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Refugeesin France Leaving Notorious Camp; Bullying in U.S, Schools Exaoined; British Banker on Trial in Hong Kong; Women in Poland Protest Abortion Restrictions. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 24, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[03:00:00] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: No way forward. Thousands of refugees hoping to reach England are being forcibly evicted to the camp in France known as The Jungle. Some though, may not go quietly.
Only eight kilometers away from Mosul. Kurdish groups close in on that pivotal city in Iraq as Iraqi government forces prepare for a final showdown against ISIS.
And, the gap widens. A new national poll shows Hillary Clinton with a 12-point lead over Donald Trump as she tells supporters she's done reacting to Donald Trump's past.
From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. The CNN Newsroom starts right now.
The offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS is in its second week and the Iraqi-led forces are advancing faster than anticipated. Peshmerga fighters are said to be within eight kilometers of that Iraqi city but it even encountered fierce resistance.
Take a look at this clip. You see an ISIS vehicle that approaches fighters near Bashiqa. American forces have secured a major stretch of the Bashiqa Mosul highway that has cut off the militants movement at this -- that it is a tough fight. It will be a long fight.
CNN is live this hour in Iraq. Our Michael Holmes is on the ground near Mosul following developments. And, Michael, let's talk about this Peshmerga forces, again, getting ever so closer to Mosul.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. You know, George, six-wide kilometers at their closest forward position, Bashiqa as you pointed out there, has been an important part of this campaign for the Peshmerga forces.
Yesterday, we watched as they headed off and encircled that town and not just in town, eight important villages around it as well. They started at about 6.30 in the morning, local time and by id-afternoon, they had met up, they come from two sides and met up in the middle and had encircle the area.
We're talking about 100 square kilometers or so. And in doing so, they manage to sever the road from Bashiqa to Mosul, cutting off supplies and also cutting off an escape route for ISIS fighters inside.
Now, this morning early, we saw and we heard mortars going out from around here and into Bashiqa. Also some artillery, a little bit before that. And in the couple of times this morning for a few minutes at a time, we've been hearing gun burst to small arms fire off in the distance there in Bashiqa.
So, obviously, the Kurds trying to probe now the town, which we believe does not have civilians in it. But we don't know how many ISIS fighters. We were talking with a -- I heard a commander yesterday who was asked about the ISIS Fighters in there and he said they are bad people. They need to die. George?
HOWELL: These fighters are moving as we mentioned faster than anticipated. But at the same time, Michael, there are reports that some 40 people who are celebrating liberation that they were in fact, executed by ISIS as those fighters had already past.
HOLMES: Yes. And that's one of the problems, the, yu know, even the American officials today saying this is moving at a very rapid pace. Faster than they thought it would as they're going through the towns and villages and trying to encircle Mosul.
But the danger in that, you know, in the times I've been in Iraq the Americans used to call it, clear and hold where you would go into a place, you would clear it of the enemy and then you would leave units there to hold the area.
Well, that's not being done in all cases as the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces are being zooming through the towns and villages. And in the case you're talking about, there was a village where Iraqi forces came through and quote/unquote, "liberated" it.
And people are out on the streets, villagers, celebrating, cheering there, cheering the Iraqis. Well, the Iraqis kept on going and ISIS fighters who have been hiding during the progress of the Iraqi forces through the villages, and they calm out, rounded up people who have been celebrating around 40 or more, we're told, and then killed them.
So, it's one of the risks of moving quickly and you don't totally clear the places that you've been going through, George.
HOWELL: And there is the danger, obviously, for these people who are left behind, but a danger within these different communities, as well, Michael, I know you spent some time on the ground looking at the various booby traps, these IEDs that have been left to hurt a lot of people as they pass through.
[03:05:00] HOLMES: That's exactly right, nobody knows. We talk to one Peshmerga commander who is in charge of these teams that are going out and trying to clear these IEDs and booby. And he said they've been working in one village for three months and still hadn't done it.
There are countless of these devices along the road. But, also in the houses, and this is really the sickening part of it. A Peshmerga commander told me that ISIS is even doing things like booby trapping refrigerators, so somebody comes back to their house and opens the refrigerator it blows up.
They're booby trapping doors, they're booby trapping windows. He told me about a clock that had been put on the ground and one of his own men kicked it and it blew up.
When it comes to those who are trying to do the clearance, it's a deadly, deadly business, Peshmerga have lost more people to IEDs and booby traps than they had on the actual battlefield. And out of those casualties, 30 percent of them are people who are actually trying to do the diffusing.
So, yes, when ISIS leaves a town or village or they are killed they are leaving behind deadly weapon to hurt people, even once they're gone, George.
HOWELL: They have had several years to really dig into that city and now, again, as you mention, a lot of booby traps left behind as this defenses pushes forward.
Michael Holmes on the ground, live for us in Iraq. Michael, thank you for the reporting. We wish you safety and our other teams as well. We'll be back in touch with you. Thank you.
We have been following the flow of foreign fighters joining the ranks of ISIS and in Syria and Iraq. And in February, the U.S. National Intelligence director said more than 36,500 foreign fighters have traveled to Syria since that conflict began back in 2012.
Among them at least 6,600 from western countries have joined the ranks of ISIS.
In the report from last December, analysts said the Soufan -- Ali Soufan group Said the majority of the foreign fighters joining ISIS had come northern Africa and the Middle East, almost from mostly from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan, but thousands had come from European nations, including Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The militants are vastly outnumbered by the Iraqi-led coalition, 100,000 troops are facing an estimated 5 to 7,000 ISIS fighters.
We talk with CNN military analyst, retired lieutenant colonel Rick Francona about how these events that is going so far.
RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think we're going according to plan. I think they're going slowly methodically because they've got to clear all the areas. ISIS is putting up a fight, that was their plan. Their plan was to slow the advance down as best they could maybe even install it that giving yourself time to launch some other attacks.
I think the Iraqis made a strategic mistake by not closing off those other areas to the west and that area to the south, the southwest of Kirkuk. That allowed the Peshmerga -- I'm sorry, ISIS, to launch an attack in Kirkuk.
They've also launch other attacks, adding the Anbar province trying to divert attention. But overall, the Iraqis, I think, have the upper hand here.
HOWELL: At the same time, though, there have been some major losses. And Mosul officials telling us that ISIS executed about 40 people who were celebrating the apparent liberation of their villages.
FRANCONA: Yes. This was -- this was an attack from mistake on the part of the Iraqis, once you take these villages, you have to leave behind the residual force to secure them, rather than just pushing on through. Because ISIS the hide. They know then what the population and then they come back and attack.
So, you know, the Iraqis are learning the hard way that they've got to secure this area, not just take it.
HOWELL: A god point that you make there. And you also notice that they leave behind many things that are incredibly dangerous for people who may still be in those communities, the booby traps, the explosives that are left on roads, IEDs and crews are dealing with that as they try to sweep into these towns.
FRANCONA: Yes, and the Iraqi engineers have a real problem on the hand as they go through, they're finding more and more of these booby traps and, you know, ISIS has been going on this for a long time. Remember, they've had two-and-a-half years to prepare what they knew is going to be the final battle in Iraq.
You know, so they've laid the minefields, the oil trenches, the IED, as you say, the booby traps, so the engineers have to go through very slowly and very methodically. It's very difficult where -- but from what I'm seeing the Iraqis are doing quite well here.
But the real fighting hasn't started here yet, George. We're only eight kilometers from the city. Once they get into the city itself, then we're going to see the real ISIS fight.
HOWELL: Well, from what we're seeing right now. And as I mentioned, Iraqi and Peshmerga forces all moving in. But there is still tension between Iraq and Turkey. Turkey wanting to take part in this and we're seeing these tensions play out. What happens as we continue to see Iraq telling Turkey to stay out of this fight.
[03:09:58] FRANCONA: George, this is a fight we don't need. We're looking at possibly a war within a war. Turkey wants to be a power player when this is all over. They have vested interest in Kirkuk and in Mosul.
In fact, President Erdogan said and I unbelievably said that those two are actually Turkish cities and, you know, you'll wonder is he going to make a play after for this city after all is said and done. I think what he wants to make sure is Turkey gets a seat at the table to decide what happens in northern Iraq. And the Iraqis are pushing back because they believe that's an Iraqi sovereignty issue.
So, we'll see what happens. I think that in the end, the Turks will be -- they'll be satisfied if they can get some sort of agreement with the Iraqis that the Kurds are going to remain autonomous and subordinate to Baghdad. But we'll see what happens. It's just a problem we don't need.
HOWELL: I'd also like to get your thoughts on Ash Carter making that surprise visit to Baghdad then also visiting Erbil to talk with commanders there about that operation. Do you feel that the Americans that are involved, these air strikes that are happening overhead, is there a sense that it is effective in this sight.
FRANCONA: It's been effective right now. I think the big problem will be, once we get into Mosul itself how effective can the air power be. Because once you get into that rabbit war and those small buildings and narrow streets, house to house fighting, street to street fighting, it's going to be very difficult to effectively use the air power as they are using it right now.
But I think Mr. Carter was smart to go up there, you know, show the flag, talk to the Kurds, talk to the Americans that are out there. And I hope he's consulting with the Iraqis on what they're doing out west. Because the original plan and he even mentioned it was to envelope the city and then launch the fight.
And what the Iraqis are doing is leaving that western approach open, hoping that the ISIS fighters will eventually just run away to Syria. That's great if you're an Iraqi planner because that takes the problem out of your hand. If you're an American or coalition planner, then you've just got a problem, it's just been moved, you know, several hundred miles to the west.
HOWELL: You say the real fighting has yet to happen.
FRANCONA: Yes.
HOWELL: And from what we've seen from our teams on the ground, there, it's already quite a dangerous situation. So, obviously, this operation continues. CNN military analyst, Rick Francona, thank you so much for your insight today.
FRANCONA: Always good to be with you, George.
HOWELL: The refugees in Calais, France. We want to take you to France now live. You can see these images where migrants living in the refugee camp known as the jungle are now queuing up to evacuate.
The authorities have given two choices. They can either choose to seek asylum within France or to return to their home countries.
A large number of police are also on hand to prevent any problem should they occur.
CNN's Melissa Bell is live in Calais, France following this story for us. Melissa, it is early in the morning there. Just talk to us about the situation as you see it, people queuing up to evacuate. But again, police on hand should there be any problems?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, George. The line of migrants who have taken up the French government offer of being relocated around France's region. That line ends just behind me and a steady trickle of migrants has been making its way pass this morning from the Jungle camp, which is just down the road towards this line here.
They are sorted and given the choice of regions. They're then put straight on the bus and taken to those French regions. So essentially, these are the migrants, George, who have accepted the idea of giving up on their dream of getting to the United Kingdom.
Much more difficult for the French authorities over the coming hours and days. It will be those that still cling to that dream, among them some of the 1,200 miners who have been in the jungle over the course of the last two days. We caught up with a couple of them.
As far as the eye can see, the jungle in Calais will soon be no more. Its 1,300 unaccompanied children are hoping that means they'll soon be in the UK. Like 14-year-old Muhammad who cross 12 countries in 75 days with just one idea in mind.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to join to my uncle. I'm so tired here. I left more than one year ago but I didn't arrive to my uncle yet. I love football. But I want to play football. And I want to rest in peace.
BELL: So far though, he said he's had no help from authorities. He's been trying to get to U.K. for a year now waiting in a camp where he says only the most brutal survived.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BELL: Riyaz (Ph) is also 14 and from Afghanistan, he, too, has family waiting for him in England. But three months ago, he left the camp and sought refuge with a local NGO. After eight months on the road, he finally found a place to rest and much more.
[03:15:07] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They teach us French. We study here. They give us some money for our needs to buy clothes, to buy pants, shirts like this. And we are just waiting here to go to England.
BELL: But Riyaz (Ph) says he's been waiting too long. He's also worried that leaving the jungle, he may have made a mistake. So many of his friends, he said, have already left to start their new life on the other side of the channel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: Now, you can feel the frustration in both those stories, these are boys who have been told they're entitled to get to the United Kingdom under the scheme that's now underway between -- the agreement between France and the U.K.
Their frustration, though, of course, over how long it's taking them and little information they're getting about the process and the progress of their application, much more worrying for French authorities are the thousands of grown up migrants who have not join this line of migrants this morning.
Those seeking asylum here in France and who remain just down the road in the jungle. And what you can see all around this perimeter, George, is the growing police presence. There are 1,200 French riots police and orderly policeman docked around the camp.
The police trucks have made a giant cordon around it. And over the coming hours in the next couple of days, what you're likely to see, is that this operation which is being portrayed as humanitarian operation increasingly is going to look more and more like what it is. And that is the determined effort on the part of the French authorities to clear this camp come what may.
HOWELL: For all we saw before again happening earlier this year, we saw that the southern side of that camp, the jungle, demolished. Again, there was resistance, then the hope is that if that there is resistance again, that it's just concerning to see this play. Obviously, the officials are there.
We'll stay in touch with you as you continue to bring us reports. Thank you so much, Melissa Bell, live for us in Calais, France.
Thousands of girls in Colombia are victims of sex slavery. Still ahead in a CNN special Freedom Project report. What the country is doing about it.
Plus, we look at the link between the angry political rhetoric in the United States and the presidential campaign and bullying in U.S. classrooms. Stay with us.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT REPORTER: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your World Sport headlines.
You know, it's homecomings Jose Mourinho has return to Chelsea as Manchester United manager really couldn't have gotten much work.
A 4-nil as Stamford Bridge dropping with special one heaviest defeat as a head coach since the (Inaudible) is Real Madrid team suffered six years ago.
[03:20:01] Mourinho saying pre-match wouldn't celebrate like a crazy kid where his team to score. While he mean to worry Pedro taking advantage of horrendous United jittering off the back after 30 seconds. Gary Cahill as did an outside scoring before N'Golo Kante making it for Mourinho misery.
From England to Spain we go, where Real Madrid were able to retake the top of the table after beating Atletico Bilbao 2-1 , but they cross town rival Atletico slipping up and they lose to Sevilla.
Atletico though, you can see the three goals in eight matches until this one, Steven Nzonzi would score the long goal for the home. Sevilla made their home grown like a fortress this season, five wins from five now. They're in second.
The U.S. Grand Prix in Texas on Sunday, British Lewis Hamilton cruising to the win. Lewis was never really challenged on the day and he wins for the fourth time in five races at this particular venue. Fifth overall win in the U.S. Grand Prix. The Brit now 26 points back from Nico Rosberg, the three races still left.
That's a look at your CNN World Sports headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.
HOWELL: America's choice 2016. We are just two weeks away from the U.S. presidential election November 8 that Donald Trump has a lot of ground to make up at this point. A new ABC News poll shows Hillary Clinton with that 12-point lead nationally. She is at 50 percent with Donald Trump presently at 38 percent.
The latest CNN poll of polls also shows a wide lead for the democratic candidate. Clinton at 48 percent while Donald Trump has just 39 percent. Trump recently said that the polls can't be trusted.
The republican nominee claimed Sunday that he is actually leading nationally. But that is at odds but what his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway told NBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS SHOW HOST: Where do you see this race right now? Do you acknowledge that you're behind?
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We are behind. She has some advantages, likes $66 million in ad buys just in the month of September.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The investors business tally the most accurate poll from the last election and the two elections before that, just announced that we are leading nationally by two points.
Numbers are looking phenomenal in Florida, don't believe the media. But even the media is giving pretty good numbers, they can't help it. But the numbers are even better than what they're saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: But the fact do indeed show nationally that Donald Trump is behind.
Earlier, I spoke to Scott Lucas about the difference of opinion in the Trump campaign. He is a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. I ask him if Trump's campaign is concerned about these polls showing him so far behind. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT LUCAS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL POLITICS PROFESSOR: I think Trump's campaign strategists are definitely concerned about it. I think Kellyanne Conway had it right. There are nine critical states that Trump has to win and he is nearly ahead of two of them. Utah and Arizona and he's a toss-up in two, Iowa and Ohio and he's behind in the other five.
That's the mountain they face. But what you're seeing from Trump is something more than that. He's basically going off message rather than just saying, look, we're going to fight on the issues, we're going to hold this back.
Since the third debate he's escalated this to everyone is against me. The Republican Party is against me. The media are against me. Washington is against me, trying to appeal over the heads of everyone to something called the American people I'm not sure that's going to work.
I mean, whether you're republican or democrat, you tend to have pride and democracy. And Trump I think defying his advisers is taking on that pride. He's basically saying, if I lose, I'm going to tear the whole system down and I think that's an even bigger battle than what the polls are showing right now.
HOWELL: Let's talk about the plus minus from Trump's latest speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This was designed to be a policy speech where he talked about everything from immigration to renegotiating NAFTA.
But Trump also taking the opportunity to tell his voters that he will sue every woman that has accused him of sexual misconduct. The optics of that in your opinion.
LUCAS: I think it's a mistake. I think you now have 15 women who have come out against Trump alleging sexual misconduct. Unless you believe that all 15 are lying, that there's this vast conspiracy from the Clinton campaign those are serious allegations. And I think Trump would be hard pressed to stand them up in court.
Now I think what's the bigger context behind this, what they're critical in this. Fifty three percent of the American electorate, and Trump is alienating women or a lot of those undecided women by continuing rather than dealing with the issues that concern them.
[03:25:07 Their houses, their kids, their education, their employment by going off on this defensive mode of, well, I didn't do it. I couldn't have done it. These women are all lying. That's just not doing to hold up well in November 8 I think.
HOWELL: I remember speaking to another person that we were getting some insight about this particular election cycle and the inverse is at play here. The inverse being that you would expect the candidate, at this stage in the election, would want a lot of media attention getting closer to November 8.
But it seems that the candidate who is out of the spotlight seems to be doing better. And at this point that seems to be Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump taking this major headline, Hillary Clinton, though, is still dealing with the constant drip of the hacked e-mails from WikiLeaks. Is that effecting her campaign or is it becoming background noise to Donald Trump's continued drum beat?
LUCAS: Let's be clear. You know, Trump has -- he rose and he fell because of the media and the Clinton story is secondary. Trump depended on the media to rise in the republican primary to defeat all those other candidates, using social media and drawing coverage to himself where he didn't have to spend on advertising.
And he did that very effectively. Remember back in September, the polls closed in September despite all the controversial statements he made, because he was getting headlines he was grabbing the oxygen and was almost 50/50 and then the downfall.
Because failure to release tax returns and then the media focusing on the allegations of sexual misconduct, that's what's turned the poll in the other direction, at least in part. So, Trump can't complain about the media. They helped build him up. But he cannot turn around and say they're all against him now that he runs into trouble.
HOWELL: Scott Lucas, live in Birmingham. Scott, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate your insight. We'll be in touch with you again. Thank you.
LUCAS: Thank you.
HOWELL: A Cambridge educated British banker goes on trial in Hong Kong for the mutilation killings of two women. Details on the graphic evidence before the jury, still ahead.
Many women in Colombia are born and raised as sex slaves, how they're getting hope for a better life, a special CNN Freedom Project reports, still ahead as CNN Newsroom presses on.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers 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.
The advanced on Mosul by Iraqi and Peshmerga forces is moving along faster than expected. Peshmerga commanders say that they are now within eight kilometers of the key city of Mosul. But there have been some major losses as well.
A Mosul official say that ISIS executed about 40 people who were celebrating the apparent liberation of their village.
Saudi coalition war planes reportedly have attacked several Houthi rebel positions in Yemen's capital. Fighting escalated in Sana'a Saturday just hours after the U.N. special envoy for Yemen urged all sides to renew a three-day ceasefire.
Thousands of people have been killed in Yemen's civil war.
Authorities in Calais, France have begun clearing out the migrant camp known as the jungle. These live images at 9.31 in the morning, you see people queued planning to evacuate the jungle. They've been given roughly 10,000 migrants living there two options to either seeks asylum in France or to return to their home country.
A large number of police also on hand there to prevent any problems should they arise.
Donald Trump of the United States is slamming the proposed merger between telecommunications giant AT&T and Time Warner, Time Warner the parent company to CNN. It is one of the biggest deals ever, a major merger worth more than $85 billion.
Trump's campaign said the republican nominee would never approve such a deal because it gives too much power to too few people.
A former British investment banker is on trial at Hong Kong for mutilation killings of two Indonesian women almost exactly two years ago.
CNN's Mallika Kapur is live in Hong Kong outside the court house following this story for us. Malika, that jury has some extremely graphic evidence to consider in this case.
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, extremely graphic evidence. In fact, the judge presiding over the case warn the jury about that before the trial began. When he was speaking to the jury this morning, he did tell the people who could be in the jury that they should have strong stomach and to be able to handle the evidence that they would be presented over the next couple of days, with the warning that it is extremely graphic evidence.
The evidence we're talking about includes video and images that the defendant had recorded on his phone and that is the cause of the killings. And it also includes video of him talking about the way he raped one of the victims, so some extremely chilling details.
The court also heard this morning about some of the items that were found at the crime scene. Things like ropes (Inaudible) serrated knives that exploits things like that. So, lots of -- lots of chilling details this morning.
And the judge wanting jurors that this is going to be the nature of evidence that will be presented by the prosecution over the next few days. It remind us, though, that the defendant, Rurik Jutting has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder, but he has pleaded guilty to two lesser accounts of manslaughter and to a third charge of unlawful burial.
This trial that began this morning is expected to carry on for at least another two to three weeks here in Hong Kong before the jurors are to reach a verdict. George.
HOWELL: Mallika, that I'm curious as well about this case. It is graphic case indeed. How is it being perceived in playing out in local media there?
KAPUR: Wel, these graphic details are something we've just learned over the last two to three hours. That this informations is still reaching the public hearing. [03:35:04] But when the crime took place two years ago, it was something is a crime that Hong Kong has really never dealt with such a heinous crime before. So it did send shock waves throughout the city. Because Hong Kong as you know, it's regarded as one of the safest cities in the world.
And here was a crime taking place right in the heart of the city, you know, less than a kilometer from where I am standing right now in a luxury apartment building. So, it has shocked people in Hong Kong and it's bound to be a front page news again.
One group that's particularly been shaken by this crime is a group of migrant workers, because both these victims both women who were killed came here as migrant workers. So, a group representing their interest has vigils on Sunday. And again, this again this morning, Monday morning and they're here to saying that they're demanding a speedy trial, a fair trial and that they want justice for the victim.
HOWELL: Following this case, Mallika Kapur, live for us in Hong Kong. Mallika, thank you for the reporting, we'll stay in touch with you.
Colombia has the highest rate of modern day slavery in South America, but it also has organized efforts to try to stop it as part of the CNN Freedom Project to end modern day human trafficking.
Our Rafael Romo has this report for us.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Leidy Estrada Hncapie and Silvia Mazo Rico may look like the picture of carefree youth, but their early childhood were marred by suffering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEIDY ESTRADA HNCAPIE, TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR (TRANSLATED): I was four years old and he wanted to know my body. He wouldn't let me take a bath and pee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Leidy says she grew up being abused by a family friend until finally being taken to a home for girls when she was 10 years old. There she met Silvia, now an aspiring photographer, Silvia had come to the orphanage when she was 11. Caseworkers say she was brought there by a woman who found Silvia living in a garbage bag underneath an overpass.
Part of the problem is that it's impossible to identify victims of modern slavery just by looking at them on the street. According to the 2016 global slavery index, Colombia has the highest percentage of people living as slaves in all of South America. Many of these victims are children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DILA STEIN, ORPHANED STARFISH FOUNDATION WORKER: We know girls that have been trafficked from birth, so much so that when they arrive at one of our programs, they don't even speak a language. They only know how to scream and scratch because they've been abused from birth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Dila Stein works with Starfish Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships and job training to more than 10,000 children across much of Latin America and other parts of the world.
She said no matter what country you travel to, the story of abuse these girls tell can stop your heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEIN: They've come from abuse, they've come prostitution, we know girls who have been trafficked, who walk up to any man and just take off their pants, because they don't know the value of their life. They think that they are things. They don't understand that they're human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Despite its high number of reported victims Colombia also gets high marks for its response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: When we talk about human trafficking, we're talking about slavery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: The youth, State Department and its annual report on human trafficking list Colombia as a tier one country, meaning its government meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
The report cites Colombia's effort to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases recently appointing 14 new prosecutors to handle the case load.
For Silvia the abuse started when she was a young girl forced to work in the minds and later prosecution a11 to pay for a relative's drug addiction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SILVIA MAZO RICO, TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR (TRANSLATED): I was 11 years old when he told us they were not going back to school anymore that we need to work because we didn't have enough money for food, but in reality we were working to pay for his addiction.
ROMO: Now in college, both young women are focused on building their news lives.
Do you feel that you will be able to recover from this.
HNCAPIE (TRANSLATED): Yes. When I help more children so that they don't have to live with what I went through. I don't want this to keep happening. The abuse and mistreatment.
MAZO RICO (TRANSLATED): It is very important for me now to help other girls because this is something that's truly close to my heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Reframing the future, not just for themselves but for all girls in their home country.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Medellin, Colombia.
[03:40:04] HOWELL: Demonstrators say that they will be back on the streets of Poland Monday. They are launching another round of protest against efforts to heighten that country's abortion law. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell.
Women's rights activists plan to be back on the streets across Poland on Monday. They were out demonstrating on Sunday against planned abortion restrictions. They told CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson they will keep protesting until lawmakers in Warsaw get the message.
Here's Nic's report.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This protest comes several weeks after several hundred thousand people across the country protested about tougher abortion laws. The government was planning to introduce. They managed to get that not backed. Now this crowd is much, much more smaller but they're here pushing the issues of women in Poland. They're not getting a fair share, they say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We already won. We already with the government when the government attempted to ban abortion in any case except the severe risk of women's lives. But we see that the situation is -- may repeat itself. This is why we are protesting. We need to be recognized as full citizen with our full right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Although this crowd is much small perhaps just several thousand, there is a real sense here they got some momentum that their voices are being heard that they can make change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish they withdraw this scandalous law that was being discussed then.
[03:45:02] But knowing -- at least we know that this not his final level where we will think of something new in order to divide us. And this is what I don't like, right? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a very important time that we are able to
organize ourselves, but this can also misleading because this is only one thing and we really have to fight again and again because the comments of the government as to the process that we're aren't really aren't reassuring, in any way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Protest are planned not just here in Warsaw but in hundreds of communities across the country right down to small villages.
No one here is expecting change to happen quickly or easily. But as one lady said to us here, if you mess with a woman, you're never going to win.
Nic Robertson, Warsaw, Poland.
HOWELL: Straight ahead here on Newsroom, the rhetoric of this political season is trickling in the influence in U.S polls. We'll look at the increase in bullying in classrooms in the United States, next.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Weather watch across the Americas. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
It's hard to believe Christmas Eve is two months from today, and the conditions still rather mild for an expansive area of the United States here. High pressure large and in charge, some scattered showers across parts of Southern California, Los Angeles picked up its first rainfall in some six months just a few days ago across that region.
And you could still see some unsettled weather across the south there. But work your way to the north, a frontal boundary skirting by it should bring in some cooler temperatures and some wet weather around parts of the extreme northeastern United States.
But generally speaking, temps again remain mild. Denver, how about that? Twenty five degrees up towards San Francisco. In Los Angeles temps should be closer to the lower 20s. But notice a big change in the pattern across parts of the western United States and Canada.
There the center of a spin storm system coming in. The jet stream wanting to take a little bit of nose dive. And as it does one storm after another here. It really batter portions of northern California and close to Oregon and Washington State.
In fact, accumulations in the way of wintery weather could be pretty significant in the highest elevations around say portions of Mount Shasta in northern California. And as you work your way towards the tropic, it is still quite. Of course, we're still in the middle of hurricane season across this region, but not going to see much at least over the next week. It looks like across the area some isolated storm from Kingston out
towards Cartagena, temperatures there closer to 30 degrees.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: And unfortunate result of the angry U.S. presidential campaign is playing out in some of American's classrooms. Teachers are seeing an increase in bullying against immigrant students.
CNN's Money's Cristina Alesci went to one of the most diverse schools, school district in the country to talk to students and teachers about their fears and concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never heard anyone called me a terrorist until this year.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Shekree Terye (Ph) is an American. She was born in Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My parents are immigrants from Somalia and they left it because of the Civil War.
ALESCI: Now she's a middle-schooler in Tukwila, Washington, one of the most diverse school districts in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This people from like every background and like you never feel left out because there's always going to be someone that looks like you.
ALESCI: Students here say they used to feel and safe and welcome but rhetoric on the campaign trail has changed that. In a non-scientific survey by the southern poverty law center a third of the educators reported an increase in anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant sentiment in schools.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that the difference that I've noticed this past year and a half has been the tone, now they've got these words that they're turning around labeling other kids because of...
(CROSSTALK)
ALESCI: Like what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Things like go ahead, or you should gone back to the border.
ALESCI: But is it Donald Trump's fault? Not necessarily.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These metaphors and these ideas and these fears predated Trump and or extent in a much bigger, bigger swath of our population than cast the people who are going to vote for Donald Trump.
ALESCI: Polls show, roughly, half the U.S. population supports a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Yet...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Trump candidacy has, obviously, played a large role in triggering these episodes. It's made lots of people and their kids feel more free to express certain bigoted ideas.
ALESCI: For Shakree (Ph), the bullying has shaken her confidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That even for me, like I had my doubt and like I'm Muslim, like what if I'm the bad person in the situation, like what if I don't deserve to be in this country, like I felt like that sometimes.
I knew that I wasn't expecting it. But then he kept -- he kept saying those things. I'm like, oh, I'm not American, I'm not from this area. Even though I was born and raised here I'm not -- I'm not someone that deserves to live here.
And like I feel like Somalia never had like a civil war. I should have -- I wish I could stay there with people that looked like me. So, people like, I wouldn't be the different person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, she wouldn't be the different person.
Republican candidates use to be able to count on strong support from Asian-American voters, that has been changing in recent elections.
CNN's Victor Blackwell went to the state of Florida and found that Donald Trump have pushed even more Asian-Americans away from the Republican Party.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, NEW DAY SHOW ANCHOR: On the campus of the University of North Florida, politics is the topic of the day. And most of the student will be voting for Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN DATO, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA STUDENT: I think ultimately like her vision for the United States, it kind of align with my vision of like open mindedness, kind of accepting everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Juston Dato when his friends are at the leading edge of a seismic political shift among Asian-American voters, from once a reliable republican vote to a democratic strong hold.
In the 1992 three-way race, republican president, George H.W. Bush earned 55 percent of the Asian-American vote. Twenty years later, democratic President Barack Obama got 73 percent over Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARTHICK RAMAKRISHNAN, NATIONAL ASIAN-AMERICAN SURVEY DIRECTOR: We've never seen anything like that from any group. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Karthick Ramakrishnan is the director of the National Asian-American Survey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAKRISHNAN: Democrats are far more likely to be reaching out to these voters than republicans. We also saw Bill Clinton do a lot in terms of outreach activity and also nominating Asian-Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And democrats hope that outreach will pay off this year as Asian-American voters could have an oversized impact in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAKRISHNAN: There are these new destination states. States like Florida and other states like North Carolina that are now battleground states for the presidency. These are the states where you have newer Asian-American populations and they're growing very rapidly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: At the top of the list, Jacksonville, Florida, it's mostly Filipino community has the highest population of Asian-Americans in any of the 2016 battleground states.
Most analysts say Donald Trump needs to win to Florida to win the White House. And its Mauro Gines' jobs to find the votes. He's with the Filipino-American republicans of northeast Florida.
[03:55:07] The statistics would show that democrats are doing very well recruiting of Asian-Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAURO GINES, FILIPINO-AMERICAN REPUBLICANS OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA: I think they appeared to have very effective recruiting and I would probably yield to that statement. I guess they have the support of what they hear, meaning the media. So, if there's so much they hear from the media about the democrats they will lean towards that.
RAMAKRISHNAN: We've also seen factors on the republican side that have pushed them away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And in August rally when Trump reiterated his proposal to ban immigrants from what he call terrorist nations, he mentioned the Philippines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton wants to have them come in by the hundreds of thousands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Soon after a Philippines lawmaker proposed banning Trump from entering their country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAKRISHNAN: A majority of the Asian-American registered voters have a very unfavorable view of Donald Trump and that should be very concerning to the Republican Party because it's possible that Donald Trump will turn off Asian-American voters even more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: A survey found that 59 percent favored Clinton and just 16 percent favored Trump. But there is opportunity for each party here, that these two voters, the choice is less about who they want to be the next president, and more about who they don't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Are you a Trump supporter?
GINES: I am a Trump supporter.
BLACKWELL: Tell me why.
GINES: Because I cannot be for Hillary.
BLACKWELL: Are you excited to vote for Hillary Clinton?
DATO: I wouldn't necessarily say excited. I'm excited not to vote for Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Victor Blackwell, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.
HOWELL: Victor Blackwell, thank you. And thank you for joining us this hour. I'm George Howell at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
The news continues here on CNN with my colleague Hannah Vaughan Jones, live from London. Stay with us.
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