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Obama, Putin to Address UNGA; Pope Francis Speaks with Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse; Latest Poll Numbers in 2016 Race; Typhoon Headed toward Taiwan. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 28, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:01]

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM HOST: Making their case, the U.S. and Russian Presidents prepare to take the world stage at the United Nations with Syria front and center.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM HOST: God weeps, the Pope makes a vow to victims of sex abuse by clergy on his final day in America.

BARNETT: And a celebrity of trade, my favorite story of the day, one of the biggest, boldest moves in years -- from stargazers everywhere.

Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the states and those watching from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN Newsroom.

BARNETT: A number of the world's top leaders will be meeting at just a few hours at the United Nations, and one of them Vladimir Putin is suddenly front and center in the diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in Syria.

CHURCH: Putin is calling for collective action against ISIS militants, he says U.S. efforts to end the Syrian war are a failure. And that he supports what he calls the legitimate government of Syria.

BARNETT: We've also learned that Russia will be getting intelligence from ISIS in Iraq from the Iraqi military. Iran and Syria will get that same intelligence as well. We're covering this story from around the world using CNN's global resources, John Defterios is in Abu Dhabi, Nick Robertson is in London. Let's begin with Matthew Chance who joins us live from Moscow. Matthew, President Putin has moved the chess pieces here on the eve of the UNGA where as we say he will be front and center in many ways. How will he be characterizing this agreement that his country his broken with Iraq, Iran and Syria because the U.S. approach to peace in the region so far has bear no fruit.

MATTHEW CHANCE: You're right about Vladimir Putin changing the game ahead of this United Nations general assembly meeting. This is a figure who has been under international sanctions. And still under international sanctions. Over Russia's alleged role in Ukraine, allegedly supporting the rebel forces there. It's led to a certain degree of isolation of Vladimir Putin in the international community. That has now been shifted by his dramatic buildup, again, which the Kremlin denies inside Syria and his strong backing for the Syrian government of Al Assad. Russia remember has strong economic and military reasons to back its old ally Syria, but it's the issue of international terrorism which Vladimir Putin is saying the global community can unite Iran to fight Islamic states in Syria. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier when he spoke to CBS 60 Minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN: We support the legitimate government of Syria and it's my deep belief that any actions to the contrary in order to destroy the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now in the other countries in the region or in other regions. And there's no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering help in fighting terrorism. But at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: So, according to Vladimir Putin this is all about fighting international terrorism. Something they can rally around. But of course what it's also about is bolstering Russia's position in the region and in the world at large. I mean Syria to some extent, its last ally in the Middle East, if Syria falls the Kremlin fails, its influence will too. So this is all about Russia bolstering its cloud internationally as well.

BARNETT: And Matthew, there are also domestic pressures at play as well. The low price of oil has really put an economic strain on Russia, a country, you mentioned already, is under sanctions. So what might be the motivation, the domestic motivation for this?

CHANCE: Well, I think the primary domestic motivation is to demonstrate that despite the low oil prices and despite the sanctions that have been placed on Russia by the European Union and the United States, Russia is still an important country and has to be dealt with by the international community. That's important for Vladimir Putin to show that it can sit at the top table -- Russia -- popularity and to some extent, he's already achieved that. The fact that the debate has already been shifted away from Ukraine when it comes to Russia and towards Syria and has placed Vladimir Putin at the center of that debate shows that Russia is still an influential country and still a crucial country when it comes to resolving the Syrian civil war.

[03:05:09]

BARNETT: It is fascinating to watch, geopolitical movements happening step by step. Matthew Chance with the view from Moscow, Matthew, thanks. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Well, for more on the Iranian President's appearance at the general assembly, I want to go to John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, so John it appears that a coalition around Syria is forming quickly as we go into the UNGA, how is that being perceived in the Middle East? JOHN DEFTERIOS: Well, Rosemary, real concerns being expressed here by

allies of the United States in the gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, the July 14th nuclear agreement for Iran, allowing Iran to emerge if you will out of the shadows and moving to center stage in looking for a solution to Syria. But the other reality is, after 4 1/2 years of fighting, more than 220,000 deaths within Syria and nearly 5 million refugees, there's no solution in sight. That's why President Rouhani in his interview was suggesting a new formula is needed and one that does not include regime change from Al Assad. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI: Everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists. However, as soon as this movement reaches the various levels of success and starts driving out terrorists on a step by step basis, then other plans must be put into action, so as to hear the voices of the opposition as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: With Iran and Russia, Rosemary, making very forceful moves here in regards to Syria, many believe the original voices of Assad will be drowned out. And there are concerns here at the gulf states that the allies of the United States in this process may also be sidelined as well, as Iran and Russia come together with Iraq and Syria with a new solution that's going to the U.N. General Assembly at least in the side bar discussions today.

CHURCH: Yeah, it's very interesting. And John, after four and a half years of fighting in Syria, can a different approach be found this week, do you think?

DEFTERIOS: Well, it's extraordinary to see what's happened over the last seven days, this new coalition forming the four players that I was talking about. But behind the scenes, there are discussions taking place about a new formula, a broader coalition, including P5, plus 1, the formula used with Iran. But also bringing to the fore, Rosemary, the Sunni stall warts of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on one side and the Shia being represented by Iran, what will happen today, first meeting between President Obama and Vladimir Putin, I'm sure this is a topic that's on the table. We saw the bilateral discussions with John Kerry over the weekend. It's not just the coalition of Iraq, Syria and Iran and Russia going forward, they want to broaden it out. They have had success with Iran, but Iran starting to exert the influence and this has players like Saudi Arabia and Turkey very concerned.

And I would add here I know there's resistance from the leaders of France and the U.K. to propping up Bashir Al Assad. A lawless state today has caused more problems for those here in the region, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, absolutely, John Defterios, reporting from Abu Dhabi, many thanks to you, Errol.

BARNETT: Speaking of France, we have more new information on this story, that nation, has launched its first air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria. President Francois Hollande said the strikes destroyed a training camp used by the militants. For more on that angle of the story, our International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson joins us from London. Nick, I keep saying the UNGA will be interesting to say the least with all of these new developments. What are the details President Francois Hollande provided in New York when he made this announcement on the air strike?

NIC ROBERTSON: This is a significant step, if you will, by France. This is something that's been in the works for some time. France has committed itself along with all of the NATO nations in trying to destroy ISIS and by going after them now with air strikes inside Syria. This is a significant step in that direction. Of course there are critics who say that the air strikes alone aren't going to manage this. There is a lot of increase in pressure coming from Europe to find a lasting political solution inside Syria. We certainly heard that from British Prime Minister David Cameron over the weekend, saying that while President Bashir Al Assad cannot stay in power, this is a position of the British government, the French government have had a long time this position, painted their way into a diplomatic corner. So we're hearing from the British Prime Minister now as well, saying that we need to have more discussions about the transition of Bashir Al Assad.

This is certainly an emerging narrative here, particularly after Russia has taken a stronger role in recent weeks inside Syria, and will play a more significant -- part of the outcome and given Iran's relatively position so far over Bashir Al Assad. But there's recognition among European nations, France and Britain that Bashir Al Assad may indeed be in power during a transition. It seems that most European nations recognize collapsing the state in Syria would destroy Bashir Al Assad's government isn't going to help them, particularly with the refugee crisis, particularly bringing in the conflict in Syria as seen as something that would play to the hands of ISIS at the moment.

[03:15:01]

So the picture is emerging of -- yes, increasing military strikes, but a stronger narrative, that there's an opportunity here to get a political dimension going on. That's significant, because in October, David Cameron is expected to go to British parliament to seek support to follow in the footsteps of President Francois Hollande.

BARNETT: And the challenge here, Nic, is that you've got Russia and others saying that the government of Syria, the government of Bashir Al Assad is legitimate? So if you consider that with Hollande said, he left the door open for additional air strikes in Syria, its unclear how this new agreement between Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq though will affect that, what are some of the possibilities here?

ROBERTSON: To a degree it's semantics, there's a sense that Iran isn't really shifting from that, in his language as well, once you have established defeat of the terrorists or diminishment of the terrorists, you can begin to draw in opposition forces. Russia talked about defeating the terrorists. And it seems less committed over the longer run keeping President Bashir Al Assad in place. If we take a look at the speech in 2011, at the end of the era of the Arab springs, you know, Russia's got a position to maintain there. You have a consensus here that Assad is there, but somehow over a period of time, he may have to go. There's a commonality there but still a long way from having the details.

BARNETT: Indeed, Nic Robertson, live for us live from London this morning, approaching a quarter after eight in the morning there, Nic, thank you.

And be sure to join CNN for extensive coverage of the U.N. General Assembly -- we're live to the United Nations in just a few hours. In fact, the speeches from Brazilian President, U.S. President Barack Obama, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and of course many other world leaders as well, this begins at 9:00 p.m. if you're in Hong Kong, 2:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 a.m. on the U.S. east coast.

CHURCH: Iran's supreme leader is demanding an apology from Saudi Arabia for the stampede at the Hajj near Mecca, nearly 800 people died with at least 155 Iranians among the victims.

BARNETT: More than 300 people are still missing at this hour. Iran's President Rouhani has called for an investigation. Here's what he told CNN's Christiana Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saudi Arabian government must respond or held to account for this lack of proficiency, for this lack of responsibility and safety that has led to the tragic killing of so many pilgrims from so many countries. But from many political channels, we will pursue this very issue until we get satisfactory answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And the Saudi foreign minister accuses Iran of exploiting the tragedy.

BARNETT: That's right. The foreign minister says this isn't a situation in which to play politics and the Iranian leaders should wait until the results of that investigation.

CHURCH: You can see Christiana's one on one interview with the Iran's President tonight at 7:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Berlin, only here on CNN.

BARNETT: Now Pope Francis has wrapped up his first visit to the United States and is currently on his way home to the Vatican. Before he left Philadelphia Pennsylvania Sunday night, he said his heart was full of gratitude and hope.

CHURCH: Judging by the crowd's reaction the feeling was probably mutual as the Pope made his way through the streets and led a huge outdoor mass. Chris Welsh has more.

CHRIS WELSH: With a final wave, Pope Francis departed the U.S., but not before imparting one final blessing.

[03:20:01]

POPE FRANCIS: I pray that you may be all general human -- God bless America.

WELSH: Earlier in the day, the Holy Father met with five victims of sexual abuse. Speaking to a chapel full of bishops after the meeting, he vowed careful oversight to protect children from sexual abuse within the church.

POPE FRANCIS: I have the responsibility to take care of these tender ones -- violated that trust.

WELSH: Continuing his practice of reaching out to those living on the margins of society, the pontiff became the first Pope to ever visit an American prison.

POPE FRANCIS: This time in your life can only have one purpose to give you a hand of getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society.

WELSH: The pontiff concluded his whirlwind tour with an open air mass at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, speaking before nearly 1 million worshippers, Pope Francis focused on the small things.

POPE FRANCIS: Before we go to bed or the hug after we return from a hard day's work, love is shown by little things.

WELSH: In Philadelphia, I'm Chris Welsh reporting.

BARNETT: More news still to come, Hillary Clinton loses ground to her closest Democratic rival in the 2016 Presidential race as she faces more questions about her private email server. We'll bring you that next.

CHURCH: And separatists are celebrating a victory in Spain, we'll look at how their fight could impact their general election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI: Good Monday morning to you, Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, CNN Weather Watch, and weather across the Americas, all eyes right now on the gulf coast states of the United States. We do have a tropical disturbance trying its hardest to form across this region, a 40 percent probability, the National Hurricane Center giving the storm about 160 kilometers north of the Yucatan. We don't think it will get organized because the sheer -- with the winds above the storm system moving in different directions. Regardless of it gaining full blown tropical status, we think Monday afternoon and Monday evening heavy rainfall continues around the Florida panhandle into portions of the southern U.S.

Some heavy rainfall that's beneficial. But the amount of rain expected to come down, flash flooding concern remains very high over that region. The southern tier of the U.S. will take temps into the 30s in Dallas, 24 out of Atlanta while back to the west, Vancouver, British Columbia, sunny and 18 degrees to start off the final week here in September. Caribbean, low 30s, Mexico City cooling off with the wet weather in place, about 19 with some thunderstorms in place. In the race for U.S. President, Democratic Hillary Clinton's lead is

shrinking in the latest poll.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:25:01]

CHURCH: The U.S. President Democrat Hillary Clinton's lead is shrinking in the latest polls.

BARNETT: That's right. The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll shows Clinton's lead is down to seven points over rival Bernie Sanders. Keep in mind, that lead was some 60 points back in June.

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Clinton is facing more questions over her use of a private email server. She talked about it Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's like a drip, drip, drip. There's only so much I can control. But what I have tried to do in explaining this is to provide more transparency and more information than anybody that I'm aware of who's ever served in the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Hillary Clinton's husband, Former President Bill Clinton is speaking about the controversy, in an interview with CNN, he believes Republicans are using this scrutiny for his wife's email just to tear her down, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON: It's obvious what happened. At the beginning of the year she was the most admired person in public life. There are lots of people who wanted there to be a race for different reasons, and they thought the only way they can make it a race was to make it a full frontal assault on her. And so this email thing became the biggest story in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now meanwhile, on the Republican side, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Donald Trump virtually tied now with rival candidate Ben Carson.

CHURCH: Trump still leads the pack with 21 percent support. But Carson is at 20 percent within the polls margin of error.

BARNETT: Also U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina had her speech interrupted when part of the stage around her collapsed. Take a look.

CHURCH: Wow, amazing images there and she was talking to a crowd in San Antonio Texas on Sunday when that backdrop came crashing down. Fiorina was not hurt and she went on to deliver her speech.

Well, now to a big election in Spain, a victory for separatists. They won a majority of seats in the election on Sunday. They want to break away from Spain within 18 months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot of work to do and we're not going to relax. We have a Democratic mandate and we know what that means. We know how we have won. We have won against the odds. But we have won and that gives us an amazing strength and legitimacy to carry out this project. We'll do this and we will honor this Democratic mandate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Spain's prime minister is opposed to Catalonia's independence and he -- unconstitutional, so this will likely be a big issue in the country's general election in December.

CHURCH: And now, Tim Lister is in Spain, joins us now on the phone, Tim, Spain's prime minister as we mentioned there, says succession is unconstitutional in the wake of this vote, is that the case?

TIM LISTER: That is the case, according to the constitutional court last year, Rosemary, any sort of referendum anywhere in Spain is illegal. There's no provision in the constitution for any vote. They had a referendum which was not recognized and all of the pro- independent people turned out and voted. But all those opposed to independence -- interesting that this is a mandate, because actually the pro-independence place only got 48 percent of the votes. More conservative of the Spanish media voted against independence. Another wrinkle the alliance of the two pro-independence parties needs the support of a third smaller party, that's far from guaranteed.

CHURCH: Given that then, what impact will this separatist vote likely have on the general election in December?

[03:30:01]

LISTER: That is going to be a very interesting question. Because one thing that emerged from last night's vote, which is now in the government, in Madrid, nearly lost half of its seats in Catalonia. So with the election two months away, all the parties are going to be maneuvering themselves to that advantage. Most polls suggest that the election in December won't produce an overall majority of any party. So, we've got the potential of a double whammy here and certainty because this vote in Catalonia, much more uncertainty in Madrid in December, this is a Spain that isn't used to coalition building. And so that could produce a prolonged period of paralysis at the heart of government.

CHURCH: We'll watch that closely there, Tim Lister joining us on the phone from Cordoba, many thanks to you.

BARNETT: Painful farewells and the promise of a new life, coming up for you. See how some victims of ISIS brutality in Iraq hope to leave the past behind.

CHURCH: Plus, people around the world including in Jerusalem seen here looked up for a rare glimpse of a super moon lunar eclipse, we'll have more on Sunday night's celestial event a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Welcome back to our viewers here in the states and those of you who are watching from around the globe. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church, time to check the headlines for you. And Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to address the U.N. General Assembly later today. He is expected to defend Syrian Bashir Al Assad. Mr. Putin has said that if President Al Assad left office there would be even greater instability in Syria.

[03:35:01]

BARNETT: Pope Francis is expected to arrive back in Rome next hour after a successful visit to the U.S. He left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sunday night, and said his heart is full of gratitude and hope. During his trip, he urged the U.S. Congress to work together and vowed to protect children from sexual abuse by priests.

CHURCH: Separatists in Catalonia have won a majority of seats in the parliament, setting a showdown with Spain over independence. They want to break away in 18 months. It will be a critical issue during Spain's general election in December.

BARNETT: Now, in Iraq, the future of the Yazidis is in question after thousands of members of this ethnic and religious minority were attacked, massacred, and enslaved by ISIS more than a year ago.

CHURCH: The government of the state of -- in Germany has offered to give refuge and counseling to hundreds of traumatized women and children who are former captives of ISIS. CNN's Ivan Watson witnessed the emotional farewell of dozens of these victims before they left for Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're dressed mostly in black, the color of mourning, women whose faces we will not show to protect their privacy. Yazidis Kurds subjected to unspeakable crimes by ISIS. They received a blessing from their spiritual leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What ISIS did to you will not happen again, stop wearing black, it will only remind us of what we suffered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq is the ancestral homeland of the Yazidis, an ancient, ethnic and religious community. Nestled in a valley in the Kurdish-controlled north, a Yazidis sanctuary called the (INAUDIBLE) Temple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm deep in the heart of the temple, the holiest site for the Yazidis. It has a long and painful history of persecution. But no one could have predicted the ferocity of the assault they faced at the hands of ISIS starting in 2014.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little more than a year ago, ISIS militants attacked the northern province of (INAUDIBLE) where they allegedly massacred more than 3,000 Yazidis and captured at least 5,000 more, triggering a mass exodus as hundreds of thousands of Yazidis fled their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us are traumatized now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yazidis activist has interviewed more than 1,000 former Yazidis captives of ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of them were sex slaves under ISIS captivity. They were beaten, tortured by ISIS fighters. They have PTSD, heart depression, and we have no instruments here in Iraq to teach them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This month, 66 Yazidis women and children begin the long journey to Germany. Among those leaving is 15-year-old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm both happy and sad to go, he says, ISIS killed my dad, my cousins and uncles and they kidnapped 25 relatives including women. His uncle shows photos of murdered family members. Not pictured his 16-year-old sister who was enslaved by ISIS for three months before she escaped. Her family will get a chance at a new life in Germany, but that does not make saying good-bye any easier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead, get on the bus, he tells his nephew. This is the agony of the Yazidis. Attacked because of their faith, with thousands still in modern day slavery, survivors left with little choice but to say farewell to their home land. Ivan Watson, CNN at the Temple in Iraqi Kurdistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Such a tough story to tell there. All right, we shift to the weather and we're tracking a powerful typhoon expected to make land fall soon in Taiwan.

[03:40:01]

BARNETT: We can show you these huge waves already crashing on the island's east coast. The typhoon is predicted to hit this area by Monday evening local time. It will be the second typhoon to hit the country since August.

CHURCH: Taiwan is about to get slammed with that pretty strong typhoon, our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with the details on that.

JAVAHERI: Good morning, guys. Just getting information on the maximum wave heights over the open waters, about 37 feet high, nearly 4 stories tall. This storm system is about three hours away from making land fall, 220 kilometer per hour wind. The difference between a typhoon of this magnitude and a super typhoon is negligible. Wind gusts over 126 kilometers per hour. The storm near and conditions will continue to go downhill. I want to show you the land here, as far as the conditions across the ocean as this storm system nears, land fall between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time. It weakens significantly. It goes from a category 4 equivalent to a potentially weak typhoon this time tomorrow just because this portion of Taiwan, we're talking about the mountains that rise about 3,000 meters, about 300 mountains are coming up to this altitude.

So you're talking about the storm system running into a complete wall, falling apart a little but still emerging over the strait tomorrow, we know about 20 million people are going to be impacted by this storm system, the rainfall will be tremendous as the mountains forced the moisture here to rise and squeezed the rainfall down, 300 millimeters, equivalent on about a month's worth of rainfall over this region. The 12th named typhoon this season. The peak winds inside the next couple of hours, around 10:30 GMT, Taipei could see winds up to 122 kilometers per hour. An incredible satellite presentation of this storm system, just measure the eye of the storm system, calculate the eye from one side to the other, about 100 kilometers from one side of the eye to the other side of the eye. Roughly from London to Milton keys, that is how large this particular eye is, guys?

BARNETT: Great reference point there, Pedram. People in Taiwan they're used to these kinds of storms but they should be ok, but the winds still very strong and dangerous. Thanks for tracking that. We'll check in with another day.

All right, U.S. President Barack Obama strongly criticized China's human rights record during the Chinese Presidents visit to Washington last week.

CHURCH: President Xi Jinping insisted that human rights reform in his country would come on its own timetable. They're fighting to speed up those changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For years, he's had to use a wheelchair to the get around, a result she claims from police torturing her. The human rights campaigner for over a decade, she says China's human rights cracked down is worst under President Xi Jinping

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are many law-abiding citizens who are fighting for rights, not just human rights lawyers, the authorities are afraid of more people like that coming and taking a stand against the government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what rights group said happened in July, when police arrested or detained nearly 150 lawyers, activists and their families. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because lawyers are doing more to defend people's rights. A lot of victims of persecution are starting to seek out legal help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Chinese officials had a different reason. Police telling state media they targeted a criminal gang, suspected of illegally organizing a paid protest. She studied law and became an activist when houses including her own were being torn down to make way of the Beijing Olympics. She claims that she was arrested detained while taking photographs of officials carrying out demolition work.

[03:40:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A group of cops dragged me into an interrogation room, they put a rope around my neck, and tied my hands behind my back. Then I was sent to the detention center. After 75 days in a cell, my hips, spine and waist were all seriously injured.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chinese authorities deny the torture allegations. She spent time in jail again for 2011 for making trouble and continues to attract attention from the authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year during the Apec Summit, a huge number of police officers trapped us in our homes here, they stopped us from going out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nilan told me she and fellow activists appeal to other countries to pay closer attention to China's human rights situation, because international pressure still makes a difference, despite China's rising economic might.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: A rare celestial event had some in wonder, plenty of people sharing images of this on social media, coming up next. It's all about the super moon lunar eclipse.

CHURCH: Plus, it is hard for many to comprehend this, but some where in the world a child dies from malaria every minute and they don't have to, up next the details on the global push to eradicate the disease.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Many children are just one mosquito bite away from death. And that's a moral outrage, a profound injustice. It's literally a matter of life and death and now, the world must act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:45:01]

CHURCH: And that was U.S. President Barack Obama of course speaking at the United Nations Development Summit on Sunday. World leaders were trying to tackle goals to better the planet and its populations. BARNETT: Even though malaria is preventable, it's treatable, 584,000

people died from this mosquito-borne disease in 2013. The disease kills a child every minute and one of the top three killers of children worldwide.

CHURCH: The World Health Organization says malaria is the fifth largest killer in sub-Saharan Africa.

BARNETT: Martin Evans joins me from New York to talk about this, he is the CEO of Malaria No More. And Martin, I have looked through some of the bullet points in this report your group has released detailing how we can eliminate malaria by 2040, tell me what's at the core of this plan?

MARTIN EVANS: Sure. Thanks for having me, Errol. You know when President Obama began his speech today, it's a moral outrage that children are one mosquito bite away from death. In the last 15 years, we have tremendous progress. We have seen 6.2 million lives saved and almost a 60 percent reduction in deaths from malaria. So we're really turning the corner. This plan takes that a step further. It says based on the progress we made and the political commitments we're seeing, now's the moment to launch a plan to eradicate this disease. If we can do it by 2040, this plan says we can save an additional 11 million lives.

BARNETT: Now, the difficulty with an announcement like this, you essentially have to excite people and convince people that a new effort that's more enthusiastic is necessary, but as you just mentioned malaria deaths have fallen by 60 percent in the past 15 years, if we continue at the current pace, malaria will eventually be eliminated.

EVANS: That's a great question, Errol. And one we want to emphasize. In our view there's no alternative to eradicating this disease. We face two forms of resistance, one is biological, which is building resistance to the drugs. The other kind of resistance we face is political, we're spending $3 billion a year and its money very well spent on the malaria fight. But the only way to sustain that political momentum is to have a clear endgame in sight. We're at a point now, based on the tools we have we can do that in the next 25 years. Now is the moment to start this dialogue and start this campaign to eradicate malaria.

BARNETT: Only succeed with people on the ground making it work. Hope they consider what you're offering. Want to thank the CEO of Malaria No More for speaking with us.

EVANS: Thank you.

CHURCH: To a developing story now in Jerusalem, Israeli security forces have entered the mosque for a second straight day, preventing troublemakers inside the mosque from trying to harm visitors, they said demonstrators were throwing Molotov cocktails. The complex is one of the holiest sites in the world for both Muslims and Jews.

BARNETT: All right, still to come, stargazers were treated to a special lunar event, more than 30 years in the making, a live report on my favorite story of the day after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Now if you missed the rare super moon lunar eclipse then check out our stage set here, this video shows the moon rising while the sun is setting in the U.S. state of Arizona.

CHURCH: And just as rare that moment is, the opportunity to see a super moon lunar eclipse occurs in the first place, the last one taking place back in 1982.

BARNETT: Didn't have the video unfortunately, but use your imagination.

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: Paul, tell us about what it was like to be there and the romance for the couples who went to where you are.

PAUL VERCAMMEN: That's right, Errol and Rosemary. Love was in the air and of course the moon was in the sky, somewhat cloudy here in Los Angeles, so the eclipse and the moon would peek in and out. But all of the folks up here, 1,000 of them, they were all enjoying the moment greatly. And one couple got so carried away, well, they decided they would go ahead and get engaged tonight. It was a complete surprise to the bride to be. The groom had planned it out. Let's give a listen as they went ahead and got engaged during a super moon eclipse. Anyway, what happened was, sort of on bended knee, we had the groom to be proposed and she was ecstatic and showed off her ring, and the people here at the observatory, one moment they're looking at the moon and the next moment they were looking at this couple, quite a festival up here, Errol and Rosemary.

CHURCH: The end of the world, of course, we didn't get some of their video. But talk to us about that...

(CROSSTALK)

[03:50:01]

VERCAMMEN: The end of the world forecast, well, this was the wrong place to be for that, you got these esteemed astronomers and they wanted no part of it, as many reported this is all part of the tetra, four lunar eclipses in short order. After the first one we saw the emergence of ISIS, on the grounds of this observatory with this telescope and people gazing through that, you really didn't get a whole lot about doomsday and the rest.

CHURCH: Some incredible images that we got to see today. Well done, all right, Paul, thank you so much reporting live from Los Angeles.

BARNETT: Go get some rest, Paul.

CHURCH: Thanks for watching CNN. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Early Start is next for those watching in the states. For the rest of you, there's another edition of CNN Newsroom. Have a great day.