Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Terrorist Attacks In Turkey & Ivory Coast; At Least 34 Killed In Car Bombing In Ankara; Trump Blames Sanders For Rally Disruptions; Clinton Says Trump Is Trafficking In Hate And Fear; Democratic Candidates Slam Trump At Town Hall; Exclusive Report - Inside Syria: Behind Rebel Lines; CNN Team Witnesses Airstrike On Civilian Market; Looking at US-South Korean Exercise. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 14, 2016 - 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: CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, dozen is dead after a car bomb explosion of busy public square in Turkeys capital. And terrorist gunned down beach- goers in Ivory Coasts.

A pathological liar, U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls out Donald Trump in a war of words over rally protest.

Plus a CNN exclusive, as we witness the war crime in Syria despite of ceasefire in place. A deadly airs tike targets the market in a rebel held town.

Hello everybody. Thanks to being with us. I am John Vause. The first hour of Newsroom L.A. starts now.

We'll begin in Turkey with the capital has been wrapped by another deadly terrorist attack. The second in less than a month. This time appear civilians were the target when a cab packed with the explosives blew up. There are major transport cab at least 34 people were killed on Sunday, another 125 wounded.

Here's Arwa Damon with the very latest from Ankara.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it all in the main boulevards that runs to the capital Ankara in the very central part of the city an area that is normally very crowded, filled with traffic and people and was specially packed at the time that the blast took place in about 6:45 local.

The explosion caused by according to Turkish authorities a car packed with explosive driven and then detonated very close to a bus station. And according to eye witnesses was extremely busy at the time.

Among the death are also one or two of the attackers, the Turkish government investigators still looking into specifically which terrorist organization may have been behind this attack that happens at a time when Ankara is already in the state of heightened, security following another attack that took place here less than a month ago.

That attack according to the Turkish government was carried out by an offshoot of the Kurdish separatism group that PKK. And then back in October there were two twin suicide bombers that attacked a rally. That attack was blamed by Turkish authorities on ISIS and this is just underscores how vulnerable Turkey is at this stage.

The U.S. Embassy have put out a statement, a warning to its citizens on March 11th telling them to be careful in a certain area in Ankara. Different to this one but saying that there were warnings that a potential terrorist attack there against government institutions but all of these coming at the time when turkey continues to face numerous threats from a variety of different organizations.

Arwa Damonm, CNN, Ankara.

VAUSE: And in Ivory Coast in Al Qaeda affiliate is claiming responsibility for a deadly attack in the result city of Grand Bassam.

Sixteen people died when gunmen storm the beach and opened fire.

Security forces killed six of the militant. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has targeted West African hotels in recent months. Staging attacks in Mali in November, another in Burkina Faso back in January.

Well, joining us now for more on both of these attacks. The CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer, and Military Analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Thank you both for being with us.

Rick first, do, you know, kind of responsibility in this but it seems Turkey is fighting terrorist on automobile fronts here. A fight which it does not seem to be winning at the moment.

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, things are pretty bad in Turkey and, you know, the Turks had alienated several groups now. They order one government is now at odds with ISIS, its all -- at odds with the Kurds, and it's even at odds with its American Allies and the coalition.

We see the Turks joining anti-ISIS coalition, but most of their operations are focused on Kurds. And they've also alienated the Russians. So the Turks find themselves very isolate right now, very vulnerable and you can understand why the things are very, very tense in Ankara right now.

This is the second bombing in month and the PKK if they have done this are shifting from going after military targets to civilian targets and this is open area market.

It just really psychs the people of Ankara.

VAUSE: Yeah, you say, this was the second bombing in less than a month. Let's take a look to where these bombings have actually taken place.

That was a car bombing which killed 29 people. Now far from this latest attack. The militant Kurdish stand in Freedom Hawks same responsibility for that back in October there was more than 100 people killed when twin suicide bombers affiliated with ISIS, attacked a peace rally.

So Bob, when we look at the methods of delivery here. Does that say ending about which group may have been behind this latest attack?

[00:05:04] ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Oh, no, John. Actually car bombs are fairly easy to make. Explosives are easy to buy in Syria, you know, just the arms are every where. That border is very porous.

There are so many of these Kurdish groups, whether they're affiliated with PKK or not but, you know, assigning responsibility for this can be difficult. Or if it was the Islamic state same thing or Al Qaeda.

I mean, Turkey is Rick said is a lot of trouble. He has the Erdogon cracking down on the press. I mean I could see this country very soon heading toward military law and have really authoritarian government.

Let's not forget it's a member at NATO. It's, you know, protecting the southern flank and its key for the refuges and if these countries destabilize it will have wide, wide precautions.

VAUSE: Well one thing which a lot have asked questions about -- I'll put this to Rick is that, you know, the U.S. Embassy actually put out a warning on Friday.

That a terrorist attack was imminent and they say that -- that was the amazing mistake got from the Turkish government. Now you've been working in Embassy's in the region. You know how these things work. So how is it that the Turkish officials, you know, obviously new stuff (ph) is coming were unable to stop this attack.

FRANCONA: If I suspect that they had some indications there was going to be an attack but they couldn't pin it down. But, you know, what they say a lack of incredible specific threat. They probably an incredible threat but they probably weren't able to narrow it down.

But the U.S. Embassy decide to air on the side of caution and go ahead put out the warning anyway. And, you know, the Turks are in the really tough position.

If they say there's going to be an attack and the reason one, then they lose their credibility. If they don't say anything, then the people say, you should have known. It's an intelligence failure, so I really -- I'm not a fun at the Erdogan government, but I can see where they're in a really tough position right now and some things got to change. You know, as Bob said, you all -- the Turks are in a really, really bad position.

VAUSE: I mean, Bob, is this a new normal that we're now seeing in Turkey. This country was once sort of -- like a corner of stability and in the Venice now. Is this what they'll be dealing with going forward, this insecurity and this ongoing terrorist attacks? BAER: You know, its' so hard to predict but I'd say, yes. You know, couple of years ago, you and I were talking about if the war continued to Syria, it was threat to Turkey and indeed it has. It's just that sort of chaos were migrated cross borders and this is what we're seeing there.

And like I said I fear the wars for Turkey, Erdogan is already, you know, a bit of authoritarian and this is definitely going to push him into a fall on war with the Kurds. And the question is, will he cross the border and go ask Kurdish groups in Syria which is opposed by the United States in Russia which could really escalate this, but let's wait and see.

VAUSE: And very quickly, Bob once you make it this blackout at the Turkish government post on tweeter as well as Facebook.

BAER: They're closing down their newspapers. They wanted, you know, with the Turkey is a democracy, more these bombs go on that they're harder, they're going to crack down on what they think is the opposition. I just don't see a way around this.

VAUSE: OK, we go along to the Ivory Coast now, which is also targeted by these militants which carried out what's in the affiliate routine now. It's packed on a beach side resort.

Rick, looking at the Ivory Coast, this is a third attack carried out by the Al Qeada group in the Islamic Maghreb. Is this is -- for you -- is this an indication this group is expanding it's go about operations in African security forces are struggling to contain them?

FRANCONA: Yeah, that's exactly what's going on, they're expanding into areas where, you know, we're looking at some states that are really are there almost failed state. They don't' have the security capability to go after this and they-- the AQIM is going after what we call the soft targets.

They're going to go after malls, hotels, beach resorts because they're very unprotected and they read great havoc. If you want to be effective, this is how you do it.

You go after the tourism industry. It's very fragile. Look what happened in Egypt. Look what happened in Tunisia. A small attack raise great havoc in the economy. I think we're going to see more of this as this group tries to expand itself and make itself relevant.

You know, they start up in Algeria, now we see them metastasizing through out West Africa.

VAUSE: And very quickly, Bob Baer, you know, these attacks were all very, very similar as, you know, popular resort, where wealthy locals hang out and farness. What comes next?

BAER: What do you do about these soft targets? I think they're going to drive out the tourists which going to really damage a country like the Ivory Coast. You know, it is groups are mobile. And they can move weapons across borders and the targets as Rick said are indefensible. So I think we're going to be seeing this on a fairly regular basis.

VAUSE: Bob, thank you Bob Baer former CIA operative and CNN Analyst and also Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Thanks to you both.

FRANCONA: Good to be with you John.

VASUE: The U.S. Democratic presidential candidates filled question at the CNN TD1 town hall a short time ago.

[00:10:04] But from the beginning it seemed like a third candidate, Republican Donald Trump was looming large over the even.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each has a lot to say about him they appeared on stage separately in Ohio

Sanders started it of, he is reacting to Trump's ongoing claims that the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders himself is behind the frequent protest that the Republican front-runner rallies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a pathological liar. He had never our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything. We have millions of supports. The people do what they do. The people have the right to protest. I happen not to believe. The people shouldn't disrupt anybody's meetings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I'm joining out by our Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. And Ron, Bernie Sanders had really going hard ...

RON BROWNSTEIN, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Yeah.

VAUSE: ... after Donald Trump. What I want to play is what he was actually responding to because Donald Trump all day long on Sunday ...

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

VAUSE: ... and I think on Saturday as well was making this accusations that Bernie Sanders and his supporters were the ones who kept interrupting his rally so let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't even call them protesters, I call them the disrupters. A lot of them come from Bernie Sanders whether we want to say or not and if he says no, then he's lying.

Bernie Sanders, they have Sanders signs all over the place and they're made by the same people that make the regular Bernie Sanders signs that professionally made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Donald Trump even Twitted this threat out. Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disrupters are not told to go to my event, be careful Bernie or my supporters will go to yours. This seems to be unprecedented in American politics.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. You know, I barely remember the George Wallace campaign in 1968, it's so the beginning of my political memories but this is the closet thing we have seen to that level of division and divisiveness in the rhetoric and in the way that is playing out and it kind of pitch battles.

I mean, I was watching that Friday night in Chicago and I felt like I was literally watching what America has been and what America is becoming in hand to hand combat for the control of the country. I mean, we are living through profound demographic change at a time of extended economic stagnation that is very volatile mix. But as many people are pointed out, more forcefully since Friday night, at that point the role of leadership is to kind of focus on what brings the people together. Instead, you're having Trump who was clearly from the beginning, from the moment he came down that escalator and talked about rapist and murders.

VAUSE: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: At the beginning has really pulled at the scenes and now we are in kind of an ongoing cycle that maybe on even his ability to control and he's showing no desire to control it. In fact, the beginning of claim it, right?

VAUSE: Yeah, his probably in prominent in some ways ...

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

VAUSE: ... in sending (ph) the opinion polls. Hillary Clinton was also asked about the violence at the Trump rallies. This is what she said.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All Americans should be concerned. It's clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear. He is playing to our worst instincts rather than our angels of our better nature.

He actually incites violence in the way that he urges his audience on, you know, talking about punching people, offering to pay the legal bills.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It seems that all of the candidates both the Republicans and the Democrats have now waited to this issue with the Trump rallies. It also critical of it to some degree or another, does this though reinforcement narrative that Donald Trump has created that they're all against me. You know, just stick with me and they're against you.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I think it does. But look, the reality is Donald Trump is, as we've said before the phrase, a clarity (ph) frontrunner. He's won 35 percent of the total vote. I think in previous years, a candidate who had won the kind of races that he has won Massachusetts and Arkansas and Georgia and Virginia would see the party coalescing around him.

He is stuck where he is. I mean, he may grow a little but the fact is that he got a lot of resistance within the party and then as you look toward the general election, it wouldn't been the poll that we're have seen in the last several days.

A 75 percent is unfavorable among millennials, 80 percent among Hispanics, 80 percent is among African-Americans and trailing Hillary Clinton by 10 points among college educated white voters. No Democrat has won college educated white voters says Lyndon Johnson ...

VAUSE: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: ... in 1964. So it's not like none of these matters. I mean, there's no question. He has a bigger fees than anyone in the Republican Party but there's a whole other country out there that is reacting I think differently to what we are seeing so far.

[00:15:00] VAUSE: Now, you talking about the general election that was clearly concern at this Democratic town hall that how these two candidates ...

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: ... would be at Donald Trump?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: A lot of criticism that's thrown at me, and that's natural in politics, but one that I resent is, well, Bernie, you are a nice guy, I like your ideas, but you just can't win the general election.

All right. So let me deal with that. Take a look at virtually every national poll that has been done. Take a look at the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll of two or three days ago, guess what, Bernie Sanders was defeating Donald Trump by 18 points.

CLINTON: there are going to be a lot of arguments to make against him that we can look forward to, I'm not going to spill the beans right now.

But, suffice it to say that there are many arguments that we can use against him.

But, one argument that I am uniquely qualified to bring, because of my service as Secretary of State is what his presidency would mean to our country and our standing in the world.

I am already receiving messages from leaders - I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump.

I mean, this is up to Americans, thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: You know this was the most important moment of the town hall but it wasn't because of the answers of it or because of the question. The question in each case from the same gentleman in, it looked like an Indian American. He said he's a son of immigrants, affluence successful doctor. Kind of voter that the Republicans not too long ago were competing for.

VAUSE: Suddenly they ...

BROWNSTEIN: The age in Americans were 50-50 ...

VAUSE: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: ... consistency and he said, his top mission. It is my one mission in 2016 was to prevent Donald Trump from being president. It is exactly why so many Republicans are so concern about what Trump will need for the long-term image of the party, even if he could somehow squeeze out a victory by mobilizing enough working class whites. The risk that the Republicans faced, is that Trump could stand the GOP lastingly as a party of white racial backlash in the eyes of millennial and minorities who are each growing in the election.

That's why it's an extraordinary moment. The alarm is reaching a kind of a new pick among the Republican professionals and yet Trump is maybe on the brink of becoming untouchable ...

VAUSE: Yeah, absolutely.

BROWNSTEIN: ... on Tuesday night.

VAUSE: It's 12:37 right, that's what we're looking for. Ron Brownstein, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

A short break and when we come back peace talks finally in Syrian Wars that resume on Monday but the U.S. secretary of the state though is calling the Syria's latest comments there disruptive.

Also ahead will be exclusive look behind in rebel lines in Syria. A CNN team went deep undercover to report on the destruction and witness a war cry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You watch time, the meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, thank you for joining us on CNN.

Watching an atmospheric river pattern take place and what this means for us is the tremendous moistures surging right in. We do have a several disturbances to the north and we the temperature is cold enough to support snow showers.

[00:20:05] Widespread areas of winter weather advisories in the weather storm warnings better in-placed across much of the northwestern corner of the United States. You notice the snow showers just continue coming down as a clock rolls right through Tuesday potentially even into Wednesday. So a great news across Canada trails all it go powdery conditions. You can't beat that around Whistler with about seven centimeters of fresh snow in recent day.

They notice, their condition is do support at least some more snow. Minus one looking behind temperature there, it does look to remain dries as you work your way a little farther to the east and forecast across portions of Washington. They're also pretty impressive especially as it work you're way farther to the south ground on Mt. Hood makes it up to almost 20 inches of fresh snow in the forecast and California.

We get a couple of days of snow showers and then it begins to quite out and we go back towards a pattern that we've seen in recent years at least for the month of March. But notice, Marmot Mountain could pick upward of 10 inches. Squaw Valley could also get some fresh snow after you pick it up about 18 inches in recent days. There are trails about half ago but at least they're powered at this point across that region and the interval in west also gets it on some multiple balanced of snow showers there. You could see at least 10 centimeters (inaudible).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Talks to end Syria's civil war is set to resume on Monday in Geneva. U.S. Secretary State John Kerry is calling on Russia and Iran to rein in the Syrian regime. He called Syria's recent refusal to discuss the transitional government and the presidential elections an attempted disrupt the peace process. The talks comment a fragile ceasefire which each side as accused the other of violating.

Well, CNN to senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward and produces the Salma Abdelaziz went undercover in the rebel held Syria. But what we actually know a western journalist have gone from more than a year. They work with Syrian base filmmaker Bilal Abdul Kareem on this exclusive report and a warning here, there are graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moving through rebel-held northern Syria is difficult and dangerous. As foreign journalists in areas with a strong jihadist presence, we had to travel undercover to see a war few outsiders have witnessed.

The city of Idlib is the only provincial capital under rebel control. This was its courthouse until it was hit by an air strike in December. Dozens were killed.

TALAL ALJAWI, LAWYER (through translation): The Russian planes target anything that works in the interest of the people. The goal is that people here live a destroyed life, that people never see any good, that they never taste life. This is the tax of living in a liberated area.

WARD: An hour later, we saw that tax for ourselves while filming in a town nearby. We heard the scream of fighter jets wheeling overhead.

Moments later, a hit.

WARD: There was just an air strike here in the town of Ariha. So we're now driving very quickly. It's not clear yet what was hit, but we are hearing that there are still planes in the sky.

Arriving on the scene, our team found chaos and carnage.

Volunteers shouted for an ambulance as they tried to ferret out the wound. For many, it was too late.

A woman lay dead on the ground, a jacket draped over her, in an attempt to preserve her dignity.

Russia has repeatedly claimed it is only hitting terrorist targets. This strike hit a busy fruit market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): This is just a civilian market. This is not a military area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): There are no military installations here or anything. It's a market. Look. It's a market. A fruit market. Is this what you want, Bashar?

WARD: We couldn't stay long. Often jets circle back to hit the same place twice. It's called a double tap.

We just arrived here at the hospital where they're bringing the dead and the wounded from those three strikes in Ariha, which hit a park and a fruit market. We don't know the exact number of casualties there.

[00:25:05] But the scenes of devastation, blood on the ground, dismembered body parts, and the injured and dead that we've seen arriving here indicate that this was a very bad strike indeed.

Among the injured brought in, a young boy moaning in pain.

He died moments later.

The strikes on Ariha that day killed 11 people, among them, a woman and two children. Rescue workers wasted no time in clearing away the rubble. In this ugly war, massacres have become routine.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Ariha, Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It's difficult to watch. OK. Joining me now for more on this, UCLA District Professor James Gelvin. Really difficult to watch that story.

JAMES GELVIN, UCLA HISTORY PROFESSOR: Very.

VAUSE: And I know we're just watching a report from the field but as you watch that story, you look at what happened. Is there anyway that that air strike is not a war crime?

GELVIN: War crimes are defined as when an aggressor, when an attack does not differentiate between civilians and the military personnel. That clearly did not differentiate between the civilians and the military personnel. So there are four very likely it was at war crime.

VAUSE: OK. One of the legal ratification here because it seems we report on this stuffs all the time and it just get lost to the mix. You know, another 50 people killed in there.

GELVIN: Right.

VAUSE: Woman and children died here. We've actually seen it at first hand here. If there any way to hold the people to carry out these air strikes would be the Russians or the Syrian regime accountable for their actions?

GELVIN: I think that we're in a situation now where we have to make a choice and the choice we have to make is between the justice and humanitarian concerns. The justice is such just tries out that these people should be punished whether it's the Russian pilots or Bashar al-Assad or the members of the staff.

I mean, there's no doubt about that but on the other hand, the fighting has to stop and if that means for example, reaching the compromised having, for example, Assad in a transition government that maybe that's the way out there. So the choice is between the humanitarian concerns and justice.

VAUSE: OK. How does something like this gelled (ph) with the comments that we're hearing from the U.S. administration and others that 80 to 90 percent of the violence in Syria has decreased.

GELVIN: The ceasefires worked when both sides want to make them work no matter what is really going on. In other words, during the Vietnam for example, in 1973 or '74 about one year ceasefire, 2,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died every month. But they needed that ceasefire to work at each side, the United States in order to Vietnamese the war, the South Vietnamese in order to rearm. The North Vietnamese in order to be deployed.

So they kept that sort of in the background and allowed the ceasefire to continue even though it really wasn't the ceasefire. The same thing is going to happen today. The United States needs the ceasefire to work and it's going to take a real ratcheting up for violence in order not (inaudible).

VAUSE: That sounds so odd to people. The ceasefire where there still firing at each other. We got peace talk signing again in next couple of hours. The Syrian regime says any talk are moving Assad is a red line. Do you think that's an attempt by the regimes to sabotage those peace talks? GELVIN: I think there are two things going on. First of all, I think the regime is setting up a bargaining position that this is what we're going to do.

Now, they might believe it or they might not and that's brings up the second point. The regime really doesn't have the ultimate power over what's going on in this war. What's going to go on is going to be a bargain that's going to be made between the United States and Russia. That's going to determine how the opposition reacts and how the government reacts.

VAUSE: OK. Professor James Gelvin, it's nice for being with us.

GELVIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Great insights, I much appreciate it.

A short break here. Before we go, though we have a programming note in her next report Clarissa Ward takes you down the only rebel road leading to Aleppo. It's surrounded by snipers. A lifeline to the people who's still falls down in battle city home. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: As you arrive in the city, the scale of the destruction is breath taking. It's stretching on and on. The entire residential neighborhood is reduced to rebel. Still, we found packets of life among the devastation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translation): Should we leave our country and go to another country? No. This is our country, and we will remain in this until we die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: As you can find more for most exclusive journey on a special web page at CNN.com/Syria including blogs written by Clarissa and a special 363 look at the devastation in Aleppo, all part of our exclusive coverage inside the Syria behind the rebel lines airing all this week, you'll see it only here on CNN.

In the meantime, when we come back, North Korea (inaudible) any threat against South Korea and the U.S. it says, a massive military exercise continues in the south.

[00:29:58] A live report from Seoul, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody, you're watching CNN News Room live from Lost Angeles. I'm John Vause for the headlines this hour.

Turkish house minister says a bomb killed at least 34 people in Ankara on Saturday, the impact has made the amount of dead another 125 were wounded. State media report the blast happened at major transport (inaudible) capital, there's been no immediate claim of responsibility.

A gunman from an al-Qaeda affiliate are said to behind a deadly attack in Ivory Coast, the country's president says 16 people were killed when terrorist stormed three hotels in a beach resort city, six shooters were killed by security forces.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on Russia and Iran to rein in the Syrian regime ahead of Monday's peace talks in Geneva, a job to aimed to end Syria's civil war. Secretary Kerry called Syria's recent refusal to discuss transitional government as well as presidential election an attempt to disrupt the peace process.

And France's authorities released their final findings on the German wings plane crush and it revealed that in the weeks leading up to the disaster, doctors recommended that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz is treated in a psychiatric hospital. Flight record show Lubitz deliverately crushed the plane into the French Alps killing all 115 people onboard.

The U.S. and South Korea are in the midst of their largest ever joint military exercises. Take a look at just one of the weekend drills on a South Korean beach. There it is. CNN's Ivan Watson was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a show of force. The U.S. and South Korean military is carrying out drills here on a beach performing an amphibious landing.

[00:35:10] You can see the assault vehicles coming in right into the beach right now after exploding smoke to screen their arrival. Now the South Korean government has called this the largest joint exercises ever.

This is the U.S. military and the South Korean militaries chance to show off their military preparedness and it's coming at a time of increased tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea says that it interprets these exercises as a precursor to a possible invasion and it's warned about a preemptive nuclear strike in response to this.

The U.S. and South Korean governments say that they have sent messages to the north warning that this is purely defensive in nature and giving the timeframe of the eight-week series of annual military drills. This is an opportunity for the U.S. to reassure its South Korean ally within months of North Korea testing what it claims was a hydrogen bomb and firing a satellite into space.

These joint military exercises lead to annual cycles of tension between North and South Korea. The danger here is that both sides are armed to the teeth and incase of a misstep the risk of escalation is very, very high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ivan Watson Joins us out live from Seoul is South Korea, and I'm in the (inaudible) reports over the weekend that the North Koreans may have in fact lost one of their submarines, what more do we know? WATSON: With the North Koreans they carry out their own war games of course, with the media present and they show off their weaponry, and U.S officials tells CNN that it is during one of those apparent exercises some days ago that a submarine appears to have lost contact with the mainland basically and that this happened somewhere of the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula. The U.S. officials tells CNN that the U.S. has been monitoring this with satellites, with aircraft and with ships as well and it's not clear what exactly happened with the vessel and that it appears that the North Koreans are searching for this missing vessel.

It's important to note this is only coming from U.S. officials speaking to CNN. South Korean officials have not confirmed this report does yet. But it does get to the point there that when you have two enemies that are officially still in the state of war armed to the teeth moving around weapons of war, you can have missteps and both side can misinterpret them and that's why experts say this particular cycle of tension is so dangerous right now. John.

VAUSE: And how long will we be in this situation with these war games continuing, how long is this tension expected to last for the immediately future away?

WATSON: Well it's an eight-week stretch of exercises, so we still have weeks to go. And, North Korea continues this kind of drum beat of bellicose rhetoric and threats and warnings that are actually quite extreme, where they've threatened to, again, launch preemptive nuclear strikes. That's pretty dramatic stuff, some of this has been heard in the past but it is North Korea's kind of incremental move towards developing and evolving its nuclear arsenal that makes the stakes particularly concerning. John.

VAUSE: Yeah, eight weeks to go. OK Ivan Watson, our senior international corespondent in Seoul.

A short break here. When we come back, U.S. presidential candidates are not the only ones who are deeply divided on the issues, the voters are as well. We take a look at this growing partisan divide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:00]

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. This U.S. election campaign still has nine long months to go but one thing s clear, Americans appear to be more divided along political lines than ever before. Here is Jonathan Mann to explain why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to make our country great again.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. JONATHAN MANN, CNN HOST POLITICAL MANN: Great? Not great? Agree to disagree but America is definitely divided, as the race for the White House is revealed, candidates and voters are split on almost every issue, the partisan gap seemingly wider now than at anytime in the modern era.

The political split is fueled by a demographic transformation within the country. America is becoming both younger and more diverse, that is Pew Research Center data shows, the U.S. is on it's way to becoming a majority non-white nation. The shift has lead to a huge generation gap at the polls. In elections since 2000 that age gap has grown wider. The ideological divide also growing.

Here is the chart from Pew Research showing a range of ideology, from liberal on the left, too conservative on the right. Democrats in blue of course tend to be the liberals. Republicans in red tend to be the conservatives, but in the middle a big amount of moderates from each party. Two decades ago median Democrats and Republicans we're not so far apart, there could be a meeting of them eyes (ph), but watch what happens when you fast forward 20 years. The moderate middle collapses and almost disappears and the extremes have mushroomed.

Can a divided America find common ground despite the fact that partisanship is thriving a majority of American say they've like to see Washington rediscover the lost art of political compromise. Jonathan Mann, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And CNN's Political Mann has the U.S. presidential race covered from the candidate's positions to their pitfall, pratfall, Host Jonathan Mann Saturdays 11:30 a.m. in Hong Kong as he guides you through the worlds wildest and most expensive exercise in Democracy.

Finally here, Palestinian teacher, former refugee has taken over $1 million price for teaching excellence. Hanan Al-Hroub beat out all nominees from around the world at a ceremony in Dubai on Sunday.

Pope Francis announced the winner by video message Al-Hroub says she will use the money to support her fellow teachers in the Palestinian territories. The global prize was set up by the non-profit Varkey Foundation after a 2013 survey found the status of teaching as a profession was on the decline. It's quietly the apple for the teacher.

Thank you for watching CNN News Room live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. World Sport is up next stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)