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U.S. President's First Address to U.N. General Assembly; U.S. South Korea Defense against North Korea; Terror Threat Lowered in the U.K.; U.S. Considering Closing Havana Embassy. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 18, 2017 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:06] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Trump back in his home in New York City and preparing to present his America first policy at the United Nations.

Plus, amid ongoing tensions with North Korea, an exclusive look at how the U.S. and South Korean militaries are working together to keep Seoul safe.

And a growing crisis in Bangladesh, thousands of Rohingya refugees in camps where supplies are limited and the situation is dire.

Hello everyone and thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church here in Atlanta.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Well, tensions with North Korea serve as the backdrop for this week's U.N. General Assembly session U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in New York on Sunday, set to make his first appearance before the body.

Mr. Trump has been harshly critical of the U.N. in the past. But he's expected to look for support in dealing with Pyongyang on its nuclear program.

As Athena Jones reports, world leaders will listen closely to his President Trump's foreign policy message.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. This is a huge week for President Trump. It's his turn on the most high-profile stage in the world. We're talking about 193 member nations taking part in the United Nations' General Assembly and a lot of those world leaders are going to be eager to take the measure of President Trump and eager to hear what kind of message he has to deliver on Tuesday when he's set to address the General Assembly especially given the fact that candidate Trump was a huge skeptic of the United Nations.

On the campaign trail we have heard him talk about what he called the utter weakness and incompetency of the United Nations. And we heard him say that the U.N. is not a friend of democracy, not a friend of freedom and not a friend even to the United States. Now, it's not clear how much he might temper his criticism of the United Nations in his speech on Tuesday but we did get a little bit of a preview of part of the message he'll deliver from his national security advisor H.R. McMaster who spoke on "On Fox News Sunday". Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Well, he thinks the speech is a tremendous opportunity obviously to reach so many world leaders at the same time and to emphasize really three themes.

First is to protect the American people, the second is to promote American prosperity, and the third is really to help promote accountability and sovereignty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard General McMaster say the speech will be a tremendous opportunity for the President to address so many world leaders gathered together in one place.

It's also going to be an opportunity for those leaders to hear how the President is going to promote his America first agenda at what is a meeting of a global organization geared towards solving global challenges together.

It's important to note, of course, the President will have a series of important meetings and events that he'll be hosting during which he'll be discussing a long list of agenda items -- among them ISIS and Syria, Venezuela.

One meeting he's going to be having -- a very important meeting towards the end of the week is a lunch with the leaders of South Korea and Japan. North Korea and its nuclear provocations will be high on the agenda at that lunch.

Athena Jones, CNN, Somerset -- New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Larry Sabato. He is the director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Always great to talk with you. Thanks so much for being with us.

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: So let's start with President Trump, who will, of course address the U.N. General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday. He has, of course, been critical of the organization. So what tone would you expect him to set and what is at stake here?

SABTO: This is a teleprompter speech. And believe me, American diplomats not just at the State Department but around the world hope that there are no extemporaneous asides. It's just important for the President to come across as serious, because even though everyone around the world understands the presidency is a very serious office, they do not see Donald Trump as serious.

So the tone that he sets should be precisely that -- professional. Now, what he does beyond that will depend on what he feels like doing. I doubt he'll be calling, as he has in other places and on other occasions 25 percent cut in what the United States funds in the United Nations.

CHURCH: Right. So, ok. So you expect him to read off the teleprompter. This will be very controlled. But of course, people never know what's going to happen when it comes to Mr. Trump.

And one of the biggest issues right now is rising tensions with North Korea and many are uneasy with the way Mr. Trump has been dealing with this very delicate issue.

[00:05:01] His U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley and his Secretary of Defense James Mattis have warned that a military option is very much on the table.

So how likely is it that Mr. Trump will be able to forge an international coalition for support for such a doomsday option or for at least people to rally and nations to rally around him to control North Korea?

SABTO: Well, the latter is more likely than the former. I don't think there's going to be coalition in favor of war because no one is going to win from that. Remember, the North Korean delegation will be really just few feet from Donald Trump. I believe they're going to be in the front row.

So I'll be interested to see what they're reaction is and whether there's a walkout, which I assume would be planned in advance, or in reaction to something that he says.

Given the audience, my guess is that Trump will stay to the text, and the text probably will be less inflammatory than his tweets. I don't think he'll be calling the leader of North Korea "Rocketman".

CHURCH: Yes. But that's so recent isn't it? I mean that's the problem. And that's what's got so many people uneasy.

So how much will this speech from Mr. Trump matter? And what impact might it have on his presidency going forward, do you think?

SABATO: These speeches tend to come and go. It's hard to remember what other presidents did and said that mattered. Sometimes the bilateral meetings that are held apart from the addresses to the General Assembly actually have more impact and Trump has a number of those scheduled.

But as far as the address itself, I suppose, again if he sticks to text and stays professional and does not directly attack individual states or leaders, we'll all breathe a sigh of relief.

CHURCH: His chief of staff included no doubt. John Kelly will be watching very carefully. Larry Sabato -- it was a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you so much.

SABATO: Thank you -- Rosemary, as always.

CHURCH: And CNN's Christiane Amanpour will be anchoring her show from New York all week. Don't miss her interview on Monday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. That's at 7:00 p.m. in London. And on Tuesday, an exclusive interview with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Well, the U.S. and South Korea are vowing to take a harder stand against North Korea. President Trump spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-In by phone over the weekend and agreed that Washington and Seoul need to work together more closely moving forward.

The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley says that North Korea will be destroyed if the U.S. has to defend itself or its allies. She told CNN's Dana Bash that President Trump's warning of fire and fury was more than just an idle threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It was not an empty threat. What we were doing was being responsible where North Korea's being responsible and reckless we were being responsible by trying to use every diplomatic possibility that we could possibly do.

We've pretty much exhausted all the things that we could do at the Security Council at this point. Now, I said yesterday, I'm perfectly happy taking this to over to General Mattis because he has plenty of military options.

So I think that the fire and fury, while he said this is what we can do to North Korea, we wanted to be responsible and go through all diplomatic means to get their attention first. If that doesn't work, General Mattis will take care of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. Army gave CNN an exclusive look inside its defense in South Korea designed to combat North Korea's defensive weapons.

Our Ian Lee joins me now live from Seoul, South Korea with more. So Ian -- South Korea has lived with the threat of war from its northern neighbor for decades now.

How different is this reality and how well equipped is Seoul and the U.S. Army to deal with whatever North Korea may do next?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary -- we know that North Korea's nuclear program has been taking up the headlines but it really is their conventional army that also gives a lot of politicians and generals here in the South concerned.

We heard it from the U.S. President's former chief strategist Steve Bannon who said that that is the one hurdle to any sort of war with the North is how to protect the capital Seoul which is about 40 miles away from the North Korean border.

And we went out with an army unit whose mission is to prepare but also be ready to go after a number of North Korean threats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: A war in Korea could start like this. Volley after volley of North Korean artillery raining down on Seoul.

[00:09:55] Thousands of weapons are currently pointed at the South Korean capital, home to more than 10 million people. Defending it is priority number one for her generals and politicians.

The U.S. Army granted CNN exclusive access to the 6th Battalion 37 Field Artillery. The unit's work force, the M2-70 Alpha 1, also known as Steel Brain (ph).

Staff Sergeant Kavon Isabell, gives me a tour of the MLRS -- the multiple launch rocket system.

STAFF SERGEANT KAVON ISABELL, U.S. ARMY: It's all about being able to provide support fires in an extremely timely manner with being very precise at the same time.

LEE: The MLRS can fire 12 rockets or two missiles up to 300 kilometers with GPS precision. And its ability to shoot and scoot makes it hard for the enemy to target.

ISABELL: This one I have more firepower so I can hold two pods and its tracks so I can pretty much get anywhere that I need to. It's not very common that these get stopped.

LEE: Lieutenant Colonel Will Hsu is in charge of this live fire exercise, just kilometers away from the border with North Korea. It's his responsibility to make sure the unit is ready to fight tonight.

LT. COL. WILBUR HSU, U.S. ARMY: For us, it's really about going out continually to train and practice and make sure that we have mastered the fundamentals and make sure that this thing can shoot far and shoot fast.

LEE: Hsu's artillery unit is part of a bigger picture of advanced aircraft and missiles protecting Seoul, according to Assembly member, Kim Jong-Dae.

KIM JONG DAE, SOUTH KOREA ASSEMBLY MEMBER: When North Korea fires its long-range artillery we can analyze the trajectory and calculate the point of origin within a short time. That data is linked to our artillery which fires self-propelled and multiple-launch of rockets to destroy the target.

LEE: But the National Defense Committee member worries that tens of thousands of potential shells could carry a deadly passenger. KIM: What's scarier is that North Korea is storing about 5,000 tons of chemical weapons. They are also thought to have biological weapons like anthrax. Long-range artillery can be used as a delivery method for these weapons of mass destruction.

If North Korea prepares an attack, Kim says it's up to Hsu and his troops to help deliver a silencing counter-punch. Failure could turn Seoul into what both North and South Korean officials describe as a sea of fire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Now, speaking with these soldiers out during this exercise I brought up what the Russians and the Chinese have been proposing which is this freeze, freeze where the United States would freeze their military exercises with the South Koreans and North Korea would freeze its nuclear and missile program as well.

The soldiers wouldn't speak to the specifics of the politics around this. They did say that this sort of training is crucial for them to be ready in the event of any war and if they weren't able to train, that could have a real effect on their readiness.

CHURCH: Ian Lee -- many thanks to you for that live report. And indeed that embedded report you brought to us.

It is 1:12 or just after 1:12 in the afternoon there in Seoul, South Korea. Many thanks. We'll talk again next hour.

Well, British authorities appear to be making progress in the London tube bombing case. They made two arrests over the weekend and lowered the U.K.'s international terror threat level. It's now severe, meaning officials think an attack is highly likely but not imminent.

For more, here's our Nick Paton Walsh in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Police saying that their investigation to the Parsons Green attack is making swift progress. And part of that obviously the arrest of a 21-year- old man just before midnight in Hounslow, the west of London.

Now we don't know much more about this particular arrest but it was followed by the second of two searches in Surrey, sort of leafy suburb in the outskirts of London.

The first arrest earlier on Saturday morning of an 18-year-old man at Dover, the southern port that often is used as a crossing into mainland Europe, particularly to France. The suggestion has been this man was trying to flee the country.

But law enforcement officials here saying that yes, it clearly isn't at this point a lone wolf, perhaps a cell. But they appear to be increasingly constant that they may have more of a sense of the full scope of exactly who was behind plotting this attack. Minimum information made public though now but clear indication the decision by law enforcement and police here to reduce the threat level from critical, which is the highest it can be at suggesting an attack is imminent, down to severe today. That only suggests there may be calming (ph) their approach here.

[00:14:56] But still some criticism out there for Donald Trump, the U.S. president and his very early tweet that suggested Scotland Yard, the police behind me in London had the attacker in quote, "their sights".

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary here, Britain's really leading law enforcement official, pretty strident in her criticism earlier on today on British television.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you think when you saw this tweet from Donald Trump.

"Another attack by loser terrorists. These were people who are in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive."

AMBER RUDD, U.K. HOME SECRETARY: Well, it's never helpful to have speculation about an ongoing operation. And, you know, I would include the President of the United States in that comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And speculation -- you have not received a leak from Britain/

RUDD: It is pure speculation -- absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So is your message to President Trump, "Donald -- stop tweeting. Put your phone down and just stop it."

RUDD: I don't think I'd be the first person to say that, would I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But that's what -- that would be the --

RUDD: Well, we don't want any speculation on an ongoing operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: But still this attack really shaking many in London to some degree because of the targets in question. The transport system here, the tube, so utterly (inaudible) to so many people on the way in to work and it hasn't really seen an attack of this magnitude, failed, interrupted partially as it was.

But that advice not properly going often -- 2005, 7/7 attack. So London now the subject of five substantial attacks in just the last six months. And still many trying to go about life as normal, conscious though of this enduring threat.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. But coming up, the U.S. is rethinking the future of its embassy in Cuba. We'll tell you about the mysterious attacks that are creating problems.

Hurricane Maria is gaining strength as it churns in the Atlantic Ocean. Just ahead -- what we know about this storm and where it hits.

We're back in a while.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri CNN Weather Watch.

Watching a trio of tropical systems across the Atlantic -- Jose, Maria and Lee in place here. I want to quickly break down what we're looking at with that storm. I'll tell you Lee is just there across the eastern kind of periphery, not a threat.

But we're watching carefully, Hurricane Jose at this point goes for a beeline for the north. It could skirt the coast of Massachusetts. But the most immediate threat with this is going to be storm surge.

Of course, some coastal communities could be inundated with the water level. That could be a couple of feet across that region and really rip currents being another threat with that storm.

The other primary feature we're watching here -- Hurricane Maria which has everything in the works here to rapidly intensify; could be a major hurricane inside the next two days. But of course, the track there is reminiscent of what we saw with Hurricane Irma.

Much of the islands that were battered by Irma could see at least some direct potential, even indirect impact with the storm system. And the areas that dodged that, like Puerto Rico into Hispaniola could actually see direct impact with Maria over the next couple of days. So we'll follow that.

[00:19:54] We'll follow what's happening across the Eastern U.S. A few thunderstorms, summer variety beginning to pop-up into the picture.

Another warm set up here for the final week of summer -- 31 out of Atlanta, Chicago a warm afternoon involved 26 degrees -- notice the heat actually expands and builds a little bit here going into the final few days of summer. Chicago could reach about 30 or so degrees.

Any weather photos -- share it, #CNNWeather.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Mysterious sound waves from a weapon no one has seen are threatening to further rattle relations between the United States and Cuba. Numerous employees of the U.S. embassy in Havana have been injured by what's believed to be some type of acoustic weapon. Now a group of U.S. senators are calling on the Trump administration to close the U.S. embassy in Havana.

And on a Sunday talk show, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that is a possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Cuba, some American senators are suggesting closing down the embassy there. Should that happen?

REX TILLERSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We have it under evaluation. It's a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. We've brought some of those people home. It's under review.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now, it's still not clear who's behind the acoustic attacks and that's what U.S. officials are looking into as they consider shutting down the Havana Embassy.

Our Patrick Oppmann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is an increasingly strange story that the United States is taking very seriously. On Sunday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson threatened to close down the U.S. embassy in Havana if there's a clarification over who has been carrying out alleged acoustic attacks against U.S. diplomats in Havana.

While U.S. officials say it is unlikely that the embassy will be closed at least not right away. Surely it is an escalation in the worst relations between Havana and the United States.

Late last year, U.S. diplomats began to complain of attacks by a mystery sonic weapon that caused very real physical harm to them -- everything from nausea to headaches to concussion like symptoms to permanent hearing loss.

The Cuban government has denied any role in these attacks, has allowed the FBI to come to the island to investigate. And it still remains uncertain who I carrying out these alleged attacks and why.

But U.S. officials say they do not believe that Cuba knows as little as their claiming to, to carry out this kind of intelligence operation in Havana under the eyes of the Cuban government without them knowing. It seems very unlikely U.S. officials so.

So they are pressing Havana for answers. And while the Cuban government would like this story to go away, that seems very unlikely. The United States wants to know who is behind these attacks and why. Patrick Oppmann, CNN -- Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Elsewhere in the Caribbean, Maria is now a hurricane and threatening many of the same islands devastated by Irma. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the latest on the advancing storms.

So Pedram -- Maria is eerily following the path of Irma. How is that possible? What's the science behind that?

JAVAHERI: Well, you know, it is pretty fascinating when you think about how this all plays out. And of course, Maria is not alone because Jose is just to its north and then you have Lee back towards the east.

And I want to talk about this because when you think about these storms -- of course, they're heat engines right. So their energy is derived from the ocean.

And one of the primary things you learn in meteorology school with these storms is they disturb the water. They bring up a lot of cool water from deep below so that enables cooler water to come to the surface, meaning storms following in that path in the immediate future would not be able to retain that strength.

But what we do know the waters across the Atlantic right now are not only warm at the surface, they're very warm even down deep below. So even with the water that has been significantly disrupted across this region from Irma, a storm that comes in its path still is tapping into warm waters even at depths where the sun potentially is not reaching down below.

So really it's fascinating to think how much energy is stored up in our oceans right now for these storms.

But there is Maria. It is taking a slightly southern trajectory versus what Irma did to the north. I want to show you this here because we do have tropical storm warnings, hurricane warnings in place, tropical storm watches as well form Antigua out towards Barbuda, highlight the islands up there across to the north there. That area has tropical storm warnings.

So the storm is well to the south where Irma was up to the north and made direct impact across those islands. But of course, the indirect impact that these winds of course, extend from the center hundreds of kilometers are going to be a concern.

Highlight something again -- again there is Barbuda where 95 percent of the buildings were decimated, the top one right here; Antigua being on the bottom. These two islands look to be spared from the direct impact of the storm.

[00:25:01] But high concentration of these models do take it right towards Puerto Rico. This storm looks to be more impactful for Puerto Rico than Irma where Irma skirted to the north.

And of course, beyond this notice where the models do take this away potentially from the island of Hispaniola and the Dominican Republic into Turks and Caicos which saw their first Category 5 landfall in recorded history there with Irma. The storm system could yet again come in as a major hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center have a really eerie wording on this saying that this storm is expected to reach major hurricane status -- which could be Category 3, 4, or 5. But it could even intensify beyond that. It is not out of scenario but a possibility here to see this storm system has major and rapid intensification.

The models again taking you through Wednesday afternoon, both the European in blue and the American in red highlight a landfall possible right over Puerto Rico. Mind you Irma again was just to the north of Puerto Rico. It could skirt parts of the island of Hispaniola but we know Turks and Caicos could be in line for another direct impact here going into Friday.

Beyond this the stirring currents in the atmosphere are such that one of the models wants to take this offshore. One of the other ones, the European, which is a more reliable one, wants to take it uncomfortably close toward the north eastern United States.

So this is certainly going to be there and watching here but depending on what happened down toward the islands of say Puerto Rico into Hispaniola, very mountainous island that could really disrupt what is left of Maria as it stretches to the north.

But to the north, we do have a hurricane already sitting there. This is Hurricane Jose and there is some variations in the models here, Rosemary, that are talking about Maria and Jose coming into close proximity to one another and interacting with one another.

That all, of course, one to be seen here inside the next two days. But right now we know those islands that have been absolutely decimated have hurricane warnings. If you can imagine having another hurricane warning when you're picking up your lives after what has just occurred in the last few days. It really is a sobering (inaudible) across part of the Caribbean.

CHURCH: Yes, it is too horrifying to think of those people who have already gone through so very much.

Pedram -- thank you so much for giving us a head's up on what's going on there. Appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Wall to wall human suffering -- that's how one aide worker describes the humanitarian crisis the Rohingya are facing.

Next we take you inside refugee camps where many are desperate for food and water. We will have a live report for you. [00:30:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A very warm welcome back to our viewers joining us from all around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check the headlines for you this hour.

(HEADLINES)

CHURCH: The Muslim Rohingya are often called the most persecuted minority in the world. In Myanmar, entire Rohingya villages have been destroyed during a violent military crackdown. The U.N. says it may be ethnic cleansing. At least 409,000 Rohingya have escaped to Bangladesh, making a dangerous trek, risking walking into land mines or getting shot.

At overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, many have not found any shelter. They also have not found enough food or water. Sick and wounded, most of them are children and aid groups can't keep up.

The desperation for food has now turned deadly. A woman and two children were killed in a stampede as they were trying to get their hands on some aid. One refugee describes how she's surviving this humanitarian crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband is a blind man. He went out early in the morning to the roadside and begged for food. And if he gets something, then we can eat. He sometimes gets rice and sometimes vegetables. We have never received any aid from anyone since we arrived here.

But the blessing from Allah, people donated food to us today. This is the first time I've received aid since I came here two weeks ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Alexandra Field has seen the situation firsthand and reports on the conditions that Rohingya refugees are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of people wait in line for hours for basics, hundreds of thousands still have nothing at all and they're getting desperate.

FIELD: These are locals here, who are handing out whatever they have. And you can see the children, the families running to collect. International aid organizations are trying to take a more organized approach. They're worried about the kind of chaos that this creates.

But the people who live here, they want to provide help to so many who are in such need. FIELD (voice-over): An estimated 800,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees are living on Bangladesh's border. Nearly half of them arriving in the last three weeks, fleeing a violent military campaign in nearby Myanmar.

And Juno (ph) remembers bullets were flying around like rain.

FIELD: This is what they've escaped to, an overcrowded camp with tens of thousands of people in it. We're seeing children that are running around without any clothes. Their clothing is soiled. There are piles of feces almost everywhere you step.

This is one makeshift kind of washroom that we've seen.

FIELD (voice-over): Aid organizations are building toilets, working to provide clean water and vaccinating children to try to stop the spread of disease.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can only describe as wall-to-wall human suffering.

FIELD (voice-over): The crisis is already too big for Bangladesh's government to bear alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This area, the population here, is already suffering from deprivation and the strain on services, that this is causing, needs to be addressed as well.

[00:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Education, health, disaster-prone area as well.

FIELD (voice-over): Trauma counselors at the camps are trying to help the Rohingya with what they've already seen, what they have survived. At least 1,300 children are still separated from families that fled as their villages burned.

Juno (ph) says government forces carried out attacks late in the night and early in the morning. they forced girls hiding inside their homes to come out.

Myanmar's military insists it's doing what it need to wipe out terrorists after an attack border guards. The United Nations calls it a textbook case ethnic cleansing of a minority Muslim group that has lived for generations in a predominately Buddhist country.

"The government forces are torturing us, kidnapping and hacking the young men and boys," she says, "raping women and girls. That's why we ran away and came here."

All she's found now is this spot off the side of the road. She can stay dry here during the end of monsoon season.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And Alexandra Field joins me now on the line. Alexandra, the details, they are just horrifying; the conditions that people are having to deal with there, what sort of help is on the way, if any?

And what does the future hold for most of these Rohingya people?

FIELD: (INAUDIBLE) the misery has been unrelenting. The horrors that these refugees are escaping and then they arrive here to be met with conditions that aren't fit for them to live in.

(INAUDIBLE) national aid groups who are trying furiously to get the resources in that are needed but they admit that (INAUDIBLE) sheer number, the sheer volume of people who've arrived (INAUDIBLE) that they're able to offer, truly amount to just a drop in the bucket when you assess the kind of need that exists here.

We do know that the military here in Bangladesh is working to provide more room, to expand these camps to improve conditions for some of the refugees who are arriving, to give them a spot to shelter that isn't simply along the side of the road, as we've been discussing. It is a highly dangerous situation.

You've got families that are living on the side of the road. You've got these unofficial aid trucks that drive through, creating these frenzies that (INAUDIBLE) resulted in the deaths of three people, a woman and two children, who were run over in this rush, this scramble to get any supplies that (INAUDIBLE) at this point.

So when we talk to people, they're truly hopeless right now. They're (INAUDIBLE). They're injured. (INAUDIBLE) mothers, whoever arrives here, only to give birth and to bury their babies. They're malnourished. They cannot get the food they need for themselves or any of the infants who do survive.

So aid organizations say they're prioritizing that. They certainly want to get food, health treatments to those who are most vulnerable. And then they'll begin to try to tackle how you get resources to all these other tens and hundreds of thousands of people (INAUDIBLE) who simply keep streaming on the border.

And really, there's no end in sight. I can tell you that I went up to the border just yesterday. We were standing on the Bangladeshi side (INAUDIBLE) so many (INAUDIBLE) refugees cross over. And you could see the smoke streaming into the air from the villages that are still burning in Myanmar -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: The details simply shocking. Alexandra Field, joining us on the line there from Bangladesh, having been into the refugee camp there for the Rohingya people, many thanks to you.

Meantime the U.N. secretary-general is urging Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to end the military crackdown on the Rohingya. Antonio Gutierrez says the Nobel laureate has one last chance to call for an end to the violence when she addresses her nation in a televised speech on Tuesday. Suu Kyi has been virtually silent over the Rohingya refugee crisis; Gutierrez told the BBC, quote, "If she does not reverse the situation now, then I think the tragedy will be absolutely horrible and, unfortunately, then, I don't see how this could be reversed in the future."

Hours before he headed to New York for the U.N. meetings, U.S. president Trump sent out a retweet about his former opponent. Coming up, why not everyone finds it funny.

Plus some of the biggest names in television were honored Sunday night at this year's Emmy Awards. We will have some of the surprising highlights from the show. That's coming your way in just a moment.

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[00:40:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

It's a political rivalry that appears to have no end. Despite the presidential election being long over. President Trump is firing the latest shot at Hillary Clinton in a retweet. He shared a video edited to look as though he hit a golf ball and struck Clinton as she boarded a plane.

Critics accuse Mr. Trump of making light of violence against women. His former campaign strategist said the retweet should not be taken seriously.

Stars of the ever-bigger small screen descended on Hollywood Sunday night to celebrate the best and brightest in television. The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were hosted by comedian and late-night host, Stephen Colbert, and with the help of a surprise guest, Colbert got political.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: What really matters to Donald Trump is ratings. You got to have the big numbers. And I certainly hope we achieve that tonight. Unfortunately, at this point, we have no way of knowing how big our audience is.

I mean, is there anyone who could say how big the audience is?

Sean, do you know?

(LAUGHTER)

SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON: This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: OK. So there's a surprise for you. The night's biggest winner was HBO's "Big Little Lies." The star-packed series won awards for Best Limited Series; Supporting Actress, Laura Dern; Supporting Actor, Alexander Skarsgard; and Lead Actress, Nicole Kidman. It was also a night for the history books. "Master of None" star Lena Waithe won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, becoming the first black woman to be so honored. She shared the award with actor and writer Aziz Ansari.

And thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. "WORLD SPORT" is up next. And I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news from all around the world.