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Officials Respond to Leaked Report on No-Deal Brexit; Blaze in Dhaka Slum Leaves 10,000 People Homeless; Rescue Ship Sends Urgent Request to Dock at Lampedusa; Putin's Private Army; Florida Man Forced from Home by Vultures; Thousands Pour Into Hong Kong Streets In Largest Rally In Weeks; Funerals Take Place For Victims Of Kabul Wedding Attack; White House Insists Tariffs Won't Hurt U.S. Consumers. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 19, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:0] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hundreds of thousands of protesters come in peace in Hong Kong after weeks of violence. We go live to Beijing to find out how China is responding. The U.S. President says Afghanistan cannot be a laboratory for terror after a wedding in Kabul becomes the site of a deadly attack.
After more than two weeks, stranded at sea, some migrants attempt to swim to an Italian island after the vessel is refused entry. We have the latest on that effort. Hello everyone, thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen in Atlanta, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Hong Kong protesters are showing the world they are not giving up their fight for democracy. And to prove it they are turning out in droves. Look at that picture there. Protests organizers say what you're looking at is nearly two million people who joined the March Sunday.
However, police say there were only a 128,000 people, but they were referring to when the rally started at the starting point in Victoria Park. Despite conflicting numbers, the pictures speak for themselves. The crowds filed out of the park and turned the city center into a slow-moving sea of umbrellas.
The March was unauthorized but calm. After weeks of clashes between police and protesters, Sunday's march was a move to restore peace. Ivan Watson was there to ask what these people hope for.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Sunday, the skies opened up over Hong Kong. A tropical downpour that did not stop this sea of humanity, a mass protest against the government's handling of the worst political crisis Hong Kong has seen in decades.
If the authorities were hoping that this protest movement would fizzle over time, they were terribly wrong. Even pouring rain hasn't dampened the protesters' enthusiasm. From Hong Kong's Victoria Park, the crowd trudged west. Among them
30-year-old Desiree Wong here with her husband, mother, and sister. It is pouring rain out here and there are still a lot of demonstrators.
DESIREE WONG, PROTESTER, HONG KONG: Yes, because we had determined to let the government hear us. They cannot change our mind. They cannot change our demands.
WATSON: Do you think that the government will listen to you this time?
WONG: I hope so. But to be honest I do not have a lot of hope.
WATSON: Hong Kong has been locked in a cycle of unrest in more than two months. After two separate million-man protest marches last June, the city's appointed government suspended but refused to completely withdraw a proposed law that would allow the extradition of suspects from this former British colony to mainland China.
Since then, the violence has only escalated. The authorities denounced protesters calling them rioting criminals, while the opposition accuses the police of excess use of force. On Saturday, supporters of the government staged their own smaller demonstration supporting the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
WATSON: But the government in mainland China has some ominous message showing off its security forces on the border with Hong Kong, an obvious warning. But these threats from Beijing haven't quelled Hong Kong's dissent. This 23-year-old volunteer medic says she's attended more than 30 protests in the last two months.
Is there anything that the local government could do to satisfy the people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I think if they -- if they actually responded to those five requests including you know, withdrawing the extradition bill and setting up an independent inquiry council. I think that will come a lot of things down.
WATSON: But earlier this month, a senior Hong Kong government official told CNN there would be no compromise when it comes to the protesters' demands. The test of wills between the government and the people in the streets appears far from over. Ivan Watson, CNN Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: OK, that is the perspective from Hong Kong. CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now. He's in Beijing following China's response to the ongoing demonstrations. That, of course, is an important part of all of this, Steven.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: That's right, Natalie. You know, the state media here very strongly controlled by the government. They report the mass protest in Hong Kong Sunday but of course citing only the police figure not the nearly two million figures cited by the organizers.
But increasingly though, their focus -- their focus seems to be targeting the leaders and key members of the protest movement as well as Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp. Over the weekend, there was a series of articles and videos published by state media here targeting the so-called Hong Kong gang of four. Four prominent politicians, lawyers, and a media mogul who the state media says have been instrumental in instigating violence and chaos here in Hong Kong.
The attacks are really vicious and personal calling them America's running dogs and traders of the Chinese nation, questioning their personal wealth and character as well as accusing them of taking money from foreign powers.
[01:05:56] But Natalie, when it comes to fiery language in state media, one outlet usually stands out. That is the Global Times Newspaper and known for its a very nationalistic coverage as well as that belligerent tone. I recently sat down with the paper's editor- in-chief and asked him why his paper has been singling out the U.S. government for being the black hand behind Hong Kong's crisis. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The U.S. doesn't care if chaos reigns over Hong Kong. The U.S. wants to see chaos in Hong Kong and use it to pressure China. But Beijing has a responsibility to ensure peace, stability, and development in Hong Kong. If there are no longer any other options, then the military option would have to be used. And at that point, reactions from the U.S. or the West would matter very little.
JIANG: You've been increasingly reinforcing the notion of a U.S. instigated revolution in Hong Kong. What's your proof of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Nancy Pelosi and John Bolton have recently made inflammatory remarks. They're telling Hong Kong's society that you've become a model for democracy for the world. I was in Tiananmen Square. I was a student in the square and we were listening to voice of America every day. It was immensely encouraging when we heard the U.S. leaders say such things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIANG: Now, it's interesting who unprompted managed in the 1989 protest movement. That movement, of course, ended tragically when the Chinese military brutally crushed these protesters -- protest movement in 1989 now killing hundreds if not thousands of people.
So increasingly you see this hardened rhetoric from the government- controlled state media here and some would say ominous. But it seems like this is also reflection of the Chinese leadership thinking. That is they have decided to blame Hong Kong's problem on external forces instead of at least right now to address local complaints, local grievances and other structural issues in that city, Natalie.
ALLEN: All right, we will wait and see if that ever changes. Thank you so much. Steven Jiang for us in Beijing. The weeks-long saga over a detained Iranian tanker appears to be over. The ship has left the British territory of Gibraltar after being held there six weeks. It set sail after Gibraltar rejected a warrant from the United States to seize the vessel. Its new destination, it's not known.
Britain took control of the ship last month. It was suspected of carrying two million barrels of oil for Syria and violation of E.U. sanctions. Last week Gibraltar agreed to release the ship and its crew. Tehran now calling this a diplomatic victory. Meantime, a British flag tanker that Iran seized last month is still being held.
Afghanistan right now is supposed to be marking its Independence Day. Instead, the Capitol is marking yet another vicious attack. At least 63 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide blast tore through a wedding. ISIS has claimed responsibility and families who should be celebrating have now been burying their dead.
The wedding hall hit by the bombing is in a largely Shia neighborhood. The Taliban have condemned the blasts but they claimed responsibility for a different suicide attack in the same district earlier this month. CNN's Becky Anderson has more about this from London.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A pile of victim's shoes, blood coating chairs all in a shattered banquet hall. In Afghanistan's unending maelstrom of violence, this is how weddings can end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have lost hope. I lost my brother, my friends who came to join my wedding party.
ANDERSON: The day after his wedding party, the groom recounts what happened when a suicide bomber snuck in and detonated a massive bomb that had been strapped to his body shaking the neighborhood.
[01:10:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was in the wedding party when a blast occurred. It was very powerful. The situation was terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were sitting in our home when the strong sound of the blast came up. We came to the site of the blast and I saw that many women and children were screaming and crying. Many martyrs and injured people were transferred by the ambulances and it was a really terrible situation.
ANDERSON: It's not unfamiliar. In Afghanistan, death is a familiar business. Murdered by terrorism at night, the next morning, families already burying their dead as the wounded badly hurt struggled to cling to life in dilapidated hospitals. While Afghans suffer through the bloodshed, the politics of finger-pointing goes on.
The Taliban condemning the attack, deny any involvement. Afghanistan's president insists the group must share in the blame saying, "they provide a platform for terrorists." And later as it often does, ISIS claiming responsibility but offering no evidence.
This latest episode of violence horrific but unsurprising as it comes as peace talks seem on the cusp of coming together. America could be about to agree to pulling out its forces. The deal is supposed meant to be finalized in the coming days.
Yet it is unclear what that will mean for ordinary people. The country is riven by religious and political factions flooded with weapons, not to mention battle-hardened fighters all after nearly 20 years of American involvement.
So the only thing that seems certain looking ahead is that these will be far from the last innocent deaths in Afghanistan. Becky Anderson CNN, London
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Despite the wedding attack, the U.S. is moving ahead with Taliban peace talks. President Trump spoke with reporters Sunday and promised what could be major announcements about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have it very much under control as far as what we're doing. But the rest is you know a lot of bad things happen in Kabul, a lot of bad things are happening in Afghanistan, and some very positive things. But we would -- look, we're there for one reason. We don't want that to be a laboratory, OK.
It can't be a laboratory for terror and we've stopped that. And we have a very, very good view. I mean, some things are going to be announced over the next couple of weeks as to what happened, who's been taking out. A lot of people have been taken out that were very bad both ISIS and al-Qaeda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Mr. Trump's goal of leaving Afghanistan is facing pushback from members of his own party. Here was Senator Lindsey Graham speaking to Fox News Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I would invite every member of the United States Senate and the House to look at the Intel assessment as to what would happen to America if we pulled the plug on Afghanistan. If we did not have a counterterrorism force, it is ominous to the homeland.
Every national security adviser for President Trump is recommending unanimously that if we do a peace agreement with the Taliban, we must maintain the ability to have a counterterrorism force with Intel capability as long as conditions on the ground warrant. The idea of leaving at a date certain is a disaster for the United States because ISIS and al-Qaeda will regenerate. And the Intel assessment I just spoke of also has real-time events of where al-Qaeda and ISIS are reaching back to the homeland to try to attack us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling also warns a rapid exit from Afghanistan could have dire consequences. The CNN Military Analyst spoke with CNN's Christi Paul Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: When you go into a war, you normally have an end state. After you've achieved that end state, you have an exit strategy. What is currently being discussed is not an exit strategy, it's purely an exit, and it is driven by political considerations as all military negotiations are.
But unfortunately, this one is going to have a whole lot of repercussions and it will put many people on the short end of the stick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: President Trump wants U.S. troops to be cut in half by next month in Afghanistan. Well, economic -- economists are raising the red flags but President Trump says there's no recession on the horizon. We'll have the White House reasoning behind that just ahead.
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[01:15:00] ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. U.S. President Donald Trump is dismissing fears of recession. That despite coming off a volatile week in global markets and growing concern about the trade war with China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't think we're having a recession. We're doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut and they loaded up with money and they're buying. I saw the Walmart numbers. They were through the roof just two days ago. That's better than any poll. That's better than any economist. And most economists actually say, Phil, that we're not going to have a recession. Most of us say we're not going to have a recession. But the rest of the world is not doing well like we're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with trade adviser Peter Navarro about the White House's insistence U.S. consumers won't be hurt by the tariffs on Chinese goods.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: They do want to give you an opportunity to just address the fact that you keep saying that China's bearing all the burden and that goes against what we're hearing from researchers at Harvard, University of Chicago, the IMF, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, former Trump Adviser Gary Cohn who I know you clashed with quite a bit, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal which is very conservative.
Economist after economist says that you're not being straight with the American people on whose bearing the burden of these tariffs. Why are all these people lying and you're telling the truth?
[01:20:05] PETER NAVARRO, TRADE ADVISOR, WHITE HOUSE: So all I would say to you is look at the data. There's absolutely no evidence, no evidence whatsoever that American consumers --
TAPPER: Did you look at study I told you about?
NAVARRO: There's no evidence whatsoever that Americans consumers are bearing any of this. We know that China is slashing our prices, they're slashing the value of the Yuan, they're hemorrhaging, hemorrhaging their manufacturing base.
I'd be happy to look at some of those studies, but I can tell you this. This president is committed to standing up to China and getting a good deal for the American people and he will continue to do what needs to be done. The strategy has been put in place going back to Mar-a-Lago and we are winning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: President Trump also discussed gun violence Sunday two weeks after a pair of mass shootings left 32 people dead in one weekend. He shifted his focus away from gun control legislation to mental health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: People don't realize we have very strong background checks right now. You go in to buy a gun, you have to sign up. There are a lot of background checks that have been approved over the years. A lot of people want to see something happen. But just remember this, big mental problem -- and we do have a lot of background checks right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Gun control advocates aren't backing down. 22 people were killed in the mass shooting at the Walmart in El Paso. Residents their rally Saturday demanding action from the government. More than 1,000 flower arrangements were sent to El Paso to honor Margie Reckard, one of the El Paso victims.
An estimated 3,000 people showed up to her funeral after her husband said he was her only family. After the service, one funeral home director transported the leftover flowers to the makeshift memorial site using 22 hearses.
In an unsettling development, U.S. authorities announced they foiled three possible mass shootings. Three young men are under arrest in three different states. As Polo Sandoval reports all three cases were brought to officials attention by tips from the public.
((BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of the most recent mass shootings in the United States these latest arrests are certainly disturbing for investigators. The first one in Ohio where a man by the name of James Reardon was arrested last week. Police say that he made an Instagram post to the video which shows a man shooting a rifle.
What really caught the attention of investigators here is that the Jewish community center of Youngstown was tagged into caption. And that same caption also implies that the gunman seen in the video would be the shooter behind a potential attack at that Jewish Center.
Reardon has been charged with telecommunications harassment. Police served a search warrant at his mother's home. We're told they recovered several rifles, ammunition, a gas mask, a bayonet even. And investigators are now trying to determine if those were purchased legally. The FBI has interviewed Reardon in this case, but we are told they have not filed any federal charges.
And look at this body camera video that was released in Florida that shows the arrest of a 25-year-old man believed to have threatened to commit a mass shooting. Tristan Wix at Daytona Beach was detained by police. He's suspected of sending messages that were threatening to open fire on large grounds.
One of the investigators say read, "I want to break a world record for longest confirmed kill ever." The Volusia County Sheriff's Office telling CNN that was actually the suspect's own ex-girlfriend that initially alerted authorities about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN JOHNSON, SHERIFF, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: She is also is the real hero here. She went to a local municipality, showed the text messages, and actually, four municipalities got involved. He is the profile of a shooter. He's 24 years old. He lost his job, he lost his girlfriend. He's depressed. He had a rifle and 400 rounds of ammunition. There's a lot of carnage could have been caused when he fulfilled.
I truly believe in my heart that he was -- he would -- he is an active shooter. That's exactly what he was. He fits the profile exactly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: One last note on this story in Florida. Wix has told detectives that he does not actually own any weapons to carry out any sort of attack. However, that he says that he was fascinated with mass shootings.
And then finally, in the state of Connecticut, another man was arrested there on Thursday who also showed interest in carrying out a mass shooting. He's been identified as 22-year-old Brandon Wagshol who was arrested and charged with various weapons charges in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Police are saying that they received a tip that he was buying several components of a rifle and that apparently attempted to build his own weapon. Police also discovered though that he had posted messages on Facebook indicating that he would like to carry out a mass shooting. Polo Sandoval, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Venezuela's economy is in shambles. Food medicine and fuel are in short supply. But one area of the country is actually thriving but it's based on corruption and violence. In a CNN exclusive, Isa Soares takes us to southern Venezuela and the search for gold.
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[01:25:14] ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the fringes of the Amazon rainforest, a state-sponsored network of violent gangs and corrupt Venezuela military hide amongst the fast land, rich minerals and seeping gold.
This has made this area Maduro's El Dorado. And it's this That's giving him a financial lifeline.
We've come deep into Venezuela's mining arc to find out how Nicolas Maduro is holding on to power unable to resist America pressure.
He's given himself direct control over this land, and he's bleeding it dry. Enriching himself and buying the allegiance of the military, and it all starts with a local miner who with mouths to feed at home risk it all operating in this lawless region.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: You can watch Isa's full report on Monday at 4:00 in the afternoon in New York. That's 9:00 at night in London right here only on CNN. Fears of a no-deal Brexit are growing, traffic jams at the border, a shortage of food are just a few of the concerns. We'll tell you next what a leaked government report predicts.
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[01:29:55] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Natalie Allen and here are our top stories this hour.
Hong Kong protest organizers say nearly two million people turned out to march Sunday. Police say there were only around 130,000 but they mean at the start of the protests. The crowd filled Victoria Park to show that public support for the pro democracy movement has not faded. The march, while unauthorized, was peaceful.
An Iranian tanker detained in Gibraltar for six weeks has now left British territory. It set sail after Gibraltar denied a U.S. request to hold the vessel on a warrant. Britain had suspected the ship was carrying oil to Syria in violation of E.U. sanctions. The tanker's new destination is not known.
The corruption trial of Sudan's ousted president is about to begin in Khartoum. Omar al-Bashir was arrested and forced from power back in April after a coup. He's also wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.
In the U.K. the "Sunday Times" has published leaked government documents that predict outcomes of a no-deal Brexit. Officials are preparing for shortages of food, fuel and medicine. They're expecting three traffic jams at Britain's ports of entry that could last months and they predict a hard border is likely to return to Northern Ireland and that could cause unrest along with nationwide protests.
Some say the report should cause significant concern but members of the cabinet say these are worst-case scenarios.
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MICHAEL GOVE, CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCY OF LANCASTER: I think some of the concerns about a no-deal Brexit have been exaggerated. Except in the case that there will be bumps in the road, some element of disruption in the event of no-deal. But the document that has appeared on the "Sunday Times" was an attempt in the past to work on what a very, very worst situation would be so that we could take steps to mitigate it.
And we have taken steps, not just to deal with some of the risks, but also to make sure that our economy and our country are better placed than ever to leave the European Union on October the 31st.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Britain's opposition leader is moving ahead with his plan to stop a no-deal Brexit and says he will call for a vote of no confidence.
CNN's Isa Soares has more on the battle over Brexit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In theory, all Boris Johnson has to do is wait and let the clock tick down. The 31st of October is enshrined in law as the day the U.K. leaves the European Union, deal or no-deal.
But in reality, there are a number of potential roadblocks opponents of no-deal may use to try and hold things up. MPs return to this building in three weeks. One of their first actions could be to call a vote of no confidence in the government, something Johnson will likely lose, given his parliamentary majority is down to just one.
After that, well, this is when things get really murky, uncharted legal waters, and no one really knows how it would work.
What we do know is the Prime Minister will have 14 days to respond, in which time the country could be swept along in four possible directions.
He could call an election, leaving the British people to decide which course to steer. Alternatively, the leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, could be given a chance to actually captain the ship in trying to form a government and he has already said he would call a second referendum on Brexit.
It's also possible a unity government could be formed, led by someone other than Jeremy Corbyn, but they could try and sink Brexit altogether.
A fourth possibility if Johnson loses a no-confidence vote is that he simply refuses to step down, and that means it could leave Britain adrift in a constitutional crisis and this is where the Queen comes in.
The Labour Party's John McDonnell says that if Johnson refuses to step aside, he will put Corbyn in a taxi straight to Buckingham Palace, where the Queen is normally tucked away, trying to stay out of the politics. Some have said in this sort of constitutional crisis, it would fall upon her to act.
Back in Parliament, MPs have a couple of other things they could try to avoid a no-deal Brexit. They could force Prime Minister Johnson back to Brussels to ask for an extension, although the E.U. has already refused to rework the deal.
Or they could create a law to revoke Article 50, the very law which began this Brexit process.
All of this requires opposition and rebel politicians to be very organized and coordinated, something they aren't exactly known for around here. And if they fail to unite, no-deal looks inevitable.
Isa Soares, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
In Bangladesh 10,000 people have been left homeless after a fire destroyed their makeshift houses in a Dhaka slum. Residents lost everything they owned.
[01:35:05] Our Paula Newton reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Residents watched from a distance as giant flames in golf they're homes Friday night silhouetted by fierce pillars of smoke that swept through the Chalantika slum in Bangladesh's capital city of Dhaka. 2,000 huts were destroyed in the fire, the local police inspector told CNN, leaving at least 10,000 people homeless in just a matter of hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone started running out, some people were bathing, they ran out wet. Some left all their belonging and ran to safety. It was chaos.
I lived here for more than 30 years and I have lost everything. I don't know where I will go and live. I lost everything and now I'm homeless and I don't know what to do.
NEWTON: Officials say the majority of the Chalantika residents earn low wages from working in garment factories nearby and many were celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid when the fire broke out.
Bangladesh's state minister for disaster management and relief announced on Sunday that around 80 percent of the slum was either completely or partially demolished by the fire.
No one died but it caused structural damage and injured four people who were then hospitalized according to the director of fire services. The fire services director said the initial flames broke out about 7:14 p.m. local time lasting little more than four hours before they were put out.
Residents dug through what's left of their belongings hoping to salvage anything they could.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was born here. I lived here with my father and mother I grew up here. My whole family still live here in the slum. And now we will be separated. Our family had 12 rooms together. It was such a nice place to live and now we will never find a place like this to stay together.
SOARES: What caused the fire remains unknown but CNN was told a committee has been set up to try and investigate and report its findings back within 15 day.
The mayor of Dhaka's North City Corporation, Atiqul Islam, said all necessary assistance for those impacted will continue until they are rehabilitated, according to state media. He added that the country's prime minister was promising permanent dwellings for all those left homeless.
But until then the residents here are left to sift through the ashes of what they once called home.
Paula Newton, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: A stranded rescue ship carrying more than 100 migrants has submitted an urgent request to dock on the Italian island of Lampedusa. But Italy's interior minister has refused to let the ship into port.
Rick Folbaum has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK FOLBAUM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A desperate search for a place to land, migrants seen in this video make a valiant attempt to swim to an Italian island Sunday after being stranded on a rescue ship in the Mediterranean for more than two weeks.
The Spanish humanitarian ship called Open Arms rescued more than 130 people in Maltese waters August 1st. The ship now waits off the Italian island of Lampedusa, request for refuge at a standstill because of a stalemate with the Italian government.
And Italian court ruled Wednesday that the Open Arms should be permitted to dock in Italy despite a ban by far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini. A bitter political standoff between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Salvini as to whether or not this ship can dock on the island.
Salvini did allow 27 unaccompanied minors aboard the ship to disembark in Italy Saturday but placed the responsibility exclusively on Prime Minister Conte. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered Sunday to open Spain's doors to the ship at the port of Algeciras, but Open Arms founder Oscar Camps said another five days and 950 miles of travel could be unsustainable.
The four migrants who jumped ship had been rescued and returned to the boat but the plea from Open Arms becomes urgent. Camps said they warned of this days ago. Despair has limits.
Rick Folbaum, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We know Vladimir Putin is one of the world's most powerful leaders. But CNN has learned the Russian leader has a private army waiting to do his bidding. We will have the details in an exclusive report next.
[01:39:35] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: An exclusive CNN report now exposing a secret, private army doing Russian President Vladimir Putin's bidding around the world.
CNN has learned the reach of this shadowy fighting force in expanding, apparently led by a Putin ally linked to U.S. election interference.
Here is our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Oleg. For years, he says he worked as a hired gun in Syria for a shadowy Russian mercenary group called Wagner that has become a valuable tool for the Kremlin.
OLEG (through translator): Wagner is Putin's instrument for resolving issues by force, when action has to be taken immediately, urgently, and in the most concealed way possible. I cannot say it's an army in the proper sense of that word. It's just a fighting unit that will do anything that Putin says.
WARD: This is the first time a former Wagner employee has agreed to speak on camera, and Oleg asked us to disguise his identity.
Private military contractors are illegal in Russia. Officially, Wagner doesn't exist, but CNN has discovered that the group now has hundreds of fighters operating on three different continents.
And this is the man believed to be behind that expansion. Dubbed Putin's chef because of lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin, Yevgeny Prigozhin is also sanctioned by the U.S. for funding the Internet research agency accused of meddling in the 2016 election.
OLEG: I'm a mercenary, and 90 percent of participants of the company were like me, and they were motivated by money.
WARD: What sort of training was it? Where did it take place?
OLEG (through translator): You know, I didn't have any training as such, not then anyway. I spent six days in the training camp in Molkino. I went to a firing range twice and shot a machine gun once. That was it.
[01:44:54] WARD: CNN travelled to the remote Russian village of Molkino to try to get to Wagner's training camp and found that the group has a surprisingly close relationship with the Russian military.
The only way to get into the Wagner barracks is to get through that checkpoint, which is manned by the Russian military. Because this actually belongs to a Russian special forces unit.
Not far from Molkino, there's a monument to fallen Wagner fighters. Visitors are not welcome, so we approached with a hidden camera.
It looks less like a memorial than a fortress.
A guard soon comes up to us. "Is the church only for Wagner?" I ask. "I don't know for whom," he says.
"For the people who were in Syria?" I pressed him.
"I don't know, I'm telling you," he says. "I'm just guarding here." He begins to get suspicious of our questions, and we decide to leave.
Yes. He's going to call. Let's go.
They didn't let us inside, which is not surprising, because in that compound is the only tangible, visible proof that Wagner is real. No surprise perhaps that the monument is funded by a Prigozhin-owned
company.
It was five years ago in Crimea that mysterious, unidentified fighters, dubbed "little green men", helped Moscow wrest the province from Ukraine, even as the Kremlin feigned ignorance. It was a success. And Moscow's use of mercenary forces has since grown. Analysts say none of this could happen without Putin's approval.
Do you think that part of the mission of Wagner is to help Russia restore its role to become a major global superpower again?
OLEG: Yes, 100 percent. This is the top priority for Wagner.
WARD: And so it's trying to be a rival to America?
OLEG: Russia is trying to suppress the U.S. in every way possible, using legal and illegal means. It's trying to smash it, get the better of it somehow. What will come of it as a result? Nothing good, I think.
WARD: But for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wagner is still a worthwhile gamble, an expendable fighting force with no accountability.
Clarissa Ward, CNN -- Molkino, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: CNN has repeatedly asked Yevgeny Prigozhin for comment via his company but so far our requests have gone unanswered. In the past Prigozhin has strongly denied any link to Wagner; denials too from the Russian government to any mercenary group.
Next here, a Florida home invasion of a feathered kind. We hear from a man forced to flee his home by vultures.
[01:47:57] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: You're looking at a wildfire burning on Spain's Canary Island. Reports say the flames have forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. Officials say the wildfire has great potential to spread.
Let's talk about that with our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, who is looking into the conditions that could cause that to happen. Hi -- Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, Natalie -- this is an area that is an absolutely beautiful area, otherwise impacts some 14 million people who visit the island every single year, much of them from Britain and from Germany. And you look at the perspective here and the images, the lay of the land really plays a role in the wildfire activity across this region as you have the elevated terrains, much like you see into southern California. Now, of course, for the second time in as many weeks significant wildfire activity across the island where 1,700 hectares of land have already been consumed and firefighters, in the order of hundreds now, across this region from 14 aircraft as well battling these wildfires at this hour. And as you noted, the conditions unfortunately have been very, very rough across this very rugged landscape.
In fact, you dive into this volcanic island, the Grand Canary region across this area and you go for a closer look, as mountainous as it gets, the highest elevations here climb up to 2,000 meters or about 6,000 feet high.
So you talk about this sort of landscape, you're always going to have a threat not only for wildfire activity to be very persistent. But persistent once it occurs, it's also going to be very challenging for the firefighters to begin to kind of bring this back down.
And temps across the region as high as 40 degrees, and keep in mind, this is a temperate climate. So temps should be into the middle twenties for this time of year. (INAUDIBLE) now extending to cross some 40 towns across the (INAUDIBLE) area which is the community hardest hit across this region and half of the provinces in this island here have also been impacted with fire activity in the recent days.
But the perspective looks as such, the weather pattern, we've had a stationary front -- really persistent across the region. So the heat has been on and, of course, the dry weather has been on in this region as well. In fact, you compare this climate to say San Diego and southern California you get half the rainfall that San Diego gets and of course, that region of California well known for how dry it is.
The next couple of days, some better news in the forecast. There's a front on the horizon. With it, cooler air comes in, temps dropping off in the middle 20s and a slight possibility we get a few showers out of it as well. So at least better weather on the forecast -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. That's good news. Pedram -- thanks as always.
JAVAHERI: Thank you.
In Florida, a man has evacuated his family after some friends moved in, well not quite, vultures moved in and caused quite a mess, as you might imagine.
He spoke with station WPBF reporter Ari Hait (ph) about the invasion by these scavenging birds of prey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY CASIMANO, HOMEOWNER: It's a disaster. And it's a laughable disaster. But you can't make this up. That's why it's laughable.
ARI HAIT, REPORTER, WPBF: This is Anthony Casimano's backyard, his pool area overrun by vultures. CASIMANO: They ripped all the screens out, like you see right now.
They throw up, they pooped all over the place. The ripped out our pool tank down that you see around the pool.
HAIT: Casimano says that was the first time he spend $3,000 repairing everything and then he got an alert on his phone from his security system.
[01:55:00] CASIMANO: They had motion in the yard so I checked it out and there are -- there must have been a hundred of them there.
HAIT: This is a time lapse over several, vultures everywhere. Casimano lives in the Ibis community in West Palm Beach. He says the vultures have forced him and his family to leave their own home and go to New York.
CASIMANO: I have 2-year-old daughter that I can't get (INAUDIBLE) while the situation is happening. No problem --
HAIT: And it's not just the Casimanos. Their neighbor sent us these photos -- different yard, same problem. The president of the Ibis Property Owners' Association (INAUDIBLE) tells me they're doing everything they can to keep the vultures away. He says the problem is one homeowner keeps feeding the vultures. Honus (ph) says they've given her a citation and a fine, even delivered a legal cease and desist letter, but nothing has worked yet.
Casimano has tried to do things himself, placing balloons around the area, playing music all day long, anything to keep the vultures away. Some days it works, others it doesn't.
CASIMANO: We have to get the situation taken care of before we come back down. I'm not going to come down there and walk into a mess.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: That is a mess.
Well, thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
Another hour of news is up next with Rosemary and George.
Thanks for watching. see you soon.
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