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Turkey Mourns Victims of Peace Rally Bombings; Assad Army Advancing in Western Syria; More Deaths in Israeli-Palestinian Clashes; The Million Man March 20 Years Later; USGS to Team Up with Twitter to Monitor Earthquakes; Iran Court Reaches Verdict in Journalist's Trial; Benghazi Committee Ex-Staffer Says Investigation Targeted Clinton; Trump Told to Find a New Tune; Daniel Craig Says He's Over Playing James Bond; WORLD SPORT Highlights. Aired Midnight- 1a ET
Aired October 12, 2015 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, the worst terrorist attack in Turkey's modern history. Many protesters blame the president, calling him a thief and a murderer.
VAUSE: Syrian forces backed by Russian air power. Move on rebel-held positions as Vladimir Putin reaches out to Saudi Arabia.
SESAY: And Palestinians claim the first civilian deaths by an Israeli airstrike in more than a year. As violence escalates in the region, are leaders doing anything to rein it in?
VAUSE: Hello, everybody. We'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. I am John Vause.
SESAY: And I am Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
VAUSE: We begin in Turkey where families are mourning as they bury the victims of Saturday's bombing in the capital Ankara. Two blasts ripped through a peace rally killing at least 97 people, wounding almost 250 others. Turkey's government has declared three days of morning.
SESAY: Thousands of people took to the streets of Ankara and other cities across Turkey Sunday in a show of solidarity. Anger is rising as people demand accountability. Two Turkish security sources tell Reuters ISIS may have been responsible for the attack.
VAUSE: Phil Black joins us now live from the Turkish capital.
And, Phil, is the anger there directed at the government because of security failure or because they're suspected of somehow being involved in the bombing?
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, it depends who you ask. Certainly there is great anger here that this was simply allowed to happen here at Ankara, the capital of a country with a very strong intelligence and security infrastructure that this was not detected or prevented. Great anger that this was allowed to happen again because this is the third in a series of recent attacks, bomb attacks against pro-Kurdish or opposition groups in the southern town of Suruc in July. More than 30 people, Kurdish activists, were killed in explosion there.
In June, two others were killed at an opposition rally. Many more injured. So a sense that those responsible for those attacks have not been captured, held accountable for that as well. Great anger because of that also, but the Turkish government, it angrily denies it had any role in this. It insists this was an attack against the state, against its unity and stability -- John.
VAUSE: I guess the question is then, how much security was actually in place during Saturday's peace rally?
BLACK: The people who are here say very little indeed. If you consider the location, the heart of Ankara close to government buildings, the size of the crowd an estimated 14,000 people had traveled here from different parts of Turkey to attend this peace rally, and they say also very little when you consider the policing and security they see that is often deployed to protect other large political rallies, demonstrations and so forth, particularly those organized by supporters of the government and the ruling party.
So the feeling here, the reason for all of this anger is the sense of -- the government, the police, the security forces have failed in their responsibility to protect the people who are here rallying for peace -- John.
VAUSE: And, Phil, looking forward, one of the security concerns now, elections are just three weeks away, these attacks in the capital, actually postponing those elections?
BLACK: People aren't talking about postponing it just yet, but there were certainly concerns about the impact or the possible impact on those elections. This will be the second general election in this country this year, the first held in June failed to deliver a decisive result for the first time in more than 10 years. The party of President Erdogan failed to get a parliamentary majority.
That is significantly due to the fact that an opposition pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party, did particularly well in that election. That particular party feels that it was the intended target of the attack that took place here on Saturday. Two of its candidates, it says, were killed in the bombs that -- killed by the bombs that detonated here. Their concern is that the events like this, the general sense of instability, the tension, it will affect voter turnout, it will make its supporters feel less secure in the lead-up to the election turning out to vote on the day itself, and so make it very hard for them to replicate their strong performance in that recent first run of the election -- John.
VAUSE: Phil Black in Ankara, where it's just gone four minutes past 7:00 on a Monday morning. Phil, thank you. SESAY: Now the Iraqi military says an airstrike hit a convoy carrying
shadowy ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Iraq says he was struck while traveling through western Anbar Province to a meeting with other senior ISIS members.
VAUSE: Baghdadi's fate is unknown, but the Iraqi military claims it also hit that meet, killing or wounding a number of leaders. The Pentagon says they can't confirm the report and in the past similar claims have turned out to be wrong.
[00:05:12] SESAY: Meanwhile, there are signs the Syrian army and its allies are advancing in western Syria. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Bashar al-Assad's military and its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies have taken control of several areas including parts of Hama and Idlib Province.
VAUSE: The Russian Air Force says it has hit Idlib with heavy airstrikes which may clear the way for government forces. Syrian rebels currently hold a number of positions near the government advances.
SESAY: Well, for the latest on these airstrikes, we're joined by Ian Lee live in Cairo.
Ian, reports of advancing Syrian regime forces in western Syria. How much does this set back the strategy of the U.S.-led coalition?
IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, there's no question the United States, the coalition has had a number of setbacks recently. Most recent, trying to train fighters to take on ISIS. The United States' stated goal is that they are trying to target ISIS and trying to defeat ISIS. That being said, President Obama has said on any number of occasions that President Assad, Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, must go.
We're looking at these Russian airstrikes and while Russia says that they are targeting ISIS, by and large, the airstrikes have targeted anti-regime fighters, non-ISIS fighters in areas that really are threatening the regime of al-Assad, and as you've just stated, they have capitalized on those airstrikes, gaining ground. And so while the U.S.' main goal of the coalition is to defeat ISIS, the United States ultimately wanted to see another group in control of Syria after this conflict, and with Russia's involvement, it looks like that will be a lot more difficult to achieve.
SESAY: Indeed. In the meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Saudi Arabia's Defense minister on Sunday in Sochi, Russia. These two have different positions on the future of Bashar al-Assad's future. So the question then becomes, why are they meeting?
LEE: That's right. I mean, they couldn't be further from what their objective is in Syria after this war. Russians want Bashar al-Assad to remain in power, and the Saudis not only have they said that they wanted Assad to go but that they have been actively funding rebel groups in Syria to make that -- make that a reality. So they are really on the opposite ends, but in this meeting we're hearing that they were able to come to some sort of agreement that the two countries want to combat terrorism, i.e., ISIS. They want to go after the Islamic State.
And also they said that there should be some sort of national reconciliation. Now what does that actually mean is still unknown, especially when they have two really polar opposite views of what the outcome should be, but reading from the aftermath or the outcome of this, they said it was a very positive meeting.
SESAY: Ian Lee, joining us there from Cairo with some perspective. Ian, appreciate it. Thank you.
VAUSE: It has been a weekend of deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed, four Israelis have been stabbed.
SESAY: Clashes broke out in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. Israel's prime minister ordered police reinforcements.
VAUSE: A 13-year-old Palestinian boy hit by a rubber coated bullet during clashes with Israeli forces near Ramallah has died and there are conflicting reports about an incident at a West Bank checkpoint where a woman was severely burned.
Erin McLaughlin live this hour in Jerusalem.
So, Erin, are the Israelis and the Palestinian leaders, are they doing anything right now to try and rein in this violence?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Well, Israeli authorities increasing security presence out of the Cabinet meeting yesterday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that they're going to be calling up 1600 additional border police reservists in advance of possible developments, he said it was better to call them up sooner rather than later.
This, in addition to an already heightened security presence in cities across Israel as well as Jerusalem, as well as a heightened security presence in the West Bank for additional military battalions have been sent in there. But the fact of the matter is Israeli authorities say it's very difficult to predict and prevent the type of so-called lone wolf style attacks that we've been seeing of late. People acting on their own initiative without warning or any sort of organization, but, you know, out of yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blaming the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, as well as the Islamic movement in Israel for inciting the violence.
[00:10:11] He said that they're spreading rumors about the status quo of the holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The PLO yesterday putting out their own statement, blaming Israel for inciting the violence saying that they are using the violence to try and exert more control over the holy site -- John.
VAUSE: And Erin, over the last couple of days, rockets fired from Gaza, airstrikes carried out by the Israelis on targets inside Gaza. Does that now raise the possibility that this could escalate into something more than the so-called suicide stabbings?
MCLAUGHLIN: It certainly is a concern, John. Yesterday Israeli Air Force in the small hours of the morning saying they targeted two Hamas weapons development, manufacturing facilities. Gaza City Fire Department now says that one of the bombs fell in an open field, causing a nearby building to collapse. Inside that building, a 35- year-old Palestinian pregnant woman and her child, both killed. Three injured.
Israeli military saying the airstrikes were in response to rocket fire that was sent from Gaza into southern Israel. Rocket fire that had been intercepted by the Iron Dome Defense System. This after a week of clashes along the Gaza border fence. Israeli military saying that some of the Palestinians actually managed to breach the border fence. They detained at least five of them. Nine Palestinians killed in clashes there.
And so the situation is tense. Overnight, again, Israeli military saying that they intercepted yet another rocket, though at the moment no Israeli military response to that.
VAUSE: OK. Erin, thank you. Erin McLaughlin, live in Jerusalem.
A short break here on CNN L.A. When we come back, 20 years since the Million-Man March. And thousands gather in the U.S. capital to once again bring attention to the issues affecting African-Americans. We'll have an in-depth conversation on the focus on the march then as well as now.
SESAY: Plus, he may be a famous super shy, but it's no secret that Daniel Craig is over James Bond. The blunt words he had for 007 coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Hello, everyone. "Justice or Else." That was the theme of the event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington on Saturday.
[00:15:03] VAUSE: Thousands of men, women and children gathered on the National Mall on the U.S. capital calling for unity and reform on social issues affecting the African-American community. Speakers included the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan who've organized the original March in 1995.
SESAY: Marc Lamont Hill joins us now.
Marc, the first march back in 1995 was under the theme of basically introspection. It was calling on black men to take a look at themselves, take responsibilities for improving themselves, their families, their communities. Saturday's gathering, this 20th anniversary gathering, the theme was "Justice or Else."
Put in context for our international viewers the significance of Saturday's gathering, especially in the context of the black community's struggles today. MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. And again,
it is important to note that this is a 20th anniversary of a march that began as a march of atonement where a million black men went to Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, to talk about being better fathers, better community members, more committed -- engages of civic life. I mean, it was a very particular type of gathering that really got applause from the right and the left. Everyone agreed with the march. Even if they had some little controversy over the details, they like the spirit of the march.
This time Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the march and the Nation of Islam said, you know, given all of the deaths that we've seen in the last two years, given all of the sort of extrajudicial violence we've seen against black bodies, given mass incarceration, crumbling schools, mass unemployment, there are a range of issues that reflect a lack of justice. And so while we came the first time apologizing for ourselves and atoning for ourselves, it's now time to hold the nation accountable. And so that's what this gathering was about, and it -- and it galvanized a great body of people once again.
SESAY: The justice or else theme on Saturday has many people asking what the "or else" means.
HILL: That's a great question. And the "or else" in some sense wasn't clearly defined. Justice was very clear, better schools, access to housing, health care, food, and making better personal choices was all part of the justice part. But the "or else" was not clear. In a sense, it was a religious narrative. You know, as the Nation of Islam and Minister Farrakhan has often talked about, these being the last days, this being a sort of modern-day Babylon. And so in some sense he was saying divine wrath will be brought.
Toward the end of the his speech he talked about hurricanes and earthquakes and thunderstorms and other things coming to the nation. So in some ways it was a classic, sort of biblical prophetic sort of speech, but I think he's also talking about mass action, he's talking about protesting. He's also talking about divesting from companies that don't support the black community. He's talking about taking our children out of schools that don't work and building our own. He talked about taking land in California to build farms and to build land and to produce food.
So the "or else" is partly spiritual and religious if you believe in that, but it's also concrete in terms of divestment economically, in terms of the boycotts that we've seen throughout the black freedom struggle, and also in terms of hitting the ground and really making our voices heard.
SESAY: As you well know, Mark, Minister Farrakhan is extremely controversial. Many asking including the likes of Charles Blow in the "New York Times" whether you can separate this march from the messenger that is Farrakhan and the broader question of whether that taints what is an honorable enterprise of bringing black people together to focus on the challenges and the road ahead.
HILL: I think that's a fair question and I think there's always room to critique leadership, there's always room to critique the march or the march organizers. We should do that with anybody, not just Minister Farrakhan. But I think historically we've always managed to separate people from their acts. So if you have a critique of Minister Farrakhan, you should still be able to appreciate the best parts of the march.
We can appreciate the Gettysburg address at the same time that we critique Abraham Lincoln for his lack of commitment on the slavery front. Just, you know, rather than saving the union. We can appreciate General George Washington's letter at the same time that we have significant questions about his opinion on slavery.
We -- all throughout history, we've had questions of leaders yet we've accepted their leadership. In this case, I think we can listen to Minister Farrakhan and we can use the march as a space to organize, but we can also hold him accountable and ask tough questions of him and any leader. Black, white, red, yellow. It's not about Minister Farrakhan, it's about the message and the movement.
SESAY: One of the things that Minister Farrakhan said on Saturday was, I'm quoting him here, "Moses was not an integrationist and neither are we. Let me be clear, America has no future for you or for me. She can't make a future for herself, much less a future for us."
The question then arises, what -- with this kind of message, with the kind of messenger that is Minister Farrakhan, what does such a gathering with such a message mean for race relations here in the United States?
[00:20:02] HILL: Well, I mean, Minister Farrakhan gave a very long speech and gave a very detailed analysis of many things. I think when he talks about America not having a future for black people, what he's saying is that the current system, the current government is not in line with justice. It's not in line with his spiritual, religious or moral principles but it's also not in line with the political values that we should hold. He cited Dr. Martin Luther King Junior who in 1968 said I worried that I integrated my people into a burning building.
Remember, Dr. King had a speech in his pocket when he died on April 4th, 1968 that said why America may be going to hell. So there's a long tradition of even our most revered civil rights leaders holding America in moral judgment. It doesn't mean that we give up on the nation. It means that we may have a different vision of what democracy looks like, a different vision of what our body of politics looks like.
And as far as race relations go, I think if the black community -- let me put it differently. Minister Farrakhan would say that if the black community holds itself accountable, if the black community upholds principles of justice and if the black community becomes sub- sufficient, there is space for better race relations because we won't be reliant on the very same government that has not yielded justice. That's his vision.
I'm not saying that that's the perfect vision. There are many people who would disagree and say we need to be fully integrated, that this -- we are America, that black people built America and that black people are just as entitled to citizenship as anyone else, and therefore we should not give up on America.
There are competing visions, but the good thing about the march on Saturday is those competing visions were all there. Everybody who gave a speech didn't agree. Everybody who gave a speech didn't have the same vision of democracy or of America or of the black community. So the key post-march is for those multiple voices to still come together, to still deliberate and to still try to come up with a better vision for America than what we currently have.
SESAY: Marc Lamont Hill, always a pleasure having you on the show and to hear your thoughts and your perspective. Thanks so much.
VAUSE: California has become the first state in the U.S. to stop public schools from using the name Redskins for teams or mascots. The Racial Mascots Act bans the name Redskins which many Native Americans consider a racial slur. The ban applies to public schools using the word as a school athletic team name, mascot or nickname. The term is currently used by the National Football League's Washington Redskins. That won't be changing because of this law but this law will go into effect in California January 1st of 2017.
Nepal's parliament has elected the country's 38th prime minister.
SESAY: KP Sharma Oli becomes the first to hold that post since the nation adopted a new constitution last month and he'll face a number of challenges including rebuilding a country devastated by April's massive earthquake.
VAUSE: On the topics of earthquakes, the U.S. Geological Survey is teaming up with Twitter to help report earthquakes.
Let's go to our meteorologist Allison Chinchar who's at the CNN center with more on this.
So Twitter and earthquakes, OK?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. It's actually interesting that this partnership hasn't really come a little bit earlier than it did. Now back in 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, partnered up with Twitter to see if they couldn't get the information out just a little bit faster and also get more accurate information because that's also very key as well.
Take for example the earthquake that happened earlier this year in April in Nepal. Again not a very heavily populated area and they don't really have too many sensors out there. So getting accurate information very quickly is hard to come by in this area.
Now take a look. On average, we get about 50 to 70 earthquakes a day across the globe. Yearly, around 20,000 of those. Now again, as we start getting reports in, it can typically take up to 20 minutes for the USGS to confirm an earthquake, especially if it happens in more rural areas or the remote areas where they just don't have too many sensors.
So here's what we've done. Take for example again, the Napa, California, earthquake back in 2014. By the time they had teamed with Twitter, it took them only 29 seconds to confirm the earthquake that happened in this region. That's fantastic. Think about the extra lead time that they could get people to safety. Things like that. So this partnership has been really great. And it's not just about the lead time. It's how they've gone about it. They've paid Twitter to get further into the data base to get specific information so they filter out things on Twitter.
Typically people that are in the areas at the time the earthquake is happening aren't tweeting very long things. So they limit the tweets to about seven words or less. They're also looking at key words. For example, terremoto, in Spanish speaking countries, that means major earthquake. So they're filtering out tweets that have those words, or temblor, which means smaller earthquake. They don't necessarily want to keep those in since that wouldn't necessarily have a lot of damage.
So again this partnership has actually turned out to be quite good and they're hoping to only improve it over the next couple of years.
VAUSE: I have to tell you, Allison, every time there's been an earthquake reported while we've been on air, Twitter is actually being a good source.
SESAY: Absolutely.
VAUSE: So primary news which we then check so the partnership I guess just formalizes what many people have already been doing.
[00:25:01] SESAY: Yes. Indeed.
CHINCHAR: Absolutely.
SESAY: Thank you, Allison.
VAUSE: A short break here. But when we come back, a verdict is reached in the controversial trial of U.S. journalist Jason Rezaian. He's in jail in Iran.
SESAY: Also a former aide says a congressional review of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi is a sham and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is the target.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I am Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
Families are mourning in Turkey as they bury the victims of Saturday's bombings at a peace rally in the capital. At least 97 people were killed and almost 250 others wounded. Thousands of demonstrators marched in Ankara Sunday. Some say the government should have done more to prevent the attack.
VAUSE: The Iraqi military says an airstrike hit the convoy of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but the U.S. cannot confirm that report. Similar claims in the past have turned out to be false. Iraq says Baghdadi was on his way to a meeting with other senior ISIS leaders. There are no reports about his condition.
SESAY: And deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians is growing. A Palestinian teen was killed Sunday. He was shot with a rubber coated bullet during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank. And four Israelis were stabbed in the northern city of Hadera. Israel's prime minister is mobilizing more police to help deal with the violence.
VAUSE: To Iran now and a new twist in the controversial case of U.S. journalist Jason Rezaian. Iranian media report a verdict has been reached in the espionage trial of the "Washington Post" Tehran bureau chief.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: -- trial of "The Washington Post's" Tehran bureau chief.
[00:30:04] ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Rezaian has been jailed in Iran for 14 months for reasons that are murky at best. But a verdict and any sentence that comes with it are still a mystery. CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: Hi, Asha (sic); Hi, John. This is really a heartwrenching situation for Jason Rezaian's family and friends and for his colleagues at "The Washington Post."
On Sunday we learned about this mysterious announcement that there has been a verdict, there has been a sentence but there's no word on what it actually is. I spoke with Doug Jehl, the foreign editor at "The Post," who's been lobbying for 15 months for his employee's release. He says, to the best of his knowledge, Jason Rezaian himself does not know what the sentence is in this case. He feels that, at this point, the entire trial has been a sham. Here's what he said.
DOUG JEHL, FOREIGN EDITOR "THE WASHINGTON POST": This remains a mystery to us but I think it does underscore that what we've seeing unfolding here is a sham. For Iran to say that there's been a verdict but that it's not final simply suggests again that this is not a matter for the courts. It's a matter that's being decided in the political spheres in Iran.
This suggests, once again, that Jason is not really a prisoner. He's a bargaining chip being used by the Iranian government to extract some concessions from the U.S.
STELTER: Now Doug Jehl also said to me that he feels Rezaian is not so much a prisoner as he is a bargaining chip, a bargaining chip being used by the Iranian government in negotiations with the United States and other world powers. We heard the Iranian president several weeks ago in an interview with
Christiane Amanpour suggest the idea of a prisoner swap between Iran and the U.S. Meantime, the U.S. State Department says it has no confirmed information about Rezaian's status, no word on what this verdict could be.
And there is some speculation that maybe there will be an announcement on Monday. All of the past hearings in this so-called trial have happened on Mondays, so there is some possibility of an announcement about the sentencing.
And there was a report from the semi-official Iranian news agency that Rezaian and his lawyer will have 20 days to appeal whatever this sentence is. But for now, no one knows for sure.
John, Asha (sic), back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Our thanks to Brian Stelter for that report.
Now Iran also says on Sunday it successfully test-fired a new long- range missile that could be a threat to Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): The country's defense minister describes the Emad (Pillar) surface-to-surface missile as Iran's first that can be precision guided to its target. The Iranians claim the missile can carry a 750-kg payload, has a range of 1,700 kilometers, which means it could reach Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There are new allegations of bias in the investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in Libya. A staffer who was fired from the U.S. congressional committee investigating the attack now says the probe is politically motivated.
ASHER: Four Americans were killed in the attack. The former staffer told our Jake Tapper that the committee is almost entirely focused on former secretary of state and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: What do you say to any viewers out there who think you might have an ax to grind, that you're only talking because you were fired?
BRADLEY PODLISKA, FORMER STAFFER, HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI: As I said earlier, I have a conscience. There's wrongdoing here and I think it needs to stop. And I do not want the investigation to end. I want the investigation to be refocused back to its original purpose.
The victims' families are owed the truth. Hillary Clinton has a lot of explaining to do. We, however, did not need to shift resources to hyper focus on Hillary Clinton. We didn't need to deemphasize and in some cases drop the investigation on different agencies, different organizations and different individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The chairman of the committee said Podliska never mentioned any concerns about bias until he spoke to the media.
Tom (sic) Gowdy released a statement that says, in part, "this staffer has never mentioned Secretary Clinton as a cause of his termination and he did not cite Clinton's name in any legally mandated mediation. He also has not produced documentary proof that he was directed to focus on Clinton."
ASHER: Well, the Clinton campaign says the allegation is proof that the investigation has been a partisan sham.
VAUSE: Meantime, a new CBS News poll shows Hillary Clinton with a strong lead among likely Democratic primary voters; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders still in second place, followed by Vice President Joe Biden, who isn't actually running in the 2016 presidential campaign, at least not yet.
Donald Trump remains on top of the Republican presidential field. Ben Carson trailing 6 points behind him while the other candidates are in single digits.
ASHER: On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will face off against four other candidates running for the White House. They'll take part in the campaign season's first Democratic debate and it is hosted by CNN. The podium arrangement has just been determined. You can see right here it on your screens. Hillary Clinton tops the polls, so she will stand center --
[00:35:00]
ASHER (voice-over): -- stage and if Vice President Biden throws his hat into the ring by Tuesday night, well, they're saving room for him on that stage.
VAUSE: There'll be a podium for him like a light. Don't miss out on the debate happening right here on CNN. Anderson Cooper will be your moderator, Don Lemon posing questions via Facebook.
Coverage live from Las Vegas starts at 8:30 am Wednesday in Hong Kong. There's also a later of the debate in its entirety 7:00 pm in Hong Kong, 8:00 pm in Tokyo. You'll only see it here on CNN.
ASHER: Donald Trump just can't seem to hit the right note.
VAUSE: When it comes to his campaign, the music group is saying, well, one music group is saying dream on. Stop using our songs. Cut it out.
ASHER: Plus we'll tell you why actor Daniel Craig is shaken and not stirred by the idea of playing James Bond once again. All the details coming up for you.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: We say safety borne in Paris for James Bond fans -- that's the only French I know -- the cars from a franchise --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: -- they paraded down the streets of Paris. People were able to take pictures of the Aston Martin (INAUDIBLE) car which is featured in the newest Bond film, "Spectre."
ASHER: That is a car, John, that I want you to get for me.
VAUSE: Sure.
ASHER: And speaking of James Bond, the actor playing the British superspy has been pretty blunt about his time as 007. Daniel Craig admits he's burned out after four straight blockbusters, telling "Time Out London" he's tired of always having to look the part.
When asked about doing another Bond movie, Craig said, quote, "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists."
For more on that story and other entertainment news making headlines, we're joined by Kim Seraphin.
VAUSE: She is the senior editor of "In Touch" weekly.
It's so nice to finally --
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: Welcome, welcome.
KIM SERAPHIN, SR. EDITOR, "IN TOUCH": It's great to be here.
VAUSE: Let's start with Daniel Craig. He would like to slash his wrists if he's the next James Bond.
Me, too.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: And I never thought he was a good James Bond.
So what's the deal behind --
(CROSSTALK)
SERAPHIN: -- driving that car that's really tough --
(CROSSTALK)
SERAPHIN: He also said in this interview that he just had used all his ideas. Every idea he had, he put into this last James Bond. Apparently this interview was also done right at the end of filming. He was really tired.
VAUSE: Poor --
SERAPHIN: So yes. So there has been a little pushback. People saying he's ungrateful. He's Bond. I know a bunch of actors who would kill for --
VAUSE: Pierce Brosnan, for one.
(CROSSTALK)
SERAPHIN: Exactly. But you know, look. We also don't want to see a Bond who's walking through playing Bond. We want to see an actor who's invested in it. So if he doesn't really feel like he wants to be Bond, nobody wants to see that.
But --
ASHER: It's interesting, this feeling he has about Bond, considering the fact he hasn't really had much success --
[00:40:00]
ASHER: -- beyond the franchise, beyond the Bond franchise.
SERAPHIN: That's true. That's what he's known for. And he has apparently contracted for another movie. So I don't know if this defense. But these comments certainly coming right before the movie opens. I don't know if that's going to turn people off or maybe people will rush to see it because they know it's their last chance to see him.
ASHER: I'm a big Daniel Craig fan, so I will go and see it. I will forgive him, unlike John Vause.
Let's talk about the one and only Kanye West, who made a surprise appearance on "American Idol," all very interesting. And maybe you can explain a little bit of the backstory here, because it's "Idol's" final season.
SERAPHIN: Exactly.
ASHER: Ryan Seacrest is the host of "Idol."
And you take it from there.
SERAPHIN: Yes. It is "American Idol's" final season. It starts in January. They're doing the auditions now, leading up to it. "American Idol's" ratings have gone down but obviously there's a big push to have this final season have good ratings, so Kanye West shows up at an audition, does an ad lib version of "Gold Digger" and he gets a golden ticket to Hollywood.
So Ryan Seacrest did post a picture of Kanye with a golden ticket. So we don't know if he's going to show up in the Hollywood week. It might be good for ratings. Maybe they'll have some other celebrity show parading. I don't think Kanye could be the next American idol. I don't think -- well, he's got his presidential campaign, too, to focus on.
ASHER: He has, speaking of which -- and President Obama apparently giving some advice to Kanye West if he does, indeed, decide to run in 2020.
SERAPHIN: Yes, President Obama was out doing some political fundraisers, gave some advice to Kanye, said be prepared for some strange characters who act they're on reality shows to be around you.
VAUSE: Maybe a little humility would help.
SERAPHIN: And he said, do you think of somebody that America's going to elect a black guy from the South Side of Chicago with a funny name to be president?
VAUSE: OK, speaking of presidential campaigns, take a look at this from Saturday in Georgia and take a close look.
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VAUSE (voice-over): OK. Well, there you can just hear it. Aerosmith's "Dream On," not happy. They've sent a cease and desist letter again to Donald Trump.
SERAPHIN: Yes. Donald Trump's been using "Dream On" from Aerosmith at campaign events.
VAUSE: And this is Steven Tyler, right?
SERAPHIN: Yes, Steven Tyler. And they sent -- his representative sent a letter. You know, this thing happens all the time with presidential campaigns or any really any campaign, when they use music from a musician that maybe doesn't agree with them.
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VAUSE: -- because Tyler's a registered Republican.
SERAPHIN: -- this is different. This has happened with Mitt Romney and John McCain, even the first George Bush. But this is different because Donald Trump and Steven Tyler are friends and in fact, Steven Tyler was apparently a special guest of Donald Trump's at the Republican debate. This is more about copyright -- exactly, licensing. It's all about the legal issues.
ASHER: It's all about the money.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) thanks for coming in.
ASHER: Kim Seraphin, thank you, thank you so much.
And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up next and then we'll be back with another hour from Los Angeles. You're watching CNN.
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KATE RILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN WORLD SPORT. I'm Kate Riley. World champions Germany had to take their hopes of qualification for Euro 2016 to the last match in Group D, facing Georgia, who would sit second bottom of the group.
Germany took an early second half lead but it was short lived. Three minutes later, Georgia equalized through Kankava but Germany grabbed a winner with 10 minutes to play; 2-1 it ended as the Germans qualify for France.
The Republican of Ireland travels to Poland on Sunday night knowing a positive result could see them reach their second consecutive European championship.
But watch out: Poland has the informed striker in the world at the moment in the form of Robert Lewandowski and perhaps high hopes of qualifying, too. So Lewandowski didn't disappoint. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Isn't he always?
He put Poland one 2-1 up before halftime. A fantastic header to spark amazing scenes of celebration in the stands. And that's how it would end, the victory sees the Poles through.
So confirmation that Germany and Poland will head to France next summer. A really tight contest in this group for that last spot. But Ireland will have to do it the hard way via the playoffs.
So just how good is Robert Lewandowski? The forward has scored the most goals in the European chairmanship qualifiers. That's now a total of 15 goals in his 447 minutes of football both for club and country. What incredible stuff there.
So plenty at stake here in the earlier games, taking place in Group F with Romania holding their destiny in their own hands.
It didn't take the Romanians long to get out of the blocks though, against the Faroe Islands in a game they need to win to qualify for France. After four minutes, Constantin Budescu took the team went in Group F ahead. No shock that this would be a one-sided match. And sama (ph) doubled the lead just before halftime. A comfortable day's work for Romania. They won 3-0 to seal their spot in the finals.
Confirmation of those results and what it means for Northern Ireland, who had already qualified for most of their place atop the group with a 1-0 draw in Finland, Romania making it through in the runners'-up position while Hungary may need to enter the playoffs. And as things stand, Hungary have the best third record from the completed groups and that side also qualifies for France.
History was made when Albania qualified out of Group I. This was the first time that they've ever made it to a major tournament after beating Armenia. Albania opened the scoring with a known goal by one of Armenia's defenders then another two goals one either side of the break helped the visitors book their place in the finals as well as the history book, 3-0 it ended there.
Who has made it thus far? The host, France, England, Czech Republic, Iceland Austria and Northern Ireland and they're joined by Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Wales, Romania, Albania, Germany and Poland.
On to Formula 1 now and the Russian Grand Prix in the Black Sea resort of Sochi was the host venue of the 2014 Winter Olympics and now for a second straight year, the scene of another Lewis Hamilton victory, one which moves the reigning world champion closer to another driver's crown.
The nation's president was in attendance. Vladimir Putin looking on from the stands and he later conducted a meet and greet with the drivers, too. This race had plenty of drama.
Hamilton had to bide his time. He did just that, counting on teammates and great rival Nico Rosberg's problems. The German pole sitter had issues with his throttle very early on here and was forced to retire and from then on Hamilton never looked back.
But this was a race jam-packed with action and incidents aplenty on Saturday. It was Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz who emerged unhurt from an accident. A day later and a high-speed crash put Lotus' French driver Romain Grosjean in the long turn three now to an incident that would prove to be a key talker later in the day but check out the collision between Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Williams' Valtteri Bottas happening in the very final lap which ultimately led to Bottas' retirement. Raikkonen, though, with sparks coming from his car. As for Hamilton, he sealed a significant victory, beating Vettel into second place --
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RILEY: -- and the 6-point penalty for Raikkonen for his collision means Mercedes have claimed their second straight constructive championship. Lewis, now ninth win of the season. That now means he needs only nine
more points than Vettel and just two more than teammate Nico Rosberg at the next race in the United States to be certain of another driver's title.
Hamilton delighted to get the job done after remember it was Rosberg who had pole going into this race. So it's Hamilton with another victory at the Russian Grand Prix.
But can he lay claim to the fastest lap of the day?
Well, the short answer is no because that accolade goes to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who clocked a new record time of 1:40.071 seconds. And that, by the way, is a slightly quicker time clocked by Valtteri Bottas last year when the race was run for the first time at the Sochi circuit. It's better with the DHL fastest lap award.
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RILEY: OK. We're back with a thrilling conclusion to Gulf's Presidents Cup in South Korea. The USA beating the international team in the biennial tournament to win it for a sixth consecutive time with the Americans eventually prevailing, thanks to a case of keeping it in the family.
The U.S. took just a one-point lead into the all-important singles matches and the internationals given real hope when Marc Leishman proved a surprise winner over World number 1 Jordan Spieth, the Australian draining a 7-footer at the last Formula 1 up victory tournament to forget really for World number 2, Jason Day, who went 3- 2 to Zach Johnson, the British Open champion. The PGA champ from down under failing to win a match all week. No doubt about the shortest match of the day, Adam Scott winning six straight holes against Rickie Fowler. Fowler finally putting himself out of misery on the 13th green, losing 6-6.
U.S. captain Jay Haas placing huge faith in his son, Phil, and as Junior did not let him down with a two-holes-up victory that clinched it. His dad sent him out on the 12th and final match against homegrown favorite Bae Sang-moon, who is about to start two years of compulsory military service.
He won't like the way he signed off, though, one down at the last. His chip at the last was not going to threaten a hole like that. He ends up conceding the hole. And it was the Haas family who was left celebrating.
To the Rugby World Cup now and the Pool D decider between Ireland and France was a ferocious one. The first half was certainly eventful for island but both good and bad.
There were some serious injuries for three players, including Johnny Saxon, who came off with what's thought to be a groin injury; Paul O'Connell had to be stretchered off, too, with Ireland's coach Joe Schmidt fearing that O'Connell's international career may be over. The Irish were leading 9-6 at halftime. It didn't stop there. A late try --
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RILEY: -- from Conor Murray helped Ireland to victory, 24-9 intended.
In the only other three matches played on Sunday, Argentina ran in nine tries and the 64-19 thrashing of Namibia. And while the fairy tale was coming to an end for Japan, they still had some business to take care of against the USA. Japan became the first team to exit the World Cup having won three matches, 28-18 it ended.
And congratulations to Italy, whose victory over Romania means that they have booked their spot in the next Rugby World Cup; that's in four years' time. So the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal lineup is all set.
Next Saturday, South Africa take on Wales and current holders New Zealand going up against the French while on Sunday, it's the turn of Ireland versus Argentina. And Australia are taking on Scotland.
To the China Open in Beijing, well, Novak Djokovic's victory on Sunday over Rafa Nadal really shouldn't come as too much of a shock, not because Nadal's failed to hit the heights this year, simply because the World number 1 just doesn't lose in the Chinese capital, ever.
He's the King of Beijing yet again, winning the tournament for a sixth time by a score of 6-2, 6-2 against the Spaniard with no answers at all in this one. This is now his 29th consecutive victory at the event, beating Rafa for the second time in three years at this final as well.
And this brings this edition of CNN WORLD SPORT to a close. I'm Kate Riley. Thanks so much for watching. Stay with CNN.
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VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
