Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
AT&T, Time Warner Agree on $85B Media Mega-Merger; Kurdish Forces Make New Push Toward Northeast Mosul; ISIS Leaves Behind Deadly Booby Traps; Clinton, Trump Campaign in Battleground States; Mosul's Christian Refugees Doubt They'll Ever Return; Changing Demographics Could Turn Georgia Purple; Winning Over the Latino Vote in Arizona; Leonardo DiCaprio Pushes Climate Change With New Documentary; Aired 5- 6a ET
Aired October 23, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:10] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: One of the biggest mergers in history, AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner with a record $85 billion deal. Details on what that deal could mean.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has just arrived in Irbil, Iraq as Peshmerga fighters get one step closer to liberating Mosul from ISIS.
That's right. They finally did it, the Chicago Cubs headed to the World Series for the first time since 1945.
From CNN World headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm George Howell. The CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
5:00 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast. A massive media merger is now one step closer to becoming reality. The wireless provider AT&T has reached a deal to buy Time Warner. Time Warner also the parent company of CNN. Next, it's up to government regulators to sign off on this $85 billion merger and if approved, AT&T would also control entertainment leaders like HBO and Warner Brothers Pictures.
Our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has more.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Yes, this is shaping up to be one of the biggest media deals in history. Also the biggest merger of any kind in the United States so far this year.
AT&T, as it stands today, is a wireless company. It's one of the biggest wireless companies in the United States providing phone and Internet service to tens of millions of homes. And it's also a satellite TV distributor. It has the DirecTV satellite network. But what AT&T does not have today is content. Programming. Entertainment. And that's what it's trying to gain through Time Warner.
Now you think about what Time Warner has. It has CNN, this channel. And it also has a number of other valuable entertainment assets like HBO, the Warner Brothers movie studio and cable channels like TNT and TBS and the Cartoon Network. AT&T is buying all those up at a cost of $85 billion. That's almost three times as large as the Comcast-NBC merger about five years ago.
Now in that case government regulators spent more than a year reviewing the deal because Comcast is a big cable provider reaching tons of millions of homes and NBC, unlike Time Warner, owns really valuable cable channels. But ultimately that deal was approved with conditions by regulators in Washington.
The experts I've spoken with expect a similar outcome here. That this deal will take over a year to be reviewed in Washington and will then eventually be approved with conditions. In the meantime Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes will remain in charge of Time Warner. I spoke with him briefly right after the announcement and he says he believes this is pro-consumer, very positive for customers. Yet it's about making sure they can receive content news and entertainment in a variety of new ways.
The reality is that's how the media world is changing whether or not this deal happens. You can see it every day in the way you and I interact with media. You might be watching this newscast on a cell phone or you might be texting or e-mailing on your phone while it's happening.
The future of media is mobile centric. And that's what this deal recognizes and represents. AT&T believes it's not just enough to own the cellular data networks. It's important to own the programming as well. So by seeking to buy Time Warner it's seeking more influence, more power over the future of media. Back to you.
HOWELL: Brian Stelter, thank you.
The Time Warner deal, Time Warner is hoping that this deal is not a repeat of its failed AOL merger more than 15 years ago. That is considered one of the worst mergers of all time.
The U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had this to say about the AT&T-Time Warner possible deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner, and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.
Additionally, Comcast's purchase of NBC concentrates far too much power in one massive entity that is trying to tell the voters what to think and what to do. Deals like this destroy democracy. And we'll look at breaking that deal up and other deals like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton has not yet publicly reacted to this deal. We'll have more of course on the presidential candidates and the race for the White House just a little later this hour. Now to the fight against ISIS. Peshmerga forces say that they are
launching a new offensive from two fronts on another town to the northeast of Mosul, Iraq.
[05:05:08] The Kurdish general commander says it is part of the campaign to clear ISIS from Nineveh Province. In the meantime, the governor of Kirkuk says 60 ISIS fighters have been killed since Friday. This after the terror group raided that city. He says the situation there is now stable.
The U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has arrived in Irbil where he is meeting with Kurdish officials. He paid a surprise visit to Baghdad Saturday to check on the battle for Mosul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I'm encouraged by what I see so far. It is proceeding according to our plan. We've got tough fighting ahead and the U.S. will continue to play its part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Let's get the very latest live from Iraq, CNN's Michael Holmes is on the ground following developments near Mosul.
Michael, it is good to have you with us this hour. Let's start with the very latest from the front lines. What more can you tell us about the Peshmerga push into Mosul?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's been movement on a number of fronts, George, around Mosul to the southeast, the predominant Christian town of Qaraqosh, there is an offensive underway, and to the north of Mosul, a town called Talkif, that is being attacked by Peshmerga fighters, as well. That's only 10 kilometers or so outside of Mosul. That would be the closest that any forces have gotten to that city.
And we're not far from a town called and that has been the subject of an assault that began in the early hours of this morning, around 6:30 a.m. local. Peshmerga forces moving in on multiple fronts to try to take that town.
We were here a couple of days ago and watched as it was being pounded by artillery and rocket fire and air strikes, as well, a couple of huge bombs landing on that town, sort of softening up. This is all part of trying to encircle Mosul, that's been the plan all along, strangle it, if you like, and then eventually of course into the city itself which still could be sometime away, George.
HOWELL: We've talked about strangling that city and then entering Mosul, but also entering those smaller towns surrounding it. There is still a great deal of danger on the ground. Danger with booby traps left behind and you spent some time there on the ground, seeing that first hand.
HOLMES: Yes, it's a major, major problem when ISIS leaves these towns, when they're forced out, they tend to leave behind some very dangerous munitions and they rigged them to kill people, to kill soldiers or to kill civilians. And we spent time with a group of incredibly brave Peshmerga men who have precious little equipment to do the job, but they're out there trying to diffuse these devices every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Peshmerga captain Chilhan Sadk comes face to face with death every day. He is showing us the fruits of his labor. He says he has removed hundreds, perhaps thousands of IEDs like these.
"I do it for humanity," he tells us. "The people who plant these things are dangerous for my people, for the world. So it's my decision to help save a life."
As Kurdish and Iraqi forces edge ever closer to Mosul, ISIS has been leaving behind the weapons to kill and maim even once they've gone.
Brigadier General Bajat Mzuri heads of the elite Zeravani Special Forces. He says he loses more fighters to IEDs than on the battlefield. 30 percent of those casualties men working to diffuse and remove the explosives.
"We liberate a village and they're everywhere," he says. "People come back to their homes and open something up and it blows up."
The demining teams have rudimentary equipment, a metal detector if they're lucky. The operator of this one lost his fingers to a booby trap. Usually the tools are wire cutters and their bare hands, their faces inches from the explosives. Not even body armor let alone bomb disposal suits.
"We need training but it is not enough," he tells us. "We need more equipment, new equipment, to find the IEDs and destroy them."
Captain Sadk has lost many friends who do the same job as he. He shows us a photo of one who died a few days ago, trying to diffuse one of a wide variety of devices.
(On camera): This is just an example of one of the devices if you like. This is C-4, high explosive, and this is packed with ball bearings. Now these men killed the man who's carrying this, the ISIS fighter, before he was able to detonate it. You can just imagine the explosion and damage that would have been done had it gone off.
[05:10:05] (Voice-over): Captain Sadk diffused that bomb himself as well as countless booby traps. Here a pressure device that's set off by a vehicle driving over it.
It's the danger from booby traps that means that civilians can't go home to their villages yet, even now that ISIS is gone. All they can do is collect a few things and leave again.
One is Mejwal Ahmed Hade who tells me, we can't live there, no water, no electricity, damage everywhere and explosives, as well. So Captain Sadk and his men will continue their mission to make those villages safe for people like Mejwal to return to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So how many of these devices are along the roads and in the villages around northern Iraq? Well, the answer, George, is countless. They just don't know. We spoke to a Peshmerga commander who said that his men have been clearing one village for the last three months and still weren't done.
One thing that is certain, the clearing of the roads, the clearing of the towns and villages of these murderous devices is going to take a lot longer than the campaign for Mosul itself -- George.
HOWELL: Serious no doubt, Michael. There is certainly a great deal of danger on the ground. When I tell you, we appreciate your reporting, please know that we mean it to you, to Nick Paton Walsh, Arwa Damon and Ben Wedeman, our correspondents on the ground bringing us the news from a very dangerous part of the world as this offensive continues. Thank you for the reporting.
SWAT teams in Haiti are on the hunt for more than 100 inmates who are now roaming free after breaking out of prison. Haiti National Police tell CNN the prisoners escaped after starting a riot. One guard was killed. Police say about a dozen inmates have been found and captured. Authorities are urging people in the area to be cautious and to cooperate with police.
A former Guantanamo Bay inmate who has been on a hunger strike to demand relocation is leaving Uruguay. A Facebook support page for Jihad Diyab says the Syrian man has received an offer to go to another country. It is not clear which country, though, is taking him.
Diyab has been on a hunger strike for 68 days, demanding Uruguay allow him to leave to be closer to his wife and his children. He's now suspending his hunger strike and will start eating under a doctor's supervision.
This is CNN NEWSROOM and still ahead, Donald Trump lays how his plans for his presidency if he wins in November. He's calling for the healing of a divided nation. But he's also promising to sue all the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Plus, that's right, celebrations on the streets of Chicago. That city's beloved Cubbies make it to the World Series for the first time since 1945. Details on that as NEWSROOM pushes on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:43] HOWELL: The very latest on America's Choice 2016, the race for the White House heating up and Donald Trump laying out his agenda for the first 100 days in office if he's elected to be president of the United States.
The Republican nominee held a rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Saturday. That is the site of a very famous address by President Abraham Lincoln during the American civil war. Trump urged voters to follow President Lincoln's example and to heal divisions within the United States. He talked about policy issues from immigration and reforming NAFTA. But he also slammed Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and threatened to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Hillary Clinton was also rallying voters in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Democratic presidential candidate made a number of stops with her running mate Tim Kaine in that battleground state. She told reporters that she is done with responding to Trump's accusations and is focused on winning over voters.
But even though Clinton said she was going to focus on her own campaign and not Trump's, she did speak out about his threat to sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has that story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton picking up the pace of her campaign schedule with the packed weekender battleground state, something we don't normally see. And here in the all-important state of Pennsylvania, her campaign really emphasizing the Keystone state because they says as the state -- that they know she's going to win, add to that the states she's confident that she'll win, including the ones she's not advertising and they feel so good about them. And then tack on Pennsylvania and they're on the precipice of 270 electoral votes, that all-important number.
Hillary Clinton also today benefiting from Donald Trump stepping on his own message as he tries to give his closing argument. He said that he plans to sue women who have accused him of forcibly kissing or groping them after the election. Hillary Clinton responding.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today we're making our closing argument. We are talking about what's at stake in the election, drawing contrast, but we're giving people something to vote for, not just against, and I saw where our opponent Donald Trump went to Gettysburg, one of the most extraordinary places in American history, and basically said if he's president he'll spend his time suing women who have made charges against him based on his behavior.
KEILAR: And as Hillary Clinton blankets battleground states, she has some help this week from a cast of high profile surrogates. Her husband Bill Clinton heading for the Florida panhandle tomorrow. Chelsea Clinton is going to be Tuesday in Wisconsin and Vice President Joe Biden heading at the beginning of the week to Ohio where polls have tightened up a little bit and Hillary Clinton is hoping to squeak out a win against Donald Trump.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Pittsburgh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Brianna, thank you.
Clinton is also hoping that for the first time since 1996, since the Olympic Games in Georgia, that this state, here where Atlanta, Georgia, and CNN headquarters is located, will vote for the Democratic nominee. A newspaper poll here in Atlanta shows Trump leading Clinton by two points among likely voters.
CNN's Nick Valencia reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The demographics in Georgia are now changing. What has been traditionally a red state may now potentially change to purple in the 2016 election. There's a number of reasons why. One of them is that newly arrived residents are Democratic voters. Another reason has to do with the GOP candidate Donald Trump. Many Republicans we've spoken to say they're having a hard time getting behind the candidate.
You're about to meet one of them.
(Voice-over): It's Friday at the Mosqueda household. The sun hasn't even come up yet and they're already talking about their future.
[05:20:06] KEISHA MOSQUEDA, GEORGIA VOTER: Solomon, do you want to try this avocado?
VALENCIA: Alberto and his wife Keisha moved from Virginia to Georgia about two years ago. This will be their first presidential election as state residents, and it's people like them who are changing the historically red state purple.
Mosqueda is a conservative. He didn't vote for President Barack Obama in 2008 or in 2012, nor does he really support Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton but he says he's voting for her anyway.
ALBERTO MOSQUEDA, GEORGIA VOTER: If it wasn't for the candidate that's running now, I'd probably would have voted that other candidate rather Clinton.
VALENCIA (on camera): You would have voted Republican?
A. MOSQUEDA: More than likely.
VALENCIA: What is it about her that's -- it's hard for you to totally accept her?
A. MOSQUEDA: The e-mails, the Benghazi stuff. Being a military guy, you know, you take all that into account, the Benghazi, especially the e-mail security, and all that and this is just -- they're just direct breaches and direct violations of what the simple thing that they teach you, even as a lower enlisted guy in the military.
K. MOSQUEDA: Try it. It's good.
VALENCIA (voice-over): The Mosquedas are a house divided. While husband Alberto usually votes Republican and relies on his Christian values, he says he can't bear to vote for Trump, especially after what he said about Latinos. His wife Keisha has always voted Democrat. Her vote, she says, is guided by what she wants the future to look like for her 5-year-old son, Solomon.
K. MOSQUEDA: I'm very concerned about him in the future, a minority male that's something that's just always on my mind.
VALENCIA: Solomon might not yet understand the importance of his parents or the effect their votes could have in Georgia, but he knows this much.
K. MOSQUEDA: Which color are you voting for?
SOLOMON MOSQUEDA, SON: Blue.
VALENCIA (on camera): The Mosqueda family says they're complicated. Mrs. Mosqueda says she actually thinks she's the conservative in the family, though she votes Democratic and her husband traditionally votes along Republican lines. One thing is certain in the Mosqueda household, they say there's nothing that Donald Trump can say at this point to change their minds about him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: CNN's Nick Valencia reporting.
Now let's bring in CNN Politics reporter Eugene Scott live via Skype in Washington.
Eugene, let's talk about what Trump laid out there for his first 100 days. He talked about term limits, he talked about renegotiating NAFTA. But he also took the opportunity and made the point to say that he would sue -- as president of the United States, sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. The optics there.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: The optics there were problematic for many of the women who have come out against Trump, some of them taking to Twitter, saying that they hope that other women who have had negative experiences with the presidential candidate are not deterred from sharing their story by this situation. If there's any consolation to these women, Donald Trump has a history of threatening lawsuits that he doesn't always follow up on. Most recently against the "New York Times." But this does not make coming out easier, is what many of the supporters say.
HOWELL: In that very important policy speech, again, that happened at Gettysburg, very significant site in the United States, Trump also leaned into this argument that somehow the system is rigged against him. The Democrats are reading that argument a different way. I'd like to play two sound bites here. We'll listen and talk about them on the other side, first from Donald Trump, then Tim Kaine. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The system is rigged. You know it, I know it, the politicians know it, the media people know it, they all know it.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, he's losing and he knows it and he's not a guy who would ever accept responsibility and say, oh, I lost the an election because I ran the most divisive campaign in American history. He's not going to accept responsibility, so it's got to be somebody else's fault. Just like when "The Apprentice" didn't win an Emmy Award one year. And he said it was clearly rigged. This guy can't take responsibility for anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: And so what is the Trump strategy there? Is it the idea of energizing his base to get as many voters together just energized and ready to go vote on November 8th or is this Donald Trump setting up the possibility that he could lose this election?
SCOTT: Well, it's a little bit of both. Many Donald Trump supporters, especially some of those who were there from day one latching onto his campaign because of a belief that a larger system left them out and there was no support for them. So the idea that something bigger has been rigged is not really a new concept with the Donald Trump campaign. It's just when he's talking about a lot more, and part of that is because he is not a politician. He doesn't have a governor's mansion or the U.S. Senate to return to after all of this ends in the event that he loses. What he has been banking on is building a movement that will continue to pick at the political establishment with the hopes of creating change.
[05:25:04] HOWELL: And as for his rival, the Democrat Hillary Clinton, there's been no new information on the hacked e-mails that, you know, have been so problematic for Clinton. But it seems that the Trump campaign continues to take the headlines, obviously, with this 100-day speech. But let's talk about how it's playing out on the map right now, if we could take a look at a snapshot of where things stand at this moment.
You see these states that are in yellow for our viewers around the world and, you know, quite frankly, those states that are yellow, well, they could be purple because what's happening there is that the states are very close, a lot closer than Republicans would expect for states that typically stay in the red column.
So, Eugene, the question to you, what is the Trump campaign doing to keep those states red and how is the Clinton campaign trying to seize that, to turn them blue?
SCOTT: Well, part of the Trump strategy from day one has been to sign up first-time voters, people who have historically been disengaged from the political process with the hope that they would vote and vote for Donald Trump, and many of these people are in those red states. I've reported from those red states and particularly two of them,
Charlotte and Phoenix, are cities in those states that are not as red as the rest of the state. And so Hillary Clinton is banking on turnout and those more urban areas to take her across the victory line.
HOWELL: CNN's Eugene Scott, live for us via Skype in Washington. Eugene, we appreciate the insight today. Thank you.
All right. Got to talk about the Chicago Cubs. They are headed to the World Series. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League pennant on Saturday night. The Cubs will face the American League champions, the Cleveland Indians. Game one is set for Tuesday night in Cleveland. Cub fans were out on the street in Chicago celebrating in full style. The Cubs have not been in the World Series since 1945. The last time they won it was 1908.
Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, after almost five years, Somali pirates have freed more than two dozen men they took hostage. We'll continue to follow that story, of course.
Live from Atlanta and across the United States and around the world this hour, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:41] HOWELL: 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're following for you this hour.
Giving a major policy speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump also made a point to vow that he plans to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct. The Republican presidential nominee made that remark at that speech, but he's calling the women, all of them, liars. An eleventh woman came forward Saturday, accusing Mr. Trump of kissing and hugging her in 2006 without permission.
AT&T has agreed to buy Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. The merger would help the wireless provider to expand into programming. Government regulators have now to approve that deal that's worth over $85 billion. The merger would turn AT&T into a massive media powerhouse.
In Haiti authorities are on the hunt for nearly 200 inmates how broke out of a prison outside of Port-au-Prince. Police there say one guard was killed when an armed individual -- armed individuals, in fact, led an uprising before the prisoners escaped. A dozen inmates have been captured so far.
In eastern Aleppo, mortar fire has brought an end to the brief pause and attacks on that besieged Syrian city. A Russian-declared ceasefire ended Saturday night. A human rights group says it doesn't know of anyone who escaped Aleppo during that three-day ceasefire.
The battle to retake Mosul, the U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is meeting with Kurdish officials in Irbil, Iraq about that offensive. Carter says that he is encouraged by the process in making the fight against ISIS. Peshmerga forces say that they are launching a new offensive on yet another town to the northeast of Mosul. In the meantime, the governor of Kirkuk says 60 ISIS fighters have been killed since Friday. After the terror group launched an offensive on that city, he says that situation there now is stable.
Millions of people fled their homes in Iraq and Syria when ISIS moved in and that includes thousands of Christians who now live in neighboring Jordan.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most of those gathered here at St. Mary's Church in east Amman gave up everything for their faith. When ISIS took over their city Mosul two years ago, Christians were given two choices -- leave or be killed. Some ended up in neighboring Jordan with only the clothes on their backs. They sing, "Our Father who Art in Heaven," in Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ.
Father Khalil Jaar has dedicated the past two years to helping refugees. His church has provided families this shelter, food and support. Father Khalil says even if Mosul is liberated these refugees will not go back.
FATHER KHALIL JAAR, PRIEST, ST. MARY'S CHURCH, AMMAN: The Christians are very tired to be persecuted and to be transferred from place to place. And they are tired already. They lost the hope to go back.
KARADSHEH: Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraq's Christian community, once estimated at more than a million, has endured countless attacks by extremist groups, forcing most to flee. Under ISIS' reign of terror, churches were vandalized and destroyed. The group boasted about its attempts to wipe Christianity from the land where it existed for centuries.
JAAR: Christianity will disappear perhaps from the Middle East. But for me, as a priest, I don't have any -- I am not afraid because for the Christian, for the believers, wherever they go, this is a holy land.
KARADSHEH: Two years ago, we met Ann Danyal and her family who found sanctuary at St. Mary's. This one room is all her family of five have to call home. Just mentioning Iraq and the life she once had in Mosul is still too painful for Ann.
"When we left, it was all over for us," she says.
[05:35:03] "When we left, we lost our homes, our memories, everything was gone. I don't think we'll ever go back. It's too hard. I don't want my children to live the same experience. We paid the price. I don't want to go back and in a few years the same thing will happen. It's constant wars in Iraq." The family has been granted asylum and will be leaving soon to
Australia, but it's bitter sweet feelings. Ann's 10-month-old son Josef (PH) was born a refugee. She doesn't believe he will ever see Mosul.
"We will always remind him of his country," she says. "We will tell him how we were forced out. We will tell him that we never thought we would leave our land. They forced us out of Mosul," and praise every day for her family and for the country she once called home.
Jomanah Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Thank you for that report.
Twenty-six men from Asia are headed back to their families after spending almost five years as hostages. Somali pirates released the men Saturday. Their fishing boat was hijacked in 2012 in the Indian Ocean. The group Oceans Beyond Piracy says one of the men died during the attack and two others died while they were being held. The men are said to be malnourished but in reasonable condition.
Several thousand protesters took over the main highway in Caracas, Venezuela Saturday. They are angry that a push to recall the president of that nation, Nicholas Maduro, was stopped. The election board suspended the referendum after federal courts found cases of fraud during the signature gathering process. The opposition-led National Assembly will hold a special session on Sunday.
At least seven people have died in mudslides and heavy rain in Honduras.
CNN's meteorologist Derek Van Dam is at the World Weather Center with the very latest -- Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George, relentless rainfall and dangerous conditions lead to the scenes you see behind me here. You can see the search and rescue operations by some of the community members in this small village outside, about 150 kilometers, outside of the capital of Honduras. Unfortunately, seven people died within this land slide and there are still three people missing, a father and his two children.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VAN DAM: So farmers are having to shell out more money just to keep up with the drought and just so they can keep up with these pumpkins and the demand for pumpkins that is out there as we head about a week before, well, what is it, Halloween -- George.
HOWELL: That is a scary story for Halloween and trick or treaters, Derek. But, you know, we talked just the other day about the fact -- you talk about that snow in the northeast, but then in the southwest and parts of the south even through the Atlanta area where it will be warmer during the winter, right? So -- VAN DAM: That's right. We're going into a typical La Nina weather
pattern and that sharp divide between the warmer temperatures and the south and the cooler weather across the upper Midwest, it looks like it will stand true, La Nina coming across North America.
[05:40:05] HOWELL: So, you know, you and I like to ski, and I guess we're going to have to head to the northeast.
VAN DAM: You have to go farther and farther north these days.
HOWELL: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.
VAN DAM: You're welcome.
HOWELL: Another woman has come forward, accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. We will hear from her, next. Plus, how Oscar winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio is hoping to make political waves with a new environmental documentary. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: An eleventh woman has come forward, accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Jessica Drake held a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred Saturday and showed this picture that you see here of herself with Donald Trump. She says Mr. Trump invited her to his hotel suite back in 2006 and says he hugged and kissed her without her permission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA DRAKE, TRUMP ACCUSER: I am not looking for monetary compensation. I do not need additional fame or the type of attention that this is sure to bring. I understand that I may be called a liar or an opportunist. But I will risk that in order to stand in solidarity with women who share similar accounts that span many, many years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: And in response, Trump's campaign released this statement that reads in, quote, "This story is totally false and ridiculous. The picture is one of thousands taken out of respect for people asking to have their pictures taken with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person, and would have no interest in ever knowing her."
[05:45:10] As Election Day gets closer, Trump and Hillary Clinton are trying to rally the Hispanic vote in the United States. Latino voters in Arizona shared their views with the nominees with CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many of you are voting for Donald Trump? Two. And how many of you are voting for Hillary Clinton? Three. (Voice-over): In Phoenix, this group of Latino voters we gathered at
Arizona State University is split on who they want to be president. Despite Trump's hard line on immigration and comments about the Latino community, some are supporting him because of his business background.
(On camera): Why do you think Donald Trump would create jobs or help the economy for the Latino population?
SERGIO ARELLANO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: He's a self-made businessman. He's an entrepreneur. He creates jobs.
FRANCISCO MENDOZA, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Just because you're going to get a job from him or some Mexicans or some Hispanics are going to get jobs, at what price? What is going to be the nature of the United States now after if he -- of course, he's not, but in case that something happens and if he wins? It is going to be a disaster.
KAYE (voice-over): And what about the wall Trump wants to build at the border with Mexico? On that, our group was also split. This woman wants immigration reform instead.
DEEDEE GARCIA BLASE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: If you're going to build a wall, they're going to build tunnels. So let's just focus on the problem and take care of it once and for all.
KAYE: Trump's talk of a deportation force rounding up millions of illegal immigrants and shipping them out of the U.S. has also turned off some voters.
(On camera): If Donald Trump does win and we do have a deportation force, what would that look like and how would you feel about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's going to be chaotic. It will put us in a crisis mode.
KAYE (voice-over): Those in our group voting Clinton like that she isn't looking to separate immigrant families.
(On camera): Why should they be able to stay here legally, though, if they came here illegally?
BLASE: I'm for family. I'm for grandmas being close to their grandchildren and keeping the family together. It's inhumane to force families apart.
KAYE (voice-over): The latest Arizona State University poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by five points, which has both campaigns heavily targeting Latinos. The divide among them became even more clear as the conversation among our group grew more heated.
ARTURO OLIVAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Why does it hurt you so much in talking about Mexico? Are you a Mexican from Mexico and are you loyal to Mexico or are you loyal to the United States? I'm an American citizen. What are you?
MENDOZA: I am talking here about -- OLIVAS: I'm asking you question. It's a yes or no answer. What are
you?
MENDOZA: I am a U.S. citizen. I was born in the United States.
KAYE (on camera): As a member of the Latino community, how can you be voting for Donald Trump? A lot of people can't understand that. What do you say?
ARELLANO: What I say is look, look at what you've had these past eight years. We're talking about Nogales, Arizona, Douglas, Yuma, it's impoverished. These Hispanics have seen nothing but Democratic rule for over 20 years. Impoverished. There's no jobs, the economy, the infrastructure's gone. They're tired of it.
KAYE (voice-over): Those saying no thanks to Trump are tired of his pandering to the Latino community such as when he tweeted this picture of himself on Cinco de Mayo eating a taco salad. The caption read, "I love Hispanics."
MENDOZA: He's not a good representation for the United States. Donald Trump is not what United States is all about.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Randi Kaye, thank you.
The singer Miley Cyrus spent Saturday campaigning for the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at George Mason University in the state of Virginia. The actress also went door-to-door dressed in the colors of the American flag, urging students to vote for Clinton and Kaine. Cyrus says that she was inspired to campaign for Clinton after a trip home to Nashville, Tennessee.
Still ahead this hour, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hash it out on a fictional stage. Find out which candidate got the last word in "Saturday Night Live's" version of the last presidential debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:53:01] HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
Leonardo DiCaprio is hoping to push climate change into the U.S. political agenda. The actor is addressing environmental issues in his new documentary released just in time for the presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: We've known about this for decades, for over half a century. Try to have a conversation with anyone about climate change, people just tune out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Climate change.
DICAPRIO: And the problem seems to be getting worse and worse and worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost a decade after his eco doc "The 11th Hour," Leonardo DiCaprio has returned to green issues, this time joining forces with Fisher Stevens, the actor turned filmmaker who won an Oscar for the documentary "The Cove."
FISHER STEVENS, DIRECTOR: We really made this film for young people and other people that don't think about climate change, don't think about how important this issue is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the film, DiCaprio travels the world, talking to scientists, environmentalists and world leaders.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we keep pushing, there's no reason why we can't solve this problem.
DICAPRIO: Well, there's still this dialogue that's going on in our country where people are still denying manmade climate change and as one of the scientists puts it in this movie very bluntly, it's like denying gravity exists at this point. You have over 97 percent of the consensus of the scientific community, saying that this is real, we are doing this damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While making the film, DiCaprio won his first Academy Award for "The Revenant." Presenting the filmmakers with the perfect opportunity to underline their message.
STEVENS: He was like, we got to talk about environment. And it was a great platform. And after his speech, I think more people Googled climate change than had ever before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The film is being released in cinemas and on the National Geographic network, deliberately timed in a move to push climate change onto the political agenda ahead of the U.S. presidential elections. But the producers accept they face a tough fight to wrestle the headlines away from the more lurid stories surrounding the presidential candidates.
[05:55:08] STEVENS: What we wanted to do was not totally freak people out, but we wanted to shake them enough. But we wanted to let them know that we can turn this around on time.
DICAPRIO: The world is now watching. We ask you to protect it, or we and all living things we cherish are history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Curry, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: All right. Before we go, late-night comedy wasted no time ripping apart the last presidential debate. Here's "Saturday Night Live's" take on it with guest host Tom Hanks who acted as the moderator, Chris Wallace. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HANKS, ACTOR: Our next question is about the economy. Mr. Trump, why are you better equipped than Secretary Clinton to fix the economy?
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Because Hillary has no idea how to fix anything. If she did, she would have done it already. I mean, what has she been doing --
HANKS: Oh, Donald, no, no, no. Donald, don't --
BALDWIN: For the last 30 years.
HANKS: Don't start about --
KATE MCKINNON, ACTOR: I'd be happy to talk about the last 30 years.
HANKS: No, not again.
MCKINNON: Back in the 1970s, I worked for the Children's Defense Fund.
HANKS: Yes, yes, yes, we know.
MCKINNON: Then I was a senator in New York on 9/11.
HANKS: Yes, we get it. We get it.
MCKINNON: And then I was secretary of state and I don't know if you've heard this before.
HANKS: We have.
MCKINNON: But I was instrumental in taking down a man by the name of --
HANKS: Osama bin Laden.
MCKINNON: Osama --
HANKS: Bin Laden. Yes.
MCKINNON: -- bin Laden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: The folks remembered -- the date to remember, my friends, November 8th. That will be the day of Election Day. Thanks for being with us. The news continues here on CNN after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
