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French Authorities Destroy Calais Jungle Migrant Camp; Dozens Killed in Attack on Pakistani Police Cadets; U.N., Aid Organizations Prepare for Displaced Iraqis; Trump Says He's Winning But Polls Tell Different Story; U.S. Military Forces Veterans to Repay Enlistment Money; "World Sport" Report. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 25, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


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[02:00:12] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour --

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SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM, L.A.

France is clearing out the vast refugee camp in Calais known as the Jungle. This ramshackle area has been occupied for 14 years in some capacity. We will show you live pictures of the scene. More than 2,000 people were sent to temporary shelters on Monday. The mayor of Calais said as many as 6,000 people are still in the camp. You see the large presence of security officials.

Let's bring in CNN correspondent, Melissa Bell. She is joining us from Calais with the latest.

Melissa, set the scene for us. What is happening? We saw pictures of a large number of officials standing around.

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that scene is being set for what is looking like an extremely complicated day for French authorities, Isha. They have made it clear they will be dismantling the camp. They did the first phase yesterday with the evacuation of those first 2318 migrants that have been dispatched to different parts of France. Those were volunteers. And that was the easy part. The harder part begins today in earnest when the 6,000 or so migrants still inside the Jungle, which is just behind me, behind the mound of earth, many of them determined to stay and in what has been their home for many months, even for some many years. And it represents the symbol of all they have fought for. You are talking about people that have cross the earth and paid people smugglers with one idea in mind, making it to the United Kingdom.

Today, French authorities say they will begin the second phase and that is dismantlement of the camp itself. In the last few minutes, we have seen police trucks arrive full of extra riot police. A truck full of water cannons is positioned. It is that part, the demolition of the camp, and the forced eviction of those that don't want too go, that is likely to prove extremely difficult.

SESAY: Melissa, with the arrival of more police and as you mentioned water cannon arriving on the scene, one would think there is an expectation this may get violent.

BELL: There is that expectation. We've seen some low-level clashes the last could of nights. They have ratcheted up a notch further last night when riot police came. We caught some of those pictures. CNN was there to witness it. A handful of migrants, not many of them, facing off these well-armed riot police, but it gave a sense of their determination. These are people that will not give up easily.

You can see the images of the queue that formed once again in front of the hanger that is sorting through those who are willing to leave and putting them on buses to the other regions of France. There are still some leaving the camp. You can see them leaving willingly. Those are joining the queue to be dispatched to other parts of France, the ones that have accepted the government's offer to seek asylum in other parts.

Now a spokesman for the interior minister said yesterday that of those seeking asylum in France, taking up the authorities on that offer, about 70 percent should be granted asylum. He said most will see their asylum claims accepted. But you are still talking about those who are accepting the idea of say staying in France, and that's not for the time being, most of the migrants inside the Jungle.

SESAY: Melissa, for those who have accepted this move to leave the Jungle and start the process of applying for asylum, what kind of welcome are they likely to get as they are bussed to these various areas of France?

BELL: It's a new problem to the French government. One question is why this is being dismantled now. The French president made his way to Calais for the first time, only in September, Isha. There is a presidential election next year and they have determined this symbol of all that is wrong with Europe's migration policy should be dealt with once and for all.

It brings another problem. We have seen that over the last 24 hours as the buses of migrants are shipped out, they have never encountered massive arrivals before. Protests from certain mayors who feel this is forced on them and protest from locals who are not convinced of the wisdom of receiving migrants in parts of the country that have not yet been used to receiving them. There's a political problem that poses itself to French authorities and a great deal of concern about what this will mean for parts of the country who have never dealt with the migrant crisis themselves before.

[02:01:09] SESAY: Intense hours ahead.

Melissa Bell, joining us from Calais, France. Melissa, we appreciate it. Stay safe. Thank you.

The death toll from a terror attack on Pakistani police cadets has risen to 59. The six-hour siege in Quetta began on Monday. Several militant forced their way in to a training facility. They threw grenades and opened fire on hundreds of sleeping cadets. Security forces shot and killed one militant. Two other attackers blew themselves up. Pakistan's prime minister strongly condemned the attack and is expected to fly to Quetta there on Tuesday.

For the latest, we go to our Sophia Saifi in Islamabad.

Sophia, many questions in the aftermath of this attack. Among them how attackers managed to breach security at a police academy and launch this deadly attack.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isha, Quetta is a city that has a heavy police presence. They say it took place in the late evening, 9:30 at night. Winter has set in. The evenings start by 5:30 in the evening. It is cold and dark. We have been told three militants stormed in and basically shot the police officer who was keeping watch in a watchtower at the police academy. Questions are raised as to how they could get in to a secure area. We are waiting to hear more on that -- Isha?

SESAY: Authorities giving any insight in to the investigation that will obviously follow this attack and how that's going to be conducted?

SAIFI: The chief has flown in along with the director general and the intelligence which is the two intelligence organization of the Pakistani military. An investigation will start as of now. We were joined by the chief of the paramilitary troops that the blame has been laid on a military organization.

SESAY: Do we know why this organization is being held responsible for this? What do we know of the group?

SAIFI: It is basically a group that originates in the province convince of Benjab (ph). It has been known for bloody attacks that have taken place in the previous months in years in that city. It has links of al-Qaeda, the Pakistan Taliban. There has been an attack on the government. However, there haven't been attacks from them in many years. This is -- I'm sorry, many months. This is a recent development. They have been conducting attacks in the city. Many groups are operating within the city and province. However, this is one group the Pakistani authorities feel is responsible for this attack. We don't have any claim of responsibility yet regarding this attack.

SESAY: Sophia Saifi, joining us from Islamabad. Appreciate it, Sophia. Thank you very much.

This just in to us here at CNN. Kenyan police say 12 people are dead after suspected al Shabaab militants attacked a guest house. We will keep you updated on the story and bring you more details as they come in to us.

[02:10:06] Turning to Iraq, and Iraqi-led forces are moving toward Mosul faster than expected and their tribal leader said hundreds of ISIS fighters are fleeing to Syria. But that hasn't stopped the fierce resistance from the terror group; Peshmerga forces fought for control of Bashika (ph) Monday on the outskirts of Mosul. Iraqi commanders said 78 villages were liberated in the first week of fighting.

The U.N. is preparing for as many as 150,000 people to be displaced by the battle for Mosul.

Harriet Hargreaves joins us from Baghdad to talk about the humanitarian need. She is Relief International's team leader for the Mosul response.

Harriet, good to have you with us.

Tell us more about the focus of your organization's efforts as a result of this Mosul offensive.

HARRIET HARGREAVES, TEAM LEADER FOR MOSUL RESPONSE, RELIEF INTERNATIONAL (voice-over): Hi, Sesay. Relief International has been responding to this particular wave since July 2016. We have doctors who provide immediate basic needs and provide screening for people coming from these areas. This includes people that come with hydration, and traveled for up to two days in extreme heat. It is 122 degrees in the summer and even now it is 30 degrees centigrade. I'm not sure what that is Fahrenheit but people are dehydrated and scared.

SESAY: Yeah.

HARGREAVES: What are doctors are doing is using medical units, clinics on wheels providing immediate health care and also providing water and basic hygiene needs for these people.

SESAY: Yeah. So my understanding these mobile clinics are going in to inaccessible areas, is that correct?

HARGREAVES: Relief International is on the front line of the conflict. We are currently in areas where we are with newly arrived people. We are here with the first people they see. Our doctors are often the first people they see and we provided relief.

SESAY: Harriet Hargreaves there with the latest on Relief International's efforts there and around Mosul.

Harriet, we appreciate it. Please be careful. Thank you.

Michael Holmes is joining us from near Mosul.

Michael, this is battle is entering the second week. Where do things stand at present?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The progress has been quicker than expected. The Iraqis and Kurds will tell you that. Even the Americans will tell you that. But that doesn't mean resistance hasn't been strong at times. At times, it has been fierce. One main weapon is the truck or car bombs that have been hurdling toward Iraqi and Peshmerga fighters. In fact, there were numbers came out yesterday and said forces destroyed 130 of these vehicle-borne devices. We have been covering Bashika (ph), a very important town, and

surrounding villages that were encircled a day or two ago by Peshmerga forces. They were pleased to have done that. When they tried to probe in, they were targeted by vehicle-born explosives and snipers. Yesterday afternoon, we were watching as mortars and rockets were fired into that town to soften the targets and take out some car bombs so they can move in there. Tragically important place because it continues the encirclement of Mosul, which is far from complete. Iraqi forces have made a lot of progress from the southeast and Kurdish forces from the north, as well. With were told the most forward of the Kurdish forces is only about eight kilometers from the outskirts. But not everyone is that close. They have to wait for everyone to catch up so the encirclement can be complete before thinking about going in.

SESAY: Michael, once they go in, once they breach the city's perimeter, how will this battle change?

HOLMES: It's going to be changing enormously. In many ways, though there's been fierce fighting to get to where they are at will be nothing compared to getting inside Mosul. This city of a couple million people, where ISIS has been setting up fortifications preparing for this sort of thing for two years now. There's been talk that perhaps ISIS will concentrate forces in the Western part of the city. That's where the old city is, narrow roads, good fighting positions, if you like. A lot of the armor that is barreling over the plains and having success in the towns and cities will have a tougher time when they get in to narrow roads and allies where many of the vehicles won't be able to go. You get to that urban combat situation, and we saw it in Fallujah and Ramadi, during the war, it is a different game, and then the added dimension of the civilians who are in that city, two, three hundred thousand people, perhaps more. Obviously, a major concern -- Isha?

[02:15:34] SESAY: Indeed.

Michael Holmes, joining us from near Mosul, Iraq. My friend, stay safe. Michael, thank you for the reporting.

The race for the White House is next. Donald Trump says he's winning, but new polls are telling a different story.

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UNIDENTIFIED U.S. MILITARY VETERAN: It breaks my heart. I feel betrayed that I gave them my time and now they want my money back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Thousands of U.S. military veterans get something they never expected, collection notices from the government.

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[02:19:55] (GUNFIRE)

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SESAY: Syrian forces are again attacking rebel positions in and around eastern Aleppo. The new defensive comes after a temporary ceasefire expired on Sunday. State media reports the Syrian army has retaken parts of a military college southwest of the city. A large number of rebel fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda were killed in the operation.

The U.S. presidential election is 14 days away and the path to the White House just got rockier for Donald Trump. A new CNN/ORC poll shows Hillary Clinton leads the Republican nominee by five points among likely voters. Younger people, women and minorities give Clinton the edge. Still, Trump has strong support from older Americans and people that say he would be better at handling the economy. Trump continued his swing through Florida on Tuesday. He is echoing familiar themes, slamming the media and insisting he's the candidate who's winning.

CNN Politics reporter, Sara Murray, is in St. Augustine, Florida.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER (voice-over): Trump is barreling his way through the Sunshine State, spitting fire at his latest enemy, the polls.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How's Trump doing? Oh, he's down. They are polling Democrats.

(SHOUTING)

(BOOING)

TRUMP: The system is corrupt and it's rigged and it's broken. We're going to change it.

(CHEERING)

MURRAY: Two weeks until Election Day, Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton in battleground states across the country, but he's not buying it.

TRUMP: These are what they call them dark polls. They are phony polls put out by phony media. And I'll tell you what. All of us are affected by this stuff. What they do is try to suppress the vote. This way people don't go out and vote. But we're winning this race. I really believe we're winning.

MURRAY: A statement not only in direct contradiction with credible polls but also Trump's own campaign manager. KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We are behind. We feel with Hillary Clinton under 50 percent in some of these places, even though she's run a traditional and expensive campaign, that we have a shot at getting undecided voters that know who Hillary Clinton is and don't want to vote for her.

MURRAY: Over the weekend, Trump traveled to Gettysburg to make his closing arguments.

TRUMP: We will drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And replace it with a new government of, by, and for the people.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I'm asking the American people to rise above the noise and clutter of our broken politics.

MURRAY: The GOP nominee muddled his own message by beginning his speech making headlines with an alternate plan if he wins the White House, to sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. At last count, that is nearly a dozen.

TRUMP: Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.

(CHEERING)

MURRAY: Amid growing concerns about the GOP's ability to keep the majority in the Senate, Trump also made a rare pitch for Republicans down the ballot.

TRUMP: Get out and vote. And that includes helping me re-elect Republicans all over the place. I hope they help me, too.

MURRAY: But even if everyone agrees with his take on these four competitive battleground states.

TRUMP: I think we are winning. We are up in Ohio, we're up in Iowa, we're doing great in North Carolina. I think we are doing great in Florida. I think we're going to win Florida big.

MURRAY: Those four alone will not be enough to deliver a victory in November.

(on camera): Even though Trump is facing a deep deficit in a number of polls, there are still a number of battleground states that are very tight, and Florida is one of them. Donald Trump's strategy seems to sprint to the finish. He held five events in Florida on Monday and he will be back campaigning again on Tuesday.

Sara Murray, CNN, St. Augustine Florida.

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SESAY: While Trump was in Florida, rival, Hillary Clinton, was on the campaign trail in another battleground state, New Hampshire. There she got support from a key surrogate, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has gone off on Trump at rallies and on Twitter. Both women delivered a stinging rebuke of the Republican nominee to a cheering crowd.

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HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is someone who roots for failure and takes glee in marking our country, no matter who our president is. Now, that may be who Donald Trump is, but this election is about who we are.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D), MASSACHUSETTS: He thinks because he has a mouth full of Tic-Tacs, he can grope anyone within groping distance.

(BOOING)

WARREN: I've got news for you, Donald Trump. Women have had it with guys like you.

(CHEERING)

[02:25:12] WARREN: And on November 8th, we nasty women are going to march our nasty feet --

(CHEERING)

WARREN: --to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever.

(CHEERING)

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SESAY: The one and only Elizabeth Warren.

In the final two weeks of the race, Clinton is crisscrossing the country not just to drum up support for herself but also to boost Democrats' chances in tough congressional races.

Away from politics now. And sailors held hostage by Somali pirates for nearly five years are sharing grime details about their ordeal. The 26 men who were freed over the weekend were reportedly tortured and ate rats to survive. They have been receiving medical treatments ahead of their journeys home.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really so happy. For you and all the world, free. Thanks, thanks.

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SESAY: That sailor giving special thanks to the lead negotiator and the group Oceans Beyond Piracy which helped secure the release. A ransom was reportedly paid.

"State of the Race" with Kate Baldwin is next for our viewers in Asia.

And next here on CNN "NEWSROOM L.A.," France clears out the camp known as the Calais Jungle. Find out what is in store for the migrants who took refuge there.

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[02:30:15] SESAY: Hello, everyone. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: France is about to start to demolishing the refugee camp known as the Jungle. It has been occupied in some capacity more than a decade. More than 2,000 people were evicted from the area on Monday. The city's mayor says as many as 6,000 people are still in the camp.

Last hour, I spoke to Ruben Neugebauer, from humanitarian group Sea Watch. I asked him what lies ahead for those that left the camp.

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RUBEN NEUGEBAUER, SPOKESPERSON, SEA WATCH: You can see the approach they are taking. They are trying to shut down refugee influx by all means necessary. Abandoning the most basic values they claim to protect. Now those people have no chance to arrive. There's no way for them to arrive at the point in time and build up a new life.

SESAY: Will this stand the French government is taking, in your view, will it serve as a deterrent for those fleeing from war torn countries? Will this put them off?

NEUGEBAUER: For sure, not. The people flee from reasons. They have to escape countries and will not be stopped by European Union. They are not coming back Europe is welcoming them but because they have a reason and to just set up fences and this is the same in the Mediterranean Sea where they tried to cut down the influx as in Calais where we have the Jungle, and where we have the problem that the people cannot move over the channel to the U.K. where they actually want to go most of them. Also another similarity where we have a lot of people coming this week, the situation and what we have just seen is a civil society has to take over the responsibility. There's a lot of volunteer organizations, civil society organizations that take over to take care of people.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SESAY: Neugebauer also says restrictions on the movement of migrants remind him of the divisions created by the Berlin Wall during the Cold War.

Veterans who once put their lives on the line fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are locked in a struggle with their own government. It paid them bonuses to reenlist. But Washington says they have to give the money back.

CNN's Drew Griffin is looking in to how this happened.

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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military had a problem in 2006. It wasn't recruiting enough new enlistees so it threw money at the problem.

(SHOUTING)

(GUNFIRE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In 2006, the military desperately needed soldiers to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. It missed recruitment goals for new enlistees. So the Defense Department started paying incentive bonuses to keep the soldiers it already had. Reenlist and you get not just money but loan forgiveness, other benefits. It was a good deal. Thousands reenlisted. But now the Pentagon is saying to the soldiers, give us our money back.

SUSAN HALEY, U.S. VETERAN: They are asking for over $25,000. That's because they have been charging me interest since 2013.

GRIFFIN: That's right. Not just her bonus but interest charges, too. Master Sergeant Susan Haley got the bonus for signing up for an additional six years. Now the military wants it back.

Her husband and son served in the military and her son lost a leg in Afghanistan. The government, she says, is forcing her to pay a quarter of her income every month.

[02:35:19] HALEY: It is devastating, sad. It breaks my heart. I feel betrayed that I gave them my time and now they want my money back. And my family has sacrificed so much. And now we're struggling to pay even our house payments.

GRIFFIN: It started when a federal investigation found enlistment officers committing fraud. In California, the FBI went after Master Sergeant Tony Jaffi (ph), who pleaded guilty to submitting false claims on behalf of her fellow National Guard members. Her efforts alone added up to $15.2 million in illegal payouts and loan repayments to California guardsmen. She has gone to prison. But now inexplicably the Department of Defense is going further, much further, and going after the soldiers to pay back bonuses they were promised and earned.

Chris van Meter served this country an extra six years and forced to pay back $46,000.

CHRIS VAN METER, U.S. VETERAN: You think it's a joke. Obviously, it was not a joke. It is gut-wrenching. You have to figure out what you will do and how you will survive. I had a young family at the time.

GRIFFIN: The California National Guard shares the frustration but said it does not have the authority to waive the debts.

California Congressman Adam Schiff today said he's already written to the California National Guard asking any attempts to reclaim soldiers' bonus money be stopped until he and Congress can work out a solution.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, (D), CALIFORNIA: I think it's outrageous the soldiers are asked to repay bonuses they had every right to expect.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): There's is already a cry from many members of Congress, including the two Senators from California, demanding there be an investigation and at least a temporary halt having these soldiers pay back their money. But this problem has been going on for several years, and so far, no solution.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Thank you to Drew Griffin for that report.

The U.S. Defense Department is urging affected veterans to take advantage of the appeals process. It said the military can waive individual reimbursement on a case-by-case basis.

An explosion at a housing complex in northwestern China has killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more. The blast damaged a hospital and several hoer buildings. Rescue crews are searching for survivors as investigators try to determine what caused the blast. Local news reports say it could be related to illegally stored explosives.

In a surprise move, Venezuela's government and its opposition will meet for crisis talks after Pope Francis intervened. The Vatican will help to mediate Sunday's talks. The opposition wants President Nicolas Maduro to leave office and is protesting the suspension of a referendum drive. Student protest leaders say 27 demonstrators were hurt in clashes on Monday.

Time for a quick break. Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, L.A., a New York mother waited 13 months for the chance to hold her twin sons, one at a time. Her story is just ahead.

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[02:40:34] SESAY: Welcome back. Live pictures from Calais. This is the scene at the migrant camp nicknamed the Jungle, which is set to be demolished in the coming hours. You see the large security presence, police. We spoke to Melissa Bell a short time ago. She said there were riot police and water cannon there to demolish the camp and eject the thousands of migrants who so far have rejected French authority offers of temporary housing in other parts of the country. That is the scene. We see the crowds there. We wait to see when the actual demolishment will begin. Tense scenes right there at the migrant camp in Calais, nicknamed the Jungle. We will continue to follow the situation and bring you more details as they come in to us.

Doctors say the surgically separated conjoined twins are doing well and one shared a special moment with his mother over the weekend.

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UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: They are beautiful. They are --

(MUSIC)

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SESAY: Just wonderful to hear that they are doing OK.

Visitors to Mexico City have a rare opportunity to see an artist in action. For the next five days Britain's Steven Wilshire will create a panorama of the skyline of Mexico City. More impressive than the art work is how he does it. He has near perfect recall after every detail after taking a short helicopter tour of the city. He was born with autism and didn't speak until he was 5.

President Obama took hard hits from his toughest critics on Twitter. The commander-in-chief read mean tweets about himself on the late- night TV show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just found out my daughter shares a birthday with Obama, puke.

President Obama dances like how his jeans look.

(LAUGHTER)

This jeans thing, this is so old. This was years ago. Come on.

(LAUGHTER)

President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States, exclamation point, @realDonaldTrump.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

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SESAY: We're never going to let him forget the jeans, though. They were bad jeans.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

"World Sport" is up next.

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(WORLD SPORT)