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Ben Carson's Controversial Campaign; North Korea to Celebrate 70th Anniversary of Korean Workers Party; Underground Railroad Helps Iraqi Christians Escape ISIS: Hints L.A. Could Get NFL Team; Top Candidate for U.S. House Speaker Quits Race; Syrians Face New Threat from Bombing Campaign; Israeli Prime Minister Blames Violence on Palestinian Authorities; American Hero Caught in a Street Fight. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 09, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: House divided. The Republican leadership left scrambling after the leading candidate for U.S. House speaker suddenly drops out.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Benjamin Netanyahu's government reacts after more sporadic attacks on Israeli. We are live in Jerusalem.
VAUSE: Also the modern-day underground railroad into the United States for Christians fleeing ISIS.
SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. begins right now.
Republicans in the U.S. Congress are searching for a new leader after the man expected to claim that title suddenly withdrew from the race. Kevin McCarthy made the surprise announcement on Thursday.
SESAY: Now the party's leadership in the House of Representatives is looking more like a "House of Cards."
Chief political correspondent Dana Bash reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's congressional chaos, then there's this. The Republican meeting to vote for a new speaker ending abruptly after the frontrunner, Kevin McCarthy, shocked everyone, suddenly dropping out of the race.
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: People were absolutely stunned.
BASH (on camera): I mean, you were behind him. Are you stunned?
KING: Yes, totally stunned, no idea it was coming. No one did.
BASH: You were just in there. What happened? REP. DAVID JOLLY (R), FLORIDA: Kevin McCarthy, just like John Boehner
did, put the country and the Congress and the conference before his own interests. It was a very honorable thing to do. I think he recognized and shared with the conference that he was afraid his candidacy might further divide the caucus and further divide the party across the country.
BASH (voice-over): Behind closed doors, that's exactly what Kevin McCarthy told his colleagues.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: I think I shocked some of you, huh?
BASH: And what he repeated to reporters after the news got out.
MCCARTHY: If we are going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. So nothing more than that.
BASH: That and raw numbers. Despite McCarthy's public confidence only an hour earlier, sources close to McCarthy say he realized getting approval from the majority of the House, 218 votes, was going to be tough. And CNN is told McCarthy decided the demands many conservative members were making in exchange for their votes, those in the so-called Freedom Caucus, would have made him too weak to be effective.
Tim Huelskamp's camp is one of some 40 Republicans in that House Freedom Caucus.
REP. TIM HUELSKAMP (R), KANSAS: But we were looking at how do we work together? We're looking for a speaker who works with conservatives rather than against us. And we presumed that Kevin was going to reach out to us and say, what do we need to do, what changes do we need to make?
BASH: Moderates like Charlie Dent worry it will be hard to find a Republican member who will appeal to those conservatives, but still actually lead the entire House as the Constitution requires the speaker to do.
REP. CHARLIE DENT (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The next speaker should not appease those who make unreasonable demands. There are a number of members of our conference who simply cannot get to yes on anything.
BASH: Daniel Webster and Jason Chaffetz, the two other Republicans in the race for speaker, are a bit speechless.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Did not see that coming.
BASH: But still in.
CHAFFETZ: Because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we were elected to do.
BASH (on camera): So the question now is, who will be speaker? And the answer on everybody's list is Paul Ryan. At least he's the one who can bring together all of the factions, the warring factions of the Republican Party in the House. The problem is Paul Ryan has made clear he doesn't want the job.
We are told that John Boehner, the current House speaker, is trying to get him to change his mind, to put his hat in the ring because this is a time where Republicans need the leadership and the respect that he actually does garner from so many parts of the Republican Party. His aides are saying he's not going to do it but he's not closing the door fully.
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: There are some comparisons here to 1998 when then House Speaker Newt Gingrich stepped down. Louisiana's Bob Livingston was selected to take over but he withdrew after revealing an extramarital affair.
SESAY: That propelled Dennis Hastert of Illinois into the speaker's post. He went on to become the longest-serving Republican House speaker ever. Hastert was indicted this year on federal fraud charges.
Well, John and I spoke earlier with CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston about the turmoil among Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: what's so interesting is that what went down in Washington is really illustrative of also what's happening in the presidential race. You've got these two lanes, the establishment lane and then the Freedom Caucus folks who are appealing to Tea Party folks. And it's just been really fascinating to watch. Obviously Kevin McCarthy's announcement came as a big blow to the GOP establishment in Washington and it's sort of a party in chaos at the moment.
SESAY: Maeve, to that point, the party in chaos and Kevin McCarthy dropping out for that role of speaker, it's the job nobody wants. But more and more people now saying Paul Ryan, the former VP nominee, is the only man up for the job. Do you think he'll take it just for the good of the Republican Party?
[01:05:07] RESTON: Well, I mean, I think Paul Ryan could be a really interesting choice because as we saw in the 2012 race when he was chosen as Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee, he does have the ability to sort of unite the conservatives on one side and then also the rest of the party on the other. But at this point it's just really unclear whether anyone can govern, and certainly people out here in Nevada who are watching this from afar are just saying what is going on back there? It just looks like chaos.
VAUSE: It does look like chaos. And you mentioned how this rebellion within the GOP against the establishment is playing out on the campaign trail. There in Marco Rubio campaign. But he is way down in the polls. Ben Carson, an outsider, he's up in the polls, he's number two by all accounts. And he's had an interesting couple of days. Most notably he's been trying to explain a passage from his book which seems to suggest the holocaust would not have happened if the Jews were armed. This is Mr. Carson now trying to explain what he meant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My point is they were -- that was only one of the countries that I mentioned. There were a number of countries where tyranny reigned and before it happened they disarmed the people. That was the point. Noah Webster said, when he was talking about tyranny, that the people of America would never suffer tyranny because they are armed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Anti-Defamation League says those comments are firstly historically inaccurate, which they are. They've also said they're offensive.
But, Maeve, is there a tipping point here? Because so far it seems these sorts of comments have not been a problem for Carson so far.
RESTON: Yes. I mean, what people like about Ben Carson, voters in the Republican Party, is that he's a really refreshing, outsider voice but he has had a rough couple of days. He certainly has surged in the polls over the last couple of months. But I think there's a real credibility test for a lot of voters out there whether he can actually talk about issues in a way that would appeal to the broader general electorate and with these stumbles over the last couple of days there's going to be a lot of people who kind of give him a second look and say, is he up for the job?
I was at the Donald Trump rally earlier today. A lot of people there say that Ben Carson is their second choice but as the coverage gets more unfavorable to Carson, as the vetting process goes on, that could change certainly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: It certainly could. Maeve Reston speaking to us a bit earlier from Las Vegas.
VAUSE: And a reminder here, please keep an eye out for the first Democratic presidential debate only here on CNN. Our live coverage from Las Vegas starts Tuesday night, 5:30 Pacific Time. Only on CNN.
SESAY: Now U.S. officials say several cruise missiles launched from a Russian ship and aimed at targets in Syria have crashed in Iran. It's unclear where in Iran the missiles may have landed but the U.S. believes that some civilians may have been hurt and buildings damaged.
VAUSE: Russia and Iran denied the American claims and say the missiles hit their intended targets. Iran's Defense Ministry says the allegations are part of the West's psychological warfare. Meantime, we're told the U.S. secretary of state spoke by phone with his counterpart in Moscow and raised concerns about the non-ISIS targets Russia has been aiming at.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: They also talked about the importance of moving forward on tactical discussions and dialogue towards the goal of de-confliction, again to avoid mishaps and misunderstandings particularly in the air.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: And also this new video we want to share with you. It's said to show two Russian cruise missiles flying on Wednesday over northern Iraq toward Syria. CNN cannot confirm that.
VAUSE: For the people of Syria it has been a devastating 4 and a half years of war, one that has led to an enormous humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and now Syrians face a new threat from the air.
SESAY: Our Arwa Damon has that story but first we want to warn you some of the images you're about to see are extremely graphic and disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barely able to see through the thick dust, somehow members of the Syrian Civil Defense Team also known as the White Helmets, pull out a little girl.
Grab her, one orders, and turns around.
Miraculously the children appear unharmed. But then another strike. Frantic cries of "God is great." Luckily, this time it seems everyone got out, but often not.
The White Helmets, an independent medical rescue team, have been through this before. Too many times for most to count. But now it's not just Assad's warplanes and barrel bombs. Since Russia's bombing campaign began on September 30th, they say they have documented around 182 civilian deaths including two of their own which they say were caused by Russian strikes.
[01:10:11] The Kremlin boasts of its accuracy, insisting civilians are not being targeted or killed. But those on the ground say it's a lie. The strikes are indiscriminate and often land on areas far from the front lines or rebel bases.
A child here treated for wounds. Two others appear shell shocked. Childhood they will never know. We cannot independently verify the activist claims of Russian responsibility for these casualties, but perhaps what is most despicable is that it is happening at all. And has been happening for too long. No matter who to blame. As the Russian-Syrian regime, Americans, NATO and other key players
talk of war maneuvers and strategic gains, this is what that rhetoric looks like on the ground. These images are graphic and they are real. A child covered in blood screaming in pain crying out for his mother.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: It is hard to watch but that's the reality.
SESAY: Yes. More than 250,000 people have died in this conflict so far.
VAUSE: OK. A short break here. When we come back, an Israeli soldier stabbed with a screwdriver. We'll have the latest on what Israel's prime minister is calling a wave of terrorism.
SESAY: Plus, he helped stop a terror attack on a French train and was wounded in the process. This American serviceman has now suffered another stabbing after an apparent street fight turned especially nasty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
[01:15:44] VAUSE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. Israel's prime minister says the Palestinian Authority's incitement, libels, and lies are behind the latest violence.
SESAY: Three new stabbings were reported Thursday. Israeli Police say one was in Tel Aviv, where they say a female Israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a Palestinian who was then shot and killed.
VAUSE: Joining us now live, CNN's Erin McLaughlin, who is at the gates to Jerusalem's Old City, the Damascus gate to be precise.
So, Erin, as we head into Friday prayers, what's the latest on the security situation around the noble sanctuary there?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Well, you can see here inside the Old City a heavy security presence. Thousands of additional police officers. They've also installed metal detectors. You can see one just over that way. They've installed them in light of the recent stabbing attacks. One of the attacks actually took place not far from here, just down that way, last Saturday. Israeli Police say a Palestinian man stabbed and killed two Israeli men, injuring an Israeli woman as well as her infant. It's exactly the kind of attack that has people here on edge.
Now, as for the nearby holy site known to Muslims as the noble sanctuary, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, restrictions are in place today as to who can pray there. Men under the age of 50, Muslim men, not allowed to pray. The Israeli prime minister has also asked members of his government, ministers as well as members of the Knesset, not to visit the site in a bid to deescalate things.
VAUSE: So, Erin, we have heard from the Israeli prime minister. He's blaming the Palestinian Authority for the recent violence saying their they're incitement and libels and lies. Specifically what is he talking about there? And is that the only thing which is driving these attacks by Palestinians on Israelis?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, John, that's right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a press conference last night alongside key government officials. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Through Translator): We are in the midst of a terror wave, with Molotov cocktails, knives, and rocks are used as well as live ammunition. Most of these activities are not organized in any way, but they are a result of incitement, libels, and lies by Hamas, the Palestinian Authorities, and a few regional states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: Now CNN spoke to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat. He said that he is concerned that things are getting out of hand. But he says the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has made continuous calls to deescalate this situation. And he said that people on the streets want to know what would happen after the de- escalation, if the humiliation in his words would continue. And he says that the only way to ensure an end to the violence, a final end to the violence, is a two-state solution -- John.
VAUSE: And Erin, I understand that the prime minister is in fact referring to rumors which have been circulating that the Israelis in fact want to take over the noble sanctuary and essentially control access to that point and the Israelis are making the point that that is not on the agenda at all. Is that correct?
MCLAUGHLIN: That's right. The Israeli prime minister in that press conference yesterday saying that the status quo of the site will persist, saying that -- blaming the Palestinians for inciting violence and spreading those rumors that something could happen to the status quo of the site. And that is why the prime minister said that he is trying to call upon members of the Knesset as well as government ministers not to visit the site.
In recent weeks visits to the site from members of the far-right have increased tensions. And the prime minister trying to deescalate the situation.
VAUSE: Erin McLaughlin live for us there. Twenty past 8:00 on a Friday morning in the Old City. Thank you, Erin.
SESAY: Now the American service member who was stabbed helping stop a terror attack in France is now in a California hospital recovering from another stabbing.
[01:20:03] VAUSE: Yes. This is incredible. The altercation all caught on video. We get late details from Kyung Lah.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Isha, this is something that happens far too often in this area of bars and nightclubs. A street fight. So it's not exactly what happened that makes it so significant here, it's who was involved.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): What police say started as an altercation inside a Sacramento bar soon spilled outside and turned into a wild street brawl. This liquor store surveillance video captured the fight. U.S. Air Force Airman Spencer Stone, the tall man wearing a white shirt, throwing punches as a group of men appeared to surround him.
Watch closely. This is the moment where Stone is apparently stabbed. What looks like blood on his shirt as everyone flees the scene.
KEN BERNARD, DEPUTY CHIEF, SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The assault does not appear to be a random act. It's believed to be related to a nightclub incident.
LAH: It was just this August when Stone was hailed as a hero, along with Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Saddler, for taking down a would-be terrorist aboard a passenger train in France. Stone was praised for his aggressive role in disarming a man who was carrying firearms and a box cutter.
SPENCER STONE, AIRMAN FIRST CLASS, U.S. AIR FORCE: I put him in a chokehold. It seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons left and right. Pulled out a handgun. Alek took that. Took out a box cutter, started jabbing at me with that.
LAH: He was treated for his injuries and returned to the U.S., greeted with a hero's welcome. He met with the president at the White House, appeared on nightly talk shows, was honored with a parade in Sacramento, where he's stationed at Travis Air Force Base.
(On camera): But what led to the altercation that was captured on this surveillance camera? Police here in Sacramento say the entire incident is under investigation but they already know this. The suspects likely had no idea who they were fighting. But they likely know now.
BERNARD: This incident is a very unfortunate altercation between two groups of folks who were enjoying the nightlife in midtown Sacramento. This incident is not related to terrorism in any way. We know it's not related to what occurred in France.
LAH (voice-over): Spencer Stone only recently recovered from his injuries after his heroism in France. He is now again in the hospital, in serious condition.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: The hospital says Stone suffered three wounds to his body. The wounds when he first arrived at the hospital were considered potentially life-threatening. But doctors are pleased to report that he's expected to make a full recovery -- John, Isha.
SESAY: Our thanks to Kyung Lah for that report.
Now Volkswagen's U.S. chief has apologized for what he called deeply troubling events at the company.
VAUSE: The German automaker has already admitted its diesel cars were programmed to limit emissions when the vehicles were being tested. Michael Horn's comments came during testimony before the U.S. Congress on Thursday.
SESAY: He said engineers were to blame for deceptive software that cheated emissions testing and that it was not a corporate decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TIM MURPHY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: To the best of your knowledge, did VW install the software for the expressed purpose of defeating emissions controls?
MICHAEL HORN, CEO, VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA: To our understanding, and this is also part of the investigation, it was installed to this purpose, yes. For this purpose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Meantime, German police raided Volkswagen's headquarters as part of the investigation into the scandal. Officials are looking for documents that could help determine who was responsible.
VAUSE: Well, football's legal troubles have claimed a couple of people at the top. That's after FIFA's Ethics Committee slapped 90- day suspensions on outgoing president, Sepp Blatter. European football president Michel Platini and FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Velke. Those suspensions are effective immediately and could be extended. FIFA presidential candidate Chan Mung Joon also was banned for six years.
Current FIFA vice president Issa Hayatou now takes over. He's also the head of the Confederation of African Football. The long-time soccer administration has had its own problems. In 2011 the International Olympic Committee sanctioned him for taking cash from a sports marketing firm.
SESAY: The drama at FIFA goes on.
VAUSE: Yes.
SESAY: Well, one of football's biggest stars is facing trouble of his own. Lionel Messi will stand trial in Spain on three counts of income tax fraud. The 28-year-old Barcelona star could be sentenced to up to four years in prison if found guilty. Messi's father is facing the same charges.
VAUSE: Rome's embattled mayor has resigned his post following a scandal over his credit card expenses. Mayor Ignacio Marino made the announcement Thursday after facing weeks of pressure from critics who blame him for the state of the Italian capital. Marino denies claims he used city money to wine and dine his family and friends but has offered to repay all charges on his official credit card. More than $22,000. That's a lot of wine, a lot of dinner.
SESAY: A lot of pasta.
[01:25:02] The Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on the hot seat. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asks him to clarify his comments about the mass shooting in Oregon.
VAUSE: Also ahead the search for asylum. Iraqi Christians on a desperate journey to escape persecution from ISIS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
Republicans in the U.S. Congress are looking for a new leader. The man expected to be the next speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, surprised nearly everyone Thursday saying he didn't want the job. Several others are openly campaigning for the position, but there's no clear favorite.
VAUSE: Iran's Defense Ministry denying statements by U.S. officials that four Russian missiles crashed in Iran, calling the assertion psychological warfare. Russia fired those missiles as part of an escalating campaign in Syria. Officials in Moscow have also slammed the U.S. claims.
SESAY: Three stabbings were reported in Israel Thursday in what Israel's prime minister called a wave of terrorism. Israeli police say one was in Tel Aviv, where they say a female Israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a Palestinian, who was then shot and killed.
VAUSE: Get used to that music.
Republican Ben Carson is currently second only to Donald Trump in most U.S. presidential polls. He has a knack for making controversial remarks about everything. Muslims, gays, Obamacare, the president. It's a long list.
SESAY: But here's the thing. Carson's comments don't seem to be hurting him.
VAUSE: Yet.
SESAY: Amara Walker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before turning to politics, Ben Carson was a neurosurgeon, a very successful one, in fact. He was the first to separate twins conjoined at the head. He even had a movie made about him.
DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: One baby dies, we need to separate him as fast as possible and give all shared tissue to the surviving twin.
WALKER: It's an achievement Carson likes to remind his fellow Republican candidates about.
CARSON: The only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it.
WALKER: From the moment he first dipped his toes into politics, Carson has positioned himself as a conservative not afraid to speak his mind --
CARSON: It's not my intention to offend anyone.
WALKER: -- in the face of what he calls political correctness.
CARSON: The P.C. police are out in force at all times.
WALKER: Carson has been controversial. He was forced to apologize after these comments about gay people.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: You think being gay is a choice?
CARSON: Absolutely.
CUOMO: Why do you say that?
CARSON: Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight, and when they come out, they're gay. So did something happen while they were in there?
WALKER: There were calls for Carson to withdraw after he suggested a Muslim should not be president.
CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, MEET THE PRESS: Do you believe that Islam is consistent with the constitution?
CARSON: No, I don't. I do not. I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.
WALKER: Carson certainly hasn't pulled any punches when it comes to Barack Obama's policies.
CARSON: Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is, in a way -- it is slavery in a way.
(APPLAUSE)
WALKER: And just this week, Carson has caused outrage after suggesting that victims of the Oregon college mass shooting should have stood up to the gunman.
CARSON: I would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, hey, guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me but he can't get us all.
WALKER: But these views have not seemed to deter Republican voters. With a little under four months until the primaries begin in Iowa, Carson is in second place behind Donald Trump in the polls.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If you were in the White House what would you be doing right now with Tropical Storm Joaquin? What would you be doing if you were in the White House? What would be your first step?
CARSON: I don't know.
WALKER: Whether or not Carson is ready to lead the country, still to be determined.
Amara Walker, CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can we get a quick one, the three of us?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke with Ben Carson about some of his controversial remarks.
VAUSE: Listen as he asks Mr. Carson to clarify his comments about the Oregon school shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You seem to suggest the victims should have done more.
CARSON: No. I'm not suggesting that at all. What the original question was, was if you were there and someone was holding a gun to you and asking you about your religion and they had shot other people, what would you do? And knowing that you were next to be killed and they were going to continue down the line killing people, I would much rather go down fighting. And if all of us attacked the shooter, the chances are very strong that not all of us would be killed. To me, that doesn't seem like a very controversial thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In another interview on National Public Radio, Dr. Carson seemed to struggle with a question about whether he would support raising the debt ceiling that would prevent the U.S. from defaulting on existing obligations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON (voice-over): No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says get on the stick, guys, and stop messing around and cut where you need to cut because we're not raising any spending limits, period. UNIDENTIFIED NPR RADIO SHOW HOST (voice-over): I'm going to try one
more time, sir. This is debt that's already obligated. Would you not favor increasing the debt limit to pay the debts already incurred?
CARSON: What I'm saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt. I mean, if we continue along this, where does it stop? It never stops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, later, Carson issued a statement saying critics have blown this way out of proportion and don't appreciate his resolve to get the country's fiscal house in order.
VAUSE: The debt ceiling's a complicated issue. Sometimes even a brain surgeon can't work it out.
SESAY: You mean --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Dying to use that one.
SESAY: Dying to use that all day.
VAUSE: Brain surgeon.
SESAY: We're going to move on.
VAUSE: We are, to North Korea.
SESAY: To North Korea. Most of North Korea's attention this week is focused on a big anniversary. The country is gearing up for a massive military parade and lavish celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea.
VAUSE: Our Will Ripley joins us live from Pyongyang.
Will, if you look at the preparations for this parade, it's going to be big.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is going to be big. People have been looking not only on the ground but also satellite imagery in the skies, and they have seen analysts from the news agency 38 North, have seen hundreds of trucks and armored vehicles that they say have been gathering for several months at a military base outside of Pyongyang to gear up for what is believed to be possibly one of the biggest military parades in North Korean history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:35:20] RIPLEY (voice-over): When it comes to massive displays of state muscle, nobody does it quite like North Korea. Then, again, no other nation has the Korean Workers Party, led by three generations of the same family for seven decades.
(MUSIC)
RIPLEY: This weekend's spectacle is supposed to be a showcase of loyalty to the party and its supreme leader. Pyongyang's citizens have been rehearsing for months, day and night.
"We want to celebrate in the most significant way," says this university student.
Tens of thousands will fill the streets. A lavish celebration for a nation still struggling economically.
(on camera): You'll often see North Korean young people dancing in large group formations like this. This is one way that they celebrate major holidays like the one that's coming up.
(voice-over): Behind them, a monument to the Workers Party, an imposing symbol of North Korea's only ruling party that turns 70 on Saturday.
We're taking you to the party's first headquarters, a place where the North Korean government says foreign media has never visited before. As many Communist regimes collapsed, North Korea's system is practically unchanged.
(on camera): People are in these rooms right now learning about the history of the party.
(voice-over): From their earliest days at school right through their adult work lives, every North Korean attends regular history studies. They learn the official story of Kim Il Sung's rise to power, from teenage revolutionary to Workers Party founder to supreme leader for 46 years, a title passed on to his son and grandson.
Third-generation leader, Kim Jong-Un, rules a nation some call a Cold War throwback. But North Korea insists it's here to stay, developing nuclear weapons and missiles to defend the regime.
This weekend's parade, a show of devotion to the leadership, a defiant show of force to the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: A lot of analysts are going to be watching very closely to see what kind of military hardware is on display, specifically those missile launchers, the intercontinental ballistic missiles. Of course, North Korea has been saying for a while now they are planning a satellite launch. There's fear, though, that the same large rocket that could carry a satellite could also carry a nuclear warhead toward a country like the United States. In fact, the Pentagon saying that is a concern of the U.S.
That launch is not believed to be happening this weekend to coincide with this event. There just hasn't been any activity at the launch site. But, John, North Korea tells us that the satellite launch is imminent. There's also a lot of speculation there could be a nuclear test coming in the near future as well. So this military parade could be a preview of more demonstrations for North Korea of their military might.
VAUSE: There's a lot to watch.
SESAY: A lot to watch.
And speaking of which, Will -- it's Isha here -- the question always arises when North Korea has these kind of parades as to who will be there, who's on the guest list. Always provides a window into the state of play, state of relations. What do we know?
RIPLEY: It's interesting you mentioned that, Isha, because, for the most part, Kim Jong-Un is going to be presiding over this major event with very little foreign representation. The one notable exception would be Liu Yushan. He's a high-ranking member of the standing committee of the politburo in China. The politburo, as you know, the highest ruling level of China's Communist Party. A high-level delegation from China will be here. Another reason why it's believed North Korea will not conduct any sort of satellite launch that could be perceived as a provocative action that could embarrass the Chinese delegation. But for the most part, major countries are staying away from this event.
VAUSE: OK. Will Ripley -- we don't get to say this very often -- live in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Will, thank you for your reporting.
SESAY: Thank you, Will.
VAUSE: Still to come on NEWSROOM, L.A., a modern-day underground railroad helping Christians escape ISIS brutality. We will go inside their desperate journey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:42:20] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. A modern-day underground railroad is helping Iraqi Christians escape persecution and possible death at the hands of ISIS.
VAUSE: Their desperate search for asylum takes them on a harrowing two-month-long journey all the way to the border of Mexico.
CNN's Kyung Lah has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In clouds of chaos, children and women flung aboard a military chopper, desperate Iraqis escaping ISIS brutality. This child witnessing the systematic killing of fellow Yazidis and Christians. That was a year ago.
(SHOUTING)
LAH: Today, thousands are fleeing Iraq and Syria, refugees streaming across borders, some even making it to the Mexico border and then into the United States. MARK ARABO, CREATED UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FOR IRAQI CHRISTIANS:
Journey through hell, escaping a Christian genocide.
LAH: We're traveling with Mark Arabo, a U.S.-born Christian Iraqi, into Tijuana, Mexico. He's spearheading a radical way out for Christians in the Middle East.
ARABO: You're safe now. You're safe.
LAH: He and others paid thousands to help these two men get out of Irbil, Iraq, into Europe and now into Mexico. A shadowy underground railroad, a harrowing two-month journey. ISIS's grip on these men still visible. That fear is why they asked us not to show their faces.
(on camera): How brutal is ISIS?
"ISIS only knows the language of beheadings," he says.
Why you?
"Because we're Christian," he says.
(SINGING)
LAH (voice-over): ISIS broadcasts their brutal religious cleansing in their propaganda videos, in this one, beheading Ethiopian Christians. This was their future, say the men. ISIS marked their homes with this red Arabic letter proclaiming them Christians.
ARABO: People are being beheaded, raped, massacred. Little girls are being kidnapped.
LAH: Arabo gathered a list of names, more than half of them children.
ARABO: These are 70,000 innocent Christians and Yazidis, Chaldean Catholics, Syrian Christians, in a region where our foreign policy blunders have destroyed religious minorities in general. We have a moral obligation to act.
LAH: He pounded the pavement in D.C., begging for air lifts and for visas into America.
ARABO: We've done everything we can. We've met with the president. We met with Vice President Biden. We've spoken to the State Department. Nothing works. And if the president won't act, if Congress won't act, then I'm going to act.
[01:45:03] LAH: Arabo estimates since last September he's pulled hundreds out of the Middle East. Once into Mexico, Arabo says his job is done. The Iraqis and Syrians turn themselves in at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not directly address the underground railroad but released this statement saying, it would "bring to justice individuals who compromise the integrity of our asylum system, potentially putting our country's security at risk."
(on camera): What do you say to what ICE says about the security issue?
ARABO: Our national security should be number one, without a doubt. These are people that are being killed by ISIS. They are not ISIS. They are coming to America to run away from ISIS.
LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Tijuana, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Incredible reporting from our Kyung Lah there.
VAUSE: Yeah. 70,000 names.
SESAY: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, the National Football League dropping more hints that a team could be coming to Los Angeles after years without one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell, with your CNN "World Sport" headlines.
Four of football's most influential and high-profile power brokers, including the FIFA President Sepp Blatter himself, learned their fate on Thursday from FIFA's own Ethics Committee following the ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption. FIFA has provisionally suspended its president, Sepp Blatter, Secretary-General Jerome Valcke and Vice President Michel Platini for 90 days. It also banned ex-FIFA Vice President Chung Mong Joon for six years. Issa Hayaton, who heads Africa's Confederation, will act as FIFA president during Blatter's ban.
Turning to action on the field of play, Northern Ireland qualifying for the Euro 2016 finals by beating Greece, 3-1, in Belfast. Two goals from the Skipper Stephen Davis and one from stand-in striker Josh McGuiness sending Northern Ireland in to a major tournament for the first time in 30 long years. And in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland also with a night to remember
defeating world champions Germany, 1-0. Nobody in that group is certain of qualifying with Poland, also very much in the mix.
And Liverpool Football Club have confirmed Juergen Klopp as their new manager of the Merseyside team. The 48-year-old German has signed a three-year deal, replacing Brendan Rodgers, who was dismissed on Sunday. Klopp will be officially introduced at a news conference on Friday.
That is a look at your CNN "World Sport" headlines. Thanks for joining us. I'm Patrick Snell.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:50:00] VAUSE: And welcome back. The speculation just keeps coming. Will L.A. finally get a team in the National Football League?
SESAY: "CNN Sports" correspondent, Coy Wire, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The race to get an NFL team to Los Angeles seems to be inching that much closer to the finish line. L.A. has been without a team since 1995, when the Raiders went back to Oakland and the Rams headed east to St. Louis. But apparently, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. The Raiders and the Rams are looking for an L.A. homecoming. And a third team, the San Diego Chargers, want to relocate to Los Angeles as well.
Any move would need the approval of at least 24 of the 32 NFL owners. Following Wednesday's NFL owners meetings in New York, Commissioner Roger Goodell discussed the L.A. expansion.
ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: Yes, I do expect it will go to a vote. There are two potential solutions in Los Angeles. We have three teams that are interested, that have been struggling to get stadiums built in their own communities for not just several years but even decades. We need to find long-term solutions here. I think there's also interest in being back in the entertainment capital of the world.
WIRE: The Raiders and Chargers plan to share a stadium just south of L.A. In Carson, California, while the Rams hope to build a stadium in Inglewood on land that Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, has already purchased hoping to boost his team's chances of moving to sunny California.
Now, "Sports Illustrated" is reporting that Steelers owner, Art Rooney, a member of the NFL's Los Angeles committee, said he expects a vote to be taken in January. So we could know then and know soon which franchise will get the call to go to Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Coy, thank you.
Joining us, Scott Reid, a sports reporter with the "Orange County Register."
Scott, we've had this situation in L.A., no football team for 20 years. Now the possibility of two football teams. How will the process work and what are the chances they'll end up with two teams?
SCOTT REID, SPORTS REPORTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: There's going to be NFL here in 2016. Art Rooney told us yesterday there's going to be probably a vote as early as January. The tricky part now is the Rams in Inglewood, Stan Kroenke moving the Rams back to L.A., or is it going to be either the Chargers or the Raiders in Carson? That's how you're going to have to get it sorted out and that's where we go from here. Right now, you need 24 votes to move. Dean Spanos, the owner of the Chargers, has enough votes to block the Rams from moving to Inglewood. So how do you get everybody -- he doesn't have 24 votes either. So how do you get this all sorted out? That's the tricky part.
SESAY: Scott, supporters always say that teams and stadiums help the local economy, they're good for the local economy. Is that really the case?
REID: No, it's not. Are you going to have more disposal income because an NFL team moves here? You're just moving money from theme parks or restaurants or movies. The only impact, financial impact -- economic impact it really has is if the Super Bowl comes here, and then you're going to have a sizable impact. But just because a team moves here doesn't mean that there's a greater economic impact on this region.
VAUSE: Leading up to this, if you listen to the team owners and the NFL, they say this is all about the game, yes, this is all about doing the right thing by the teams and by the cities and making sure that the clubs are good and the teams, it's not really about the money. And they say it's not about the money, it really is about the money, right?
REID: It is about the money. One of the major factors triggering this is all these NFL owners saw Steve Ballmer buy the Clippers, which is basically barely an NBA team, it's been a joke forever, for $2 billion. All of a sudden, they're looking at, well, if I move my NFL team there, what's it going to jump in value? The Rams, for instance, are the 28th most-valued team in the league at $1.45. The Cowboys are $4 million. If Stan Kroenke were to move his team here, you don't know how many billions of dollars it would be worth. The same thing with the Chargers and the Raiders.
SESAY: The stadium?
REID: Yes.
SESAY: Who's going to foot the bill? Is it the taxpayers?
REID: In Inglewood, Kroenke would write all the checks.
SESAY: OK.
REID: In Carson, the Raiders and Rams -- sorry, the Raiders and Chargers -- can't keep this all straight.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
REID: Carson will get secure financing from Goldman Sachs and then they'll pay off the stadium based on seat licenses, naming rights, and other revenues generated by the stadium. But it won't come out of the general fund in that city. And the Chargers and the Raiders will -- if there is some kind of economic shortfall, they'll be on the hook for it.
VAUSE: What happens to the team or teams which do not move here?
SESAY: Yeah.
VAUSE: How will that be received in their home towns?
REID: It's going to be hard. That's one of the reasons why they're kind of laying the groundwork now, because if it looks like you're not going to be able to move to L.A., you need to go back and make peace in that market. It's going to be tough in those markets.
VAUSE: Say sorry, we really want to stay --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: -- we want to go back, but now we're -- how do you sell that?
REID: You have a really hard time. And one of the reasons why the NFL's got to get this right, because this has been the golden hammer for 20 years. They've gotten $4.67 million -- billion dollars worth of public funding for a stadium since 1997. So if a team moves here, that golden hammer moves away. And that's the tricky part with these teams that they have to go back to their home markets because now they have no leverage.
[01:55:16] SESAY: And the teams that do move -- help me understand this. Do they keep their name?
REID: No. They keep the name. If the Raiders and Chargers would move to Carson together, one of them would probably have to flip out of the division because they're in the same division.
VAUSE: And that's a course of resentment for the town where they left.
REID: Oh, yeah. It's a huge deal. I mean, for a lot of these cities, it's a huge part of their identity.
VAUSE: Scott, great speaking with you. Thank you for explaining it all to us.
SESAY: Thank you.
REID: Thank you.
SESAY: Really appreciate it. Thank you.
And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
Stay with us. The news continues with Natalie Allen from the CNN Center after a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:03] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. accuses Russia of hitting the wrong country with missiles meant to hit Syria.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I think I shocked some of you, huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
