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World Headlines; Europe's Migrant Crisis; North Korea Threat. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 17, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Robyn Curnow in Atlanta. Welcome to News Stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Trump defiant kicking out after media are again over backlash grows to his defense of white supremacists.

Three student leaders behind Hong Kong's umbrella movement protest of a jailed after the government was ask to increase their sentence.

And survivors of the world's first nuclear attack in Russia have speak up saying President Trump doesn't understand the danger of nuclear war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And U.S. President Donald Trump is hitting back after an avalanche of criticism in recent days. In an early morning tweet here in the U.S.,

he accused the media of misrepresenting his remarks about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

And he accused one of its critics, Republicans Senator Lindsey Graham of being a public seeker. Well, Senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny

reports on the president's staff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump defiant in the wake of a growing backlash over his combative response to deadly

violence at a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville.

PROTESTERS: Jews will not replace us!

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think this blame on both sides and I have no doubt about it.

ZELENY: Two sources told CNN the president is moving forward without regret, believing firmly that the media and east coast elites are unfairly

upset about his remarks.

TRUMP: What about the alt-left? They came charging at the as you say, the alt-right, do they have any semblance of guilt?

ZELENY: But the president's words have caused a major break between him and some of the nation's top business leaders. Three executives tell CNN

that after the president's off the rails press conference on Tuesday, CEO serving on the president strategic and policy form decided to dissolve the

group.

Before they could make the announcement, the president acted first, tweeting that he is dismantling both his policy and manufacturing panels

despite boasting 24 hours earlier about having many business leaders to replace the CEOs who were distancing themselves from the White House.

The revolt doesn't stop there, five armed services chiefs also countering their commander-in-chief with public condemnations of white supremacy on

Twitter, although none mentioned President Trump by name.

REP. PAUL MITCHELL (R), MICHIGAN: I don't believe you can be a fine person and a white supremacist. They're mutually exclusive, can't use them in the

same line.

ZELENY: Many Republicans also denouncing the president's remarks, although the majority of the party and its leadership have not explicitly condemned

Mister Trump by name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the president speaks for himself.

ZELENY: Within the White House, many of the president's aides have privately expressed frustration, but there have been no resignations. And

sources tell CNN, it is a safe assumption for now, nobody is stepping down.

Chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn, who is Jewish is said to be disappointed and embarrassed. While the president's Jewish daughter and son-in-law have

yet to comment.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We stand with the president and I stand by those words.

ZELENY: Vice President Pence was abruptly cutting his international trips short to return to the U.S. today, defending the president but declining to

answer direct questions about his remarks.

The fall-out comes as hundreds gathered for a peaceful march and candlelight vigil at the University of Virginia campus. The very site

where white supremacist carried torches and Nazi flags that led to violence.

Charlottesville community coming together to heal and pay tribute to Heather Heyer, whose mother had this message for you to hate.

SUSAN BRO, HEATHER HEYER'S MOTHER: They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what, you just magnified her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Very powerful statement there at her daughter's funeral and Jeff Zeleny, there are reporting -- we'll speak to him in just a minute.

But in the meantime, we also want to look at this issue. President Trump as we know, enjoyed considerable support from manufacturers and the

business community early on. But there are suddenly signs that support is now taking a hit.

Chief money -- CNN'S Money Chief Correspondent Christine Romans, that is a very long title. I mean I think it was...

(CROSSTALK)

CURNOW: I agree with you I know exactly who you are. I do want to ask, I mean, the fact that the CEOs were bolting and then the president basically

cancel these business councils and bit like, I am breaking up with you before you break up me scenario.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

CURNOW: What is all of this mean? I mean, is it really over?

ROMANS: You know, he change the relationship status on Facebook before they did.

CURNOW: Right.

ROMANS: But they had let him know the morning that they were out of the relationship. There is no question here. I mean there was big conference

club. The back story, it so fascinating, these CEOs has been talking to one another.

There was a conference call earlier in the morning. Some CEOs had made the decision and told their -- their other executives in the morning that they

were backing away, dumping the president if you will.

[08:05:00] And then they were -- together, they alerted the White House. The White House told the president. The president said I'm just going to

disband these things all together.

These are some of the -- you know, just the top titans who are on these panels. This was supposed to be the president surrounding himself with

blue ribbon advised about how to make America great again and help manufacturing, and help the economy.

Now some of these CEOs will tell you publicly and privately frankly that from the very beginning, they worried there was a little bit of a photo-op

and they were always worried there could be sort of a Tweet storm from this president any moment where he would criticize them.

And some even thought that maybe the president who is businessman but certainly his business acumen is not of the level of some these, you know,

huge multinational companies, that he was boosting his ego by surrounding himself with these -- with these name folks.

Also on policy, by the way, they disagree with him on a lot of things. They disagree with him on climate change and you saw him lose a couple of

big names on climate change and the travel ban.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, he left his advisory position because of that. Bob Iger left after the president had jumped out of the Paris claim --

Climate Accord.

So there were some early withdrawals but when you saw Kenneth Frazier from Merck.

The first one after this weekend to walk away from the president saying his Charlottesville remarks -- his Charlottesville response was not something

that he as a CEO of Merck could abide by. That was the beginning of the end there.

CURNOW: Exactly, and did these men and women do this? I mean, do you-- was it a decision they took or do you think it was in consultation with the

board and with shareholders, was it a moral decision, was it a branding decision?

ROMANS: It was all of those things. It was all the things. But Brand is really important here. I mean if you are following on social media the

last couple of days, there was an intense push against Campbell Soup. What could be more wholesome than Campbell Soup, right?

You're starting to see this imagery of little children eating their soup with the letters -- the little noodle letters that say white supremacy.

You know that's a powerful image and people began to share those damages, and say put pressure on these companies. There's a lot of pressure on the

Pepsi CEO, Indra Nooyi to walk away, a lot of pressure on JPMorgan and these other companies.

I want to read to you what the JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said by the way, a fellow New Yorker, someone who has known Donald Trump for a long time, he

said look, you cannot equivocate when denouncing racism. That's what he said about this president.

He is quoted, the leader's role in business or in government to bring people together not tear them apart, so Jamie Dimon, coming out there very

strongly as well.

You know, we've seen them get socially progressive before. Remember when a lot of these companies got together and they signed a friend of the court

in Amicus brief about same-sex marriage.

We've seen them talk about climate change and the importance of having long-term strategies to address climate change. Well, that will mean for

their customers and what that mean for their factories and what that mean for their employees.

So you've seen them kind of embrace a more -- I would say slightly more progressive than just share holder value view point on issues in the past.

And on race, that was the breaking point for them.

CURNOW: Yes, and rightly so, Christine Romans, thanks so much for joining us.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CURNOW: OK. We heard as I said Jeff Zeleny's report on the president at the beginning of this hour. I want to bring him in back for live analysis.

Jeff, great to see you too.

That was a great report and I was reading Axios, which is one of the news aide that is out of D.C. this morning and their headline is that Trump

isolated.

ZELENY: Right.

CURNOW: And he's basically an island with a shrinking band of true believers. We heard, Christine, talk about the CEOs leaving and this is a

president who even if this is happening is certainly continuing to alienate people including media, again with his tweets today.

ZELENY: No question about it and I think what, Christine, was saying there is so striking from these businessman-president. I have been in so many of

those meetings at the White House where the president is seated around with CEOs.

This is his club. This is his fraternity, his group. He liked having those CEOs sitting around him. It is a, you know, part of his sign of

strength that he is going to revive the economy.

Well all that has been complicated to say the very least by these comments. I mean these CEOs as, Christine and you were just discussing simply don't

think it's good for business to associate with the businessman-president.

Now that puts us at an entirely different place than at any other point we have been for the last seven months of his presidency.

But this morning, the president is out tweeting again going directly after some Republican Senators, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator

Jeff Flake of Arizona, both Republicans but also taking issue with the media not surprisingly, for some of those comments.

This is one of his tweets this morning I will read it, so the public is learning even more so, how dishonest the fake news is. They totally

misrepresented what I said about hate, bigotry, et cetera. Shame, the reality is, that press conference was live on television here in the United

States and indeed around the world.

Those comments unfiltered have reverberated. That is what caused Republicans to confront this president.

[08:10:00] That is what caused CEOs to disengage from the White House and the president knows that and frankly it seems to be he is doing this

morning.

CURNOW: As he probably does as we know every morning. So then this issue -- issue of isolation and way he goes from now, I mean there is list.

He has manage to isolate himself from Republicans, Democrats, the media, world leaders, CEOs, Europe, Muslims, Hispanics, African-Americans,

military leaders, intelligence community, his own staff, so how does this president continue, particularly when it comes to his agenda where people

voted him for?

ZELENY: That's definitely a long list there. No question, he is isolated.

(CROSSTALK)

CURNOW: I want to bliss someone out.

ZELENY: But I do not think that it is right if you may have --we only have limited time of course. But look I think that would be reality here as

many of those people on that list, Republican certainly do share you know, the same agenda items as he does.

They want to get tax reform done. They want to accomplish something that Republicans are controlling you know, the House Senate and indeed, the

White House.

It's an open question of how much this impacts the agenda going after these Republican senators. So you need to vote for you, is a mind blowing a

strategy for some people.

But we should point out there are supporters of President Trump who like what he is doing in terms of disrupting the establishment.

The question here is, will they stomach voting for something, you know, when they disagree with some of his comments on a race and other things but

they do like his regulation plans, and his tax reform plans, will vote for him on that.

I think that you know, he's at a different moment here when he comes back to Washington, and Congress comes back in September. They'll have to reset

this relationship, no question about it.

CURNOW: Yeah, and then you make point there is that actually, this is technically holiday time, this is vacation time. The president is on a

holiday and so.

ZELENY: What a vacation.

CURNOW: What a vacation, certainly not a break from the D.C., from this presidency. Jeff Zeleny, as always great to speak to you, thanks.

OK, so the events in Charlottesville have certainly brought a new focus to Confederate monuments around the United States. And some places, city

officials are quietly removing statues from public places before they can attract demonstrations like the one we saw last weekend. Well, CNN's Jake

Tapper has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Baltimore, a stark reminder that even that which is set in stone can be removed with enough force.

Statues of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were among four monuments hauled off into the night on a flatbed truck.

Hours earlier in Birmingham, Alabama cruise put up plywood to obscure a 52- foot obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors. All just hours after President Trump posed this question.

TRUMP: I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You

know you all -- you really do have to ask yourself where does this stop?

TAPPER: The Baltimore's mayor the answer was simple.

MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH (D), BALTIMORE: The Confederacy did not fight to unite this country and we are the United States of America. We should be

focused on how to become a more united, more loving city, state, country.

TAPPER: Days after violent protests sparked at least in part because of the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, government officials

in at least nine other states are publicly contemplating the fates of their memorials to those who fought for slavery on the losing Confederate side.

In Durham, North Carolina, some broke the law and took matters into their own hands. Another nationwide debate about whether these monuments set in

stone on her heritage or hate.

Were they erected by grieving mothers of Confederate soldiers or by someone else? The Southern Poverty Law Centers says a majority of the more than

700 Confederate monuments in public spaces across the country were erected decades after General Lee surrender.

FITZ BRUNDAGE, HISTORY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: They were erected when they were erected at the same time that white Southerners --

conservative white Southerners were -- if you will seizing power for white Southerners and imposing Jim Crow segregation and white supremacy on the

society more broadly.

TAPPER: This carving on Georgia Stone Mountain planned in the early 20th century but finished in 1972, used to be a well-known gathering place for

white supremacists.

As far west as Arizona, a state not yet part of the nation during the Civil War, Confederate memorials are up for debate as well. Some say the

memorials are important to keep to remind Americans of our racist past.

GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R), ARIZONA: I don't think we should try to hide our history. I think we ought to try to -- to teach it, make people understand

we've overcome a lot of mistakes.

TAPPER: Where should the line be drawn? Washington D.C. is a city named after the first but now the last slave owning president.

[08:15:00] Statues of Confederate leaders grace the halls of the Capitol building. Interestingly, Robert E. Lee was once asked about placing

memorials at Gettysburg in 1869.

The former general replied, I think it wiser not to keep open the source of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to

obliterate the marks of civil strife to commit to oblivion. The feelings engendered. Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Great piece there from Jake. Well, up next here on CNN, South Korea's leader promises peace on the peninsula even as he worries about the

North's improvement in nuclear technology. A live report from South Korean capital, that's ahead.

Also, earlier this morning, the lost of hundreds of people in a deadly Latin mudslide as it braces for yet another disaster, stay with us. You're

watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. Hong Kong's famous Umbrella Movement student leaders have been jailed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: A Hong Kong's court sentenced Joshua -- Joshua Wong to six months in prison for his role in the 2014 pro-democracy protest.

His fellow leaders Nathan Law and Alex Chow were given eight and seven months respectively. The trio were originally sentenced to community

service but Hong Kong's Justice Department argued for a harsher penalty.

And the China director for human rights watch called the verdict a nakedly calculated political prosecution. The court decision launched increasingly

tense relations between China and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

The Umbrella Movement shut down major highways in Hong Kong for more than two months in 2014. Thousands occupy the streets calling for universal

suffrage and democracy.

Beijing has repeatedly called the movement illegal and state media sends to report of the protests, since then, Beijing has also blocked efforts by

Hong Kong activists to become law makers.

It reinterprets the Hong Kong's Constitution saying elected law makers have to make their oath of office sincerely. That disqualified fixed elected

law makers including Nathan Law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And turning now to South Korea where the president marks a 100 days in office with a sweeping promise to his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Moon Jae-in says he is confident, there will be no war ever again on the Korean Peninsula.

He says he has assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that Seoul will be consulted before Washington makes any military decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And it comes that the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford is reaching out to leaders across Asia. Let's get the

latest from the Peninsula.

Paula Hancocks joins us now from the South Korean capital. Lots to talk about -- hi, Paula. I mean, how much is there about mixed messages?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, certainly what we heard from President Moon was that the U.S. and South Korea are on exactly the

same page.

[08:20:00] That they both want the same approach when it comes to trying to deal with that the North Korean nuclear missile crisis. But I ask

President Moon the fact that you say, you are on the same page.

But then you hear what President Trump said last week about military options being locked and loaded, does that undermine what you are saying

and does that send a mixed message to Pyongyang, this is his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through a translator): The stance of U.S. and Korea is not fundamentally different. The stance of U.S. and

South Korea is the same that we should make North Korea stop additional provocation through strong sanctions and pressure, and leading them to the

table of discussion forgiving up nuclear.

The U.S. is imposing sanctions through the U.N. as well as his own additional sanctions. President Trump of the United States is trying to

pressure North Korea through showing a strong will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And he did say there would be no Second Korean War. He said it was a promise he was making. He told his people to trust him, that it

wouldn't happen again say that they built this country up from the ruins of the First World War and it simply would not happen again.

He said he would stop war at all costs. This is a very strong words from the South Korean president, also saying that any decision from military

action, any decision for any action on the Korean Peninsula would have to be cleared by South Korea, saying that President Trump is effectively

getting him guaranteed and agrees that is how it would work. Robyn.

CURNOW: And what's the response then to that from all the South Koreans, what do they think of all of this?

HANCOCKS: Well, certainly I think today would have put some minds at rest day. Although to be fair, most South Koreans are carrying on as normal.

They have seen these spikes intentions before certainly last week was that was more tense than that other times and some experts saying, may be among

the most tense that this Peninsula have seen for some years.

But certainly that would have put people's minds at rest. Going forward there, what we're looking at is those military drills between the U.S. and

South Korea next week, which once again will anger Pyongyang.

They always do, but heard from Dunford, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman speaking to reporters in Beijing when he was just a day or so ago, he said

they wouldn't be scale that.

But these joint military drills have to happen and he said Seoul will actually have to happened now more than ever before to make sure that the

U.S.-South Korea military lines is strong and that they're ready to fight. Should they need to at any point. Robyn.

CURNOW: All eyes on next week. Thanks so much, Paula Hancocks, there in Seoul. Well, North Korea put its plan to fire missiles near Guam on hold

but U.S. forces on the island are not easing out.

Our Martin Savidge visited Andersen Air Force Base for a closer look at what's known as the U.S. military tip of the spear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the plane that Kim Jong-un hates, flying for the base that has put the U.S. territory of Guam at the top of

North Korea's hit list.

We were given a closer look at both. Anderson Air Force Base on the northern end of the island of Guam has been around since World War II. But

increasingly is taking on a key strategic role for possible military action against North Korea.

COL. CHRISTOPHER OCCHIUZZO, DEPUTY COMMANDER, 36TH OPERATIONS GROUP: We train everyday. We are always our readiness and that is what makes us

ready to fight tonight because we have this power projection here right behind us.

SAVIDGE: As the U.S. grows more and more concerned with the possibility of North Korea launching a nuclear missile, this base and its bombers are

called, the tip of the spear with their ability to launch preemptive strikes on North Korean missile sites if so ordered.

B-1 bombers are usually working in pairs that make them the 2100 mile flight from Guam to the Korean Peninsula, a mission of about 10 hours.

The Air Force calls the flights routine, you call also call them something else, practice. So the pilots that fly the B-1 bombers say, it's really

like flying a fighter jet, not a heavy life bomber.

And the say three words, speed, persistence that can linger a longtime and payload. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the B-1 has been a work course capable

of remaining airborne for long periods of time just waiting for the right moment to strike.

This is what gives the plane its incredible rebuilt punch. This is actually the bomb right here and if you look carefully, you'll notice that

it rotates like a carousel.

It allows the air craft to carry all kinds of different ammunitions, that way, it can carry out multiple strike on the same flight.

OCCHIUZZO: The B-1 has a multiple capabilities. Obviously it's a bomber, so it carries bombs. It has gravity bombs. It has GPS guided bombs and

also standoff bomb. So we don't necessarily have to get directly over the target to drop.

SAVIDGE: Just out of side of the flight lines, another feature of the base that makes it such a potential threat.

A massive series of bunkers storing millions of pounds of conventional bombs and explosives, including 2000 pound bunker busters that could be

used to target North Korea's regime. Kim Jong-un may have backed off any immediate plans to fire missiles at Guam.

[08:25:00] But airmen saying nothing has changed at Andersen. Here commanders say both the base and the bombers are prepared to carry out

whatever, whenever the president orders, living up to its mano, ready to fight tonight. Martin Savidge, CNN Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Turning now to Sierra Leone, where officials are scrambling to prevent another disaster. Teams have been digging through rubble for days,

now looking for hundreds of people missing after Monday deadly mudslide.

Search and rescue teams have recovered more than 300 bodies so far. Now an official tells CNN the area around the capital is at risk of another

mudslide.

He says they're working against time to evacuate people in the danger zone. Well, our Farai Sevenzo has been following this situation since Monday from

Nairobi in Kenya. Farai, good to see you. This might be coming out with a pretty strong statement, also saying that was man-made disaster.

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Robyn. I mean, our news - - we do miss their words and that's one.

CURNOW: Right.

SEVENZO: They basically say look, every year this floods happen and that the authorities should have been more prepared and that the people in some

parts of Sierra Leone are living in very dangerously structures -- dangerous structures that they live in.

So they say that it should have been -- it should have been proceed and ambition to prepare for it. But the fact to the matter is that they have

had 27 inches of rain, Robyn, which is twice, more than...

CURNOW: Oh, dear. We seem to have lost Farai there, coming to us Nairobi just updating us on the mudslides in Sierra Leone, Amnesty International

saying that it was a man-made tragedy and also many people warning that there is a danger of a second mudslide, so we will keep an eye on that.

And if you want to help the people in Sierra Leone, you can make a donation through our website, just go to CNN.com/impact. Up next, powerless

journey, thousands of migrants make -- take a cross in Mediterranean Sea, is going to even more riskier. Anti-immigration group is trying to hamper

rescue efforts. We've got that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow at Atlanta. Thanks for joining us. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: President Trump is fighting back after an avalanche of criticism in an early morning tweet. He accused the news media of misrepresenting

his comments on Charlottesville. On Tuesday, Mister Trump claims both sides were responsible for the weekend violence there.

Hong Kong's umbrella movement student leaders Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow have been jailed of Hong Kong court facing them to several months

for unlawful assembly.

It's the pro-democracy protest shut down several Hong Kong highways in 2014. And the trio says they will keep fighting for democracy. A governor

in Sierra Leone says the country is bracing for another mudslide. Teams have now recovered more than 300 bodies from the devastating landslide on

Monday and hundreds more remained missing. Authorities are now evacuating people from the danger zone in safety health centers.

More than 600 migrants are now safe and sound, thanks to the work of the Spanish coastguard. They joined more than 118,000 who made the dangerous

Mediterranean crossing. An estimated 2,400 migrants have lost their lives trying, and the spike in the number of migrants trying to make it to Europe

is causing tensions on those waters.

Melissa Bell joins us now live from the port of Catania in Sicily with more on all of this. It's the summer month, that means something where you are.

Thanks so much for joining us. What can you tell us?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, we've seen those rescues off the coast of Spain, record numbers of rescues over the course of 48-hour

period. It could be that the focus of some of these attempted crossings is now shifting towards Spain and the reason that could be happening is that

Italians have really managed to get the numbers of migrants landing here in Italy under control.

After years of frustration and feeling letdown by the European Union, Italian authorities really been looking southward and have been working

over the course of the last few weeks on close cooperation with Libya. The result of that, Robyn, has been a crackdown on people smuggling and closer

monitoring of the NGO that allowed the migrants to make it to European shores like the ones that (INAUDIBLE) from this boat, the Aquarius, now

docked here in Catania.

Meanwhile, though, even as those efforts were beginning to bear their fruits, there has been this extraordinary almost ideological battle in the

seas of the Mediterranean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): We will start our operation in front of the Libyan coast. We advise you to leave the SAR area because you're acting as

a pool factor for human traffickers making them billions. We will watch you at the days of your unwatched (INAUDIBLE) are over.

BELL (voice-over): It was the first encounter between the C-Star, a boat chartered by anti-immigrant activists and the Aquarius, an NGO rescue ship

in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya.

One month on, the C-Star's crew is claiming victory. They say their operation has hampered the efforts of humanitarian ships they accused of

running a taxi service for migrants to Europe.

MARTIN SELLNER, C-STAR CREW (voice-over): They've lost most of the public support, many of them have given up. We went and they came basically so it

was definitely a success.

BELL (voice-over): But the C-Star's month-long operation has not all been smooth sailing. The boat was turned away from some Mediterranean ports,

plagued by mechanical failures and difficulties in getting positions. And rescue operations in the Mediterranean continue. On Tuesday, more than 100

migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya then brought to the Aquarius by another boat.

By Wednesday, those rescues were taken to (INAUDIBLE) at the southern tip of Sicily. NGOs like SOS Miditerranee are facing increased intervention in

their migrant rescue effort. Italian and Libyan authorities have joined forces in the last few weeks, both cracking down on human smugglers and

Italy introducing a code of conduct for NGO vessels. But the crew of the Aquarius say nothing will stop them from doing all they can to help

migrants.

NICOLA STALA, SOS MEDITERRANEE: We are talking about people in distress at sea so I am seafarer and I know exactly that this is one of the duties as a

seaman, the rescue of people in distress at sea.

BELL: The numbers of migrants arriving on Italian shores have dropped significantly. According to (INAUDIBLE) Interior Ministry, the number of

new arrivals in July of this year was half as many as have arrived in July of last year.

But according to the mayor of Catania, one of those towns most affected here in Sicily, the drop is the result of the actions of the Italian and

Libyan governments rather than the C-Star's campaign.

ENZO BIANCO, MAYOR OF CATANIA (through translator): They only want to highlight the racist side of Europe. This is the reason why we don't like

them. We don't want them in Catania. They don't solve problems, they create them.

BELL (voice-over): Anti-immigration activists from defend Europe say that despite the difficulties and the opposition they face, they will be

launching more operations in the future.

SELLNER (voice-over): What we want to do is we want to preserve European identities. And we want to break barrier of silence and political

correctness. That is keeping the silent majority silent, dispersed and powerless. And also this ship, the C-Star, is in a way a materialization of

the silent majority.

BELL (voice-over): But the humanitarian groups that operate them, ships like the Aquarius, are a materialization of something else. The defense,

not so much of European identity as of European values.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:00] BELL: The point is, Robyn, even if Italy has got its numbers under control, the problem remains massive. This boat, the Aquarius, has

saved 11,000 lives this year alone.

CURNOW: Wow, that's quite a number. So what does that mean? I mean, you're standing on that one boat. What kind of impact of this anti-immigration

boat having on the rescues and the whole NGO process out there at sea?

BELL: Well, many of them are worrying, Robyn, that they simply don't have the ability to carry on functioning as they did, and that's because of that

crackdown that I mentioned by Libyan authorities in particular. They are creating a new search and rescue zone which goes beyond their territorial

waters, beyond which they insist that they should take care of the migrants.

So essentially what they do is take the migrants back to Libya. What humanitarians tell us here is that is extremely worrying to them because

over the years they have heard harrowing testimonies from the people they have collected from the sea about precisely what went wrong in the camps

which these migrants are being returned in Libya.

CURNOW: Melissa Bell, thanks so much, great reporting there, appreciate it.

In Australia, a senator known for her strong stance against Muslim immigration is being widely condemned. Pauline Hanson of the far right One

Nation Party wear a burqa to parliament house and took her seat. She then stood up and dramatically removed teh veil, saying, quote, I'm quite happy

to remove this because it is not what should belong in this parliament.

She then turned to Attorney General George Brandis and asked him if he would work to ban the barqa in light of what's happening with national

security. He accused her of mocking Muslim dress and said, no, they will not be banning the barqa.

Still to come, a message from people who lived through the aftermath of (INAUDIBLE) what they have to say to the U.S. and North Korea during these

tense times. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: For many of us, (INAUDIBLE) seems like a distant prospect, but in Hiroshima, Japan, the recent verbal (INAUDIBLE) between the U.S. and North

Korea is bringing back painful memories and raising concerns. Kyung Lah talked to survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing who have a message for

Donald Trump. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A childhood horror that never fade. At 87, Fumica Cotto (ph) still feels the moment where city

of Hiroshima became the world's first victim of an atomic bomb.

We were all blown to the corner of the room, she says. Bodies on top of each other like a mountain. I was at the bottom.

Cotto (ph) was in a building less than a mile away from where the bomb fell. A concrete wall shielded her from the initial blast. Of the girls

pictured here, Cotto (ph) was the only survivor on August 6, 1945. Japan remained at war with the allies, ignoring final demands to surrender.

The atomic bomb dropped in the morning, she explains, but suddenly it became night from the mushroom cloud.

People outside, their bodies burn,

[08:40:00] their skin hanging down and peeling, walking like they don't know where to go.

I witnessed the terror of a nuclear weapon.

In the war of words from North Korea to America's president, she hears the echo of history. In 1945, President Truman issuing a warning to Japan.

HARRY TRUMAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of

which has never been seen on this earth.

LAH (voice-over): And now, President Trump to North Korea.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They will be met with fire and fury, like the world has never seen.

LAH (voice-over): Arrogance, says Cotto (ph), who has not just seen but lived it.

I don't know why President Trump doesn't think of a peaceful solution. They don't understand the terribleness, cruelness of nuclear weapons. Trump

needs to educate himself.

More than 260,000 people will die in Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the nuclear bombs and their fallout.

They are treating this like it's some kind of a joke, says Sosho Kalamoto (ph). Trump and Kim Jong-un, he says, it makes me angry, they don't

understand. Kalamoto (ph) just 11 years old when a bomb hits Hiroshima. Lost his parents and three siblings, his entire family. Today, this elderly

man spreads peace the only way he knows how. To President Trump and Kim Jong-un, he says, your overconfidence is scary and ignorant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: These survivors are living witness to history. They are in their 80s and 90s. Their numbers are dwindling and disappearing with them, the

understanding into this horror of war. Kyung Lah, CNN, Hiroshima, Japan.

CURNOW: Important report there. Thanks to Kyung Lah. You're watching "News Stream." I'm Robyn Curnow. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport" is next. Stay

with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)

END