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ISIS Suicide Bombers Attack Gas Plant Outside of Baghdad; Training Device Forces Evacuation of Manchester United's Stadium; Holy Christian Site May Soon Be More Accessible to Visitors; Ukrainian Cargo Plane Arrives in Australia. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 16, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: ISIS strikes again. A team of militants including suicide bombers kill 10 people at a gas plant outside of Baghdad.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: A fiasco calls for an urgent investigation after a trailing device forces the evacuation of a Man U game at Old Trafford.
BARNETT: And nobody cares. A top republican says voters aren't interested in a steady stream of negative stories concerning the past of Donald Trump.
CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us as we kick off our second hour of CNN Newsroom.
In Iraq, Baghdad's governor is blasting security officials following an ISIS attack on a gas plant just north of the capitol. He says the plant was inadequately protected and an elite response team took too long to arrive.
BARNETT: At least 10 security personnel were killed in Sunday's attack and two dozen people were wounded. The assaults sent plumes of smoke into the air and left storage tanks ablaze.
CHURCH: And for the latest let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. She joins us live from Oman, Jordan. So, Jomana, how was ISIS able to carry out this deadly attack and was Baghdad's governor right when he said the gas front was inadequately protected and help was too slow to come.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Rosemary, what the governor is saying here, something we've heard officials say in the past after similar attacks talking about the forces protecting certain installations or infrastructures, saying that they're not armed properly, that they have small arms.
They were not able to face the force that was attacking. And again, criticism of the forces responding, the quick reaction force here, that according to the governor took more than two hours to arrive on the scene.
But we need to keep in mind here that the Iraqi security forces are really stretched here. They are fighting a battle on so many different fronts and also, Rosemary, you're talking about here more than half a dozen attackers, suicide bombers, car bombs.
This kind of attack is difficult to stop in a case like this. It's not one suicide bomber. I do remember security officials over the years when we see these sort of attacks in Iraq would say that when you have attackers like this who are determined to kill themselves and to kill others it's going to be very difficult to stop them.
CHURCH: And, Jomana, explain to us why we're seeing this stepped up ISIS campaign now at this time. Is this a shift perhaps in tactics?
KARADSHEH: Well, there's a lot of speculation here about what ISIS is doing over the past couple of years, Rosemary. As you mentioned we're seeing this a couple of weeks, I'm sorry, we're seeing this uptick in attacks especially in and around Baghdad.
Some attacks also in the north. If you look at the timing of it, this comes at a time when Iraq is facing one of its worst political crises in a long time. And some would say that this is ISIS trying to exploit the this chaotic political scene to try and exacerbate political and sectarian tension in the country with that end goal of try to reignite the bloody sectarian who are in the country.
Some others would say that it is trying to shift the focus away from the battle fields in the north and the western part of the country trying to raise concerns about attacks in Baghdad.
And if you talk to U.S. and Iraqi officials, they say that this is ISIS reacting to recent losses. Brett McGurk, President Obama's Special Envoy to the global coalition against ISIS was in Oman yesterday and he addressed this in a press conference. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT MCGURK, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY: And now the caliphate, as they call it, this perverse caliphate is shrinking so they are very much on the defensive. They have not retaken any territory really since their operations in Ramadi going all the way back to May.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARADSHEH: And, Rosemary, U.S. officials say that ISIS has lost about 45 percent of the territory once controlled in Iraq and 20 percent of the territory controlled in Syria. While it has lost territory, as the past couple of weeks have shown that the groups still has that ability to carry out this continuous really high profile attacks that we have seen almost on a daily basis now in Iraq. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Just after 10 in the morning there in Oman, Jordan. Jomana Karadsheh giving us that live report. Many thanks to you. Errol. BARNETT: Rosemary, Jihadist groups are threatening to drive Christians out of Syria burning churches and desecrating priceless icons. The historic town of Ma'loula was recently freed after being seized by ISIS militants. But some Christians still fear for their lives.
[03:04:59] Our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen was in Ma'loula and joins us now live from Damascus to discuss what he saw.
Fred, just tell us about the people and especially the children you spoke with there still fearing for their lives.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Fearing for their lives. And, Errol, in many ways also of course fearing for the very existence of Christianity in this part of the world. Now one of the things that we have to keep in mind, is of course this was really the cradle of Christianity.
You look at some of the places here in Syria, it really is as some of the first places that Christians went to when the religion was founded.
Now many of them, of course, fear for their lives, also fear for a lot of the holy sites here in this country. And many of them have already fled this country.
Let's have a look at what we saw when we visited the traditional town of Ma'loula.
Jesus loves you no matter how you feel. These children sing at a religion class in Ma'loula, Syria's most famous Christian town. It was occupied by Islamist militants for six months. Several townspeople are still missing.
"I want things to be better like they were before they kidnapped people to come back," 7-year-old Gabriella says.
Similar words from 8-year-old Perla Amun 9ph). "I want Ma'loula to be better and more beautiful than it used to be," she says.
Shocking, their reaction when I asked how many of them have had to flee their homes. Islamist rebels led by Al Qaeda's wing in Syria Jahbat al-Nusra invaded Ma'loula in late 2013. This video by one of the group's allegedly shows a suicide blast that took out the checkpoint to the village.
The rebels kidnapped 12 nuns from a convent. It took more than six months of intense battles to oust them. But scars remain. This is the St. Thecla convent and shrine or what's left of it, a warning to Syria's Christian community.
While some buildings here in Ma'loula have been restored, others remain exactly like this, completely destroyed and mostly burned out. And of course, many people who leave this town ask themselves whether Christianity still has a future here in Syria. Syria is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Ma'loula is last place where the Aramaic that Jesus spoke is still unused. But groups like ISIS have vowed to oust the Christians from this land.
This member of Ma'loula city council shows me some of the priceless items that were damaged or looted especially the most ancient ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They started and then they fire the others. The new ones they fire it.
PLEITGEN: They burned it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They burned it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: As we left Ma'loula, a Christian song was playing on a loud speaker system in the entire town, a sign of defiance from a Christian community that hopes the children learning about their long heritage in Syria, will have a future in the land of their ancestors.
So as you can see there, Errol, this is a very proud Christian community, it's one with a long tradition and one that is very defiant. But, Errol, also one that has been decimated over the past five years that the civil war has been ongoing.
And just to give you one little example, you know, we were talking in that report about how Ma'loula is one of the towns where the Aramaic that Jesus Christ spoke still a language that's in use. Well, they have an institute there to keep teaching Aramaic to make sure that that language survives.
But the person who headed that institute has now also fled that city of Ma'loula so that is now not in use anymore. So, it's a slow attrition that you see here with the Christian community here in Syria that has many people not just in the town of Ma'loula but many other places where in the world very, very worried, Errol.
BARNETT: Yes, beyond the obvious but so many lives being lost, you have history being lost and so many the brain drain fleeing to get to safety as well.
Fred Pleitgen live for us on the streets of Damascus this morning. Eight minutes past 10 a.m. there. Fred, thanks.
CHURCH: ISIS has claimed responsibility for a suicide blast at a military base in southern Yemen. Security officials say the bomber attacked the base's main gate early Sunday.
BARNETT: The blast killed at least 30 troops and wounded 29. An hour later another suicide blast targeted the convoy of Yemeni security officials killing two of his guards. Four others were wounded in that attack. Now to what was really a collective sigh of relief. Manchester United fans were in quite a scare on Sunday. Police evacuated their home stadium of Old Trafford after finding what appeared to be a bomb.
CHURCH: But they later found it was just a farmer's training device left behind by a private firm after a routine drill.
BARNETT: Pretty incredible. Our Cristina Macfarlane is live from Old Trafford in Manchester, joins us now. How big of an operation was this, Cristina, the clearest stadium of what, some 75,000 people minutes before a Premier League match.
[03:10:10] CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Reporter: Yes. Half an hour before the match was actually due to take place, Errol. It was a major operation. Seventy five thousand fans who traveled here, 5 of 7,000 of which had already traveled all the way out from Vernice (ph) to be here, evacuated, and then sent home, then sniffer dogs were sent in by the greater Manchester police.
Now eventually, a bomb squad was deployed here to carry out the controlled explosion of a suspect's package. Only seven hours later for us to be told that it was in fact a fake bomb left here by a private firm who are conducting a training exercise earlier this week.
Now the Manchester United chairman, Ed Woodward released a statement last night saying that this incident will, of course, be fully investigated just to find out exactly how this was possible. The tickets for the match that was due to take place yesterday have been refunded and the match itself has been rescheduled to take place here at Old Trafford tomorrow at 8 p.m.
But it all amounts to an extremely costly and embarrassing mistake by Manchester United Football Club. It's estimated that the incident yesterday could have set them back somewhere in the region of $5 million.
And this morning, we had a statement from the Manchester mayor and the crime commissioner who have called this an outrage. They said that it's a massive inconvenience to the fans. It wasted police time and army bomb squad resources and it put people in unnecessary danger.
But as you say, Errol, there is a feeling of relief today that it wasn't something that was significantly more serious and that, in fact, there was no danger on the scene and the security forces in place here responded very swiftly to the event as it was unfolding yesterday.
BARNETT: Yes. I mean, really the only silver lining is that people were very complimentary to officials who were able to, you know, because they thought it was a real threat clear the stadium in an efficient amount of time.
But as you say, this was a mistake that cost at least $5 million. I know it's the obvious question. But how could a private company conduct training and then leave the fake bomb behind? Are there any leading theories on that? MACFARLANE: Well, no theories yet, Errol. But we do know that
security drills of this sort are happening with more regular occurrence, with more frequency in major sporting stadiums, not just here in the U.K. but across Europe.
And the code red evacuation that was called here yesterday was actually part of an increased security measure that's been in place here at the Old Trafford stadium since the Paris attacks last year.
You all remember that a security -- that a suicide bomber had attempted to enter the Stade de France during a France v. Germany friendly in November of last year. Well, since that incident occurred the security here at Old Trafford have stepped up -- stepped up their work towards these particular type of incidents.
And of course there is a heightened sensitivity at the moment as we head towards the European Championships 2016 which set to kick off in just under a month's time and stadiums all across France.
So, it is definitely a security measure that is being stepped up in the wake of those Paris attacks and as we head into the summer with the football championships.
BARNETT: Yes. It's a good thing they train for these kinds of things, it's a good thing everyone were safe in the end. But I'm guessing whoever had the responsibility for picking up the bomb may be out of a job.
Cristina Macfarlane live for us this morning. I appreciate it.
CHURCH: OK. There is definitely trouble ahead whoever it was.
BARNETT: Yes.
CHURCH: And Donald Trump is facing a challenge winning support from women voters. A new in depth report from The New York Times could offer some reasons why.
Plus, one of the holiest Christian sites in the world may soon be more accessible to visitors after nearly half a century. We'll tell you why it's taken so long. Stay with us.
[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
The device which cause the Manchester United match to be called off on the last day of the English Premier League season was a training device. It was left behind by a private company after a security exercise carried out last. The match will go ahead but on Tuesday evening in the U.K. instead.
To the track old Barcelona for Spanish Grand Prix where it wasn't the best of days for Mercedes. Team mates Nico Rosberg and Louis Hamilton would both crash out leaving the race wide open and the young man that Scotland will take full advantage.
The 18-year-old is driving for Red Bull for the very first time after he was promoted from Red Bull's junior team during the week. And it was only his second season in Formula One. And now he's the youngest ever race winner after winning in Spain on Sunday.
It was a very happy birthday for Britain's Andy Murray. What a way to start to celebrate this Sunday in the very first victory at the Italian Open in Rome for him beating an over too familiar opponent, Novak Djokovic. The Brit playing in his first tournament since he announced that he was parting company with Coach Amelie Mauresmo. And he did not disappoint winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 for a first win on clay against his serve in five attempts.
And that's a look at all your world sport headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
CHURCH: Donald Trump lags in support among female voters and the republican presidential candidate's challenge in that arena could get worse.
BARNETT: That's right. The New York Times reports Trump's private conduct with women has involved unwelcome advances and comments on women's bodies, but the Republican Party chairman says the Trump campaign isn't being judged on his past's personal behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: And these are things that he's going to have to answer for, but I also think they're things from many years ago. And I think as Christians judging each other, I think it's problematic. I think it's when people live in glass houses and throw stones is when people get in trouble.
And so, you know, as Hillary Clinton is a classic Clinton operation, now suddenly these things are coming up. It isn't necessarily people make mistakes, or have regrets, or seek forgiveness, it's whether or not the person launching the charge is authentic in their own life and can actually be pure enough to make such a charge.
That's what I think most people look at when they evaluate people's character. Again, I don't think Donald Trump is being judged based on his personal life. I think people are judging Donald Trump as to whether or not he's someone that's going to go to Washington and shake things up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And separate to this Trump is denying posing as his own publicist. In an interview from years ago, this is what the 1991 conversation sounds like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you get so much of it and, frankly, off the record if I can. But until I get to know you and talk to you a bit off the record, I can tell you that he didn't care to get bad P.R. There's financial stuff because he was good. Because he could get a divorce and once the divorce is settled, he's doing well financially. He's doing well in every other way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: All right. Hope you were listening closely to that.
CNN's Jake Tapper asked Trump's convention manager about the denial despite Trump's admission that he has posed as his own spokesman in the past using a pseudonym. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:20:11] JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD SHOW HOST: Is the campaign seriously claiming that isn't Mr. Trump?
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I could barely understand it. You know, I couldn't tell who it is. Donald Trump says it's not him. I believe it's not him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: In 1990, under oath, he testified that he did use the name John Baron. And in 1991, he told the People magazine that he did used the name John Miller. So, this is already been admitted. I don't understand why now...
MANAFORT: I don't know those facts to be true or not. I just know that he said it's not him. I believe him. I don't even know the relevance of this frankly, other than its 25 years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the former reporter who was heard on that audio recording is speaking out now.
BARNETT: Yes, get this. Sue Carswell told CNN's Michael Smerconish that she thinks Trump released the 25-year-old recording to distract the public from other issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, THE SMERCONISH SHOW HOST: Did you release this tape now? Did you have the tape? I mean, how did it get into play?
SUE CARSWELL, JOURNALIST: All right. Two people had the tape. I had the tape and Trump had a tape and I don't have the tape.
SMERCONISH: How do you think it got into play?
CARSWELL: Well, it didn't get to The Washington Post through me.
SMERCONISH: So?
CARSWELL: Trump?
SMERCONISH: You think Trump dropped this tape?
CARSWELL: Yes.
SMERCONISH: Why would he do that?
CARSWELL: Look what's going on this week, taxes, Paul Ryan, the butler. The butler did it. Now Trump seems to like to pull People magazine type stories into the array.
SMERCONISH: So, in other words...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: All right. We've got more for you. Donald Trump says Britain won't be worse of in trade negotiations than the U.S. if it leaves the European Union.
CHURCH: President Barack Obama has warn Britain would move to the back of the cue in U.S. trade deals if it exits the E.U. But Trump told ITV's Piers Morgan that won't happen if he becomes the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, ITV JOURNALIST: You said, look, if you do this then you, Britain, will be back at the cue when it comes to trade with the United States.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think so.
MORGAN: If you become president and we come out of the European Union, what would your view be about where Britain should sit in priority terms with trade deals with the United States?
TRUMP: I don't think that we heard it at all. I mean, they have to make their own deals. Britain's been a great all...
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Would they be back at the cue on E.U. or would they be front of the cue?
TRUMP: Britain is such a good ally that they went into things that they shouldn't have gone into like as an example going into Iraq. With me they'll always be treated fantastically.
MORGAN: Would they be front of the cue with a Donald Trump president?
TRUMP: You know, I don't want to say front or anything else. I mean, I'm going to treat everybody fairly but it wouldn't make any difference to me whether they were in the E.U. or not
MORGAN: We will be back at the cue for trade.
TRUMP: Certainly wouldn't be back of the cue, that I can tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: Well then came a discussion on London's mayor and Mr. Trump
was not too happy about recent comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: He says, "I hope Donald Trump loses the election. My message to Donald Trump and his team is your views of Islam are ignorant."
TRUMP: All right. Well, when he won I wish him well. Now I don't care about him. I mean, it doesn't make any difference to me about him. Let's see how he does. I mean, let's see if he's a good man.
MORGAN: Are you offended by what he says?
TRUMP: Yes, I am. Because he doesn't know me. Never met me. He doesn't know what I'm all about. I think they're very rude statements and frankly, tell him I will remember those statements. A very nasty statements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: British Prime Minister David Cameron has also criticized Trump over his position on Muslims. And Trump has said he doesn't care.
BARNETT: And though he didn't name him directly, President Barack Obama seemed to take aim at Trump during a commencement speech at New Jersey's Rutgers University. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: In politics and in life ignorance is not a virtue. It's not cool to not know what you're talking about.
That's not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That's not challenging political correctness, that's just not knowing what you're talking about. And yet, we've become confused about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, the democratic presidential hopefuls are battling for votes in Kentucky. It is a coal producing state. And in the past, Hillary Clinton has spoken against coal mining for its environmental impact.
On Sunday, she outlined her plans for miner's health coverage and retirement programs.
BARNETT: Bernie Sanders is hoping to extend his winning streak meanwhile. He recently won West Virginia which is another coal producing state.
Now Bangladesh has been hit hard by severe thunderstorms in the past week. But there's also been an astonishing rise in the number of people killed by lightning strikes. CHURCH: Yes. And our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here to talk
more about this because this is a huge concern.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know what's really interesting is to think about the United States, for example. And we've seen a record number of lightning strike fatalities in the U.S. this year alone, five is that number in the first four months of the year so far.
[03:25:01] In the past several days the number is estimated between 60 to 70 fatalities in Bangladesh when it comes to lightning strikes. So, it really is incredible. Of course, it's a much smaller country. We'll elaborate on that here momentarily.
But to show you what happened here. We know a lot of people being involved in this, there been farmers out at an open area, many young people and students involved as well as the lighting strikes and fatalities. And incredible that there when you think about of course just the sheer size of this particular region.
And going for a closer perspective. Since the first of March, the lightning fatalities have actually exceeded around 90 or so people in that particular country of Bangladesh. Now we know deforestation has been a major issue in recent years.
In fact, for the ecology to be sustained in this part of the world in Bangladesh in particular, you want to have the land area, 25 percent of it be forested. In the last couple of years that number has come down to about 6 percent. Of course you take the trees away, you take the forest away, now people exposed to the elements.
Now with the tallest object and that of course can play a role when it comes to lightning fatalities that we've seen in recent days and recent years.
Look at this, the odds of being struck by lightning at any given time are 1 in 300,000. But in an entire lifetime they're actually quite higher 1 in about 12,000. But a lot of people are surprise to learn that about 90 percent of lightning victims do survive.
Now they have debilitating illnesses throughout their entire life a lot of times. But there's a high probability of survival if someone is close by can resuscitate you and certainly could increase your likelihood of surviving.
Now, in the U.S. there is that number of five so far in 2016. Look at Bangladesh's population, that is almost exactly half of the U.S.'s population. But when you take the country's land area, you put it into a U.S. State, it equates of roughly the U.S. State of Georgia with half of the entire population of the country, of course very densely populated.
That alone really increases your likelihood of course of being exposed to the elements. And you notice this in the U.S., a lot of data available on when lightning strikes fatalities happen. Almost certainly every single year, holiday weekends we see a spike in them almost always.
Now the numbers are somewhere around the order of three out of four being men versus women that is struck. A lot of men spending more time potentially on the lawns outside in that heating caution. But it's interesting to compare the countries.
And we know lightning education, far more people are aware than potentially in Bangladesh where they out in the farm, they're not heeding the warnings and storm come by, they still work got to work and, you know, go inside. And that really is the scenarios.
BARNETT: Yes. In some cases they will run towards a tree to get shelter. And it's probably the worst place you can go.
JAVAHERI: Yes. We take that for granted, right, in the United States of knowing not to do that.
BARNETT: Yes.
JAVAHERI: But maybe not the case in other parts of the world.
BARNETT: All right. Full of information. Thanks, Pedram.
CHURCH: All right. Thank you, Pedram. I appreciate it.
Well, thousands of land mines have surrounded one of the holiest Christian sites in the world. Now some of the churches on the site may get their first visitors in 50 years.
Plus, hear how a women went from being a victim of human trafficking to breaking a world running record. Stay with us.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: A warm welcome back to those of you watching here in the States and those of you tuned in all around the world. It's your half hour of CNN Newsroom with us. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Time to check the headlines for you right now.
At least 10 security agents are dead after ISIS militants attacked a gas plant near Baghdad Sunday. Police say the assault began with a suicide car bomb explosion at the plant's entrance.
Baghdad's governor slammed security there saying the facility was not properly protected.
BARNETT: The Republican Party chairman says Donald Trump is going to have to answer for his behavior around women. The New York Times report said the presidential candidate's private conduct with women is involved unwelcome romantic advances and commentary on their bodies.
But Reince Priebus says the campaign isn't being judge on Trump's personal life. CHURCH: Manchester police say the suspected bomb that caused an evacuation of Old Trafford Stadium on Sunday was just a training device. Authorities say it was harmless but looked very real and had mistakenly been left behind by a private company.
BARNETT: The CNN Freedom Project is dedicated to shining a light on human trafficking and ending modern human slavery. Norma Bastidas thought she was going to Japan for a modeling job.
CHURCH: Instead she became someone's property. She struggled to cope with the trauma after she gained her freedom.
CNN's Kyung Lah reports she took up running to recover and that's led her to some remarkable achievements.
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The miles don't matter to Norma Bastidas. They gather and pool like the rain she pushes through. The tears she so often sheds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORMA BASTIDAS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR: I have been an endurance athlete in breaking records, but you know, there was a part of me that not a lot of people knew, that I was a survivor of sexual violence and human trafficking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Born to a desperately poor family in Mexico, Norma's father died when she was 11. So when a friend told her about a modeling job in Japan she says she saw it as her big break in a lifetime of dark clouds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: I remember my mother saying I'm afraid but I can't stop you because this is the only chance, you know? We all desperately want it to be true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: It wasn't. Bastidas says the agency delivered her to a members club who told her she must repay all the money it took to bring her to Japan as an escort.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: You cannot go to the police. I cannot go home until I pay my debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And that left her, she says, vulnerable to all kinds of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BASTIDAS: I was drugged on my way home to the club, drugged and beaten. Nobody wanted to help me because I had been a bar girl so I had no value.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: After several years Bastidas managed to pay off her debt and leave. She later married, moved to Canada and had two children. For years, Bastidas she numbed the pain by drinking. But she realized if she was going to do more than just survive with her children she would need to thrive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: So I started running because I didn't want them to hear me crying at night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Six months later, to everyone's astonishment Bastidas qualified for one of the world's most prestigious race events, the Boston marathon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: I became an incredible runner because of the incredible amount of stress that I had to manage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Then she had her big idea. She would break the world record for the longest triathlon in history and she would do it to send a message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: I designed the triathlon to follow human trafficking smuggling route.
[03:35:03] BRAD RILEY, ANTI-SLAVERY GROUP: They didn't quite get it and I was shown on all those clips.
BASTIDAS: Yes.
LAH: Brad Riley of the anti-slavery group I empathize soon joined Norma's team. He organized the permits and coordinated operations for the record breaking attempt. He also documented her journey in a film called "Be Relentless."
BASTIDAS: I wanted to look like Angelina Jolie but I think I look more like, you know, Mickey Rourke the wrestler.
There's still water heating my gums, too, you know, destroyed the inside of my mouth. It was very painful. That was probably one of the most painful things I've ever done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: The journey took 64 days. All told Bastidas racked up 3,762 miles shattering the previous Guinness World Record. Along the way there were roadside accidents, malfunctioning GPSS and constant inclement weather. But for Bastidas this was a test that had little to do with punishing waves or pounding the pavement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: As an athlete, I'm celebrated because I break world records. But as a survivor of human trafficking I was ashamed. By living large, by being as big as I can be, I've empowered every single victim.
I ran last two miles with survivors of human trafficking. The healing comes from seeing them, from seeing every single one of those girls being unbroken. I just wanted them to be proud of me. I wanted to do them proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And for every step she takes, every mile she ticks off, Norma Bastidas is proving that somebody once trapped in the nightmare can now live out her dreams.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: Wow.
RILEY: Pretty cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Wow. She is just incredible.
CHURCH: Wow.
BARNETT: Exactly. And there's more to this in part two of our story. Kyung Lah looks at almost super human way that Norma is coping with her ordeal while raising awareness for other victims. Take a look.
LAH: In 2014, Bastidas set out to break the Guinness world record for world's longest triathlon. Over the course of several months she ran, biked, and swam more than 3700 miles traveling from Cancun, Mexico, to Washington, D.C., following a known route of human trafficking victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: Human trafficking is what happened to you, it's not who you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: So impressive. And we will bring you that story at this time
tomorrow. It's all part of CNN's Freedom Project series. Surviving to thriving all this week on CNN.
Philippine President-elect, Rodrigo Duterte won the country over with tough talk especially on handling crime. His escalating rhetoric lately vowing to reintroduce public hangings.
BARNETT: He also wants to deploy military snipers to take out suspected criminals and enforce strict curfews at night. On top of all that, he says he will empower police to use deadly force more often.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILLIPINE PRESIDENT: If you resist arrest, and then you offer a violent resistant, my order to the police and to the military is to shoot to kill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Duterte stressed that the law couldn't be effectively in force without fear of what will happen if it is broken.
CHURCH: Well, part of one of the holiest Christian sites in the world have been blocked off to visitors to land mines. A narrow path leads to the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized.
But churches at the site on the Jordan River have sat empty for nearly 50 years. That could soon change, though, with the help of one organization.
CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from Jerusalem with some details on this. And Oren, incredible church has left empty for 50 years or so. Why has it taken so long to clear these land mines from one of the holiest Christian sites?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the biggest problem is that until recently until the mid-90s there wasn't peace between Israel and Jordan that would allow people to access this site. After that, Halo, the largest land mine clearing organization had to get permission from the Israelis, the Palestinians, and seven different Christian nominations who don't always get along.
Now they have that permission and are trying to make it happen. They're trying to open up these beautiful churches that we got a very close look at to the public once again.
The signs around us warn of danger in three languages. Here only the road is safe. Beyond the barbed wire, nearly 5,000 explosive mines covering 1 square kilometer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HEIMAN, INMAA DIRECTOR: In this particular area we're not looking to find anti-personnel mine.
LIEBERMANN: You can see it an anti-tech mine right now?
HEIMAN: Yes, sure. That is the first line is right here like 30 meters from the place where we're standing.
LIEBERMANN: This mine field in the West bank restricts access to one of Christianity's holiest sites recognized as the biblical site of the baptism of Jesus.
[03:40:02] Pilgrims from all over the world bathed in the waters of this holy site on a Jordan River at a Marin tourist center opened in 2011.
But seven Christian churches at the sites all different denominations have been closed for half a century.
Want an idea of how many land mines there are in certain spots here? See that dark ball right there, that's an anti-personnel mine and this entire field is full of them.
During the six-day war in 1967, the Israeli and Jordanian armies laid mines here. Churches were booby trapped and an unexploded ordinance could still be anywhere. The churches have been off limits ever since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COWAN, HALO CEO: If we didn't do it, these mines would stay here forever.
LIEBERMANN: I speak with James Cowan He is the CEO of HALO, the world's largest humanitarian mine clearing organization. HALO has just gotten permission to clear the mine field with the approval of both the Israelis and Palestinians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Forty or 50 years later these mines are still dangerous?
COWAN: Absolutely and they would still be dangerous 1 hundred years from now if we don't clear them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: In Syria and Iraq, ISIS has leveled ancient holy sites bulldozing history and destroyed precious artifacts. Here the goal is to do the reverse, clearing the mine field will preserve these holy sites. Pilgrims and tourist once again and this area can heal from the scars of battle.
HALO estimates it will take about $4 million to clear this entire area of land mines. Because it's not for humanitarian purposes, or just to say it's nor for residential and farming purposes, HALO is raising this money from private donations. We have that information if you're interested in donating on our website.
Rosemary, I've been to this area quite a few times, now it's a beautiful area and it will be even more so once it's opened up to visitors again.
CHURCH: Incredible report there. Oren Liebermann joining us from Jerusalem just after 10.40 in the morning. Many thanks to you as always.
BARNETT: Actress Susan Sarandon is known for speaking her mind no matter how controversial. What she's saying about one of Hollywood's most famous directors after the break.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: The world's biggest operational airplane, the only one of its kind has landed in Perth, Australia. The Ukrainian cargo jet Antonov-225 received an enthusiastic welcome there.
CHURCH: Now 7 Network's Rob Scott reports thousands of people were there to see the giant aircraft touch down.
ROB SCOTT, CHANNEL 7 REPORTER: The colossus of the clouds. The Antolov-225 on final approach to Perth Airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear to land.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: This is the world's biggest plane and this is its first visit to Australia. It's in Perth to deliver some massive cargo. A 116 ton generator for a mining company. The monster plane drew a monster crowd. Some 16,000 came with cameras and phones at the ready.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a beast. It's fantastic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Massive. It's well worth coming down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: Built during the Cold War era of the 1980s, the one of the kind aircraft was built to carry the Russian space shuttle, the Buren. When that program ended the plane was transformed into a cargo carrier capable of transporting loads no other aircraft can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYKOLA KULINICH, UKRANIAN AMBASSADOR: It is 100 percent product of Ukraine. It was designed in Ukraine. It was manufactured and operated from Ukraine. So, this is a piece to be proud of. Yes, this is a master piece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: It took the giant jet five days to get to Perth from Kiev. Delays in Kuala Lumpur made it touched down in NWA two hours late. But for those who waited it was well worth it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely beautiful aircraft. Gracious landing. Absolutely loved it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: What a fitting way to welcome this giant jet to Australia. A water cannon salute to the undisputed king of the skies, a plane so big the Wright Brothers could take its first flight in its cargo hold. It will take 12 hours to off load the generator but the planes not leaving straight away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll leave at about 5.30 in the morning on Tuesday.
SCOTT: Angela (ph) of airline tell us that after this particular experience they're looking for more very large cargo to bring out to Australia so we may well see this giant of the skies once again.
Rob Scott, 7 News.
CHURCH: How about that. We'll take a short break here. But still to come, Susan Sarandon isn't keeping quiet about abuse allegations against a fellow actor. We'll have the details for you straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHER: Weather watch time across the Americas. Storms rockin' and rollin' like Elvis Presley back in his heyday. Look at this, line of active weather went right across Northern Mexico into Southern Texas, and this is an area we think we're going to have the bull's eye of a stormy weather over the next not just in the several days but potentially the next week directly over this region.
In fact, northern portions of Texas and much of Oklahoma it just lights up like it's Christmas Day across this region. We get rainfall amounts upwards to 50 to 100 millimeters. Again, you notice how expansive it is when it comes to the coverage of heavy rainfall.
So certainly a flooding threat across parts of the southern U.S. And you work your way across the severe weather risk. Of course it is May, that is in place around northern Texas, much of western Oklahoma. Hail and wind being the primary threats at least for Monday.
And notice the eastern U.S. remains rather dry for the next 24 or so hours. So here's what it looks like kind of like a seesaw battle. All right. The temperatures want to cool off initially into the early week and then want to warm back up towards the latter portion of the week across the northern eastern U.S.
[03:50:02] Well, back around the intermountain west it is a little cool for this time of the year. Eight degrees in Denver. Some rain showers. Beautiful conditions down around the western U.S. San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Temps in and around say 20, 21 degrees across that region for the next several days. It is also beginning to heat up in the tropical world. Thunderstorms abound in the Caribbean. You want to expect that around San Juan, Havana, especially Belize City, the temperatures make it up to around 32. Take care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Welcome back. Red Hot Chili Peppers front man, Anthony Kiedis is expected to make a full recovery after he had to go to a California hospital over the weekend.
CHURCH: Yes. The band's web site said he had complications from intestinal flu. His illness forced the band to cancel a concert Saturday and another one Tuesday.
Kim Serafin of In Touch weekly magazine joins me now to talk more on Hollywood news. And, Kim and activist Susan Sarandon didn't hold back when it came to the topic of Woody Allen when she was at the Cannes Film Festival. What all did she say?
KIM SERAFIN, IN TOUCH WEEKLY SENIOR EDITOR: Yes. Of course, the sexual assault allegations, rumors have been swarming around Woody Allen since the festival started. Because his film "Cafe Society" open there. And his son, Robin Barrow have written that op-ed, had written that column basically chastising the media for not asking more questions of Woody Allen.
So, people have been asking a lot of the stars and celebrities there of their thoughts on Woody Allen. Susan Sarandon did not hold, as you mention. She basically said "I believe he sexually assaulted someone, a child, and I have nothing good to say about him."
Now Woody Allen, as you mentioned, he has met, he met with a small group of reporters. And he said, I have nothing more to say about this. I've said everything I'm going to say. I have so moved on. So, he is having nothing to do with any of these celebrities who are saying anything about him really.
He just doesn't want to talk about it. And he said he has said all he is going to say about this topic.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Questions are being asked but he's not answering basically. And we are learning that fans of Prince won't be able to remember him at a memorial until August. What more do you know about that, and of course any other news on the star?
SERAFIN: Yes. Of course everyone is waiting to see are there any new developments with Prince. Now there was a service, a memorial service held for him at the church, at the Jehovah's Witness Church, kingdom hall that he attended that he was a regular attendee of services there on Sundays.
They held this on Sunday. There were some celebrities there like Sheila E. was there, apparently Sinbad was seen walking in. But his sister made a Facebook post and she said that she would not be there, his remains would not be there. But she said she wasn't saying anything against any memorials or funerals that would be held for Prince.
She said that everyone deals with grief in their own way. And that she welcomes any and all memorials public or private or otherwise for Prince. But she did say that a service for the family and for his fans would probably not be held until August.
So, for any people that were thinking they could go and attend some sort of memorial, this might not happen until the end of the summer according to his sister.
CHURCH: It's a long way off, isn't it? And a British book maker has suspended betting on who will be the next James Bond because Tom Hiddleston is the favorite of part to lead. Fill us in on how they got to that point?
SERAFIN: Yes, it's so interesting. Because there have been all of these rumors since really people expected that Daniel Craig might not be back as James Bond. So there have been so many predictions. Would it be de Silva, would it be Tom Hardy? That was another one I think a lot of people thought maybe was someone who could potentially be the next James Bond.
Damian Lewis was another one that was thrilled around. So bookmakers have these bets out but now this British bookmaker is suspending bets because Tom Hiddleston who was seen meeting with the director and producer earlier is someone who people think is definitely going to be the next James Bond.
[03:55:04] So much so he stopped the bets. So, this is very much interesting, because I wonder if people really believe it or if it was because he was seen meeting with the production team.
It will be interesting because there have been so many rumors. Again, I mean, there were rumors that a woman could be considered as James Bond way back in November. But this got so strong, they had to actually stop the betting. So, perhaps Tom Hiddleston could potentially be the next James Bond.
CHURCH: Yes. We shall have to see. Everyone has their own view of course. We'll keep that to ourselves. But it is a very subjective thing who will be the next James Bond. Kim Serafin, many thanks to you as always. Good to talk to you.
SERAFIN: Great. Thanks.
CHURCH: Well, The Washington Post said Ben Carson, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie are some of the potential U.S. vice presidential candidates for the presumptive republican nominee Donald Trump.
BARNETT: But Donald Trump says that's not true. Meanwhile, Saturday Night Live poked fun at the search for potential V.P.'s. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about John Kasich? He's smart, experienced, he can help us in Ohio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he's not interested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a loser. Big, fat loser. What about Nikki Haley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also not interested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Cruz.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paul Ryan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said not right now but he will see you in hell. You are such a special candidate. Maybe, just maybe the person you've been looking for this whole time is standing in this room right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are so right. Ben Carson, you want to be vice president?
(APPLAUSE)
CHURCH: And there is more news after this break.
BARNETT: We'll see you tomorrow. Take care.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
