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Many Feared Dead in Grenfell Tower Fire; Explosion Outside Kindergarten in Jiangsu Province, China; President Lashes out at Washington Post Report He's Under Investigation. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 15, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:57] CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're watching CNN's continuing coverage of the fire at Grenfell Tower. I'm Clarissa Ward

in London.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: And \I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong with the latest on the

Republican lawmaker shot in the U.S.

WARD: We begin with the news that many had been fearing, the death toll from a major fire at a London tower block, you can see it just behind me,

you can still smell the acrid stench of smoke. That death toll is rising.

London police now say 17 people are confirmed dead, but with the search far from over, that

number is almost certainly expected to rise again. Firefighters say they have no idea how many people are missing. The search for survivors has

ended. Now they're looking to recover the victims.

Well, speaking a short time ago, London's fire commissioner said identifying the dead could take weeks, and although the fire is now out,

their work is just beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER DANY COTTON, LONDON FIRE BRIGADE: We've extinguished small pockets of isolated fire, however you will continue for some time see a

small wisps of smoke coming from the building due to the nature of the contents in the building and some of the areas that are now more far

difficult to access.

The ongoing plan for today is I have my specialist urban search and rescue teams and advisers who are working very closely with the local council and

the building surveyors to come to a plan as to how we can make the building safe going forward to allow my firefighters and the police to work closely

together to progress through the building doing a detailed fingertip search looking for evidence and looking for identification of people who may have

been in the building.

COMMANDER STUART CUNDY, METROPOLITAN POLICE: It is about those waiting for news of their loved ones, my thoughts, I know the thoughts all of us, are

with those who have been so deeply affected from the events over the last 24 hours.

Yesterday was a very difficult day. Clearly it was challenging overnight, particularly for colleagues from fire. And today, as you've heard, the

work really starts in earnest to ensure that we're doing the appropriate recovery of everybody from those premises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: British Prime Minister Theresa May visited the site of this tragedy speaking to members of the fire service who are still trying to work out

how the fire began. May's government has promised a full investigation. We want to focus, though, right now, on the victims and the survivors, of

this terrible fire. Our Phil Black has been speaking with residents and neighbors.

And, Phil, I'm sure you've just been hearing endless tales of heart ache and anxiety and worry. Tell us what you've been learning.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Clarissa, for many of the people that lived in that building, it was their home. They have lost

everything really. So the priority for them right now is dealing with those urgent requirements people simply need to survive. Accommodation,

well that's apparently been provided. They've had such an offer that the local council authorities here have said they don't want anymore people

volunteering to house people who have lost their homes.

And of course there have been enormous - what has been enormous generosity, really, when it comes to the all the other basic needs: clothing, supplies,

food, toiletries, play things for children, prams, these sorts of things. There is an enormous mountain of this stuff at a support center just around

the corner from where I'm standing.

So still within the shadow of this tower, so many things, so much -- so many donations have come through that we've heard volunteers say, look, we

really don't want to accept anymore of this stuff, we've got enough - in fact, we've got more than we need.

So, that's all being taken care of. But then on top of that, of course, there is the longer process of dealing with the trauma that everyone

experienced as they were fleeing for their lives from this tower through the course of the other night. That's going to take much longer.

And indeed, on top of that, there is the distress from many of them of knowing that many of their friends and neighbors are unaccounted for. They

don't know what happened to them.

There is enormous (inaudible) because of that as well. And as you've heard from the authorities here, they have a sense of the missing, of the

unaccounted for, but they're not revealing those figures just yet because they're concerned about the accuracy of them, that multiple people have

been reported missing more than once and so forth.

So for a lot of the people here who knew and loved people who lived in that building, it is

the terrible necessity of enduring this wait for confirmation of really what they must fear most, and that (inaudible) the people that they have

lost contact with must be considered among the people who perished in that fire, Clarissa.

[08:05:45] WARD: And Phil, do you have any sense of -- you know, obviously people are recovering from the trauma, the shock, the horror. Do you sense

any anger among people about how this could have happened and who might be responsible for it?

BLACK: Yeah, there was a lot of that very quickly through the morning, through yesterday. And it still lingers, there is no doubt. People here

are genuinely very angry that this was allowed to happen, that a fire can spread so quickly through a recently renovated building and it would seem

claim so many lives.

They want answers, there's no doubt. But of course, they have received assurances from the prime minister down -- the prime minister, the mayor of

London, local authorities here on this particular borough of London, they're all promising that investigations will take place, that answers

will be provided and that lessons will be learned.

Ultimately, the degree to which people are satisfied by that I guess will be determined by the

thoroughness and the conclusions of those investigations.

But among those members of the community that have long had concern about that particular

building, who have long feared that it represents a significant fire hazard, they're not going to be easily calmed by whatever investigation

follows, because there will always be a sense here that this simply shouldn't have happened - Clarissa.

WARD: Certainly a lot of questions still need answers. Phil Black, thank you so much.

Well, one of the biggest issues for investigators is just how quickly the fire spread. Residents say they expressed concern about the building's

fire safety for years. Now there are questions about renovations that may have caused the flames to spread. Our CNN's Fred

Pleitgen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The first fire crews that arrived at the Grenfell Tower said they were

surprised at how quickly the flames were spreading, eating their way up the side of the high-rise so fast many couldn't escape in time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kid was screaming, you know, save my child, things I don't want to repeat but they were screaming in stress.

PLEITGEN: They were trapped in the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were trapped in the building. They were under duress.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But in all the sorrow, serious questions about the building's emergency plan and its safety. The most recent guidance by the

office managing the property from a newsletter to residents from 2014 telling occupants to stay in their apartments if there's a fire.

That guidance, while not uncommon for high-rises, may have proved deadly in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the lights in the fire escape (ph) didn't work the first 10 floors so it was in complete darkness. There was just -- there was

no evacuate -- the evacuation procedure was to stay in your property.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A local advocacy group went even further, repeatedly calling the building's fire safety inadequate in the past years after the

local council invested millions refurbishing the tower.

Writing in its blog on Wednesday, "All our warnings falling on deaf ears and we predicted a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter

of time."

Residents who escaped the blaze and other witnesses say they believe the cladding on the building's exterior may have fanned the flames. The company

that installed the cladding on the exterior of a London apartment building said in a statement that it is not aware of any link between the fire and

the exterior cladding to the tower.

A councilwoman telling CNN she believes local authorities are not to blame.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, people have been flagging up their concerns about this building but, as you probably know, we've just -- the council has just

done a 3 million refurbishment on it during which obviously we hoped and we felt, with our contractors, that we had dealt with all those concerns.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The main contractor for the refurbishment said that the work met, quote, "all the required building control fire regulation and

health and safety standards."

This community has been devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire, many residents still unaccounted for and, for those who escaped, all are now

displaced.

PLEITGEN: The authorities say here for the moment their main priority is still dealing with the fire and its aftermath. But they acknowledge that

the many people who were affected will have some serious questions and that officials will need to provide honest answers.

(voice-over): And as the grief mounts, so does the anger. Many here feel that authorities they believe neglected their concerns until tragedy

struck.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:10:19] WARD: As we've mentioned, residents had voiced concerns about the safety of the building. Joining me now is local counselor Judith

Blakeman, who helped raise those concerns. Judith, just explain this to me. First of all, from all of us at CNN, I'm so sorry for what has

happened to your community. It's horrifying. Give us a sense of - you said that you had raised concerns before. In what capacity had you raised

those concerns?

JUDITH BLAKEMAN, COUNCILLOR, NUTTING DALE WARD: I've raised them in the capacity of local council, because residents brought those concerns to me.

I mean, they raised them themselves. And obviously accounts are taken them, but concerns helped as well to progress it.

I mean, there's always been a general nervousness about the block, because there's only got one stairwell, it's internal and that's the fire escape

for the whole building.

But, in 2013 there was a major power surge which actually knocked out all the electrical equipment of residents up to about the tenth floor. That

caused major worry amongst the residents. You know, that could have caused serious fires. It was investigated and they were never able to find out

what caused those power surges.

A year later, the refurbishment program began and that was done with residents living in the flat, major work to switch those flats. And it was

a real nightare and all sorts of things went wrong and residents were concerned about a range of issues including the fire

precautions because some of the work was obviously with welding equipment and stuff like that, and they were worried.

And then after the program was finished, there are two issues. One was that the stairwell itself, which was the only fire escape, was not part of

the refurbishment program. Its lighting system didn't work. The stairwell itself had been vandalized, it was pretty grungy and pretty dark. And when

we asked for that to be refurbished, they said no we can't do that because we haven't got any money left and we're not allowed to. And then shortly

after the end of the project, National Grid, which deals with all the gas appliances in London -- well, certainly on the estate, came in

and said we're going to replace all your gas pipes, and they don't have to consult with anybody because they're a statutory body, they're a law unto

themselves. And they came in, in November, cut off the gas supply to one side of the block, installed gas pipes in the stairwell and they didn't box

them in, in fire resistant box.

Now, they were very robust pipes. But obviously residents then became seriously worried, because there's a fair amount of antisocial behavior in

that stairwell.

WARD: But what is the response? All these complaints are being made, all these concerns are being raised, what response were you hearing?

BLAKEMAN: The response always was, and this is from the tenant management organization, which manages the block on behalf of the council, the

response always was either we've got our own health and safety officer. She has investigated everything and she's happy with it, or we have

commissioned an independent health and safety officer who says that there are no serious questions to raise.

Then, of course, they say, also, we're in constant touch with the local fire brigade and from time

to time they come in and do an inspection. I understand the last inspection by the fire brigade was in 2015. So the concerns just remain.

And basically residents felt that they were just being ignored, they were being treated like dirt.

This project was done to them, not with them. And they were basically told that they had to be really grateful because their flats were being improved

and they should stop moaning and get on with it.

WARD: And what about this business of the cladding? Was there any understanding that this was highly flammable?

BLAKEMAN: No. No. Nobody raised anything about the cladding because I think they just assumed that a specification to clad an entire block would

automatically be fire resistant. And none of us understood the construction method and the fact that it left gaps behind it. And

obviously we don't know the cause of the fire, but it's becoming pretty obvious that the reason why it spread so quickly was because of the

cladding. The cladding was inflammable and the gaps between it and the concrete wall just gave a shoot which just lead the fire across the

whole...

WARD: And so what you, because you do live right next door. When you wake up in the middle of the night and see this building burning, ablaze, an

inferno, filled with friends of yours, I'm sure, people you've known for many years, what was your reaction?

BLAKEMAN: Well, it was utter horror. I mean, initially I ignored the helicopter, because you get them quite often. And then it was clear

something was going on. I put the radio on. They said Grenfell Tower is ablaze. And I thought I hadn't heard properly, then. And I thought that

we had been telling the authorities this is going to happen, this is really happening. So, I just put some clothes on, rushed out.

The first people I came into were a young couple who live in the tower and they're the niece of one of my neighbors, they had just come around to

their aunt for, you know, health - for respite, and they were in their night clothes. And I just ran up to them and hugged them because I was so

pleased to see that they were alive.

[08:15:30] WARD: I guess my final question would just be, who do you want to see take responsibility for this?

BLAKEMAN: Well, we think this is a national disaster, it's not a local disaster. We think there should be a public inquiry, every avenue should

be investigated. I mean, the more I hear about it, the more I hear of the work of the investigative journalists, the more

horrified I become. Because as counselors, we're amateurs, we don't have a paid staff. We do everything ourselves. We don't have the resources to do

all this research.

But some of stuff that's coming out now is really scary.

WARD: Yeah, well, Judith Blakeman, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. And I hope you get some answers to your questions.

BLAKEMAN: Thank you very much.

WARD: Well, just ahead, we're going to have a lot more on the outreach following the London fire.

LU STOUT: Thank you, Clarissa.

And also up ahead, President Trump has a new target this morning in the U.S. He's blasting a new report in The Washington Post that says he is now

under investigation for possible obstruction of justice. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

WARD: And I'm Clarissa Ward outside the Grenfell Tower in London, a day after a deadly fire ripped through that building behind me. We can still

smell that acrid smell of smoke.

Well, as London works to help the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, there is also a clear message coming out of outrage. Questions remain over how

the newly renovated tower turned into an inferno so quickly with no easy escape. Here is a look at how locals are feeling. Let's look at some of

the British newspaper front pages, The Guardian's front page shows a picture of the tower engulfed in flames with the caption the warnings were

ignored.

The Sun, one of Britain's most popular tabloids, displays the headline "They were told it was safe" next to a picture of the raging fire.

The Daily Mail is demanding answers, saying "how the hell could it happen?"

And The Times highlighted how quickly the fire spread with "disaster in 15 minutes."

Also The Mirror has this one accusing word "Deathtrap."

LU STOUT: Some very damning headlines there.

Now, Clarissa, we've got some breaking news coming out of China. State media reports seven people killed and 66 injured after an explosion near a

kindergarten in eastern China. This happened at the front gates of a kindergarten in Jiangsu Province. We are going to have a lot more on this

story as the details continue to come into us here at CNN.

Now, turning now to the United States, and one day after a gunman opened fire on a group of

lawmakers playing baseball, their annual congressional baseball game will go ahead as planned.

Now, several people were shot on Wednesday, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Now, he is in critical condition and he's facing more

surgery.

Now, CNN's Alex Marquardt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(GUNSHOTS)

[08:20:36] ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chilling sound of a barrage of gunfire captured in this cell phone video.

(GUNSHOTS)

MARQUARDT: Sixty-six-year-old James Hodgkinson, an ardent critic of President Trump, unleashing a hail of bullets on Republican lawmakers who

were practicing on the eve of a charity baseball game. The Congressman targeted on the field scrambling to take cover.

REP. RODNEY DAVIS (R), ILLINOIS: Somebody on the field yelling, "Run, he's got a gun." I ran into the dugout, like most people on the field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): Units arrived to 400 East and Monroe. Shots being fired, and there are people running. Possibly victims involved.

MARQUARDT: The lone gunman, who was armed with a rifle and .9 mm handgun, exchanging fire with Capitol Police officers who were there to protect the

House majority whip, Steve Scalise. Local police joining in the ten-minute firefight to take down the attacker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): We have one in custody, one shooter. There's also a victim down in the baseball field.

MARQUARDT: Scalise was on second base when he was shot in his left hip.

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: He dragged himself, after he was shot, from near second base about 10 or 15 yards into the field just to be, I think, a

little further away from the gunman.

MARQUARDT: Four others also wounded in the attack. Witnesses now praising the heroic actions of law enforcement in preventing further casualties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw at least two of them go towards the shooter. They were putting their lives directly in the line of fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the Capitol Police that saved us all.

MARQUARDT: Authorities say the gunman drove from Illinois to Virginia in March and had been living out of a white cargo van, spending much of his

time at this YMCA, adjacent to the ball field, where he was seen the morning of the ambush.

REP. JEFF DUNCAN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: He asked me if this team was the Republican or Democrat team practicing. I responded that it was the

Republican team practicing, and he proceeded to shoot Republicans. Take that for what it's worth.

MARQUARDT: The attacker's online posts show a hatred of President Trump and Republicans. Hodgkinson writing on Facebook in March, "Trump is a traitor.

Trump has destroyed our democracy. It's time to destroy Trump and company."

A month earlier, "Republicans are the Taliban of the USA." A family member of the attacker telling "The New York Times" saying he came to Washington

in recent weeks to protest Trump.

The gunman also liked a political cartoon suggesting that Congressman Scalise should be fired, although it's unclear if Scalise was specifically

targeted in the attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN's Alex Marquardt reporting there.

Now, President Donald Trump is already tweeting about an explosive new report in The Washington Post. It says Mr. Trump is now under

investigation for possible obstruction of justice.

Now, CNN White House Correspondent Athena Jones joining us now live. And Athena, so Trump's earlier claims of, quote, total vindication after

Comey's testimony, that is not necessarily true now?

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Well, according to this latest report in The Washington Post, that is not true now. You'll remember it was just last week that the president and his

legal team were putting so much emphasis on former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill saying that he did, in fact, tell the

president three separate times that he was not personally under investigation. But Comey was talking about while he was still in charge of

the FBI. This latest report by The Washington Post suggests that that has all changed and it's a very big deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): A bombshell development in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. "The Washington Post" reporting that

Mueller is now investigating President Trump for possible obstruction of justice. The president's firing of FBI director James Comey propelling the

expansion of the probe.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, "You know, this Russia thing with Trump and

Russia is a made-up story."

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: There's no doubt that it's a fair judgment, it's my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia

investigation.

JONES: This development coming after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested Tuesday the special counsel may be looking into Comey's firing.

ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I can assure you that, if Director Mueller believes that that is relevant to his investigation, he has full

authority to investigate that and to make any appropriate findings.

JONES: Sources tell CNN, Mueller is planning to interview several of the nation's top intelligence chiefs, including director of national

intelligence Dan Coats; NSA Director Mike Rogers; and Rogers' former deputy, Richard Ledgett. Sources say Ledgett wrote a memo, documenting a

conversation in which President Trump reportedly urged Rogers to encourage the FBI to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.

Neither Rogers nor Coats would discuss their conversations with the president in a Senate hearing last week.

[08:25:31] SEN. ANGUS KING (I), MAINE: Why are you not answering our questions?

MIKE ROGERS, NSA DIRECTOR: I feel it is inappropriate.

DAN COATS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I'm not sure I have a legal basis.

JONES: Although Coats did make this comment about his three-plus-year career as head of the NSA.

COATS: I've never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way with shaping intelligence in the political way or in relationship to the ongoing

investigation.

JONES: President Trump's personal attorney, in a statement last night, did not deny that the president is under investigation. Instead focusing on

leakers, writing, "The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal."

This statement is identical to a bullet list of talking points issued by the Republican Party obtained by CNN. President Trump has already expressed

his willingness to talk to Mueller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of those events?

TRUMP: One hundred percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So, we'll see if that sit-down between the president and the special counsel ever takes place.

Meanwhile, the president is taking to Twitter, starting early this morning, about an hour and a half ago, he tweeted in response to this Washington

Post story, "they made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go to obstruction of justice on this phony story.

Nice."

That tweet is very much in line with the talking points put out by the Republican National

Committee. And just a few minutes ago, Kristie, he followed up with this tweet saying, "you are witnessing the single greatest witch hunt in

American political history led by some very bad and conflicted people."

We've heard him use that phrase, witch hunt, before. But what's clear here is the president is not happy with these ongoing investigations. They're

proving to be a distraction. And I should mention, not such a great birthday gift to the president who just turned 71 yesterday, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, everything right now is, at the time of his birthday, pointing to a Trump inquiry. He's been taking to Twitter this morning to

hit back hard.

What is the special counsel going the do next? I mean, how difficult will it be for Mueller to probe a sitting president for possible crimes?

JONES: Well, this is not entirely unprecedented. You'll remember Kenneth Starr back during the Clinton years, he had a slightly different title and

more independence as an independent prosecutor. But this is not unprecedented and Mueller has put together a team of professionals with a

great deal of experience. And so they'll continue to talk to who they need to talk to, get whatever documents they need to get.

How it all ultimately pans out is anyone's guess. And it's likely to take months and months. But one thing that is important to note here is that if

and when the president tries to exert executive privilege, he could face an issue in doing that because courts, including the D.C. circuit court, has

said that, look, there is no such thing as executive privilege if there's a question of misconduct, of government misconduct, or certainly of criminal

misconduct - Kristie?

LU STOUT: All right, Athena Jones, as always, thank you.

Let's get back to Clarissa Ward in London - Clarissa.

WARD: Peopl here, Kristie, are standing together after that horrific fire. And when we come back, we're going to have some great stories of how

Londoners from all walks of life are supporting each other and this battered community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:29] LU STOUT: All right, we continue to follow that breaking news out of eastern

China. An explosion at the front gates of a kindergarten has killed at least seven people and injured 66. This is according to Chinese state-run

media. This happened in the eastern part of China in Jiangsu Province about 4:15 in the afternoon local time. Two people died at the scene, five

others in hospital.

Now, we'll have much more on the story as we get the details - Clarissa.

WARD: Well, just 24 hours ago, Krsitie, a major fire swept through the 24- story tower. You can see it behind me. We can still smell that acrid smell of smoke. Now its charred remains stand as

a grim monument to one of the worst fires in London's modern history. At least 17 people dead, the

search for survivors has now ended. Firefighters still have no idea how many people are missing. They're now looking for victims, but London's

fire commissioner says it could take weeks to name all the dead.

The toll is expected to rise far above 17 as they scour the building's upper floors.

The community here in west London, of course, has been in mourning. But in the midst of the

tragedy, there has been inspiring outpouring of support.

And joining me now is Seltan Ahmed from the aid group Islamic Relief. Thank you so much for joining us. I guess the first question is when did

you hear about this fire? And what was your first reaction? What did you do?

SULTAN AHMED, ISLAMIC RELIEF: The first we heard about this was yesterday morning, around 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. As Muslims, we start fasting

around 3:00. And we followed the news and it seemed like a big disaster. But really hit us home when it was around 7:00, 8:00 in the morning when we

realized the whole building was on fire and there were cries of people on social media asking for help.

And that's when we mobilized our volunteers. And within a half hour, we managed to get a team of 12 together, sent them to the warehouse to get

6,000 bottles of water, which we delivered here yesterday, in the (inaudible) port center. And the local community center where we're giving

out water for people that needed it.

Not only that, Islamic Relief has a big network of recycling facilities around the country. And we had an ample stock of clothes that were donated

by the community, which we brought immediately here. There were also a demand of sleeping bags and mattresses which we brought along and we

donated to the (inaudible) sports center.

Yesterday was a very, very busy day because as it was happening, there was not much information going around. So, the whole community really came

together, whether that was Muslims, non-Muslims, black, white, brown people. The togetherness that we know and

that we're very proud of London to say that when disaster strikes, that the community comes together. We saw it yesterday.

WARD: It has been inspiring, I have to say. I mean, I've lived in London for many years, and I actually live just up the road. But to see the Sikhs

coming out, the Christians coming out, the Muslims coming out. And frankly, it didn't even matter, it was just about anybody who feels in the

fiber of their being that they're a Londoner that they wanted to help. It's really been an inspiration to see that.

But tell me now, because, you know, in the immediate aftermath you rush in, you bring water, you bring the basics. What do you think is needed now to

help the victims of this terrible fire as they try to get back on their feet? What is most in demand? What do you need to help them?

AHMED: Right now, first of all, my appeal to all the viewers in this local area is to stop

bringing anymore physical goods, because the center is absolutely ram packed with donations. The generous donations that the community has

brought forward. But right now financial assistance is something -- a lot of charities are getting together.

So, Islamic Relief has a coalition of charities collecting funds together. And we are going to wait for the local authorities to do the needs

assessment and to advise us on what the next step.

Let's not forget that the people that were living in those flats, they have lost everything. I was just inside the center providing support to people

that didn't speak English. There's a Persian family, then there's an Arabic speaking family. The woman, she's got six children, three sons and

three daughters. They're in the shelter at the moment, but they don't know where the husband is. And she had a mental breakdown.

So, it was really, really tough to see. As an aid worker we are probably conditioned to see a lot of things, but to see someone emotionally break

down and not knowing where the future is, not knowing what's happening of their loved ones is very, very difficult.

We are providing that support from a cultural perspective, from a religious perspective. We know that there are a lot of Muslim communities in this

area, as others. So, from that point of view, Islamic Relief is here with other charities in a coalition. We're not working alone, we're working

together with local authorities and other charities to provide.

Not only that, we're also helping clear the stockpile of stocks. So, we have volunteer teams in

different parts of this area trying to take the congestion away as well as provide moral and emotional support inside the center.

We're working - actually we're also working in partnership with the British Red Cross at the moment.

WARD: Well, I don't want to keep you because I know you're going have your hands full. From all of us, thank you for the work all of you are doing.

It's incredibly inspiring to see. And good note to remember, if people are wanting to give more in the way of helping, don't bring physical goods.

The emphasis now really on financial support for the families who will likely be homeless for quite some time.

Lristie Lu Stout, back to you in Hong Kong.

LU STOUT: Thank you very much. Great interviews, just lovely to see the solidarity in London. It's such inspiration. Thank you, Clarissa.

Now, up next in the program, Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting his annual Q&A

broadcast. It's happening right now. He's made some comments that are sure to raise eyebrows especially in the U.S. Our Jill Dougherty is

standing by to tell you what he is saying next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, we are following reports from Chinese state media that an explosion has hit just outside the front gate of a kindergarten. Two

people died at the scene, five others died in hospitals, 66 others are injured.

Now, this took place in Jiangsu Province. We now know the city, it was Xuzhou City. This happened just a few hours ago, late afternoon local

time.

And police are trying to figure out what caused the blast. We'll bring you the very latest on

this as it comes into us here at CNN.

Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been conducting his annual question and answer broadcast today. Mr. Putin has been taking questions

from the public for hours now. You're looking at live video of the event that's currently under way. He's covered a wide variety of subjects,

including sanctions and fired FBI director James Comey.

Now, CNN contributor Jill Dougherty has been monitoring this broadcast very closely. She join us now live from Moscow. And Jill, how has Putin

addressed the probe and sanctions and politics in America?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kristie, I'd have to say is kind of a classic President Putin moment when he talked about Comey.

He said essentially that Comey had leaked that conversation with the president in the Oval Office and made the comparison to Snowden, Edward

Snowden, who also is a leaker, he said. And then he said, by the way, if Mr. Comey, you know, is prosecuted or needs some help, he can have

political asylum in Russia.

Of course that's tongue-in-cheek. That never would have happen. But it was one of I would say high points of this now three hours and 40 minutes

and counting with President Putin.

A lot of it was economic in the beginning. He talked about the recession in Russia. He said that has basically been overcome, but a lot of the

questions coming in from people all over the country, video, tweets and texts, et cetera, were really about the economy and how difficult life has

become for many Russians.

He did talk about sanctions. He said that essentially sanctions by the west have always been and even historically an attempt to keep Russia down.

And then he said that actually the sanctions that had imposed by the west are hurting the west more than they are hurting Russia. And then he also

said that there would be - they would be watching their counter sanctions, so they might continue or might end counter sanctions depending upon what

the west did.

I think one of the most interesting things was, as the president was speaking, they had certain texts that were shown on the screen. And some

of them were very open. I mean, one said when are you going to resign? Do you really think the people believe in this circus with setup questions?

And another one that said three terms is enough. So, that was quite surprising. I have never seen that in

previous years.

And then finally, a quick question of Russophobia coming from an American who said that they cannot - that there is what he called Russophobia and

that that anger against the United States, really President Putin said we've been friends for a long time. We hope it continues. Back to you,

Krsitie.

LU STOUT: Interesting. It seems more than it usually a highly choreographed media event.

Jill Dougherty, thank you.

And finally, just when you thought that Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull have patched things up, there has been an awkward turn. In a leaked audio

the Australian prime minister can be heard poking fun at the U.S. president.

Mr. Turnbull was giving a speech at Australia's parliament's annual mid- winter ball. And he seemed to be mocking Mr. Trump's speaking style. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MALCOLM TURNBULL, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are winning and winning. We are winning so much. We are winning like we have never won before. We

are winning in the polls. We are. We are. Not the fake polls...

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, he even has the hand gestures too.

Now, Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Trump met briefly in New York last month. And back then, the U.S. president described their relations as fantastic, but a

few months before that, as you recall, the men had a testy phone call when they clashed over refugee deals struck under the Obama administration.

Now, that's it from me in Hong Kong. I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

WARD: And I'm Clarissa Ward. I will be back in 15 minutes with much more from London. But next on CNN, World Sport with Alex Thomas.

END