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Missiles Strike Airbase in Homs; Eurosceptic Anti-Immigrant Orban Claims Victory; Gas Attack Survivor Urges Intervention in Syria; National Guard Personnel to Support U.S. Border Agents; First Luxury Hotel in Space. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 09, 2018 - 00:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Global outrage over an alleged chemical attack that Syria denies it used chemicals against rebel-held areas.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): U.S. President Trump denounces, quote, "animal Assad," and warns that there will be a big price to pay.

ALLEN (voice-over): Also ahead this hour, a journalist dies coverage the violence in Gaza.

VANIER (voice-over): Hi, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier here in Atlanta.

ALLEN (voice-over): I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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ALLEN: We begin with the fallout after a suspected chemical attack in Syria. Many world leaders are responding with outrage as they have in the past. The U.N. Security Council is set to meet in the coming hours after Saturday's alleged attack in Douma. Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed.

And we warn you that some of the video we're about to show you is very graphic and disturbing.

The Syrian government and its allies deny they used chemical weapons. U.S. president Donald Trump doesn't appear to be buying that. He lashed out on Twitter, calling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an animal. He also warned there will be a big price to pay.

VANIER: Mr. Trump may have been reacting images like the ones you are about to see. Again, I have to warn you, they are graphic. This video appears to show some of the victims lying dead on the ground, many of them are children and there is foam on their mouths, which is potential evidence of a chemical attack. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut in neighboring Lebanon, monitoring this.

Ben, first there are reports of a missile attack in Syria. Now I know it's still a sketchy picture but what do we know?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know, Cyril, is that the Syrian Arab news agency, the official Syrian news agency, is reporting that there have been -- there's been a missile strike on the T4 airbase, which is about 100 km north of Damascus in the Homs province.

They are reporting that there have been casualties and fatalities there are. But beyond that we don't have a lot of detail. We do know the Pentagon has denied that the United States launched an airstrike. Normally the Americans are quite happy to boast about that sort of thing.

The other suspect is the Israelis and normally they deny any involvement in such things, even though oftentimes they are involved. Now the T4 base is significant because it was from there on the 10th of February that an Iranian drone was launched and entered Israeli airspace. Israel retaliated with airstrikes and one of their F-16s was hit by Syrian anti-aircraft missiles on its way back to Israel.

So we do know that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps does have a presence at that airbase and this may be simply an instance of the Israelis taking advantage of the fact that there has been this alleged chemical strike to strike at are the Iranians there.

So it's not at all clear what has happened. Basically all we know is that the Syrian news agency is reporting that there was an airstrike or a missile strike on this T4 airbase -- Cyril.

VANIER: OK. Yes, so we have to be very careful on that, not read too much into what the Syrian state media is saying. We don't have all the facts.

Tell me, what is the latest from Douma, where Saturday's alleged chemical attack took place?

WEDEMAN: It was only a few hours after that alleged chemical attack took place that apparently Jaysh al-Islam, which is the main fraction that is present in Douma, has come to an agreement with the Russians for the evacuation of its fighters and their families, by some numbers being put at 8,000 fighters and 40,000 civilians, family members.

They will be getting on buses and heading north to, we're told, the Jerablus area, which is an area under Turkish control in north central Syria -- Cyril.

VANIER: And the U.N. is convening an emergency meeting to discuss the alleged attack. We also know that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the U.S. president, Mr. Trump, have promised a strong and joint response.

So it seems the international response is building up here.

What are the Syrian and the Russian reactions to all of this?

WEDEMAN: The Russians have warned the United States not to take action against Syria. Both the Syrians and the Russians have said that there has been --

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WEDEMAN: -- no chemical attack; they deny it flatly. And, of course, the Syrians are blaming the other side, the armed opposition -- Jaysh al-Islam, in this instance -- of being behind the incident, suggesting perhaps that they did not themselves on their own people. That is Jaysh al-Islam, simply as a ploy to stop any sort of evacuation of their fighters from Douma. Clearly that did not work -- Cyril.

VANIER: All right, Ben, good to talk to you. We will get more from you throughout the day. Thank you.

ALLEN: Sadly, the most recent attack in Douma would not be the first time we have the use of chemical weapons inside Syria. In early 2013, then U.S. President Barack Obama said Syria had crossed a red line with its use of chemical weapons after the government and rebels traded accusations over a gas attack in the north of the country.

The deadliest chemical weapons attack came in August of that year in the rebel-held suburb of Ghouta. U.S. intelligence found that nearly 1,500 people had died, including more than 400 children. And the United Nations said evidence showed sarin gas was used against civilians. Damascus denied it.

Then in April of last year, more than 80 civilians were killed in a sarin gas attack in rebel-held Khan Sheikhoun. The United Nations and chemical weapons inspectors found that the Assad regime was responsible for carrying it out.

Since the start of the war in 2011, activists and watchdog groups inside Syria claim there have been hundreds of chemical weapons attacks. The Syrian government has denied these claims.

Let's talk more about it with our guest, Gregory Koblentz in Washington. He's an associate professor at the Shore School (ph) at George Mason University.

Thanks so much for talking with us.

GREGORY KOBLENTZ, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: My pleasure.

ALLEN: We just gave the background there and now we have this new video of people suffering.

When you saw this video, did you have any doubt that this was another chemical attack?

KOBLENTZ: Not really. Having so many people with those types of symptoms is indicative of chemical poisoning and it is similar to many we've seen in the past following Syrian regime use of chemical weapons in country (INAUDIBLE), in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib province throughout the course of this civil war.

ALLEN: Gregory, the instances of chemical attack in this war and the constant denial by the Syrian regime, is there an organization that can prove who's behind chemical attacks?

KOBLENTZ: There was such an organization but unfortunately Russia vetoed its renewal last year. But there was a U.N. body that had the mission of determining who would use chemical weapons during the Syrian civil war and they found that the Syrian government had used such weapons on multiple occasions.

And this has been confirmed with laboratory analyses, eyewitness information and other forensic data.

But unfortunately Russia has made sure that body won't be operating anymore because it found too many conclusions that went against interest of the Syrian regime and Russia.

ALLEN: So how does the world go around that to devise something else, some entity that can carry out this work without impediment?

KOBLENTZ: That is going to be a major challenge because of Russia's veto power on the Security Council. They can block any new U.N.-based organization. (INAUDIBLE) we have right now is the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is the organization in charge of making sure that countries aren't building any more chemical weapons and they have been making visits to Syria to investigate different alleged natural chemical attacks.

But because they're only a technical body, they are allowed to determine that a chemical was used but their mission is not to determine who the perpetrator was because that's a political calculation.

And so right now we're really left unfortunately a gap in our international response of an organization that has the mandate and the capability to go and determine who actually conducted these attacks.

ALLEN: What does that signal with that gap, without an unimpeded organization to be able to determine who used these weapons, what is the danger as far as other countries thinking they can get away with it?

KOBLENTZ: Unfortunately, we've seen erosion of the norm against chemical weapons for several years now have driven in large part by Syria's continued use and their ability to do it without any real consequences.

We saw last year the use of VX by North Korea to assassinate Kim Jong- nam and then just last month, the use of the Novichok nerve agent in intended assassination of a former Russian spy.

So clearly we are seeing the effects of Syria's ability to use these weapons and do so without major international penalties -- [00:10:00]

KOBLENTZ: -- it is emboldening other countries to do likewise.

ALLEN: Just hearing you say the normalization, the norm of chemical weapons is chilling, that the country here in 2018 has come back to this.

Can you tell us more about why that is happening?

KOBLENTZ: This is being driven really by the Syrian regime's just brutal counterinsurgency and the efforts to remove the rebel opposition from Syrian territory. This is just part of one of the many tactics they've used to commit atrocities in the civil war.

And they'll get away with it in large part because Russia shielded them from any kind of coordinated international response because of Russia's veto power in the Security Council. But it has really been making a travesty of international law, the chemical weapons convention and the U.N. itself that Syria has been able to get away with so much for so long.

ALLEN: Gregory Koblentz, thank you so much for joining us.

KOBLENTZ: Thank you for having me.

ALLEN: As you mentioned a few moments ago, Cyril, President Trump spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron about this suspected chemical attack. The White House saying both leaders agreed the Assad regime must be held accountable for its human rights abuses.

VANIER: The reported chemical attack on civilians may pull Mr. Trump back into Syria's civil war just days after he said he wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from the country. Abby Philip has details on this.

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ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump once again finds himself responding to an alleged chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the Assad regime in Syria. This time, the president is lashing out at Vladimir Putin and Russia and Iran for enabling the Assad regime.

But he's also criticizing his predecessor, Barack Obama. He said this about Obama's red line, that he failed to enforce.

He said, "If President Obama had crossed his stated red line in the sand, the Syrian disaster would have been ended long ago. Animal Assad would have been history."

But in 2013, President Trump actually warned the president against enforcing that red line. And now it seems that he has drawn one of his own.

What that big price to pay will be is unclear and here is what Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert said about the options available to President Trump.

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TOM BOSSERT, ADVISER; HOMELAND SECURITY: We're looking at --

MARTHA RADDATZ, HOST, ABC "THIS WEEK": So is it possible they there will be another missile attack?

BOSSERT: I wouldn't take anything off the table. These are horrible photos. We're looking into the attack at this point.

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PHILLIP: The National Security Council is expected to meet on this Syrian issue on Monday, as is the U.N. Security Council. But President Trump is coming into this situation, having already said in recent weeks that he wants to pull the United States out of Syria altogether.

He also does not have his full national security team in place. The president is still waiting for his CIA director to be confirmed and also is waiting for his secretary of state to be confirmed as well. His new national security adviser, John Bolton, his first day on the job is today -- Abby Phillip, CNN, White House.

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VANIER: Michael Shear joins us now. He is a "New York Times" White House correspondent, also a CNN political analyst.

Michael, what is going on right now at the White House?

I assume they're deciding on a response.

MICHAEL SHEAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They are talking through what obviously is an emotional response that the president had to the chemical attack and trying to figure out what to do.

You will remember that a year ago the president did take a strike after a similar chemical attack in Syria and he sent a whole bunch of Tomahawk missiles. But this time, you know, a year later you've now got a situation where the president has also talked very openly about wanting to get out of Syria and not have the United States mired in that civil war over there.

So you've got these two impulses by the president. One is to look tough and the other is to get out of Syria. And those are really clashing as the White House and the president tries to figure out what to do in response to this latest attack.

VANIER: But he does seem to be committed to some kind response. I want to put up his tweets again. And he says there is going to be a price to pay.

So if you look to the bottom of this tweet we're going to put up. He says, "President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price."

And then the next tweet, "To pay."

Michael, what do you think that might be?

SHEAR: Well, you know, this is an unpredictable president. We can only judge based on what he's done in the past. In the past he did a strike a one-time, one-off strike. This isn't something that I think is likely to lead to a big escalation or a permanent escalation in the troops over there, especially given the president's desire to get out.

But you know, if you take his tweet literally, then I think there is a likelihood that there will be some kind of military response and I do not think it is going to take --

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SHEAR: -- very long. In other words, I do not think it will be weeks or more. I think it will happen rather quickly.

VANIER: And you were saying there is some confusion as to the president's strategy towards Syria.

Do you think that there is a contradiction in the two stated goals?

Number one was, the president said recently we want to get out of Syria quickly. Number two, we just read it, he wants Syria to pay a price and Russia to pay a price for what appears to be a chemical weapons attack.

Can he have it both ways.

SHEAR: This has been a real contradiction in his policies dating back to before the time that he became president, when Barack Obama was president and was trying to decide what to do in Syria.

Then real estate mogul Donald Trump, private citizen Donald Trump, was harshly critical of President Barack Obama for even considering taking action and chided him on Twitter by saying, look, this is -- you should get out. There is nothing in it for the United States over there.

At the same time, his rhetoric when, once he became president, was to be very tough and he did take action a year ago, in a similar situation.

So and then again he's bounced back again in recent weeks, as he said that he wants to get out of Syria. So I think the challenge for trying to figure out what the National Security Council and the president and his advisors will do is trying to parse these two contradictions.

And I think the greatest likelihood is that something will happen and that he will take some action. But he's unpredictable and I think he likes it that way. VANIER: You mentioned the National Security Council and there is a new ingredient there because John Bolton, the new national security advisor to the president, starts his job tomorrow. And we know he is going to be meeting what's called a meeting of principals. And he is going to be -- it is his job to lay out options for the president.

What do we know about John Bolton that could bring in some new elements of the Syria strategy?

What might he be advising the president?

SHEAR: If you go on John Bolton's long record both serving in government and as a kind of national security pundit over the last several years, you would have to conclude that what John Bolton is likely to be whispering in the ear to Donald Trump would be to take action.

He is a guy who tends to be a military hawk and somebody who does not shirk from these kinds of confrontations. And so to the extent that he is providing his own views to the president, that is likely what is -- what it would be.

However, you got to remember that the national security advisor role is supposed to be one that is less putting your own thumb on the scale and more providing all of the options for the president to consider.

And so I think a lot of people think he is not going to be that kind of national security adviser, that he's going to weigh in more forcefully. But as you say, it's his first day tomorrow and so we do not know for sure how he is going to respond and what kind of national security adviser he will be in that respect.

But I think the betting is that he is probably advising the president to act and act swiftly.

VANIER: All right, we will be following that tomorrow on CNN. It happens on Monday, both the National Security Council meeting of principals there. Also we'll be following the U.N. -- the United Nations Security Council emergency meeting on this to see what comes out of that.

Michael Shear, thank you very much for joining us.

SHEAR: Sure, happy to do it.

ALLEN: A Syrian who survived one of these first chemical attacks in Syria is sharing his story. And he said the international community should be ashamed. You will hear his emotional appeal for action -- ahead here.

VANIER: Plus right-wing leaders in Hungary are celebrating another electoral victory while human rights activists fear for the country's democracy. Stay with us.

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VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): First, I would like to congratulate the voters. Thank you for your participation. By turnout has cast aside all doubt.

There is a big battle behind us. We have won a crucial victory, got a chance, gave ourselves a chance to defend Hungary.

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VANIER: And that is Hungary's right-wing prime minister Viktor Orban, speaking to supporters after Sunday's parliamentary elections. Most votes have been counted and Mr. Orban is set to secure his third consecutive term in office.

His ruling coalition is actually projected to keep its super majority in parliament.

ALLEN: The prime minister campaigned heavily against immigration but Hungary actually has the third lowest level of immigration of all 28 members of the European Union.

Let's discuss the implications of his victory in Hungary with in CNN European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas joining us from Los Angeles.

Dominic, thank you for talking with us about this. All right. So here we are, right wing nationalist prime minister gets a third term in Hungary.

What does this signal?

Where might he be taking the country?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: We know where he is taking the country because, as you just mentioned, this is his third consecutive term. What's remarkable is it comes on the heels of the Italian elections, where far-right anti-immigration parties did very well. And in fact, for the past two years, parties that have ran on an anti-immigration stance, talking about national identity, talking about being against Islam and at the same time criticizing the European Union, have done very well.

And this is what Orban's campaign focused on. In many ways it wasn't a national election. It was a referendum on Orban. And he has come out and emerged from this with a supermajority and with opposition parties in actually in disarray, which has therefore further consolidated and of course led people to a greater level of anxiety about what this will mean for the region and for Europe as well.

ALLEN: You mentioned this type of referendum has taken place in other countries in Europe. To that point, former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, said this week that the world is facing the biggest threat toward the return of fascism since World War II and she cites Hungary, Turkey, Poland.

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ALLEN: Do you agree with that?

And will his win embolden other leaders who are aligned with him?

THOMAS: What we're seeing is really two European Unions, in fact, two global models emerging. It is not just a question of Hungary and Poland. It is also when we look at the map today, the election that took place in Austria, which returned a right- and far-right-wing coalition, we see the coalition talks in Italy involving far right parties.

We're also embroiled in Brexit talks, which were so much around the question of immigration and identity.

And at the same time so many of these political parties have found legitimacy in the election of Donald Trump, who has also been focusing on questions of national identity and border control.

So I think that the European Union here is really at a very significant crossroads. What Is ironic, of course, is that a country like Hungary benefits tremendously financially from being a member of the European Union. It gets much more funding out of the E.U. than it puts in.

And it also relies on the European Union as a major area in which trade takes place. Yet criticizing the European Union, especially on the question of immigration, has proved incredibly important in recent elections and those candidates that have chosen to talk about protecting one's country from immigration and to protect the native population, as they describe them, have been doing very, very well.

This is, of course, threatening to Europe.

ALLEN: Orban tapped into people's fears of migrants. But at some point, if Hungary continues to erode democratically -- and that is the belief, that it will -- might voters have buyer's remorse?

Are they somewhat being manipulated?

THOMAS: Well, I think absolutely. They're being manipulated by fear and I think this is where the European Union can respond in a more powerful manner. First of all, as we know, getting into the European Union is an extraordinarily lengthy complex. It involves proving respect for the constitution, for the judicial system, the freedom of the press.

And yet we see it, each time one of these political parties comes to power or shapes the physical landscape of the country, that these issues are eroded. And I think that the European Union, of course, wants to be very careful that it does not seem to be overreaching and then galvanize support for these leaders.

It does not, at the same time, want to push these leaders, particularly those located in the eastern part of Europe into the arms of the Russian Federation. But I think at the same time, it needs to impose tougher sanctions or have tougher conversations with these leaders and ask them to adhere and respect the liberal democratic values of the European Union, that are the conditions of membership and the condition of financial support through the European Union.

And that is where people like Orban could end up being increasingly vulnerable, is if the E.U. starts to impose sanctions that could impact the daily lives of populations in places like Hungary, we might then see through some of this racist and xenophobic rhetoric.

ALLEN: We'll wait and see if that happens. As always, we appreciate your input, Dominic Thomas joining us, thank you, Dominic.

THOMAS: Thank you, Natalie.

VANIER: Still to come on the show, Israel says there were no innocent civilians at the recent protests along the border with Gaza. We will have the latest on the deadly clashes.

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VANIER: And welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I am Cyril Vanier.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories.

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VANIER: Let's talk some more about this. It's been four years since the world learned about one of the first chemical attacks attributed to the Syrian regime during the Syrian civil war. Activists say that more than 1,300 people were killed in 2013.

This was a sarin gas attack in Ghouta, not far from the scene of the latest apparent chemical attack.

ALLEN: Former U.S. President Barack Obama was then criticized for not enforcing his so-called red line on the use of chemical weapons. A survivor of that 2013 attack tells CNN now is the time to intervene in Syria.

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KASSAM EID, 2013 SYRIAN CHEMICAL ATTACK SURVIVOR: My message to the international community is that you should be ashamed. You are as guilty as Assad and Putin and Iran on the atrocities in Syria.

For more than seven years, more than, I don't know, maybe 700,000 people got killed, millions of people got displaced. It's not just about the chemical weapons. I lived for two years under siege and bombardment. I used to eat from the trash cans alongside the other civilians under siege, just like the people in Douma and Eastern Ghouta, who've been enduring siege for many years.

I will tell the international community, you should do something right now to save whoever is left in Douma. People are forced to flee. Women will be detained and raped. Men will be slaughter. Children will be killed, just like they do each and every single time because it happened in my town. I survived it. I ask Ambassador Nikki Haley to resign because two month ago I went to her office in New York and I told her assistants that my friends on the ground are telling me that the Assad regime is planning on a large-scale chemical weapons attack.

All what they did was simply ignoring me.

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ALLEN: Understand his passion and his pain. Kassam Eid is also --

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ALLEN: -- calling upon President Trump to destroy, as he just said, the airports that the Syrian regime has used to launch chemical attacks.

Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters clash for the second straight weekend over Israel's blockade along the Gaza border.

VANIER: CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest on the conflict there.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is no question the border between Israel and Gaza remains tense after a second Friday of widespread protests along the security fence.

Sunday afternoon the Israeli military fired cross the border after they say three Palestinians crossed the fence into Israel, then crossed back into Gaza.

That gives you an idea of how sensitive the border area is right now. The most talked about story throughout the weekend has been the killing of Palestinian journalist Yaser Murtaja. Murtaja was wearing his press vest when he was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Friday according to the Palestinian ministry of health.

Hundreds attended his funeral including the head of Hamas in Gaza. Murtaja's death and eight others killed on Friday has amplified, of course, of international criticism against Israel, accusing Israel of using disproportionate and indiscriminate force against Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

Reporters Without Borders, an international media watchdog said it's clear that Israel fired intentionally at Murtaja.

In response to CNN the Israeli military said it does not intentionally target journalists. The military said quote, "The circumstances in which journalist were allegedly hit by the IDF fire are not familiar with the IDF and are being looked into."

Israel, meanwhile, holds Hamas responsible for orchestrating the violence along the Gaza border. Israeli officials have said those who were shot were attempting to carry out attacks or breach the security fence.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said there were no innocent civilians. He called the demonstrations a terror parade. Since the widespread demonstration began at the end of March, 31 Gazans have been killed by IDF forces according to the Palestinian ministry of health. Hundreds more have been injured by a live fire.

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi slammed Israel's use of live fire in response to widespread Gaza protests, calling for international investigation into Israel's actions.

Obviously, the situation remain very fluid now but already we're expecting more protests this coming Friday. That's true for every Friday from now until mid-May. Even if the numbers were down from the previous week, each of these protests still has the potential to spark a much bigger conflict -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

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VANIER: U.S. National Guard troops are moving into place following President Trump's promise to seal up the southern border with Mexico.

ALLEN: Our Kaylee Hartung reports on the role they'll fill alongside border agents.

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two hundred fifty National Guard troops will be in place in their operational roles along the Texas and Mexico border. Many of these troops arriving over the course of the weekend, though, were planners.

They walked right into meetings with the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol agents to discuss the resources that needed to be allocated in different areas of the border and determine the operational roles that the rest of the troops would be falling into.

At this point we have no pictures to show you of troops lined up on the border. What we can show you, a look inside some of these meetings that were taking place over the weekend. Again, discussing the resources needed to be allocated.

Handshakes shown through various military Twitter feeds, showing these border patrol agents welcoming National Guard troop leaders to their command post.

Now there is an important point to be made here, that federal troops cannot be involved in any law enforcement capacity. So you won't see National Guard troops apprehending anyone illegally trying to enter the United States. Rather they will be taking on roles that will allow the Customs and Border Patrol agents to do their jobs better out in the field.

These National Guard troops will be taking over desk jobs. They'll be doing intelligence gathering and surveillance. Again, to allow border patrol agents more flexibility and visibility to get out in the field and secure the U.S. border.

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VANIER: OK, coming up, the coolest holiday destination. It will cost you.

ALLEN: It's up there.

VANIER: It's worth it -- maybe.

ALLEN: Also ahead, Fiji faces another dangerous tropical cyclone just days after getting battered by one that brought heavy flooding. Pedram will have that for us -- next.

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ALLEN: Welcome back. Another tropical cyclone getting uncomfortably close to Fiji for the second time in a week.

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VANIER: It is time to boldly vacation where no one has vacationed before. Let me show you -- there it is -- the Aurora Station. This is the world's first luxury space hotel and it is expected to debut in about four years.

ALLEN: Their 12-day trip will include --

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ALLEN: -- 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours, taking part in research experiments and all the drills of zero gravity. And it will cost you $9.5 million with an $80,000 deposit.

Sign me up. Just short a little bit of the cash. Love it.

VANIER: -- four years, Natalie, there.

ALLEN: Love it. That's CNN NEWSROOM for this hour. I'm Natalie Allen.

VANIER: Thanks for watching, guys. I'm Cyril Vanier. "WORLD SPORT" with the inimitable Patrick Snell is up next. And then we'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. We have a Masters winner.

ALLEN: We have a Masters winner. He's got it -- next.