venezuelans are protesting that resources have been devoted to this meeting. Huge shipments of food have been seen arriving after those meetings. All this while the country's economic crisis has led to crippling shortages of food and basic supplies.
The U.S. reacting to shocking allegations against the Philippine president that claims that he may have fed a body, someone may have fed a body to a crocodile. A self-described hitman has testified that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that a death squad kill criminal suspects and personal enemies, all of this while he was the mayor of Davao City.
And now some Philippine lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation. Our Ivan Watson explains that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a senate inquiry, an eyewitness gave astounding accusations implicating the current president of the Philippines in the killings of a death squad when Rodrigo Duterte was the mayor of the city of Davao.
Edgar Motobato claims that he was a hitman. He claims that he killed at least 50 people and that he was under the direct orders of Rodrigo Duterte during the quarter century that Duterte was mayor of Davao City. In one case, he described feeding a victim to a crocodile.
EDGAR MOTOBATO, HITMAN: (Speaking foreign language).
WATSON: A presidential spokesman denied that Rodrigo Duterte ordered killings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the president is capable of giving such directive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think he's capable?
No, I don't think he's capable of giving a directive like that.
WATSON (voice-over): CNN cannot independently verify the allegations made in this --
[05:45:00]
WATSON (voice-over): -- eyewitness testimony. But the human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, is now calling for an independent inquiry into the allegations, arguing that President Duterte cannot be expected to investigate himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think this was a big day in the Philippines. This was a testimony in the Philippine senate under oath by a man who said that he personally was involved in 50 killings, that he heard Duterte and saw Duterte give orders to kill people.
He saw Duterte kill people with his own eyes and he came across as credible. Now it has to be said, these are just allegations but they need to be investigated.
WATSON (voice-over): The reason that the senate inquiry is underway is because of the enormous number of police killings that have taken place. During Rodrigo Duterte's first less than three months in office, he launched a war on drugs and has repeatedly ordered the police to shoot to kill if any suspected drug criminal resists arrest.
According to official police statistics, more than 1,000 suspects have been killed in less than three months -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Ivan, thank you.
Police in Ohio got a desperate 9-1-1 call Tuesday from a woman in that state while she was being kidnapped and led to some gruesome discovery there. Three bodies and a suspect in custody now. Here is how it all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 9-1-1, what is the address to your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the 4th Street Laundromat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 4th Street Laundromat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the problem?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been abducted.
HOWELL (voice-over): The 9-1-1 call is chilling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you are at the Laundromat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm in the bedroom with him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know what color the house is? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Please hurry.
HOWELL (voice-over): A woman pleading for help, her accused abductor sleeping in the same room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he have a weapon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got a Taser.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you injured?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little.
HOWELL (voice-over): Speaking in a whisper, the woman's fear is palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any way you can get out of the building?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know without waking him and I'm scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a bathroom in the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, his bedroom is closed and he made it so it would make noise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So if you had to go to the bathroom, he would do something to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because he had me tied up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you tied up now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I -- yes, but I kind of freed myself.
HOWELL (voice-over): The dispatcher encouraging the caller to stay on the line until police arrive at the abandoned house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, (INAUDIBLE), I think I woke him up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just set the phone down.
HOWELL (voice-over): Then silence. Minutes pass as the woman waits desperately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much longer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much longer?
HOWELL (voice-over): Finally, officers arrive and the caller works up the courage to leave the bedroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you get out of the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's locked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's locked?
Are you at the door?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's at the door.
Is there a window there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'm looking out of it. Tell them to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurry, hurry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said to hurry up and come back.
HOWELL (voice-over): After some 20 minutes on the line, the woman is rescued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come out, come on out. Hurry up, hurry up. Get out here.
Where is he?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bedroom sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still sleeping?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, they have her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands. Put up your (INAUDIBLE) hands right now. Do it!
HOWELL (voice-over): Inside, police arrest 40-year-old Shawn Grate before finding two bodies, including the remains of Stacey Stanley, a grandmother, who went missing last week. Grate also leading police to a third body in the rubble of a burned-out home nearby.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Still ahead, North Korea is embracing satire like it's never done before. The show that is bringing laughs to Pyongyang. That story ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(SPORTS)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: So maybe you want to go out and catch a comedy show.
Ever think of going to North Korea for that?
That might not be the first place that comes to mind. But the country is getting increasingly bold with its political satire -- at least by North Korean standards, as our Will Ripley reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Live from Pyongyang, it's not Saturday night.
But many say it is the "SNL" of North Korea.
This 80-minute comedy show, which aired this summer on state TV, features jokes about U.S. President Barack Obama.
"I smacked my head on the bathroom floor," says this bandaged actor playing the president. "I was so shocked by North Korea's hydrogen bomb detonation."
This sketch and others boast about North Korea's fast growing nuclear program. Last week, Pyongyang announced its fifth nuclear test since 2006, the second this year alone, drawing strong condemnation from the U.S. and its allies.
The North Korean comedy show took aim at those allies, calling South Korea's president a granny and its special envoy a dog, Japan's special envoy is called a monkey, a word North Korean propaganda also used in 2014 to describe President Obama.
While the U.S. president has long been a target of the Pyongyang press, analysts for NK News say this political satire is a first for North Korean TV.
"Saturday Night Live" has featured plenty of jokes about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the one and only shining sun. I am your marshal.
RIPLEY: But the American show mostly makes fun of its own elected officials, something you'd never see in North Korea, where only praise of the leadership is allowed.
In Pyongyang, even political satire has its limits -- Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Not everyone was laughing there but everyone's certainly clapping.
Prince William to the rescue. Let's show you here.
[05:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL (voice-over): The Duke of Cambridge rushing to help a dignitary who took a tumble on Friday. Watch here. The crowd gasped as he fell. Prince William was visiting a school in Harlow, England, at the time it happened. He wasted no time helping the man back up to his feet. (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So you know that saying about cats having nine lives?
I want to show you one cat that may have more than a dozen lives. It's a kitten who fell out of an SUV on a highway in Russia. My goodness, 17 different vehicles just barely missed that tiny cat, often coming within a whisker -- yes, I said within a whisker -- of the frightened cat.
Somehow the cat survived until one motorist stopped in the middle of the busy road and carried that cat to safety.
Wow! That is a lucky cat.
Thank you so much for being with us. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. And for other viewers around the world, "AMANPOUR" starts in a moment. We thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
