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U.S. Accuses Russia of Hitting Wrong Country with Missiles; House Speaker Candidate Drops Out; Israeli, Palestinian Violence Raising Tensions; News on Jailed Oscar Pistorius' Quest for Freedom; FIFA President Under 90-Day Ban; Spencer Stone Stabbed Outside Bar; Is There a Correlation Between Climate Change, Extreme Weather; Tanzanian Albino Girl Attacked for Her Bones; ISIS Makes Rape a Core Principle against Yazidis; Japan's Cherry Blossoms Look for Surprise Run in Rugby World Cup Quarterfinals. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired October 09, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[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)
ALLEN: Shocked, indeed. The man expected to be the next U.S. House speaker dropped out of the race. Now Republicans face quite a mess.
And later, FIFA President Sepp Blatter was once considered untouchable. Now he's under a 90-day ban.
And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. CNN NEWSROOM continues this hour live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
And thank you for joining us.
Our top story this hour, U.S. officials say several cruise missiles launched from a Russian ship and aimed at targets in Syria have actually crashed in Iran. It's unclear where in Iran the missiles may have landed. Russia and Iran deny the U.S. claims and say the missile hit its intended targets. Meantime, new video purports to show two Russian cruise missiles flying on Wednesday over northern Iraq towards Syria. CNN cannot confirm that.
CNN's Barbara Starr now has more on the Russians' assault.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian warships firing cruise missiles as what it says are ISIS targets in Syria. VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
STARR: But as the Russian leader celebrated his 63rd birthday on the ice rink, there are new signs of trouble for the Russian military campaign.
(EXPLOSION)
STARR: CNN has learned at least four of the more than two dozen Russian cruise missiles launched from ships in the Caspian Sea crashed in Iran. U.S. officials say they believe there are injuries. A setback for the Russian caliber cruise missile, billed as a highly precise weapon with a 1,000-pound warhead, being used for the first time in combat.
The Pentagon, furious that the Russians gave no warning of the missile launches and of other Russian moves.
ASHTON CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It remains our hope that Russia will see that tethering itself to a sinking ship is a losing strategy.
STARR: And an ominous prediction from the U.S. defense secretary.
CARTER: I also expect that in coming days the Russians will begin to suffer casualties in Syria.
STARR: U.S. aerial drones monitoring the border with Turkey now have been shadowed by Russian aircraft on at least two occasions. And the Russians have flown into Turkish airspace.
Russia claims these videos show their attacks on ISIS.
But the U.S. and Turkey say that is not Russia's main target.
CARTER: They've initiated a joint ground offensive with the Syrian regime, shattering the facade that they're there to fight ISIL.
(EXPLOSION)
STARR: A U.S. official tells CNN, so far, rebel groups have been able to thwart at least limited parts of the Russian and Syrian advances, even in the face of this brutal rocket system, essentially a giant flamethrower.
But a top congressional Democrat says the U.S. has to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSMAN: That might mean a no-fly zone in the southern part of Syria and sending a message that if he sends up helicopters to barrel bomb people we're going to take those down.
STARR (voice-over): U.S. and NATO officials making it very clear their assessment, the Russians are still overwhelmingly striking anti- regime, anti-Assad forces, and maybe have only conducted a small number of attacks, if any, against ISIS.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, let's talk more about this. Retired U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, who served extensively in the Middle East, joins us via on Skype for his perspective on this ongoing situation.
Rick, always glad to have you with us. Thanks.
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Sure.
ALLEN: First of all, Russia's denials. Can the U.S. pretty much confirm where these missiles land if they miss their target or not?
FRANCONA: Well, we know how many launched and we know how many arrived at the target and we know at least four did not arrive at the target. The problem is they're firing these over populated areas in Iran and Iraq. They're also flying them through commercial -- where commercial aircraft are operating. This is very dangerous. When you fire these kinds of missiles, and the U.S. Navy has extensive experience of doing this, you try to find a flight route that avoids all these obstacles so you don't have this kind of damage. If there are injuries on the ground, that's just another headache the Russians don't need right now.
[02:05:00] ALLEN: Right. And that just complicates even more if this situation can be complicated any more, the fact that you've got the U.S. targeting one area, you've got Russia presumably targeting another, and then there are other allied air strikes against is as well. It's just a powder keg that is going off in all kinds of directions.
FRANCONA: Right. Basically, you've got three different sides here. You've got the anti-regime rebels that are out with us. You've got the Syrian government. And you've got is. And the Russians are going after the anti-regime rebels, and they say they're going after is, and the secretary of defense is absolutely correct. This is just lip service the Russians are paying to going after is. They're there to support Assad. If you look at where the Russian strikes have gone in, almost all of them are in that area just north of Hama. And that is on that road from Damascus to Aleppo. The Syrians have to take that back. They suffered really bad losses over the last three months and they've been pushed out of that area. Now they're going back. Now they're doing it with Russian air cover. And they're actually having some effect. So I think the Russians are there to prop up Assad. Then you've got the United States. We're interested in going after is and also the Syrian government. It's just -- it's too complicated right now for if to work. At some point the United States is going to have to decide what's our real goal here? Is it is? Is it the removal of Assad? Because if we're insisting on the removal of Assad we're going to eventually come head to head with the Russians.
ALLEN: And what would that mean?
We'll leave it at that, Rick. I will be talking with Matthew Chance from Moscow the next hour about what Russia's saying about this.
We always appreciate it, though.
Rick Francona for us. Thank you.
Well, now we want to turn to the turmoil among Republicans in the U.S. Congress after the man almost everyone expected to be the next speaker of the House suddenly dropped out of the race. Kevin McCarthy made the surprise announcement Thursday.
Chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's congressional chaos.
(SHOUTING)
BASH: Then there's this.
REP. PETER KING, (R), NEW YORK: Move out of the way.
BASH: A Republican meeting to vote for a new speaker ending abruptly after the front-runner, Kevin McCarthy, shocked everyone, suddenly dropping out of the race.
KING: People are absolutely stunned.
BASH (on camera): I mean, you were behind him. Are you stunned?
KING: Yeah, 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-CA), HOUSE 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 --
MCCARTHY: Very well. BASH: -- 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 is one of some 40 Republicans in that House Freedom Caucus.
REP. TIM HUELSKAMP, (R), KANSAS: How do we work together? We're looking for a speaker who works with the conservatives rather than against us. And we presumed Kevin was going to reach out to us and say hey, 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 next 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 lips 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 when 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)
ALLEN: Joining me now to talk about this fascinating development, CNN political commentators, Peter Beinart and Ben Ferguson.
Thanks, guys, for being with me on this.
I want to first get your reaction. Here you have Kevin McCarthy. He had enough votes to get this job and then he says, no, I don't want it. What's your reaction? Let's start with you, Peter.
[02:10:15] PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's really remarkable. I mean, you know, the old political commentator Will Rogers once said, "I don't belong to an organized political party, I'm a Democrat." Historically, it was the Democrats who were considered the more anarchic of the parties. But if you look at what's happening with Republicans in the House, there's really a sense of anarchy here. There's no respect for hierarchy. There's no willingness to compromise in order to make the party function. And as a result we have a remarkable situation in which we have no idea who the speaker's going to be and not much prospect of having a speaker who's going to be strong enough to actually do things that are in the Republican party's own interest let alone the nation's interest.
ALLEN: Yeah.
And, Ben, this disarray comes at a time when they're about to face important fiscal battles there.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
ALLEN: What do you make of this?
FERGUSON: Look, I'm not near as excited or nervous as many others are acting as if. This isn't chaos. This is the old guard and John Boehner's guys having a hard time staying around and surviving the same way that John Boehner did. This is exactly what many of these members were sent to Washington to do, to put a new face in Washington on the Republican Party. Let's be real candid. Under John Boehner's leadership in the Senate, we have been a complete failure to take on Obama and his policies. So I think this is a good thing for the Republican Party. It doesn't make me nervous in any way. In fact, if you talk to most conservatives, they're thrilled tonight. They think this is a big victory because this was not a back room deal that was going to be able to be done once again by John Boehner or any others around him for him to say hi, I'm gone but I'm going to appoint my heir apparent. I think this is actually going to turn out really well. And as for the government shutdown and things like that, I also think the Republicans learned from the last shutdown. I do not see there being a shutdown coming anytime soon and I think they'll work together with a new face.
ALLEN: Ben, who do you think that new face could be?
FERGUSON: I would be lying if I told you I knew who it was tonight. I think that may be the best part about this. In the past we've always known who it was going to be. And that was what they really tried to have with McCarthy, was a coronation of Boehner 2.0. I think there's a lot of people looking at this. Even some who are saying early on they weren't going to be involved in this. Paul Ryan's a name that -- his phone's still ringing off the hook as I talk to quite a few Congressmen today. You also have Chaffetz who I think has a decent shot at this as well. But I think it's early on and I think this is going to take another several days to figure out who exactly everyone's willing to agree on. I think they will. ALLEN: Peter, let's get you back in here. Mike Huckabee said this is
about burning the corrupt Washington political machine to the ground and rebuilding.
(LAUGHTER)
Who else, considering that, might step into the fray here and say bring it on, I've got this?
BEINART: There's a real problem with that attitude, things get done in Washington because leaders of the two parties compromise. They make compromises that require them to give up some of the ideological purity that they cherish. That's what happens. That's why you need strong leaders. The Republican Party right now has a faction in the House that is not willing to countenance any real compromises by their leaders because they still have not really accepted the fact that Barack Obama won two elections in large measure because the country demographically is moving away from them. These are people who represent old white constituencies that are further and further out of touch with where the rest of America is going and they're militantly ideologically opposed to kind of coming to terms with that. This I think is not going to turn out well for the Republican Party.
ALLEN: Peter Beinart and Ben Ferguson, thank you.
FERGUSON: Thank you.
BEINART: Thanks.
ALLEN: All right. Well, CNN is hosting the first debate between the Democratic presidential candidates. Our live coverage from Las Vegas starts Tuesday night at 8:30 eastern time, that's 8:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, right here on CNN.
Well, Israel's prime minister says the Palestinian Authority's incitement, libels, and lies are behind the latest violence there. 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.
Joining me now is CNN's Erin McLaughlin. She's at the gate to Jerusalem's old city.
And, Erin, hello. Set the scene for us. What's the atmosphere like there ahead of Friday prayers?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, people here are bracing for the possibility of more violence. You can see the increased security presence in the old city. Thousands of additional police officers deployed throughout Jerusalem. Here in the old city they've also installed metal detectors in light of the recent stabbing attacks, one of which took place just over that way on Saturday, last Saturday. Israeli police say a Palestinian man stabbed and killed two Israeli men as well as injuring an Israeli woman and an infant. It's exactly the kind of attack that has people here on edge. Now, not far from here is the holy site known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. A situation there seen as a key source of the tension. Today police are announcing that Muslim men under the age of 45 are not allowed to pray there. That is seen Israelis say as a security measure. But it's the kind of restriction that is angering many Muslims. We heard from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling on members of the Knesset as well as government ministers not to go to the site, to visit the site, in a bid to try to deescalate things.
[02:16:10] ALLEN: And, Erin, as far as these attacks go, is it the belief that these are just random attacks by individuals, there's no coordination? And what are Israeli and Palestinian leaders saying about the attacks?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, Israeli leaders say that they believe that most of the attacks are lone-wolf attacks, but Israeli and Palestinian leaders blaming each other for the violence.
I want you to take a listen to what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to say last night. He had a press conference with key government officials. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): We are in the midst of a terror wave where Molotov cocktails, knives and rocks and also 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 he is concerned that things are getting out of hand. But he says the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to call for de-escalation. He says the problem is that people on the street are asking what happens after the de-escalation. Will the humiliation, in his words, continue? He says the key to ending the violence is a permanent two-state solution -- Natalie?
ALLEN: Erin McLaughlin for us there live. Thanks so much, Erin.
Well, we have breaking news in Oscar Pistorius' quest for freedom. The former Olympian's parole board is meeting today. We'll have the very latest for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:19:58] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam with a quick look at your "Weather Watch."
(WEATHER REPORT)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Welcome back. We have breaking news coming into CNN we want to share with you. A South African parole board is meeting Friday to consider placing the jailed former Olympian Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision. What does that mean?
Let's turn to CNN's Robyn Kriel. She's on the line for us from Nairobi with more about this.
Hello, Robyn.
ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hi, Natalie. This is not the first time the parole board has convened. In fact, they convened in August and decided that it was time to release Oscar Pistorius from prison into correctional supervision. However, that decision was not overturned but was asked to be investigated by the minister of justice, who said that it was a pre-emptive decision, that they decided that too early. So it was in fact reviewed. It was passed on to the review board back to the parole board. He could have gotten out in August, Natalie, but this has been sort of legal wrangling looking at different wording of the rules. And in essence now they're meeting to decide whether he will be paroled. He could be paroled today under correctional supervision or it could be a lot longer for Oscar Pistorius.
ALLEN: And how much of his prison sentence has he served at this point, Robyn?
KRIEL: He has served one-sixth of his sentence. He was sentenced to five years for culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day two years ago. Under the law, you are allowed, after two years in prison, if the parole board deems you worthy, to be released into correctional supervision. 10 months of his five-year sentence. Actually, more now because of the different interpretations of the law and the minister is leaning on the parole board's decision. But no indication whether he will get out today. We have heard local news in South Africa is reporting that the reason that they're convening today to look at this decision whether to release them or not is because Mr. Pistorius' lawyers in fact went to the Department of correctional services and said if the matter was not heard immediately it would approach the courts because they said it's unfair because obviously there has been a lot of back and forth between the parole board and the ministry getting involved, et cetera.
ALLEN: All right. Thank you, Robyn Kriel, for us.
Certainly, if this parole board decides today that Oscar Pistorius can have now correctional supervision, we'll get reaction there from Pretoria, but certainly talk with Miss Steenkamp's family or hopefully get some comments from them as well.
Well, the top three officials at FIFA are off the job, at least temporarily. This includes long-time President Sepp Blatter. The disciplinary arm of world football's governing body handed out provisional 90-day bans Thursday amid the ongoing corruption probe. The head of European football, Michel Platini, and FIFA's secretary- general, Jerome Valcke, were slapped with the same suspensions.
Let's talk about this now with "World Soccer" magazine's Keir Radnedge.
Thank you, Keir, for joining us.
I want to ask you first, were these suspensions expected?
[02:25:03] KEIR RADNEDGE, WORLD SOCCER MAGAZINE: Well, they were expected from the previous day when we learned that the investigatory branch of the ethics committee had recommended suspensions, and we've known since last week that there were investigations going on but I think no one can quite believe that in essence the three top men in world football administration would all be put on gardening leave for three months at the same time.
ALLEN: And do you think any of them will try and fight it, or is it a done deal?
RADNEDGE: Well, I think Blatter and Platini will fight it certainly. Valcke, I don't know. Platini issued the most defiant of the statements in response. Blatter's lawyers also accuse the disciplinary judges of not understanding their own rules. Platini and Blatter make almost quite intemperate statements in response. So they obviously feel very hard done by.
ALLEN: I want to ask you, Keir, if these suspensions hold, meantime who's running FIFA and how does FIFA begin to repair or operate as the world body in the midst of all of this? Would this give them some sort of breather to try to restore some integrity?
RADNEDGE: Well, at the moment FIFA's sort of flat-lining. Under the rules, the senior vice president, Issa Hayaton, who's the head of the African Confederation in Cameroon, has taken over as interim president. He insists he doesn't want the job full-time. FIFA itself in terms of day-to-day operations is just carrying on. Football around the world is continuing. People are going out to play football as normal. It's basically the political head of the conversation that's been knocked off at the moment.
ALLEN: Keir Radnedge, for us, "World Soccer" magazine from London. We'll wait and see what happens next. Thank you so much for talking with us.
RADNEDGE: Pleasure.
ALLEN: Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, he was wounded while stopping a terror attack in France. Well, now a U.S. servicemember called a hero is being treated in another stabbing back in the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:45] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Here are our top stories. Iran's defense ministry is denying statements by U.S. officials that
four Russian missiles crashed in Iran and is calling the assertion psychological warfare. Russia fired those missiles as part of its escalating campaign in Syria. Officials in Moscow also slammed the U.S. claims.
The leading candidate to be the next speaker of the U.S. House of representatives has dropped out. Republican Kevin McCarthy, seen right there, made the surprise announcement Thursday. He says his party needs to unite behind a new face. But no clear favorites have emerged.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a strong favorite to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her involvement in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis and Greece's economic collapse. In the running include Pope Francis and the brokers of the Iran nuclear deal. The winner will be announced in a little more than two hours. We'll have that for you.
An American servicemember who was stabbed helping stop that terror attack in France on a train is now in a hospital again, the victim of yet another stabbing. Doctors worried that his wounds might be life- threatening but now say he will recover. The fight was caught on video.
Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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 choke hold. 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)
ALLEN: Well, as part of our ongoing "Two Degrees" series before the U.N. climate conference in Paris this December, our meteorologist and our team here have been answering your questions about global warming. "Two Degrees" is what climate experts say is the difference between stabilizing global warming and total runaway climate change. And you can read more about it at CNN.com/2degrees.
But you can learn more about it now from Derek Van Dam, who joins us.
Yes, we're going to be hearing and talking more about that. Two degrees and all the ramifications for some time now -- Derek?
[02:34:58] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, that's right. Leading up to Paris in early December, that's right, Natalie.
In fact, this week's viewer question comes to us from a viewer in Chicago. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SITO SATYA, VIEWER: Hi. My name is Sito Satya, and I am from Chicago, Illinois. My question is, is climate change associated with natural disasters we've been experiencing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DAM: This is about the second most popular question I receive as a CNN meteorologist, behind will it rain on my wedding day or will it rain on my son's birthday party. But to directly link climate change to an extreme weather event is just purely irresponsible. Lots of data, lots of research has to be done to find that correlation. Besides, extreme weather events have been happening well before the humans started to influence the climate systems, for instance.
However, there is a direct correlation between the intensity and frequency of heavy rain events and coastal flooding. Let's take, for instance, this past week's heavy rain event, the catastrophic flooding that took place across North and South Carolina. Did you know there was upwards of 11 trillion gallons of fresh water from this storm system? That's enough to fill 16.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. And if that's not enough of a fact for you, this was enough water to actually end the ongoing four-year drought in California. It did exceptional at also taking care of the ongoing drought that's taking place in South Carolina as well. But really the fingerprints of climate change are seen across the planet from South Carolina all the way to Hokkaido in northern Japan. We had a recent typhoon across that region that dumped record-setting rainfall across this part of the world.
And I'm going to end off with this. NASA and the New Horizons probe that's in the far reaps of our galaxy now starting to find that the atmosphere on Pluto is in fact blue. That means they have blue skies overhead, if you were to stand on the surface of the moon. And by the way, scientists have found this particular area where you see -- that particular area where you see the shading of red, the water flows and water ice they keep talking about, they're stumped why those images coming back as this shading of red on the planet. They just cannot figure out the correlation between ice and that red color. Strange.
ALLEN: And when scientists get stumped like that, it makes it all the more intriguing, doesn't it?
VAN DAM: We pay attention when they get stumped, don't we?
ALLEN: Yes, we do.
All right, Derek, thanks so much.
Well, in Los Angeles, a teenaged Tanzanian girl who went through almost unspeakable horror and pain now has a positive outlook for her future.
CNN's Sara Sidner explains why Bibbiana and her sister were constant targets back home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bibbiana Mashumba loves to dance, run, and jump, but at 16 years old, she's having to relearn how to walk, the consequence of a horrific attack.
BIBBIANA MASHUMBA, ATTACK IN TANZANIA: At 11, at night some robbers, they come in our room.
SIDNER: The robbers were after her bones. And they got what they came for.
MASHUMBA: They come, they chopped my leg and my two fingers and this leg.
SIDNER: The robbers chopped off half of her right leg, some of her fingers and tried to chop off her left leg, all because of her skin color and a belief that her bones are magic.
MALENA RUTH, AFRICAN MILLENNIUM FOUNDATION: It's all driven by this crazy belief that is also propagated by the witchcraft doctors that instill in these people that are so desperate that if you take the limb of an albino person you're going to become rich.
SIDNER: In Bibbiana's home country of Tanzania, being an albino makes you a target.
After 10 months in the hospital, Bibbiana and her sister feared going back home.
MASHUMBA: I was afraid because if I could go back again, they would take my other limbs.
SIDNER (on camera): You were afraid of being killed or that they'd come back and try to cut something else off?
MASHUMBA: Yes.
SIDNER (voice-over): Tanzanian politician, Alshima Kwagir, heard their story and took the Mashumba sisters in. She is the first albino to hold office in the country, put in place after the government outlawed witch doctors, trying to curtail attacks on albinos. But the attacks continue, leaving people like Bibbiana with lifelong hardships.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: This was Bibbiana's prosthesis. It was kept on with a belt here.
SIDNER: That all changed when Malena Ruth got involved. She runs the African Millennium Organization and paid her way to the Orthopedic Institute for Children in Los Angeles. Here, doctors are giving her a high-tech leg that will give her freedom.
MASHUMBA: I'm happy because I'm alive and I'm here in a good place. So I'm happy.
[02:40:05] SIDNER: While Bibbiana smiles through it all, Tindy can't bear to see her sister suffer.
TINDY MASHUMBA, SISTER OF BIBBIANA: Most of the people, they try to hunting us or they say bad names.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come straight up for me.
SIDNER: Their dreams for the future are shaped by the trauma they lived through, a trauma Tindy wrote a song about.
(SINGING)
SIDNER: Tindy wants to be a Tanzanian judge to administer harsh punishments to violent criminals. And Bibbiana wants to be a doctor. Not just any doctor, but an orthopedist so she can help heal other children's bones.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.
(SINGING) (END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: And we'll have more news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: The CNN Freedom Project is dedicated to giving a voice to the victims of modern-day slavery. All this week, we've been bringing you special reports on the plight of women and girls of the Yazidi religious minority in ISIS-controlled territory. Hundreds of them have been bought, sold, and assaulted. Those who escaped say rape isn't just accepted, it is encouraged.
In our final installment of this special series, Atika Shubert takes a disturbing look at how ISIS has made rape a core principle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
[02:45:02]ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Yazidi are a people as ancient as the stones they kiss at this holy spring.
(MUSIC)
SHUBERT: A unique religion that blends elements of Islam and Christianity and even more ancient practices, including sun worship, beliefs that ISIS use to justify the murder, enslavement, and rape of the Yazidi.
Here's how one ISIS fighter explained it to the Yazidi woman he bought and raped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SHUBERT (on camera): So he showed you a piece of paper, a photo of that paper on his mobile phone?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SHUBERT (voice-over): In ISIS territory, Yazidi women can be bought and sold for money and weapons.
(CROSSTALK)
SHUBERT: ISIS has made rape and slavery part of its theology. In its online English magazine "Dabiq," ISIS laid out its justification on religious grounds, quote, "Enslaving the families of the Kuffar and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Sharia, that if anyone would be denied or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Koran and the narrations of the prophet," end quote.
But theologians the world over have said it is ISIS that is denigrating the holy book.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Islam, taking anyone as captive, mistreating them, using them as sex slaves, torturing them and killing them is totally prohibited. God says in the Koran those people who lose the capacity to use their brain, their perceptive capacity to see and hear the truth, they're worse than animals. That's exactly what they've demonstrated. So there's no room for any discussion on this. It's haram (ph), it's empty Islam, and it should be treated as such.
SHUBERT: As for the Yazidi, the tragedy is so great that their own strict traditions have had to adjust. Before ISIS came, marrying outside the faith was strictly condemned. Those accused of adultery or even a victim of rape could be killed for dishonoring the family. That is changing.
We sat down with Yazidi spiritual leader, Babasheik (ph), to ask how the faith is dealing with the victims.
BABASHEIK (ph), YAZIDI SPIRITUAL LEADER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(MUSIC)
SHUBERT: Those words are a source of comfort for the tormented. Even as ISIS attempts to destroy the Yazidi in the name of religion, they may still find solace back home.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Lalesh, in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: And at CNN.com, you can find more of our exclusive reporting from the CNN Freedom Project, which is our bid to raise awareness for Yazidi women.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:50:00] 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)
ALLEN: Well, Japan's rugby team is looking to make a surprise run into the quarterfinals at this year's Rugby World Cup in England. The Cherry Blossoms shocked fans with an opening match win over South Africa. And if all falls into place, they could advance by defeating last-place USA on Sunday.
Matt Rivers joins us now from Tokyo to talk more about it.
And, Matt, certainly this team has just been a shocker in the best of ways for the people of Japan. And it's making rugby a sport that people are really getting into and for good reason right now.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This country has really gotten behind this team in a way that is really historically unusual, if only because of the fact that there hasn't been that much to cheer for in terms of the national team because there hasn't been that much success historically. So consider this, that in this most recent World Cup, the Japanese national team has won two matches. In all of their previous World Cup efforts combined, before this one, they'd only won one match ever. So they've already doubled their historical win total. So that is an accomplishment in and of itself. And then if you factor in the fact that in their first match they beat powerhouse, perennial powerhouse, two-time World Cup champion, South Africa. They beat them in a very, very close match to start off, and that has really kicked off this craze here in Japan for this team. People getting extremely excited about it, if only because it's fun to cheer for a winning team --
ALLEN: Absolutely.
RIVERS: -- in a sport that perhaps might not be top of ticket, top billing in Japan. Usually, it's football and baseball, then maybe rugby. So it's been very fun, very different for the Japanese here.
ALLEN: I'm sure it has. And coincidentally, Matt, Japan is now set to host the World Cup in 2019. So their rugby mania will probably be sustained over the next four years, perhaps.
RIVERS: Yeah, perhaps. It's hard for anyone to guess what will four years be like from now? We're not perfectly able to predict the future. But if we can extrapolate a little bit about what we're seeing right now, if you look at the numbers for the television viewing audiences here, so after that first win that we talked about here -- or in England for this Japanese team, after they beat South Africa, their next match was against Scotland. And even though they lost, 20 million people here in Japan stayed up late until 11:00 at night to watch them play that match. And then the third game which they won against Samoa, nearly 25 million people watched that match. To put that in context, that's about one-fifth or so of the not tire Japanese population. So if you think that interest may be sustained over the next four years, if this Japanese team continues to improve, then when the World Cup comes here in 2019 you would expect fans to fill the seats.
One quick note. The World Cup rugby final in 2019 will be played in Yokohama Stadium. Holds about 70,000 people. That's the same stadium in which the World Cup football match, the final in 2002, was played. So I'm assuming that all 70,000 seats will be filled four years from now.
[02:55:48] ALLEN: Perhaps so. The brave Blossoms. I love the name of their team as well.
Matt Rivers for us live in Tokyo. Thanks a lot, Matt.
And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be right back with another hour of news, including our top story, the Russian air strikes into Syria. We're live in Moscow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ALLEN: France launches fresh air strikes on Syria as the U.S. questions whether Russian missiles are missing the mark and actually crashing in Iran.
Plus, the Republican favored to be the next U.S. speaker of the House bows out of the race.
