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Battle for Mosul Begins; Syria Negotiations Continue; Trump Takes on Sexual Assault Accusations; More Emails Dumped by WikiLeaks; Critical Ohio Voters Speak Out; Boko Haram Freem 21 Chibok Girls; Third Graders Weigh in on Election. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 16, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Brink of battle, the coalition of forces prepares to retake Mosul after more than two years of ISIS control. Without a breakthrough at the latest Syria talks, leaders meet again searching for a way to bring peace to the war-torn country.

And Donald Trump is accusing Hillary Clinton of taking performance- enhancing drugs on the same day, yet another woman accuses him of sexual assault. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

I'm Paula Newton, and this is CNN NEWSROOM. A major battle against ISIS draws near in Iraq. Anti-ISIS forces appear set to launch an offensive for Mosul.

It was Iraq's second largest city before ISIS seized it in 2014. And government troops, paramilitaries and Kurdish Peshmerga say they are ready to take it back.

Now, the looming offensive comes as aid groups warn of a potential humanitarian crisis. The Iraqi air force has dropped leaflets on the city where as many one million people still live although it's hard to get exact estimates, at least what's promised in ISIS defeat and tell residents to stay in their homes and, of course, avoid those ISIS positions.

Our Ben Wedeman is in Erbil and Iraqi Kurdistan and joins us now with the latest on Mosul.

Ben, you've been following this story for a matter of months, this time, years and in other incarnations. What seems different to you this time? And is it this coalition of forces that is now gathering?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Really, Paula, it's the scale of the operation. We've seen Iraqi forces drive ISIS out of other cities -- Fallujah, Tikrit, Ramadi, Baiji. But -- but Mosul is Iraq's second largest city.

It used to have a population of about two million. Now, there's somewhere between 700,000 to a million people still there.

But this is, in a sense, the final battle to drive ISIS out of Iraq. And so what we see assembled is a huge number of men and equipment for this operation. Tens of thousands of members of the Iraqi army, the counterterrorism

force, the federal police, so-called paramilitaries, both Sunni and Shia, Christians as well, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, a raid around the city. And also, there are U.S. troops on the ground to provide support, advice.

And there's also -- also an American artillery battery. And there are U.S.-led coalition in the air, hitting ISIS targets within Mosul. So really, it's the scale of it.

And of course, it's not just a military operation. Keep in mind, as I mentioned before, somewhere between 700,000 to a million people in the city, aid agencies are braced for what one official called perhaps a tsunami of people fleeing this city. They are very worried that they simply don't have the material, the resources, the manpower to deal with what they say could be a catastrophe -- a humanitarian catastrophe on the scale of Rwanda.

So yes, all the pieces are in place for this operation. There's no clear idea how long it could take. But you can bet that it's going to be messy and prolonged.

Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, absolutely, with those civilians in Mosul caught in the middle. I mean, then what do we know about the kind of resistance that ISIS can put up right now?

WEDEMAN: Well, we do know that they have, for instance, released prisoners, people being held for such offenses as smoking cigarettes, shaving and wearing the wrong clothing. These prisoners are being put to work to dig a network of tunnels and trenches around the city.

We understand that ISIS is preparing VBEDs, vehicle-borne explosive devices to use against advancing forces. They probably will, as they have in the past, use the civilian population as a shield against the advancing forces.

We also know, however, that ISIS has told its wounded militants that they can leave the city presumably to go to Syria, perhaps to Raqqah. But others who try to leave the city without permission, we're told, 14 were executed yesterday.

And I'm talking about ISIS members who apparently, according to sources within Mosul, two prominent leaders of the movement as well. So it does seem the -- the day of reckoning is fast approaching.

And there is some within Mosul among the ranks of ISIS who are starting to waiver, hoping that perhaps they can take advantage of an amnesty offered by the Iraqi government.

Paula?

NEWTON: And we shall see. Our Ben Wedeman there, following those developments from Erbil, Iraq. Now, I spoke earlier with Fawaz Gerges about the expected battle foremost, though (ph). He's the chair of ContemporaryMiddle East Studies at the London School

of Economics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAWAS GERGES, CHAIR, CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST STUDIES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: The question, Paula, is not whether Mosul will fall not only to the Iraqi army but also to its allies -- the Kurds and other, you know, militias, but how long it will -- it will take. Will it take a few weeks?

Will it take a few months? And also, a second very important question is the post-ISIS reconstruction plan. Will the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government be able to provide reconstruction for the 800,000 civilians in Mosul?

Will the Iraqi army and its allies, the Kurds and other elements in Iraq, be able to put the IRAQI house together? I think this is the question.

I'm a bit optimistic because the Americans have invested a great deal, not only in the training of the Iraqi army, not only in positioning major American military assets in terms of special forces, but also, the Americans have invested a great deal of time trying to bridge the divide between the Iraqi government and the Kurds, between the Turkish government and the Iraqi government, trying to impress on the Iraqi government the need for a very important post-reconstruction plan to provide food and medical supplies to the civilians in Mosul. So all in all, I think it seems to me that ISIS on the retreat.

ISIS is besieged. It realizes this is -- will (ph) be the last battle -- the last major battle in Mosul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, in northern Syria, meantime, activists say Syrian rebel fighters backed by Turkey are advancing on the ISIS-held town of Dabiq. Now, the town near the Turkish border appears in some Islamic prophecies as the site of an apocalyptic battle between Christians and Muslims.

ISIS even named its English language magazine, Dabiq. Rebels have taken control of several villages around there.

Turkish president says a 5,000-square-kilometer area will be declared a so-called safe zone and cleared of terror. Now, major powers in the region are working on a ceasefire for Syria.

However, a meeting Saturday in Switzerland ended without any breakthroughs. The discussion, though, now shifts to London.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, is there and joins us live.

You, as well, Nic, have moved now from Lausanne to London. We discussed yesterday how there wasn't much common ground, how the expectations were low.

OK, well, they met those. What more is there to talk about today? And I noticed that both, you know, Mr. Kerry and Sergei Lavrov have moved over to London as well.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So what we know of -- of the -- of who's going to attend the meeting in London, and we've literally just gotten that list from the FCO. And at the moment, Sergei Lavrov's not on the list.

I think that's generally been the expectation. You know, what you had in Lausanne in Switzerland was, you know, an array of the regional powers from around Syria plus, you know, the two big heavyweights, United States and Russia.

And the idea was to sort of -- to trash (ph) out any areas of commonality to just talk around all the issues. There were tensions in the room. Secretary Kerry said that there was sort of some broad agreement on broad concepts, particularly ending the war.

I think that gives us an idea of -- of the lack of specificity of -- of -- of some of the detail that might be required to really shape some kind of agreement -- none of that, only the idea that they all agree that the war should end. So what's going to happen in London today?

Well, now, Secretary Kerry will be able (ph) to come from that meeting and -- and brief his allies, if you will. So at the table today, Boris Johnson, British foreign minister, is hosting it.

You'll have the German foreign minister, French foreign minister, Italian foreign minister. You have a representative of the European Union.

Turkey will be at the table as well. Saudi Arabia, who was also, like turkey, at the table yesterday in Lausanne. You'll have Jordan -- they were at the table as well.

You'll have the Qataris. They were at table at Lausanne as well. You'll have the Emiratis. So a lot -- sort of a -- a bench strength (ph), if you will, of the allies that coalesce behind the United States in -- in that view of trying to end the war in Syria, to bring relief to Aleppo.

So-- so today, potentially, a chance -- so having heard what Sergei Lavrov and others like Iran and Iraq have had to say around the table in Switzerland, what's their response going to be? What can they do?

What -- what -- what are the realities? And Boris Johnson just last week said the real reality from his position is if there's a coalition, and there will have to be one, he said, to -- to -- to implement anything that's agreed, it will have to be led by the United States.

So we'll perhaps see some flesh on those -- that thinking today, Paula. NEWTON: Yes, which will be interesting. The Russian government and

the Russian foreign ministry is fairly clear outside of those meetings in Switzerland that, you know, the territorial integrity of Syria continues and that they still did not like the makeup of the opposition there, and that the military campaign continues.

Given all this and now the fact that we know for sure that Russia will not be at the able in London, I mean, Nic, you've got to expect that it's going to be at least days, if not weeks, before they sit down again to get anything done.

ROBERTSON: Well, what we heard from Secretary Kerry when he left that meeting in -- in Switzerland last night was that there would be an effort to move forward from those talks, an effort to move forward quickly, a lower level participant foreign ministry officials will perhaps begin to work as early as Monday. He said there were some ideas that came up that could be fleshed out further.

But there were nothing concrete that we were told about came out of it. And obviously, the real effort was that to -- to relieve the humanitarian -- the desperate humanitarian situation in Aleppo.

So you know, the impetus, the effort today will be to, you know, find whatever the common position and common ground is. And there is desperate (ph) ground.

We just heard, as you said, President Erdogan of Turkey now declaring 5,000-square kilometers in northern Syria free. This will be a a safe zone.

Now, he's always been pushing for a no-fly zone. Who's going to enforce a no-fly zone? The Russians have moved more surface to end this out (ph).

The parliament in Russia has passed the -- passed legislation that says Russia can have permanent air force base inside Syria. So you can see the complexity here and how strong a position Russia has on the ground with its assets on the ground.

And -- and these allies who will meet here in London today have very little in terms of military hardware, very little in terms of leverage over Assad and Syria. Now, one of the things that might be considered would be more sanctions.

And there's definitely been a view that the U.S. might look towards the Europeans and say, you know, reduce your gas buying from Russia. Germany gets about 50 percent of its gas from Russia.

So the -- the next economic-type moves could be very unpalatable for the Europeans. And they're not likely to want to go in that direction.

So you can see, this is not going to be an easy discussion. It's not one way. Everyone's not on the same page here, Paula.

NEWTON: Not on the same page. And in the meantime, the bombardment in Aleppo continues, and again, the agony of many civilians there continues.

Our (ph) Nic Robertson continue to watch those talks in London. Appreciate it.

Now, Donald Trump is on the offensive denying mounting accusations of sexual assault and attacking rival, Hillary Clinton. He suggested Saturday that Clinton was taking performance-enhancing drugs during their first two debates, and said they should take both drug tests prior to their next showdown.

He's made a habit of questioning Clinton's health and stamina without evidence throughout this campaign. And meantime, another woman is accusing Trump of sexually assaulting her, bringing the total now to at least nine.

Now, the Trump camp has categorically denied each accusation as quickly as they've surfaced -- surfaced. And as our Jessica Schneider reports, this time is no different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sixty-three-year-old Cathy Heller is now the ninth woman to speak out, claiming that Donald Trump kissed her without consent in the middle of a Mar-a-Lago brunch in the late 1990s. Cathy Heller first shared her story with "The Guardian" newspaper.

And CNN is working to further corroborate her story. But I did speak with Cathy Heller on the phone as well as her friend Susan Klein (ph), who she shared her story with a year and a half ago when Donald Trump was rising in political prominence.

Now, Heller tells me she was at Mar-a-Lago on Mother's Day with her extended family since her in-laws were members of that private club. Heller said when she was introduced to Trump, he allegedly pulled her towards him and then kissed her.

Heller said she was startled and pulled back. She tells me, her husband saw it happen as did other members of her family. And they just considered it a family joke.

But she says once that "Access Hollywood" tape came out, it became a real issue in this presidential campaign, she realized it was no longer a laughing matter. And Cathy Heller said she became compelled to speak out along with those eight other women.

Now, the Trump campaign vigorously denying all of these allegations, the Trump team issuing the latest statement about Cathy Heller's claim, saying this, saying, "The media has gone too far in making this false accusation. There is no way something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother's Day at Mr. Trump's resort.

It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades. The reality is this, for the media to wheel out a politically motivated democratic activist with legal dispute against the same resort owned by Mr. Trump, does a disservice to the public. And anyone covering this story should be embarrassed for elevating

this bogus claim." Now, I did talk to Cathy Heller. She admits that she is a Hillary supporter.

And she also says that she did have a legal dispute with Mar-a-Lago, but, still, she became compelled to speak out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: That was our Jessica Schneider there. Now, to another Wikileaks dump of stolen Clinton campaign e-mails. This time, it's transcripts of her speeches to Goldman Sachs, something she's been resisting the release of for months.

The speeches show Clinton talking about Wall Street's role in financial institutions and how they are regulated, also relations with Russia and Wikileaks itself. In 2013, remarks at a Goldman Sachs event, Clinton joked that she had to smooth things over with foreign leaders after the release of NSA documents.

Clinton said, "It was painful. Leaders who shall remain nameless and were characterized as vain, egotistical, power-hungry, corrupt and we knew they were, this was not fiction. And I had to go and say, you know, our ambassadors, they get carried away.

They want to all be literary people. They go off on tangents. But what can I say? I had grown men cry, I mean, literally --" that from Hillary Clinton there.

Now, for more than a week, Wikileaks has been releasing e-mails it hacked from Clinton's campaign Chairman, John Podesta. We are not able to verify their authenticity.

Now, a new poll from the "Washington Post" and ABC News shows Democrat Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump by four points. She's up 47 to 43 percent among likely voters, but only a slight change from their last poll taken before the last debate.

Now, the polling was conducted during what may be the most controversial stretch of Trump's cape. But 64 percent of respondents say Trump's lewd comments about women caught on tape won't affect their vote.

Now, the U.S. says one of its ships may have attacked -- may have been attacked for the third time this week. They're still not sure exactly what happened.

We'll have the latest from Yemen coming up. Plus, Donald Trump has reportedly said more lewd things about women, more than what we've already heard.

Some former "Apprentice" staffers say, it's all on tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: And some information just coming into CNN. In northern Syria, activists say Syrian rebel fighters backed by Turkey have captured the ISIS-held town of Dabiq. Now, they are trying to clear the area of mines and booby traps.

The town of Dabiq appears in some Islamic prophecies as the site of apocalyptic battle between Christians and Muslims. Turkish president says it will be part of a 5,000-square-kilometer area that will be declared a safe zone and cleared of terror.

South Korea says the intermediate range missile that North Korea test- fired Saturday failed right after launch. Now, Washington is calling on joining the void (ph), increasing tensions in the region.

South Korea says its military is prepared for any more so-called provocations. The launch violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

U.S. officials say the Destroyer, USS Mason, fired countermeasures in the red sea Saturday after it detected an apparent attack from a rebel-held area of Yemen. But it's not clear exactly what happened.

Officials say it might have been a radar malfunction on the Destroyer instead of an actual attack. The ship and its crew were not harmed, though.

If confirmed, it would be the third missile attack reported against the Mason in the red sea just in this week. Russia's U.N. ambassador sizing up Moscow's relationship with the West, is pretty blunt, saying the general situation is pretty bad, now turning (ph), as tensions between Russia and the U.S. are probably the worst they've been in decades.

And it isn't all because of Syria, as Matthew Chance explains now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russian warplanes continue striking Aleppo, the carnage in Syria has pushed Moscow's relationship with the West to new lows, the Western powers again debating military action. Russia has upped its forces in Syria, and it's the cold war rhetoric (ph).

In his flagship, current affairs show Russia's top state news anchor issued this stark warning of global war. Brutish behavior towards Russia declared Dmitry Kiselev (ph) could have nuclear implications.

It is an apocalyptic vision quite literally. Not since the conflict in Ukraine where Russia fueled an eastern rebellion after annexing Crimea, the tensions between Russia and the West, particularly the United States, been so strained. Critics accuse Moscow of dangerously undermining the international order.

Many Russians, former cold war warriors like this retired general, see it very differently.

BUZHINSKY: Russia is fighting U.S. dominance over the world. That's -- that's -- that's the reason. It's not -- it's not -- it's not all about Syria or Ukraine.

In Ukraine, it was a definite coup supported by the United States. So we have different views on the -- what's -- what's going on in the world.

CHANCE: So these are just -- these are just flash points in a much larger battle.

BUZHINSKY: Of course.

CHANCE: The fight of U.S. dominance.

BUZHINSKY: Of course, of course.

CHANCE: It's a battle to secure Russian interests, in Syria to protect its last toehold of influence in the Middle East, in Ukraine, to prevent yet another former Soviet state turning to NATO in the E.U. It is a strategy, analysts say, that sets Russia and the West on a collision course.

LUKYANOV: Since collapse of the Soviet Union, the West had opportunity and capacity to reshape the whole world according to ideas, which the West believed were correct and right. What we see now, there are attempts to believe that this arrangement, the post- cold war arrangement can be restored or prolonged -- unfortunately not.

CHANCE: And what will replace it may not be to everyone's liking. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

NEWTON: Now, Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here with a landmark climate agreement reached that was reached in Kigali, Rwanda. It's about refrigerators and air conditioners.

And pardon my ignorance, but I thought this situation had been solved. It's shocking to see (ph)...

(CROSSTALK)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, with the Montreal Protocol back in the '80s, that's right. And so did scientists. But it's kind of a double-edged sword because they did solve the -- the problem with the ozone layer by reducing CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons.

We talked about that a few different times. But now, there's substitute for CFCs. It's actually harming our atmosphere in a different way, which I'll try to explain here.

What you're looking at is the ozone hole history. And it's kind of a timeline of events basically from back in the '80s right through present moment in time.

And you can see that dramatic drop-off in the -- the size of the ozone hole. So that was the good news. That was what the Montreal Protocol actually solved, reducing the CFCs, which, by the way, were part of the cooling agents in our refrigerators and within our air conditioning units.

But, well, dealers and scientists needed some sort of substitute for CFCs so we enter in HFCs. Now, that's hydrofluorocarbons. I'll refer to it as HFC just to prevent the mouthful here as I try to get this information out to you.

But HFCs, well, the good news is, they did exactly what they were supposed to do -- not harm the ozone layer like CFCs but unfortunately, took us 20 years to realize that this substitute for CFCs was actually a greenhouse gas that was 10 to 100 times more effective in trapping heat close to our atmosphere with the greenhouse effect than that of carbon dioxide. We talk about CO2 so frequently when we talk about global warming and climate change, significant threat as well.

But the HFCs are becoming a major threat. So leaders from all over the world came together in Kigali, Rwanda this week, came to an amendment for the Montreal Protocol, which was set in the late '80s and decided some of the world's largest polluters -- the United States, the European Union, by 2019, if they could reduce their HFC production by 10 percent and the agreement by other countries, we have the potential to decrease our global warming by a half degree Celsius, which is significant because, remember, COP21 earlier this year in Paris, trying to curb our global warming by the end of the century by two degrees below post-industrial levels, or pre-industrial levels, I should say, and this is significant considering that we have seen this uptick in our temperature globally, the last nine of the top 10 warmest years have occurred since 2000.

And 2016 is certainly going to go down in the record books as well. So we're starting to relate a lot of these extreme weather events around the globe climate change theory and aspect and the global warming, heavy rain events, strong wind events, typhoons, hurricanes and now, across the Pacific Northwest right now, we are dealing with one major storm.

Take a look at the footage coming out of Oregon, Paula -- trees down, massive waves. This is all thanks to a large area of low pressure that has really caused some problems -- 50,000 customers without power right now in Oregon alone.

NEWTON: Yes, and it's not the kind of place that is usually used to this kind of wild, wild weather.

VAN DAM: Yes, that's right. And they had two confirmed tornadoes yesterday, too, which is very rare. It's been several, several years since that's happened.

NEWTON: OK, Derek, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

VAN DAM: You're welcome (ph), Paula.

NEWTON: Now, is the political climate changing in Ohio? It's a battleground state that's crucial to the race for the White House.

What Ohio voters think -- that's just after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:31:11] NEWTON: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

And these are your headlines this hour. Activists say Syrian rebel fighters backed by Turkey have now captured the ISIS-held town of Dabiq in northern Syria.

They are trying to rid the area of mines and booby troops right now. The Turkish president said it will be part of a 5,000-square-kilometer area that will be declared a safe zone and cleared of terror.

Talks on Syria, meantime, shift to London Sunday afternoon, wrapping up in Switzerland with apparent -- no apparent breakthrough. And now, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, characterized Saturday's meeting as more of a brainstorming session.

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey were among the countries that participated. Iraq's prime minister says a major battle against ISIS will happen soon. Iraqi government forces, Kurdish Peshmerga troops and paramilitaries are standing by to retake Mosul and other cities nearby.

Iraq's air force has dropped thousands of leaflets on Mosul, warning residents to remain inside their homes and, of course, avoid ISIS position. The U.N. secretary general has promised more relief to victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.

Ban Ki-moon visited the Caribbean nation Saturday and urged patients to stay strong. During his trip, a U.N. base was shut down after looters attacked trucks built (ph) with aid.

Hurricane Matthew ripped through Haiti almost two weeks ago killing about a thousand people and leaving close to 200,000 homeless. Yet, another woman is accusing Donald Trump of sexual assault.

Cathy Heller says the Republican candidate grabbed and kissed her two decades ago at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. But the Trump campaign has tried to discredit that story and the other eight that have recently surfaced.

Now, Trump isn't defending himself. He's going after his opponent, Hillary Clinton. At a rally Saturday, he suggested that Clinton had used performance-enhancing drugs at the last two debates.

He says he wants a drug test before their next showdown. Now, some former staffers who worked on Donald Trump's show, "The Apprentice" reportedly say the leaked video, you know, the one you heard last week of his lewd remarks on women, is just the tip of the iceberg. But the show's creator says he legally cannot release any of those outtakes.

Here is CNN Money senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: You're fired. You're all fired.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Inside "The Apprentice" boardroom, Donald Trump had all the power.

TRUMP: And...

STELTER: Now, Mark Burnett, the reality T.V. guru who created the show, could hold Trump's fate in his hands. Rumors are swirling that outtakes from "The Apprentice" are even more explosive than this bombshell "Access Hollywood" tape.

TRUMP: And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. You drop (ph)...

STELTER: And could make this casual sexist remark seem like nothing.

TRUMP: It's a pretty (ph) picture you've got (ph)...

STELTER: But "The Apprentice" raw footage is inaccessible. NBC, which aired the show, says Burnett has it. Burnett says he cannot legally share it.

And the production company, MGM, also says it is restricted from releasing the material.

TRUMP: You're going to do everything...

STELTER: This is contractual and common in Hollywood. British-born (ph) Burnett is one of the biggest producers in town and has been friends with Trump for years.

BURNETT: My first thoughts ever about Donald Trump -- I was selling T-shirts on Venice Beach reading this book, "The Art of the Deal" by Donald Trump.

STELTER: He wasn't selling T-shirts for long. His participation in a French adventure competition gave him the idea for "Survivor." The show was a hit, giving birth to a new genre.

"The Voice" and "Shark Tank" are among his other huge money-maker. In 2004, Burnett catapulted Trump to T.V. stardom.

TRUMP: Generally, Mark wants me to do exactly what I want to do. And he's an incredible guy and a good guy -- a really good guy.

STELTER: When Trump got married in 2005...

BURNETT: My son, Cameron, was the ring-bearer at the wedding of Donald and Melania. That's how close we are.

STELTER: Burnett is also deeply religious. In 2013, he and his wife, actress, Roma Downey, produced "The Bible" miniseries.

BURNETT: It's a calling. STELTER: Faith could be one reason Burnett denies a report calling

him pro-Trump, saying my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign. But what about the misogyny that might have been left on the cutting room floor?

This AP (ph) reporter tells me, she interviewed 20 former "Apprentice" staff members who say Trump used uncomfortable sexist language behind- the-scenes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Including talking openly about which female contestants he wanted to have sex with.

STELTER: Now, there's speculation and concern that someone might defy MGM and leak new tapes.

Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You've heard from the candidates and the pundits (ph). Yes, we need to hear from those voters. Poppy Harlow headed to a key swing state to hear from them.

Ohio is so critical. No candidate has won the White House without winning that state since 1960.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio was one of the strongest for President Obama in 2012. Mitt Romney did not get a single vote from people living in these homes -- not one.

People living here have been struggling economically for a long time and they still are. So the question is, will they come out in droves for Hillary Clinton, the way they did for President Obama?

CLINTON (ph): Hillary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary is the best candidate.

CLINTON: That's a no-brainer.

HARLOW: There have been decades of economic despair and a dwindling fate that politicians will help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the democratic platform is saying the same thing we have heard for about the past 50 years...

HARLOW: Over and over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...over and over.

HARLOW: Since the war on poverty was declared?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. HARLOW: Jeff Crosby (ph) used to be in gangs that landed him in

prison. Now, he's working to keep kids from the same life he lived.

CROSBY (ph): This is one of the highest crime areas in Cleveland.

HARLOW: This is?

CROSBY (ph): Yes, about 10 gangs over here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, what's up? Good?

CROSBY (ph): I think the Democratic Party has taken us for granted. The Republican Party literally ignores us except for Trump.

Trump is striving -- striving to make inroads but he (ph) is a polarizing figure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't trust Donald, that's all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he got money? That ain't everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm willing to vote for a clown before Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, with a red nose. I do agree with Republicans sometimes. But I don't agree with nothing that Donald Trump stands for.

HARLOW: And that brings us to the second part of this Ohio chapter, 200 miles south. We're in Pike County, Ohio. And this place matters a lot, not for the number of votes here but because of what it represents.

It used to be solidly blue. But it's been moving more and more red. In 2012, this was the closest county in the country.

Mitt Romney won here by a single vote -- just one vote. It's 96 percent white, largely blue-collar and unemployment here is high. These are exactly the voters Donald Trump has been speaking to.

So if his message isn't resonating here, he's in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd say right now, you're looking at a coin toss.

HARLOW: A coin toss among union workers who until now have been solidly blue. Have you ever seen anything like that before?

So Donald Trump says he's the one to bring these jobs back. He's the one to build up your industry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump is saying that. That's a total propaganda. Where is this merchandise made?

What does -- what does -- what does he have to offer to American industry? Nothing.

HARLOW: Many here do believe Trump and see him as their best shot at getting ahead. Since 2000, Ohio has lost nearly a third of its manufacturing jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Het gets a lot of things that is amazing that he was telling us he can do for us.

HARLOW: Angie Shanks (ph) runs a real estate firm here.

SHANKS (ph): It needs more jobs, more better-paying jobs.

HARLOW: You voted for President Obama in 2008?

SHANKS (ph): Yes, I did.

HARLOW: But her faith in the Obama administration has faded.

SHANKS (ph): I think Trump is a businessman. And the country is a business. It needs to be run as a business.

HARLOW: When we met Angie (ph), she was leaning towards Trump. Now, after the "Access Hollywood" tape surfaced, she's reconsidering.

You're a life-long Democrat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HARLOW: So you're voting for Hillary this time around?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not.

HARLOW: No?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad was a coal miner. They've put the coal miners out of work.

HARLOW: We left Ohio asking this question, why does economic pain from one town to the next push some people left and others right?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And that was our Poppy Harlow there. now, these interviews were taped before the "Access Hollywood" video of Trump surfaced. So CNN called back the Trump supporters.

And almost all said they still support him. Now, they cannot wait to be reunited. The families of 21 freed Chibok girls are making their way to Nigeria's capital and they look forward to a long-awaited reunion.

We will take you live to Abuja. That's next. Plus, scientists preparing to send two astronauts into space. Details on their mission coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEWTON: Twenty-one freed Chibok schoolgirls are expected to reunite

with their families in Nigeria's capital sometime soon. We don't exactly know when.

The militant group, Boko Haram, released them on Thursday. David McKenzie now joins us live from Abuja. And I can only imagine what their families are going through, still waiting for them.

And of course, the release is not without controversy.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Paula. There are still questions being asked of how exactly these negotiators secured the release of these 21 girls. But the primary news today, of course, is that some of the family members have arrived here in the capital of Abuja and will be reunited soon with their loved ones.

For more than 900 days, they were searching, campaigning, wondering what had happened to their girls that in captivity became women held by the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram deep in the Sambisa forest and in other areas in the conflict-ridden northeast. That reunion will surely be a joy for those families.

But still, many others wondering what negotiations going forward will do and whether they can secure more girls. We learned from a source close to those negotiators that 83 girls are being discussed to try and get them out of the clutches of Boko Haram, which obviously begs the question where are the more than hundred others from Chibok that were taken in April 2014? Certainly, that will lead to fears from family members of who will come out and who has gone missing perhaps forever.

Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, and -- and as trying as this has been, of course, the hashtag #bringbackourgirls has gotten a lot of attention. The Boko Haram in the northeast of Nigeria, you know, has really created what many are describing a -- a humanitarian disaster not seen there in decades.

I mean, David, from what you know and speaking to aid agencies there, I mean, some people are talking about famine.

MCKENZIE: Well, that's right. They say that there are pockets of famine already in the northeastern part of Nigeria, particularly in border (ph) states.

And while the world's attention created this hashtag and started this campaign to get the girls home to -- from Chibok that were taken, there's a much larger scale crisis ongoing. Seventy-five thousand children are at risk of dying of starvation, million more -- millions of more need life-saving nutrition support.

But the humanitarian actors here are saying that those moves by them are woefully underfunded by the world's actors. And they're not getting the money or the support that they need. It must be said that Boko Haram still controls large parts of that

state. And that makes it even more difficult to reach those in desperate help.

NEWTON: Yes, and the release of the girls is, of course, a negotiated release, not a rescue. And Boko Haram continues to be a problem.

Our David McKenzie following developments there from Abuja, appreciate it.

Thailand's crown prince is trying to reassure the country of a smooth succession. Now, its revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, died this past week after 70 years on the throne.

He was seen as a stabilizing influence in a country which, during his reign, had 19 military coups. Thailand's prime minister read a statement from the crowned prince Saturday, telling people the succession process was outlined long ago by the constitution and royal law.

China is getting ready to send two astronauts into space. Chinese state (ph) media says the Heavenly vessel is expected to blast off Monday morning local time from the Gobi Desert.

It will dock at a spacelab that went into orbit last month. Now, this is video from that launch. They'll spend 33 days there, mostly conducting science experiments.

Now, China's space program has made rapid advances in the past decade. In 2003, the country sent its first astronaut or taikonaut into space, becoming the third country to do so.

Then in 2008, a Chinese astronaut took the country's first space walk. And a 2013 mission included a successful manual docking with China's first spacelab, a major step towards Beijing's goal of a permanent space station.

Now, to date, China has made five manned space flights. Now, interviewing children on camera can be a tough assignment.

It can be hard to get much more than one-word answers. But when we spoke to some schoolchildren about the U.S. presidential race recently, well, you don't want -- want (ph) to miss this. They had a lot to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Though (ph) the U.S. presidential race is now in its final week, the campaign is so shocking even third-graders have something to say about it. Now, I'm shocked that Gary Tuchman could actually find material that wasn't X-rated that had he could actually present to these third-graders. But you don't want to miss this. He definitely got an earful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia, we talked to some eight and nine-year-old third- graders.

Thank you for inviting us to your school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.

TUCHMAN: It's nice to meet all of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, too. You, too.

TUCHMAN: Do you know that we have a presidential election coming up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's very complicated.

TUCHMAN: It is complicated. But who's running for president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Trump and Hillary Clinton.

TUCHMAN: Trump and Hillary Clinton. Which one's the man and which one's the woman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is the man and Hillary is the girl.

TUCHMAN: Is the girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Trump's the boy. I know a little bit about both of their stories a little because Trump has a wife and she's like a model kind of.

And then Hillary's husband or father was the president.

TUCHMAN: Well, her husband, Bill Clinton. So she would be the second president Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: What's the first thing you think the new president should do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To make an announcement that everything, like houses and stuff, was half the price for a whole month.

TUCHMAN: Half the price for a whole month? That's a good -- who agrees with that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half the price cost, half price -- half price everything.

TUCHMAN: What do you think, Lexi (ph), with the candidates yelling at each other?

LEXI (ph): I don't really like it when they just do that.

TUCHMAN: Why don't you like that?

LEXI (ph): Because I don't like violence.

TUCHMAN: They haven't touched each other, which would be really inappropriate, to punch each other...

LEXI (ph): It's screaming violence. It's screaming violence.

TUCHMAN: Screaming violence.

LEXI (ph): Yes, that's what I mean.

TUCHMAN: Did you hear they just had a debate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And what did you think about the debate? Did you watch any of it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was torture.

TUCHMAN: Why was it torture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I just -- all the screaming...

TUCHMAN: I'm going to show you this video. I want you to watch and tell me what you think when we're done.

TRUMP: You were totally out of control. I said there's a person with a temperament that's got a problem.

COOPER: Secretary Clinton?

CLINTON: Oh, OK.

TUCHMAN: See a little shimmy (ph) of her shoulders? What did you think of that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she's like -- wait, so that...

TUCHMAN: Is like what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...like kind of boogie (ph).

TUCHMAN: Boogie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boogie awesome. Boogie awesome. TUCHMAN: Time to boogie at the debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes (ph).

TUCHMAN: What advice would you give Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton if they were at this table?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they were sitting here, I would say stop interrupting people, follow the golden rule. If you interrupt the other person, then you probably will get interrupted when you're trying to say something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just that they should just like calm down, like take a time-out, like talk in a room like that's quiet.

TUCHMAN: So your -- your is if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were hear, you would say, take a time-out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I just...

TUCHMAN: Chill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...want them (ph) to relax.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a chill pill. Just take a chill pill.

TUCHMAN: Thank you for inviting us to your school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll see you next time (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're very nice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Gary Tuchman there. Now, one thing a lot of people noticed about the second presidential debate was the way the two candidates interacted on that stage.

And "Saturday Night Live" had a field day with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Can't deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Number two, no lifetime limits which (ph), you know, is a big deal if you have serious health problems.

(LAUGHTER)

And number three...

(LAUGHTER)

...sorry -- and number three, women can't be charged (inaudible).

(LAUGHTER)

Women can't be charged more than men for health insurance, OK? And number four...

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Oh, thank goodness for some comic relief. Thanks for joining us. I'm Paula Newton for viewers in the U.S. "New Day" is just ahead. For everyone else, "This is Life" starts in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)