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ISIS Claims Blast in Iraqi Capital; Terror in Bangladesh; Suicide Blast in Saudi Arabia; Turkish Aid Ship Docks in Israel; Iraqis Mourning the Victims of Two Bomb Attacks; Worries in Scotland Over Whiskey Business; Australia Faces Uncertain Political Future; Rio Mayor Slams Governor for "Terrible" Security. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 04, 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] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Baghdad suffers the worst bombing it has seen in years as ISIS claims another massacre during Ramadan.

Police in Bangladesh wait to interrogate the lone surviving suspect in the Dhaka terror attack.

Plus, a hiccup in the scotch visit. How the Brexit vote is creating instability for Scotland's distillers.

It's all ahead here on this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta -- thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

With Ramadan winding down we are seeing a rash of deadly attacks claimed by ISIS. The terrorists have claimed responsibility for recent attacks in Jordan and Yemen. They're suspected in the attack on Istanbul's airport last week and an attack on Lebanon. ISIS says it's also behind the hostage taking at the cafe in Bangladesh over the weekend and now two bombings in the Iraqi capital.

The first attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood was among the deadliest in Iraq in years. At least 125 people were killed -- 25 of them children. A second bomb at an outdoor market killed one more person. People held a candlelight vigil for the victims Sunday. These are the latest in a series of car bombs in recent weeks.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a vision of hell Iraqis have seen far too often. The suicide bombers struck the busy central Baghdad neighborhood of Karrada late Saturday night killing at least 120, wounding more than 140.

The streets were packed with residents shopping and strolling in the relative evening cool, preparing for the holiday that follows the holy month of Ramadan.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing which it said specifically targeted Shia Muslims and vowed that such attacks would not stop. Sunday morning, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi came to view the damage but residents drove him and his entourage away with rocks and bottles angry that once more the streets of Baghdad flowed with the blood of innocents.

Baghdad residents had hoped that after Iraqi forces recently drove ISIS from their stronghold of Fallujah less than an hour's drive away bombings would become a thing of the past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: Iraqi officials have long claimed that many of the car and suicide bombers that have plagued the capital came from Fallujah. Hopes for an end to such attacks are clearly premature. Iraq's long nightmare isn't over yet.

Ben Wedeman -- CNN Cairo.

ALLEN: And the terror attacks of Baghdad are just the latest to hit the capital. The U.N. estimates that last month alone 236 civilians were killed, 742 injured in terror attacks and battles. Through the first six months of the year more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Baghdad and nearly 4,500 injured.

We turn now to Bangladesh which is remembering the victims of this weekend's terror attack in Dhaka. Gunmen killed 20 hostages and two police officers over Friday night and into Saturday morning at a cafe in the diplomatic zone. Most of the victims were foreigners. Bangladeshi troops ended the siege. The prime minister said on Saturday six terrorists killed and one captured.

For more on the situation, let's turn to Sumnima Udas. She joins us now from New Delhi. And we're talking about all of these attacks throughout the Middle East. But for Bangladesh, Sumnima, this is new.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Natalie.

And the lone surviving gunmen who is really the answer to so many questions we may have about who is responsible and why. He is injured and in no condition to talk. Authorities really haven't been able to get anything out of him.

So in the meantime what they're doing is going through the site, the cafe/restaurant trying to see what evidence they can find. They're also talking to the 13 people who were rescued to see what they can piece together from them.

But Dhaka is a -- well, it's a populous city, seven million people live there. But it's one of the cities where everyone really knows everyone. So as soon as the newspapers, the local newspapers came out with pictures of the attackers, some people knew, you know, the attackers. Some people said they were cousin's friend or a friend's cousin.

And what really stands out in this case and what an analyst pointed out is these guys are regular guys. They were wearing jeans and t- shirts. They were educated. Some of them at least spoke English. They play sports, according to this analyst. They have Facebook pages.

[00:05:11] So that's really what stunned a lot of Bangladeshis, at least in Dhaka, because you remember when a lot of these attacks have happened against individuals, like these atheist bloggers and writers or Hindu priests, for instance, people in Dhaka have always sort of said I'm not an atheist blogger, so I'm ok.

And now there is this realization that terrorism can really hit anyone. Everyone is affected. And the fact that these educated young people could be radicalized in a country like Bangladesh which has always practiced the Sufi version of Islam, which is a more moderate Islam. It's a country that is secular that considers itself to be modern. That's really what stunned and shocked a lot of people in Bangladesh -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Understandably. And the government there in Bangladesh has been warned that more of this was coming. But it never quite took the threat seriously. Why not?

UDAS: Well, that's the big question. One of the reasons could be that Bangladesh itself has so many of its own homegrown militant groups. And a lot of times with the attacks in the past at least, every time ISIS or al Qaeda has claimed responsibility, the government had said or attributed those attacks to homegrown militant groups. And they continue to say that they have found no evidence that there is any link between these Bangladeshi militant groups and ISIS or al Qaeda.

The other reason, as I mentioned, that Bangladesh has always -- or the community, not just the government, but people in general have followed a more modern version of Islam. So people in general never thought that something like this could happen. Or people in a country like Bangladesh, particularly in a city like Dhaka, could be radicalized.

But, you know, not just in terms of that, but as to why Bangladesh. Well, there is a political sort of background here as well. It's a politically fractured society. You've got a very strong government. You've got an opposition that is increasingly weakened.

The government in the past few years has really been cracking down on the main Islamist opposition party, the Jamaat-e-Islami. They have executed at least four of their main leaders for war crimes or alleged war crimes when Bangladesh separated from Pakistan and became an independent state back in 1971.

So there is a lot of anger amongst the more sort of extremist, sort of more conservative groups in Bangladesh as to how the government has been cracking down. So it could be a number of these reasons -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Sumnima Udas for us. Thank you so much -- Sumnima.

The victims in the Dhaka terror attack came from Italy, Japan, India and Bangladesh. One was a U.S. citizen. We know seven Japanese nationals were killed and Japan has sent a team to Dhaka in response.

Our Matt Rivers joins us now, live from Tokyo. And Matt -- how is Japan reacting to this senseless loss of its citizens?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here it is the talk of really the town. The media, it's on the front page of every newspaper here. You hear conversations about it on the street. And given the level of what happened, that's not surprising.

We know that families involved here were on a plane last night local time here in Tokyo, flew overnight to Bangladesh and arrived this morning. And the latest information coming from Japan's ministry of foreign affairs is that some of these families have actually already visited the hospital where the remains of their loved ones are currently being kept. The rest of the families are expected to do the same thing by the end of the morning local time in Bangladesh.

It's just a very, very tough thing that these families have to do. It was completely unexpected. They are doing so alongside the vice foreign minister from Japan. That man, as well as a team of terrorism experts had already been on the ground in Bangladesh given the level of involvement of Japanese nationals as victims in this case. That team had already gone into the country to help assist in the investigation. And so there is a government contingent there.

But really, the focus is on the victims. And we learned a little bit more about one of the victims. His name is 32-year-old Makoto Okamoto. He was there as part of an eight-member team from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. That's an aid organization, development organization actually that goes into developing countries and help do things. So he was actually working on a project to improve traffic conditions in the city.

His father and his grandmother spoke to local media here yesterday before they went to Bangladesh. Let's show you what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:08] KOMAKICHI OKAMOTO, VICTIM'S FATHER (through translator): He was very proud of his work. He could work hard for the country in development. Everybody loved him. He is a good man.

VICTIM'S GRANDMOTHER (through translator): He was a very, very good boy. I really hoped the news was wrong. But now I cannot do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: And so now families in Japan, just like families in Baghdad and families in Istanbul are having to deal with tragedy here -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Yes, you can see it on their faces and hear it in their voices -- just terrible.

Matt -- thank you. Saudi authorities are investigating a suicide blast near the U.S.

consulate in Jeddah. State news sites officials who say early Monday morning police approached a man wandering in a hospital parking lot. He then detonated himself with an explosive belt. The bomber died in the blast. Two police officers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The parking lot of the hospital is about ten meters from the U.S. Consulate wall.

Let's bring in journalist Issam al-Khalid (ph) now. He joins me on the line from Jeddah. And I'm told you saw this. What can you tell us?

ISSAM AL-KHALID, JOURNALIST (via telephone): I heard the -- I heard the third blast and I saw the fourth blast. Basically at 3:00 a.m., a terrorist, I don't know if it's a male or a female at this point, had parked his car about ten meters away from the consulate entrance, the same U.S. consulate that was attacked back in 2006 by al Qaeda.

He apparently detonated the bomb inside the car is the information that I had. He was killed immediately by the detonation and two security officers were also wounded. About an hour after that police had started looking at the vehicle. And apparently there was more devices in the vehicle that had failed to detonate apparently with the first detonation.

Police spent from about 3:15 a.m. to about 6:00 a.m. detonating the remaining explosives using the bomb squad robot. People from the area said that they heard about three or four different blasts. They also mentioned that they saw smoke in the area.

Police had cordoned off the area around 250 meters around the consulate so residents are not even able to get in and out. Everyone is currently on that stay put order.

I think the incident is a failed terrorist attack. It could have been a car bomb. But fortunately it was something much smaller and the only person that was killed fortunately was the terrorist himself or herself.

ALLEN: And it sounds like good police work there thwarting this when they realized that this person was suspicious. I know it's early on. But is there any indication where this terrorist came from?

AL-KHALID: I can't speculate. I mean of course everyone knows what is on the tip of everyone's tongue. This is ISIS. But as far as I know I don't have any information of them claiming any kind of responsibility yet. You may have that information but I don't at the moment.

Issam al-Khalid -- talking with us from Jeddah. Thanks so much for your report.

Two suspected ISIS militants have been arrested at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. State media and Turkey report the men arrived from Ukraine on Sunday. They had multiple passports, military items and I.D. cards that belong to other people. These arrests, of course, come five days after the deadly terror attack at the Ataturk airport. Turkish media reports authorities have arrested 27 people linked to the massacre, 13 of them appeared in court Sunday. Turkish officials have said they believe the attack was ordered by ISIS.

Let's bring in CNN military analyst now, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He joins me from Port Orford, Oregon. And sadly, there's much to talk about, Rick, when it comes to terrorism.

Let's start though with these arrests in Turkey just after suicide bombers killed numerous people. More alleged recruits coming in to the airport. And they came from Ukraine. What do you make of this?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, this is really interesting. You know, first we were all surprised that the selection of Istanbul airport as a target because it is a main hub for ISIS to bring fighters into Turkey and then move them into Syria. So although it might have been attacked, a victory for them, it may have been a strategic mistake.

As you see, the Turks have really ramped up security, and they're watching all these flights coming in from any areas where they suspect ISIS might be bringing people in.

And of course, these guys were obviously sloppy. You never, ever carry more than one set of identification at any one time. So, you know, it was just good police work on the part of the Turks that rounded these guys up. But it also shows that ISIS continues to try and bring people in and recruit for the organization.

ALLEN: Thank goodness for sloppy would-be terrorists there.

Well, let's talk about Baghdad. Again, it has just over and over taken so many hits. So many people have died. This is the deadliest suicide bomb attack in a decade that happened. Is this revenge by ISIS for its losses in the region?

[00:15:05] FRANCONA: It is. It's a combination of things. We thought that with the loss of Fallujah that we would really see a drop in the level of violence in Baghdad because we thought Fallujah was the staging area for a lot of these attacks.

However, ISIS has indicated they can still launch attacks even with the loss of Fallujah. In fact, they're all the way out of Anbar Province and they're still able to get into Baghdad. And not just into the outskirts of Baghdad but right into the center of the city. Karrada is kind of a fairly high end area right in the middle of the city. For them to launch an attack there really demonstrates a capability.

And this is upsetting for the Iraqi people. They're starting to question the capability of their government to keep them safe. And all the while this is going on the Iraqi government is focused on going north to Mosul and liberating that town, that city -- a huge city. It's going to take a long time to do that. But the people in Baghdad are looking at their own security. They're more worried about their own security than this future liberation of Mosul.

ALLEN: Understood. You know, 125 dead including 25 children. And these series of attacks that we have seen coming at the end of Ramadan, and not just killing foreigners, but Muslims -- why this timing?

FRANCO: Well, you know, they said that they were going to make this summer a vicious summer, that Ramadan was going to be a particularly violent season. And the last ten days, and we're in the last ten day now. So we can expect to see this.

Now also going back to the report you just had about the attack in Saudi Arabia. If that was directed against the American consulate, just think of what tomorrow is. So it's July 4th. Dates mean things. They know that. It would be a big symbolic attack on an American facility.

So, yes, I think tomorrow is going to be very, very tense time for American facilities, American interests in the Middle East.

ALLEN: Rick Francona, thank you for joining us -- Rick.

FRANCONA: Sure thing -- Natalie.

A clear sign this weekend of a renewed relationship between Turkey and Israel -- the role this vessel right here plays in that diplomatic agreement. That's coming up right here.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Thanks for keeping your sets on the Cable News Network. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you on Weather Watch right now.

We're watching thunderstorms across the eastern third of the United States. And of course the Fourth of July holiday in place across this region of the world. And we know a lot of storms will impact portions of Kentucky out towards portions of Tennessee. Eventually part of the southern United States gets in on some active weather. So again, looking at about a third of the country impacting with some rough weather going in for the Fourth of July, the vast majority locked in on the eastern side.

Through Thursday, plenty of rainfall across portions of Kentucky on into even Virginia where we know flooding occurred in recent days. Major, major damage still left in place across that region. That's what we're looking at for some heavy rain later in the week.

[00:20:03] But the other big story here becomes the widespread area of heat that builds across the central United States. Notice a couple of areas by midweek actually we'll want to stay cool. That's the northwest and the northeast. And everyone else pretty much gets in on a warm pattern over the next couple days.

Around the northwest we see multiple rounds of wet weather come in even some high elevation snow showers in July -- not unheard of on the Canadian-Washington state border there come later this week. As you work your way towards the south, expect those temperatures to be very uniform -- about 31 to 33 degrees from Havana towards Belize City. Managua around 32. And Quito out towards Lima temps into the lower 20s and upper teens there.

Take care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: A search vessel has recovered all human remains found at the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804. Those remains will now be given to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Cairo for DNA analysis. The plane went down in the Mediterranean May 19th on a flight from Paris to Cairo. All 66 people on board were killed.

A Turkish ship carrying aid for Palestinians has docked in Israel. This delivery is much more than a simple gesture of good will.

Here is CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Turkish aid ship called the "Lady Leyla" docked in Ashdod Port in Israel Sunday afternoon with some 11,000 tons of supplies bound for Gaza. It's a sign of warming ties between Israel and Turkey after the two countries signed a reconciliation agreement last week normalizing relations between the countries.

The supplies on board the "Lady Leyla" filling more than 42 containers include humanitarian and medical supplies, as well as toys, according to Israel's foreign ministry.

The ship left Turkey on Friday. And the first of the supplies will cross into Gaza tomorrow, the ministry said. Israel and Turkey have had strained ties for six years now following the Israeli raid on the Turkish Gaza-bound ship, the "Mavi Marmara". Nine Turks were killed in the raid. Israel said the "Mavi Marmara" violated Israel's blockade of Gaza and Israeli commandos were attacked with knives and other weapons when they boarded the ship.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the raid in March of 2013. But the apology didn't fully thaw relations. Late last year Israeli and Turkish negotiators began meeting in secret on a reconciliation deal. The final deal signed last week included a $20 million compensation fund for the families of those killed in the "Mavi Marmara" raid.

The two countries also agreed to return ambassadors to Ankara and Tel Aviv, and to begin discussions about the possible sale of natural gas from Israel to Turkey.

Oren Liebermann -- CNN, Jerusalem.

ALLEN: Rescuers are trying to save people in northern Pakistan and India where floods have killed at least 60 people so far. At least 70 houses are destroyed or severely damaged in Pakistan. The Pakistani army is providing food, tents and medicine to those who need it. And to make things worse, more monsoon rains are expected in the days ahead.

Pedram Javaheri is here with us to talk about it. That video there -- you can see these remote regions they're trying to reach.

JAVAHERI: Yes. As remote as it comes, too. You know, it's so remote we don't have exact weather data from this region of the world to tell us exactly how much rainfall fell. We have estimations in this region. And we know about 100 to 200 is what likely occurred as far as millimeters of rainfall here.

And what is fascinating, Natalie, is Pakistan is a country on a slope. The northern portion of it, the Hindu Kush Mountains, are up to about 25,000 feet high, about 7,600 meters; the southern portion of it sea level, Karachi. So all the water wants to drain down and of course there is flooding along the way.

We'll show you exactly what really the visual depiction of this. You've seen some of these photographs. Look in the background across that region. Of course, you see the river where the water should be. You see in the foreground where the water has worked its way into. And of course, well in the background there are the mountains right across that region where the water funnels downstream.

You take a look. The closest observation point, you have to work your way into a major city -- Islamabad, 146 millimeters. That's hundreds of kilometers to its south.

But I want to take you in for a closer perspective, show you the Chitral Valley in this region. Look at this. That's an area we think 100 to 200 millimeters fell down in the valley where all the flooding occurred, where Natalie told you about the fatalities.

But these surrounding mountains, that's the problem right here because you know how much falls across this general region. But the amount of water that funnels down from this mountainside is what essentially exacerbates the problem. It doubles the rainfall amounts. It doubles the water amounts that are coming down on the ground across this region, leading to the flooding.

And you notice the progression of the monsoon. You see the white dash line takes you into northern Pakistan. That's where it is at this point. It's a little behind schedule for when it should be arriving across this region.

[00:25:01] But in India, also seen devastating flooding take place and same sort of a story in China, eastern China. This is out of Wuhan where you see the images -- really incredible images of this frontal boundary. This is the Mayu Bayu (ph) front. The ancient Chinese would tell you all about it. Direct translation for that word is the "plum rains" because hundreds of years ago they would tell you that if it began raining some time in May, it would typically continue for 40 days. That will be the time to harvest the plums that are known as the plum rains across that region. And the rainfall continues to come down across eastern China.

Now look at this, just offshore, we have not had a named tropical storm in 200 days -- that was until this Sunday. Of course, the last time we had one was Millor back on the 9th of December. So it has been a major drought in the named tropical storm department.

See this disturbance right here? You can kind of see a little circulation work its way towards Guam. That is now our next tropical storm, Nepartak. This particular storm poised to become a major typhoon in the next coming couple of days. Look at what it's progressing towards? We think some time mid- to late this week, over 200-kilometer-per-hour winds.

The threat zone could include Taipei. It could include areas around Shanghai. Of course, it could be a big story if the models continue to point it in this direction. We'll continue to watch over the next few days.

ALLEN: So, it's been quiet. It's kicking off with the major storm.

JAVAHERI: It's kicking off very quickly -- yes.

ALLEN: All right. Pedram. Thank you.

JAVAHERI: You've got it.

ALLEN: The Brexit vote left Scotch on the rocks figuratively. We'll tell you why it was a big blow for a wee distillery in the highlands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:02] ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

Here are our top stories right now. Iraqis are mourning the victims of two bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad. A suicide truck bomb plowed through a crowded shopping district in Karrada Saturday night in the deadliest attack in years.

At least 125 people were killed there. One more in a second bombing in another part of the city on Sunday.

Bangladesh is mourning the victims of the cafe terror attack in Dhaka. This is live video you're seeing. The bodies of the victims being brought in to an army stadium, and people are paying their respects there at the stadium.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deaths of 20 hostages and two police officers over Friday night and into Saturday morning. But Bangladeshi officials say the attack was carried out by home-grown militants.

Two suspected ISIS militants have been arrested at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. State media in Turkey report the men arrived from Ukraine Sunday with military items and multiple passports. The arrests come just five days after the deadly terror attacks on this very same airport.

An explosion in New York Central Park left a teenager in serious condition, Sunday. Officials think it was a fireworks experiment or a homemade explosives that had been left in the park. It went off after three young men jumped from some rocks. They were visiting New York for the July 4th holiday.

The conservative party raised to replace British Prime Minister David Cameron begins in earnest, Monday. Five candidates are campaigning for the post. But home Secretary Theresa May, shown here in the center, has emerged as a front-runner.

She campaigned for a remain vote on the Brexit referendum. Critic says the next leader should come from the leave side. The Brexit vote is creating new worries for small businesses in Scotland. It's leaving a sour taste for distillery owner who wants things to stay old-fashioned.

Here is CNN's David McKenzie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even in mid-summer, it's chilly in the hills of Pitlochry. So for centuries farmers have been tapping these springs, crafting heart-warming scotch.

ANDREW SYMINGTON, OWNER, EDRADOUR DISTILLERY: This is a huge right craft, that things starting here, you know.

MCKENZIE: Andrew Symington owns and runs Edradour, the smallest distillery in Scotland. The majority of his fine, single malt is exported to Europe. In the common market, shipping his bottles to Berlin is as easy as sending them down the street.

SYMINGTON: We understand it's better to be in, being a big small country in a big pond is much better than being outside, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stills are running, right.

SYMINGTON: It's looking good. It's looking good.

MCKENZIE: The Scots voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. But they could be forced out. Symington says it's bad for business.

SYMINGTON: The big multinationals are in a far better position to handle it. Some could move completely and keep their headquarters still in the EU.

MCKENZIE: Of course, you can only make scotch in Scotland. So Edradour isn't going anywhere. And a hassle-free access to 27 European countries is critical to their future.

SYMINGTON: And the building on the front there.

MCKENZIE: Symington was banking on stability, investing nearly $7 million in expansion plans.

SYMINGTON: Making the stands, small but (INAUDIBLE), but anything major might put a dent in that.

MCKENZIE: But he has to play the long game. Single malt mattering in bourbon, Sheri and burgundy casks for at least a decade before going to market.

SYMINGTON: So there we have it.

MCKENZIE: He is simply Edradour's custodian for the next generation.

David McKenzie, CNN, Pitlochry, Scotland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Australia is in political limbo after Saturday's federal election left no clear winner. A late swing to the opposition labor party has the Liberal National Coalition in danger of losing its majority. Exit polls showed health care and education spending were top issues among voters. Final results are not expected before Tuesday.

Let's bring in Sky News Australia reporter Nadine Blayney. She joins us from Sydney.

And Nadine, why has the country so split down the middle?

NADINE BLAYNEY, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA REPORTER: Well, I mean, it's hard to name just one issue that would split the country down the middle.

What has happened is we'll be lucky to have a result coming from this election on Tuesday. The Australian Electoral Commission hasn't even been counting ballot papers today. That will resume on Tuesday. It's potential that we won't know the outcome from this election until the end of the week, possibly the end of next week.

[00:35:00] It was a very long campaign by Australian standards. Eight weeks, in fact. And I know that doesn't compare to what we see in the United States. But it was a long, it was a drawn-out campaign. You had the incumbent liberal party talking up jobs and growth and corporate tax cuts.

And especially the final two weeks of campaigning. You had the opposition labor party really going hard on the health care program here in Australia called Medicare.

Some say they launched a Medi-Scare campaign, accusing the government of looking to privatize some portions of the health care system. All in all, though, what we're seeing in Australia is a rise of the independent party. So while we do have the labor and the liberal party, which are the two stalwart parties in Australia, we have seen a lot more independent voices getting votes, getting seats. And that has really left us in the situation where there is no clear majority government likely to be formed. Any minority government, which is a very real possibility in a hung parliament, would then have to go to some of these minority independent parties and seek their support.

So we have had Bill Shorten, who is the labor leader out speaking just a short time ago. He is in fact calling on the leader of the liberal party, the sitting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign because there was such a swing against him.

We have not yet heard from Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister today. But obviously we are keenly awaiting any word coming from him.

ALLEN: It's quite the cliff-hanger. We'll wait and see what happens. Thank you, Nadine.

Safety concerns are plaguing Rio with the Olympic Games now just one month away. You will hear from the city's mayor, coming up here, about who he blames for the terrible security situation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: We are just one month away from the 2016 Olympic Games, and it's been a long, hard road for the host city. Rio de Janeiro has been plagued with one challenge after another, including a rise in crime.

The city's mayor blames the state governor for what he calls the, quote, terrible security situation. But he tells CNN's Shasta Darlington he is confident Rio will be safe for the games.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDUARDO PAES, MAYOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO: Fortunately, it's not going to happen on the games. It's going to be the national force here, the army, the navy, everyone is going to be here. So as you know, this is not a city responsibility of Brazil. It's a state responsibility.

I think they do a terrible job on security. They do a terrible job before the games and after the games. Fortunately, they're not going to be the ones responsible for security during the games.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think you raise a valid point. There is also the question of residents. Police aren't getting paid. Crime is rising. Do you worry that your citizens, that especially the most vulnerable could be abandoned during the Olympic Games when everybody is taking care of the tourists?

[00:40:05] PAES: I'm not worried about them being abandoned on the games time. I'm worried about them being abandoned every day, on the every life. So this is the most serious issue in Rio. And the state level is doing a terrible job there. I mean, that's completely being failing and it's work of police taking care of security and state.

DARLINGTON: One of the big problems has been Zika. Athletes have been cancelling. Do you think you might be underestimating the impact that the fear over to the Zika virus is going to have on the games?

PAES: I don't think so. Actually, what's happening exactly on the contrary. People are overestimating what could happen. I mean, at this time in Rio, if you are American, please don't go to Florida. You've got more cases of Zika in Florida than what we have now in Rio.

I'm not saying there is not a problem. It is a problem that we have to face. But as we always said, especially during this time of the year, it's wintertime in Brazil, in Rio. So the weather gets better. So the spread of the mosquito, it gets better. So we don't have much case of Zika now.

DARLINGTON: I live here in Brazil. I live in Rio. I'm rooting for these Olympics to work. But it just seems like every time something can go wrong, it does. And even more, how are you going to even get people excited about these games?

PAES: These are the kind of problems that you face in the U.S. There was a kid in the lake in Disneyland and Disney World, and then the crocodile comes up, eats the kid, you know.

I mean, there is a crazy guy, that American guy that goes into a gay disco and shoots, I don't know, 40 people. I mean, problems happens everywhere. Obviously, when you become Olympic city, these problems, you know, they rise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: The mayor of Rio there with CNN's Shasta Darlington, staying confident. We hope they go well. The opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games will be held Friday, August 5th, whether Rio is ready or not.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. "World Sport" is up next. And I'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. You're watching CNN.

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(CNN WORLD SPORT)