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The World Awaits for President Trump's Message; London Threat Now Lowered Down; Protesters Back in the Streets for Lamar Smith; Another Storm to Batter the Caribbean. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 18, 2017 - 03:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] GEORGE HOWELL, HOST, CNN: World leaders meet at the United Nations this week. It will be the first time the president of the United States also speaks to them as the U.S. host. North Korea will likely get a great deal of attention.

NATALIE ALLEN, HOST, CNN: Hurricane Maria is turning towards the Caribbean. Another one. And there are fears it could mimic hurricane Irma's path.

HOWELL: And later, an impressive night for women at the Emmy Awards shows, making television history.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. This is CNN Newsroom.

HOWELL: Three a.m. on the East Coast. The U.N. General Assembly meets this week in New York. A very big weeks with world leaders here and certainly be the tensions the ongoing issues of North Korea are expected to be front and center.

The U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in New York Sunday ahead of his appear -- appearance, rather, at the podium Tuesday. That will be his first as president.

ALLEN: He has been harshly critical of international organizations in the past but he is expected to look for support in dealing with North Korea and its nuclear program.

As Athena Jones reports, world leaders will be paying close attention to Mr. Trump's foreign policy message.

ATHENA JONES, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Hi, there. This is a huge week for President Trump. It's his first 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 had to deliver on Tuesday when he is 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 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 he might temper his criticism of the United Nations in his speech on Tuesday. But we take a little bit of a preview, a part of the message he'll deliver from his National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster who spoke on Fox News Sunday. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H.R. MCMASTER, UNITED STATES 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 gather 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 address a long list of agenda items, among them, ISIS and Syria, Venezuela. One meeting is 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, Summerset, New Jersey.

HOWELL: Athena, thank you for the reporting.

Let's now break all of this down with Inderjeet Parmar. He is a professor of international politics at the City University of London, live this hour in our London bureau. Always a pleasure to have you here on the show, Inderjeet.

The president of the United States recently re-tweeted a juvenile GIF hitting his former rival Hillary Clinton with a golf ball. President Trump also employing name-calling for the North Korean leader who is promising nuclear Armageddon, calling Kim Jong-un "rocket man."

That sets the stage for the president ahead of his address to world leaders. The question now, Inderjeet, who will be on that stage? Will it be the president who takes petty shots? Or will it be a more presidential representation of the United States? INDERJEET PARMAR PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, CITY UNIVERSITY

OF London: That's the question and I can't answer it clearly of course. But I think when we see what President Trump does say, I think we'll probably see a number of things. That he's addressing two big audiences.

Obviously, one is the global audience and the leadership assembled there. And I think he'll want to sound pretty tough to them. He is speaking in a chamber where the United States provides the majority of the funding.

[03:05:02] And the GOP traditionally has attacked the United Nations as not fit for purpose. As basically being anti-American on occasions. And ever since the time of at least Ronald Reagan as president, they've been sort of talking about withholding funds. And of course they withdrew funding from UNESCO.

But we have to always to bear in mind that when President Trump speaks, he rarely forgets the political support that he has inside the United States. And that has been ebbing away a little bit, particularly since he's done this agreement on the DREAMers question with the democratic leadership.

And some of the hard right-wing conservative commentators and others have been very skeptical about that have basically talked about betrayal. So I think he is going to want to sound very, very tough, indeed.

He's going to try to say that America is back on the global stage. And that, if you like, goes against the rhetoric that he talked about of sort of withdrawing from the world in some respects, during the election campaign, which a lot of his political supporters wanted.

HOWELL: Well, let's talk about that, Inderjeet. Squaring the circle here between the America first policy, that the president promised the day that he was inaugurated against this body, the U.N. body, a global body of nations that are intertwined and interconnected. How do you square the circle there, how will the president address that body while at the same speaking to his base that elected him for that America-first policy?

PARMAR: Well, his rhetoric and his actions are two very different things. Rhetorically, he will speak do the tough talking that America- first requires. But I think underneath of all we can see, in the last eight months that he's been in power, that he has rode back from practically every single statement, big statement about major strategic questions that the United States faces.

NATO, it's OK. South Korea treaty, fine. Japan treaty, fine. China, we cooperate to some extent, put them under pressure. That's nothing different from the Obama pivot to Asia sort of strategy. Meddling in the Middle East, he sold massive amounts of arms to Saudi Arabia, he is supported the war in Yemen. He supported the stance to Qatar. And he's also bombed Syria with the, those 59 Tomahawk missiles.

So, he will talk the America-first talk. But underneath it all, what it looks is that the American foreign policy establishment, which was very skeptical about this president, last summer and since then, as well, has effectively gained complete control of American foreign policy. So let's look at what he says. That's political. But when we look at what he does, I think it's business as usual.

HOWELL: Another big topic at hand will be Iran. The nuclear agreement. Is that in danger, Inderjeet?

PARMAR: No. It's not in danger. It's in danger from the political rhetoric only. And I think that keeps Iran under pressure and it does what I was just saying earlier on. It makes everybody think that President Trump is a real kind of tough guy hero. He's going to take on all of America's enemies, the axis of evil and so on.

But actually last week, very quietly the White House signed off on the -- on the compliance of Iran with the nuclear agreement for 120 days. As you know, every 120 days they have signed it that off. They signed it off last week. Not much fanfare. But what it says is that the Iran nuclear -- that Iran is complying with the nuclear agreement and the White House is basically happy to sign it off.

So there's a lot of rhetoric. But actually, we have to look at what they do. And I think that suggests, again, that the Iran nuclear agreement is safe at the moment.

HOWELL: Inderjeet Parmar, live for us in London. We appreciate the context and perspective with you. Thank you.

PARMAR: Thank you very much.

ALLEN: Now the story we're following in London, British authorities saying they're making rapid progress in the London tube bombing case. They arrested two arrests over the weekend and searched two sites west of London.

HOWELL: The investigate -- investigation, though, it is not over. Officials say there is no longer an imminent threat of another attack. They've lowered the U.K.'s international terror threat level from critical now to severe.

ALLEN: For the latest, our Nina Dos Santos joins us now from London. So people heading out again for their workweek. And it must be some relief that there are people under arrest. And that level has dropped, Nina?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CORRESPPONDENT, CNN: Yes. Natalie, authorities have been under huge pressure over the course of the weekend, to make advances in this fast-moving investigation. And now, given the fact that they have decided to reduce the threat level, it would indicate that they believe that they have anybody who is related to this particular plot in any significant way in their sight.

So, as you said before, they arrested an 18-year-old man first early in the hours of Saturday in Dover. Still no word on whether or not he was trying to skip the country. [03:09:59] Also, a 21-year-old man was arrested later on right into the evening on Saturday in Hounslow, a different part of West London this time than the first arrest, obviously which was made in Dover, which was outside of London, about 18 miles away from the British capital.

But it is believed that the second arrest is also significant of this 21-year-old man. Because according to British media, both of these individuals had links to a foster family, which was residing in one of the two properties that has been raided over the course of the weekend. This is a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, about 12 miles to the west of Parsons Green, the site of Friday's attack.

It has been searched by officers for the last two days. And it is the focal point of the investigation here.

Now the big question that authorities will have, is how are these individuals linked? Are they linked through that foster home? They will be trying to ascertain that. Where were the explosives prepared? Were they prepared say, for instance, in that foster home or somewhere else? And how were these individuals radicalized.

For the moment it seems clear that authorities have the identities of these individuals that keeping them at the south London police as they are questioning them under the terrorism act. That gives them two weeks to question them, and they can apply for further time after that is they need to glean more information or they feel there a danger to the public.

They haven't released their identities yet. But we could get more information as the day progresses, on this busy Monday morning. Natalie?

ALLEN: And is the tube back and running at 100 percent as people set off on the day?

DOS SANTOS: Yes. This is the Monday morning commute, we're right at the heart of it right now. Because of course, it's 8 a.m. So only about 20 minutes from now, on Friday, that would have been when that Parsons Green blast that actually happened right to the Friday commuting hour.

I spent the weekend in places like Parsons Green and speaking to locals as asking then if they would get on the tube as they usually do. You do hear signs of resilience but you also hear people saying, well, this time, you know, I'm a little bit more nervous. Maybe I'll take bus.

And the metropolitan police commissioner Cressida Dick went on a walk over the weekend with members of the public urging people to keep calm and carry on commuting. And that's why it's been so imperative for authorities and the government to make headway on this investigation, to reassure the public. Because public transport is significant.

This a city of nearly nine million people. Almost 1.3 billion tube journeys are made across the British capital each year. So the transport network, preparing that is imperative and even though the threat level has been lowered we have heard both from the metropolitan police and also from the home office, that more offices will still be guarding major sites and also tube stations at least well into the early par to f this week.

More money has also been put on the table by the home office over the weekend about $30 million worth of it for extra counterterror operations.

Back to you.

ALLEN: Good to hear. Thank you, Nina Dos Santos for us.

HOWELL: On the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, protesters came together for another day and night of demonstrations.

ALLEN: Protests during the afternoon, had hundreds of people lying down in the street, rallying against what they say is police brutality.

HOWELL: The anger comes after a judge's decision that found the former police officer, Jason Stockley, not guilty of murder. Stockley was acquitted of the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, an African-American man killed in 2011.

CNN national correspondent, Ryan Young, takes a look at the protests that played out late Sunday night.

RYAN YOUNG, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: The cleanup has already started here in St. Louis after another night of unrest. Someone tried to break the window here. And as you walk down, you can see another glass that was shattered here. We saw someone picking up large objects and trying to throw them into the window.

Now if you look back this direction you see the flower pots they turned over. And what they did was tried to pick up these pieces and throw them into the windows, as well. We watched police officers all night trying to chase down some of the suspects. We know they made a few arrests. But right now, everyone is on-edge about what's going on, and what they see in the streets.

Now this is after a day of peaceful protests, where people were marching for miles and miles with no issues. But all fo a sudden late at night, once again, this is exactly what happens, a small group will start running through the city and creating issues.

Now you'll see the officers right here, as they're doing their parole. This is what they're doing at night. They're trying to make sure that the small pockets of people who won't go home cannot cause any more trouble. And right now after the aftermath of this last unrest, you can someone is already starting to work on putting some boards up against a window.

That's the back of a hotel, people were inside that bar area when something was thrown through the window. People are hoping this unrest stops sometime soon. We've seen a lot stronger force from the police heading the streets tonight than we have before.

[03:15:01] HOWELL: Ryan Young, thank you so much, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Also, a story we're following right here now in Atlanta, Georgia, investigators looking into a fatal shooting of a Georgia tech college student by campus police. This confrontation caught on cell phone video late Saturday night, just outside of the university dorm. Officers have their guns drawn as the student, Scout Schultz, walks toward them. Investigators say that Schultz was carrying a knife.

ALLEN: Police shot the student, a 21-year-old, who later died at a hospital. Schultz was a fourth-year computer engineering student and had grown up here in Atlanta in Stanford.

Hurricane Maria is gaining strength as it churns in the Atlantic Ocean. Just ahead, what we know about this storm and where it's headed? Not good news.

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HOWELL: More than a week after escaping hurricane Irma, residents of Florida's Lower Keys have finally been allowed to return home. The Florida Governor Rick Scott says that crews have fixed 90 percent of that state's power outage.

[03:19:56] ALLEN: Authorities kept part of the Keys closed, because they worried about what people -- what happened if people returned home to no running water or power. Gosh. And they have to even just cope with what their houses looked like.

HOWELL: Yes.

ALLEN: Officials estimate a quarter of the houses in the Keys were destroyed.

HOWELL: Even as people try to recover from Irma, there is more hurricane trouble on the way in the Caribbean.

Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri he is tracking the storms to talk about. Pedram?

ALLEN: This sounds like a bad joke, but it's not.

HOWELL: yes.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST, CNN: Yes, you know, it's way too many storms. You look at this just since last month, in 30 days' time, we're talking about six tropical disturbances. And notice the area they've crossed. This is Jose in blue, going right over where, of course, Irma cross. And then you notice the orange, that is Maria, the next storm in line here that is going to eventually push the same through the same region across the Lesser Antilles.

I want to talk about this of course when it comes to the storm system. Because it goes a category 1. We're expecting this to go into a category 3 and potentially a category 4 inside the next 48 hours. So a tremendous development in store with the storm system much like what we saw with Irma across this very region.

But the track of this would take you potentially as a category 4 right over Puerto Rico, eventually skirting the island of Hispaniola, then the Turks and Caicos could be in line with another impact.

And here's our storm system. Again, category 1 right now, 90-mile-per- hour winds, becoming better organize as it pushes in towards the Winward islands. It is a little farther south than where we had Irma, in line here with Antigua and Barbuda, of course.

But the storm system will have more of a direct impact across the Winward Island, Dominique Guadaloupe the areas of concern right now with a very rapidly developing hurricane working its way in this direction.

Notice, by say, Tuesday night, into Wednesday morning, we could be looking at a cat 4 pushing right through southern and eastern portions of Puerto Rico. And eventually the storm system could once again cross the Turks and Caicos. Mind you that last week, we had a category 5 for the first time that go over Turks and Caicos. And the storm system can do much same here over the next several days with a cat 4.

But here's what we're looking at as far as scenarios beyond the Caribbean. We have an area of high pressure here that actually stir the storm system to the north and parallel to the east coast finding the eye. But if this high pressure migrates a little to the west, it will essentially force the storm system into the Carolinas. So we're going to follow this here over the next couple of days of the track of the storm.

HOWELL: Pedram, you know, there was a couple that we spoke to in Puerto Rico when we were watching Irma come in. And you know, that island, obviously, they felt the intensity. But it could have been much worse. The next day, they said they were going to have a hurricane party because they -- it wasn't as bad. Now, another storm coming through, it seems as San Juan and Puerto Rico are on-deck again.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

ALLEN: Too soon to party, I guess.

HOWELL: Yes, we'll have to stay in touch with you, of course as you track these storms. Thank you.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

HOWELL: When hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean, a deejay known for his music in Anguilla, became a vital source of information for many people.

ALLEN: CNN Michael Holmes has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CLAUDE 'DJ JEANIE' PATTERSON, ANNOUNCER, ANGUILA RADIO: Yes, that's right. Eleven days after hurricane Irma. And you have it on Kool 103.3.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Before hurricane Irma, radio D.J. Jeanie Patterson's role at Anguilla's main commercial radio station was to play music and keep up an a lively pattern.

PATTERSON: It's kind of mind-blowing actually the type of reaction I'm getting from everyone because it change from me being the person who get the party started to you're the guy we're looking to for all of the information now.

HOLMES: Irma changeg his job description and his life. Since the storm, Jeanie and his workers here at Kool F.M. 103.3 have switched from deejays to lifelines.

PATTERSON: You don't need to go in the line or in the cues to get gas if your tank is on half. There's no gas shortage.

HOMES: This island was battered by Irma. And the days that followed were brutal. No power, damaged infrastructure, and a shattered communication system. The stations transmission mast was a casualty of Irma's fury. Ripped off its base and flung over the building next door.

Now the mast clearly has been destroyed. But the humble studios next door survived. Staying off air was not an option. So, DJ Jeanie and his colleagues knew they had a job to do.

PATTERSON: When we saw the damage, we're like, OK. We're off air. You know what? We need to get back up.

HOMES: One jury rigged mast later, 103.3 Kool F.M. Was back on-care. Just outside listeners take advantage of the makeshift barbershop, using the stations generator power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are as important, you know, we understand what is going on with the hurricane is and then...

HOLMES: People turn to Jeanie and his fellow D.J.'s for information, guidance, and comfort here and on other islands around the Caribbean.

Tell me about how important the radio station was after the hurricane had gone through?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very important in getting information around. To know the whereabouts and what is happening is very vital to our community.

HOLMES: Vital to communities throughout the region, through Irma. And now, another storm, Maria is headed their way. The job isn't done.

[03:25:00] PATTERSON: I've been in entertainment for almost 15 years. And I've never saw myself as a reporter or someone people would be looking to for motivation and information of that nature, of course. So usually, it's, Jeanie, when is the next party? Or, you know, stuff like that. So being called for this is crazy.

HOLMES: When not on the radio, Jeanie D.J.'s at clubs on this and other islands. Clubs that are closed for repairs now or in some cases no longer even exist. Like so many of his neighbors, his job and his life has changed dramatically. But not his sense of humor.

PATTERSON: It has me here, you know, in a state of flux because I'm now out of one of my primary incomes. So, I'm here trying to figure out what my next move is. Maybe I'll get into journalism and take your job.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Anguilla.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, in a few hours, President Trump will discuss the Iranian nuclear agreement with one of the deals strongest opponent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We'll share with you what we might expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell with the world headlines we're following for you this hour.

The United Kingdom has reduced its international terror threat level after Friday's bombing of the London tube. It is now at severe, that means officials think that an attack is highly likely but that attack is not imminent. Two arrests were made over the weekend. And authorities have searched at least two sites west of London.

[03:30:02] ALLEN: Top diplomats from Washington and Moscow met to discuss a Russian military strike that recently injured U.S.-backed forces in Syria. The strike hit near the city of Deir ez-Zor where coalition and Russian troops are trying to push out...

HERE

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[03:30:00] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: ... two sites west of London.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Top diplomats from Washington and Moscow met to discuss a Russian military strike that recently injured U.S.- backed forces in Syria.

The strike kicked near the city there, coalition and Russian troops are trying to push out ISIS. But it is not a coordinated effort with the U.S. supporting rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. HOWELL: The Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, says that his

country will react to any quote, wrong move by the U.S. on its nuclear deal. This is according the Iranian state media.

The U.S. extended some sanctions relief as part of that deal on Thursday. But the U.S. president said that Tehran was violating elements of that agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: President Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal with Iran but it's still unclear what exactly he plans to do about it, if anything. We could get some hints in a few hours when Mr. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discuss Iran.

HOWELL: They are meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General assembly. Many will also be listening very closely to the president on Tuesday, when he delivers his first U.N. address.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live in Jerusalem following the story. Oren, it is fair to say the Israeli prime minister was no fan of this deal from the start.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that has not changed at all. He went largely quiet after the deal itself was signed but now, with Trump, he sees a new opportunity to lobby against the deal.

He said openly, he thinks the deal should be cancelled or changed, although he hasn't presented any concrete plans of his own. This meeting with Trump, a little later on tonight could be his first chance to do so.

And then everyone expects him to lobby against the deal once again when he speaks before the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow. But it's not just the Iran nuclear deal. But it is Netanyahu's concern, so is Iran's presence in Syria's on Israel's northern border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN: We're standing above the village of Metula. This is the northern tip of Israel. Beyond are the rolling hills of Lebanon.

An it's the small villages on top of those hills that you can see sprawling out behind me, the Israelis concerned are a growing Hezbollah stronghold.

The even of a war, Israelis worries that Hezbollah can reign down its arsenal of rockets and missiles on northern Israel here, to our east is the Golan Heights, and beyond that, Syria.

There's a border there separating Lebanon from Syria but Israel sees it as one contiguous threat on the north. A few feet away from the Israel-Lebanon border, a Hezbollah flag marks the territory.

Under United Nations outpost, another flag of the Iranian proxy waves on a nearby hill. The U.N. mandate to ensure peace and security along a border that's known decades of conflict was recently strengthen after Israel complained it was toothless.

But few here see the United Nations as the difference between peace and war, as they operate in the shadow of Hezbollah, based in Lebanon that also fighting in Syria.

BRIG. GEN. ELI BEN-MEIR, FORMER RESEARCH HEAD, IDF INTELLIGENCE: In the last five years, there's a huge dramatic change in the tactical, but also operational capabilities of this organization as a fighting organization.

LIEBERMANN: Russian President Vladimir Putin has become the go-to guy for Israel's concerns about Iran's influence in Lebanon and Syria with Hezbollah, ever since Russian forces moved into Syria.

But while Donald Trump might take a tough line in the Iran nuclear deal, he's presided over what many hear and see as the absence of the United States in the Syria conflict. And Israeli leers are troubled.

ISRAEL KATZ, INTELLIGENCE MINISTER, ISRAEL (though translator): The U.S. can prevent an Iranian military presence in Syria. And I think the less in both in the nuclear fear and the convivial fear is the U.S. cannot ignore the fact that he is the leader of the free world and everything that comes with that.

LIEBERMANN: Israel has its red lines. Among them, stopping advanced weapon transfers to Hezbollah. And it enforces them. These satellite images show the before and after of what's Syria says was an Israeli air strike on a military facility deep in northwest Syria. Israel refused to comment on the incident. But it's clear and what it sees as Iran's intension.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The fact from trying to build atomic bombs, they're trying to place the Iranian army in Syria. They want to colonize Syria the way they colonized Lebanon.

LIEBERMANN: Matching his tough talk, ahead of meeting Trump, Israel's prime minister has also watched over Israel's largest military exercise in 20 years.

A full blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will be devastated for both sides. Israel's fear is that it may have to go it alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN: There is of course another issue we'll be looking for and that's if either Prime Minister Netanyahu or Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes statements on a peace process. Trump hasn't backed down.

He's still pursuing what he's called, quote, the ultimate deal. It's not higher, it's not perceived to be high and Netanyahu whose priority list for what it was to address with Trump and at the United Nations still, it's very much active as something that could be talked about.

[03:35:00] And we'll certainly be listening for any steps there as opposed to just statements, which is essentially what we've heard to this point.

HOWELL: CNN Correspondent Oren Liebermann live in Jerusalem, thank you for the report today.

ALLEN: Rohingya refugees are facing a dire humanitarian crisis, desperate for food and water. At least 409,000 Muslim Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar. They are fleeing a military crackdown, which the U.N. says appears to be ethnic cleansing.

HOWELL: Bangladesh says that it will build temporary shelters after the refugee camps could not accommodate all of the Rohingya.

Many are now in very desperate conditions, bad situation there as mud -- the situation is so desperate, in fact a woman and two children were killed in a stampede on Friday. They were just trying to get basic things like food and water.

ALLEN: How is Bangladesh handling this? Alexandra Field is there for us. You have seen, Alexandra first hand these conditions that this people face and they're desperation.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, now look, we're talking about 410,000 people arriving in just a three-week span. This is an exodus that would be difficult for any country to bear the size.

But what we're talking about, Bangladesh a country that is already hugely populated. There is already a strain on resources here. Now, they're scrambling to accommodate nearly 500,000 people.

People who have experienced a kind of terror and treachery that is hard to imagine just to ease and think about. We are hearing stories from women about gang-rapes.

And we were hearing stories from people who have successfully crossed the border, about leaving under fire, seeing their villages torched.

Seeing their homes fire bombed, children shot dead next to their parents, women reaching Bangladesh, giving birth to babies that don't survive more than a few hours. They need help here, Natalie. They need food, water, medical supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Thousands of people wait in line for hours for basics. Hundreds of thousand still have nothing at all and they're getting desperate.

These are locals here who are handing out whatever they have. And you see the children, the families running to collect. International aide organizations are trying to take a more organized approach.

They're worried about the kind of chaos that this creates. The people who live here, they want to provide help to so many who are in such need.

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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Juno (ph) remembers bullets were flying around like rain.

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

This is one make shift kind of washroom that we've seen. Aid organizations are building or work, working to provide clean water and vaccinating children to try to stop the spread of disease.

CORINNE AMBLER, SPOKESWOMAN, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS: I can only describe it as wall-to-wall human suffering.

FIELD: The crisis is already too big for Bangladesh's government to bear alone.

AMBLER: This area -- this population here is already suffering from deprivation. And the strain on services that this is causing needs to be addressed, as well. I mean, education, health, disaster-prone area, as well.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): 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 is doing what it needs to wipe out terrorists after an attack on border guards.

The United Nations calls it a textbook case of ethnic cleansing of a minority Muslim group that has lived for generations in a predominantly Buddhist country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The government forces are torturing us. They are killing and hacking the young men and boys, she says, and raping women and girls. That's why we ran away and came here.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: One aide worker tells me that even with the best efforts are being put forth by the organizations, the amount of help that has been offered now really just announced to a drop in the bucket when you look at the level of need here.

And Natalie, George, certainly do not forget about the level of need on the other side of the border. It's estimated that tens of thousands of the Rohingyas are stranded, trying to get out, trying to get to safety.

[03:40:00] Human rights watch has put out a statement. They are urging immediate access for human rights groups and aids groups to reach the people suffering on that side. Natalie, George.

ALLEN: It's just unbelievable -- unbelievable situation. Thank you for your story. We really understand the situation. Thanks to your work. Thank you and your team, Alexandra.

HOWELL: Alexandra, thank you so much for sharing that. Absolutely. And of course, there are ways to help. You can help people at our website, cnn.com/impact.

You can find groups that are helping to bring food, water, medical supplies and shelter to may have the victims, to Rohingya in this crisis. Stay with us, we'll be right back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to Newsroom. We're learning that the United States is considering shutting down its embassy in Havana, Cuba. It's a big move that could happen.

The relations between these two countries have already been strained. This is after a mysterious acoustic that injured American diplomats.

ALLEN: Yes, really bizarre. U.S. officials are looking into who is responsible while they consider shutting the embassy down over this. Our Patrick Oppmann is in Havana.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is an extremely 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 isn't clarification over has been carrying out allege 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.

Certainly, it is an escalation in the worsening relations between Havana and the United States. Late last year, U.S. diplomats began the 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.

[03:45:00] The Cuban government has denied any role in these attacks, has allowed the FBI to come to the island to investigate. And it's still remains uncertain who is carrying out these alleged attacks and why.

But U.S. officials say they don't believe that Cuba knows as little as they are claiming to carry out this kind of intelligence operation in Havana under the eyes of the Cuban government without them knowing seems very unlikely.

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

HOWELL: Patrick, thank you for the report. Stars of the small screen came together on Hollywood Sunday night for the 69th annual Emmy Awards and this year's show, there was one for the history books, and served up a few surprises, as well. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to Newsroom. The stars were out for sure in Hollywood Sunday night to celebrate the best and brightest of television.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: One of the night's biggest winners was HBO's little -- Big Little Lies. The star packed won awards for best limited series, supporting actress, Laura Dern, supporting actor Alexander Skarsgard and lead actress Nicole Kidman.

[03:50:00] ALLEN: Never hear how short at least with us was there. With the top prize for outstanding drama went to the series The Handmaid's Tale. Elisabeth Moss also won the lead actress Emmy for her performance in that program.

And Lena Waithe with Master of None star. Lena Waithe won the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series, becoming the first black woman to be honored and the share with actor and writer, Aziz Ansari.

HOWELL: Rebecca Sun with the Hollywood Reporter, joining us from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us today.

ALLEN: Yes, hi, Rebecca, thanks for being with us.

REBECCA SUN, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Thanks for having me.

ALLEN: What I was going to ask you, was there a theme to the programs that dominated? But certainly there was a theme to the acceptance speeches going political during this one.

SUN: Yeah. I think that was somewhat, you know, inevitable given that politics is on everybody's mind. It's what everybody talks about, you know, around the water cooler in the workplace. It's only natural that Hollywood and these actors, and these, you know, TV creators would do the same thing.

You know, I think in terms of a big theme, you know, if you look at the two shows that won really, really big tonight, Big Little Lies and a Handmaid's Tale, both of those are females center projects that really tackle gender issues again in a political climate in which people that women's rights are, you know, up for discussion. HOWELL: So you know, you talk about politics. So -- and the United

States, clearly a very polarized society right now. Some people see one thing. Others see another, so Sean Spicer, on stage, the former press secretary.

Let's talk about how that played out because again, some people may have found that incredibly funny, you know, to see him, especially, you know, playing out that role from Saturday Night Live. But others criticized his appearance there, saying that it normalized Sean Spicer and in fact, normalized the Trump White House.

SUN: Yes, I think that's a really good way to distill it. You know, the shock that you saw on the faces of all the celebrities in the audience. The sort of equal parts you know, kind of delight it like, ha, ha, is this actually happening?

And also yes, you know, the fact that Sean Spicer now is coming out and sort of making a joke about the fact that he used to wildly exaggerate things that he was quite seriously about, when he was in that position at the White House.

You know, yes, joking about inauguration crowd sizes is purely trivial. But the fact that, you know, that now he's saying, ha, ha, I made a lot of stuff up when I was in that job, given that there was a lot of serious stuff he was talking about. I think that definitely could have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

HOWELL: There were a lot of journalists who ask serious questions for the American people. So they can know information, so to hear that he exaggerated.

SUN: Yes, exactly. You know, the fact that he acknowledged that on stage was sort of like, oh, so yes, you are telling us this was all a joke.

ALLEN: Well, Melissa McCarthy was in the audience. Of course he played Sean Spicer pretty much close to a tee. Alec Baldwin won for his portrayal of Donald Trump on SNL. How did he play it when he accepted that award? Did he play itself or did he play President Trump?

SUN: You know, that's pretty great. I mean I thought that the biggest dig he got that will absolutely get him to the president's skin is when he mentioned that you know, he and his wife didn't have a child this year. And that, you know, basically, playing the orange man was a big turn-off for her.

I mean that's the kind of thing that will absolutely drive the president crazy. So, it was clever. I think Alec has spent enough time channeling Donald Trump that he knows what will bother him.

HOWELL: Natalie, you mentioned this a minute ago. But let's talk about Lena Waithe. I mean big news here, the first African-American woman to win outstanding writer for a comedy series.

SUN: Yes, exactly. That's a huge milestone. And what was great is I think that she had such a warm reception, you know, when she took the stage. You know, people gave her a great ovation.

And that episode was something that was quite memorable and very critically acclaimed. You know, if you haven't seen it, Thanksgiving, it's semiautobiographical. It's inspired bureaucrats her own experience of coming out to her family.

And so, this was something where she was not only honored, but her story, the idea of a lesbian woman of color. You know, that story was honored, was important. There were other diversity milestones. Riz Ahmed winning the best actor in a limited series. He is actually the first Asian man to win an Emmy. So, you know, 39th edition.

ALLEN: Yes, pretty cool. And I want to ask Rebecca, how could original series on Netflix fare to traditional TV shows?

SUN: Well, you know, I think that -- Netflix specifically -- it did all right. You know, they had The Crown and they had a lot of nominations for Stranger Things although they, you know, went home empty.

Black Mirror picked up a great win for best TV movie. They count that episode in (Inaudible), as a TV movie, as well as best writing. So they did OK.

[03:55:00] But when it comes to traditional, I mean, you know, This Is Us, was represented by Sterling K. Brown, the best actor win.

But again, HBO continued to dominate things to Veep and Big Little Lies, sweeping their categories. And you also had Hulu, first time any winner, first time major Emmy winner, Emmy excess sweeping their categories.

ALLEN: So what would be the one you suggest that all of these that have won it, people haven't seen, what would you tell them to check this one out? I tried Pretty Little Lies. I couldn't get into that one.

SUN: Oh, yes, Big Little Lies. Yes, you know again, I think what's great is that among the winners there's so much variety, that you know, if you haven't checked out Atlanta yet. The fact that Donald Glover, you know, won best directing, and best actor. Again, it's such a quirky comedy that is sometimes is not a funny comedy but it's really artistically interesting. I would suggest checking that out. If you haven't seen Handmaid's Tale, you should try it. It feels very refreshing for this time and if you haven't seen Veep, you know, jump right in. There's only going to be one season left. Don't sleep on that.

ALLEN: Those all sound good. Rebecca Sun, thanks so much. I have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't seen half those shows.

HOWELL: Have to binge watch.

(LAUGHTER)

HOWELL: Thank you so much for being with us. Not binge watching but rather being with us for CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. For everyone else, stay with us for Hannah Vaughan Jones in London. You're watching CNN.

HOWELL: Early Start for viewers in the U.S. have a great day.