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Germany to Announce New Security Measures; Trump and Clinton Exchange Barbs over Controversies; Olympic Athletes Speak Out about Doping; Syria Cease Fire for Humanitarian Aid; Turkish President Issues Ultimatum over Exiled Cleric; Julian Assange Facing Questions from Swedish Prosecutors; Iraqis Protest Government over Hospital Fire. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 11, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Cracking down. German gets set to announce top new security measures after a string of recent attacks.
On the offensive, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton exchange barbs over each other's growing controversies.
And taking a stand, athletes from across the world speak out against doping at the summer games, leaving some wonder if there's a new cold war.
Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Well, no letup in the furor over Donald Trump's remarks to gun rights activists. Critics say he was inciting violence against his democratic rival. Trump insists he was only trying to rally the gun lobby.
But as Jim Acosta reports, strategists think it means more ammunition for democrats.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Offering no apologies for his super-heated rhetoric, Donald Trump tried to make the case that it's Hillary Clinton who just can't get the words right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She said it was a mistake, that she's going to raise taxes in the middle class. You saw that one? No, maybe she misspoke. I mean, we have to give them a break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: One day after the GOP nominee said Second Amendment activists could do something if Hillary Clinton were elected. Trump is pushing back on any notion that he was inciting violence this jaw dropping comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By the way, if she gets to pick...
(CROWD BOOING)
... if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now Trump and his backers are scrambling to contain the fallout. Trump insists he was merely touting the power of Second Amendment supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There will be no other interpretation. Even reporters have told me. I mean, give me a break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: House Speaker Ryan thought Trump was kidding, but added this is no laughing matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It sounds like this is a joke gone bad. I hope he clears it out very quickly. You should never joke about something like that.
TRUMP: Blood coming out of her wherever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But GOP strategists feel Trump Second Amendment will soon find its way into another Clinton campaign ad, using the GOP contender's words against him.
Clinton was already looking to take advantage of the remark during a campaign stop today in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yesterday, we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that cross the line. His casual cruelty to a Gold Star family, his casual suggestion that more countries should have nuclear weapons, and now his casual inciting of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: At this rally in Florida, Trump did address the controversy created by his comments on Second Amendment supporters. He called the media coverage, quote, "disgusting." In response to that, the crowd chanted, "lock them up," "them" as in the media.
Jim Acosta, Sunrise, Florida. CHURCH: Dan Rather is a veteran American reporter who has covered many presidential campaigns over the decades. He's been outspoken online about the Trump campaign and he says it's unlike any other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RATHER, AXS TV'S THE BIG INTERVIEW SHOW HOST: It's important that people understand, this is not only not normal for an American presidential campaign. This is unprecedented.
Nowhere in the modern campaigning for the presidency or for that matter anywhere in our history have we had a campaign and a particular candidate say anything close to what Donald Trump suggested in his statement about 48 hours ago.
And to believe that, well, he didn't know what he was saying or that he was joking, I think most people, whether they're Trump supporters or Clinton supporters or don't know what they are at the moment would recognize it for what it was. And that was very dangerous talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Dan Rather speaking there to us a little earlier. And while Donald Trump was on the campaign trail, a man scaled the New York tower that bears his name. He used giant suction cups to climb the building's glass surface.
Now, it took emergency crews almost three hours to stop him. Police hauled him inside on the 21st floor. The climber told them he wanted to meet Donald Trump. He's been taken to the hospital for a psychological evaluation and could face several charges.
We turn to Aleppo in Syria now. A Russian general says the cessation of hostilities will start at this hour to allow food and medicine into the city. It's not clear if it will be observed by all sides.
The general says a three-hour humanitarian window will take place daily, but the U.N. says that's not long enough to stop a horrific humanitarian tragedy.
[03:05:06] The U.N. wants a weekly ceasefire of 48 hours. Earlier, CNN spoke with an aid worker and activist who was recently in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAIDOUN AL-ZOABI, UNION OF SYRIAN MEDICAL RELIEF ORGANISATIONS HEAD We are talking about now eastern Aleppo with 250,000 people deprived of all sorts of medical supplies, food, no water, no electricity. You are talking about 250,000 people who are just facing death, slow death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the U.N. says over two million people have no electricity or water in Aleppo, which used to be Syria's economic powerhouse. The Syrian government is intensifying the battle for the key city after rebels broke regime siege over the weekend. Our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has the details
now.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Salvo after salvo. They fire at an enemy only yards away. A massive assault eventually breaking the Syrian regime siege of eastern Aleppo. Deemed all but impossible only a few days ago.
"Put your hand from here," a fighter instructs a comrade. CNN has exclusively obtained this footage from the front line. In a rare, unified moment, rebels from both moderate and Islamist groups attacked Syrian army possessions.
Pushing both from inside the besiege part of the city and from rebel- held territory to the west, they overwhelm regime's defenses.
Opposition activist say up to 700,000 fighters were involved. The lead group formerly under Al-Qaeda's command. They released this drone video showing the extent and the intensity of the battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): The importance of this had battle is we broke the siege. They had us in their siege and now we have them in their siege and have cut off their supply line, thank God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Rather than a rag tag band of rebels, this appears to be a disciplined fighting force. Resting and regrouping near the front line and then chanting "our prophet Muhammad, our commander forever" as they march into battle.
Video from inside eastern Aleppo showed civilians cheering the end of the siege. The president tells CNN many see the hard line Islamist groups as heroes braving pro-government forces and rushing air power to come to the aid of 330,000 trapped people.
But the U.N. warns with still no guarantee of humanitarian access, both regime and rebel-held Aleppo may suffer from even more severe shortages than in the past.
After their unlikely victory, breaking the Aleppo siege, these rebels now say they will take back all of the city. But the Syrian regime and its allies are hitting back hard, both sides desperate to win Syria's largest city, but threatening to crush it in the process.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
CHURCH: Libyan forces are making gains on ISIS. Pro-government troops say they have captured a key building. The terror group used as its headquarters in Sirte. The U.S. started dropping bombs on targets in the coastal city earlier this month.
The head of the CIA says the presence of ISIS in Libya is especially worrying because of its proximity to Europe. Australia has a new Olympic hero. Eighteen-old swimmer Kyle Chalmers.
He won gold in the men's 100-meter freestyle Wednesday beating defending Olympic champion American Nathan Adrian. Chalmers is the youngest Australian to win swimming gold since Ian Thorpe in 2000.
And Japan's Kohei Uchimura is the gold medal winner in men's all- around gymnastics. He is the first man since 1972 to take the title in back to back games.
Well, CNN's World Sports Christina Macfarlane joins us now live from Rio with more on all of this. So, Christina, another exciting day in Rio. But the tension between U.S. swimmer Lilly King and Russia's Yulia Efimova is over. What happened?
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. That's right, Rosemary. These two were meant to go head to head in the 200-meter breaststroke today. It was being billed as the cold war in the water.
Lily King of course, famously wagging her finger at Yulia Efimova after beating her in the 100-meter breaststroke just yesterday, and then speaking out against her doping past. She's obviously been banned twice for doping offenses in recent years.
[03:10:02] And this evening, while it was Efimova who went through to the final and Lilly King crashed out. She finished seventh. So, that rivalry may be over. But I tell you the story line is not.
It's been about a week now since the IOC decided to allow 271 athletes, Russian athletes to compete here in Rio. But Lilly King has become something of a spokesperson in the process for clean sport after comments about doping and her kind of -- her words about Efimova and how she didn't think it was right that she should be allowed to compete here.
And that seems to struck a chord here. We've actually for the first time in Olympic history seen other athletes now coming out with a confidence to speak out about their feeling over the doping issue.
But I think it's important to remember the Russian opinion in all of this. And earlier tonight, I was down at the athlete's village and I was speaking to a couple of Russian journalists and they told me that they were shocked by the fact that the athletes are now turning on each other over this doping issue.
And one, in particular, told me that she had spoken to Efimova and she had told her that she had been having trouble sleeping for the past few weeks, certainly in the last few days because of this doping drama.
So, it will be interesting to see, Rosemary, if the Russian athletes now begin to talk back and to have their opinion and push back on the booing that they've been subjected to over the past few days and now the comments from their fellow athletes.
CHURCH: Yes, it has certainly been really dramatic, hasn't it?
And American swimmer Katie Ledecky she wins her third gold and fourth medal of the games. How did that all play out?
MACFARLANE: It's absolutely extraordinary, isn't it? So, Lilly King may not be through, but Katie Ledecky, once again, fourth medal of the game and her third gold as you say. It came in the 4 by 200-meter freestyle relay earlier tonight.
And it's interesting, Rosemary, because Ledecky was actually the last to go in the relay and before she got in the pool, the U.S. were actually behind by about a second. And when Ledecky got in, and the anchor leg of that relay, she pulled them ahead to win the race by two seconds.
That is how talented this lady is. And she'll have one more chance to go for one more gold and it will be a big one because it's the 800- meter freestyle left for her.
And that is the one that, remember, back in 2012 she won as a 15-year- old. So she'll be looking to defend her title, gold medal number four. I wouldn't put it past her.
CHURCH: Yes. So impressive. And Japan's Kohei Uchimura we mentioned proved he was key of gymnastics and you actually got to watch that, didn't you? How was that?
MACFARLANE: I absolutely did. I managed to get away from the live position and I was in there for that final showdown. And it quite dramatic because it wasn't a complete walkover by the -- you know, one of the undisputed greatest gymnasts of his era.
It came very close to his rival Ukrainian, Oleg Verniaiev. In fact, it came down to the very last event between the two and that is when Uchimura pulled it out of the box bag on the high bar. He scored a 15.8, which is extremely high, to seal the win.
And fondly enough, sitting in the stands was his support crew and his mother who apparently fainted when she saw that he had managed to overtake his rival, Verniaiev. And afterwards, Verniaiev actually mentioned that Uchimura was like the Michael Phelps of the gymnastics world.
I guess Uchimura with three golds, Michael Phelps with 21, but I can kind of see his point.
CHURCH: All right. And just very quickly. Brazil found its form in football finally, how was that all received?
MACFARLANE: Oh, with absolute relief in Brazil I think. Remember, this is the team who two years ago crashed out of the semifinals 7-1 to Germany in the World Cup.
So, this Olympics was all about redemption, it was about going for that Olympic gold medal and they got off to a pretty bad start to nil- all draws against various weak beside.
South Africa, Iraq, kind of embarrassing especially when you remember they've got one of the world's greatest footballers in their in the form of Neymar.
However, tonight, they went through they defeated Denmark 4-nil, so they'll go through to the quarter finals and as I say, all of Brazil's sigh of relief that that gold medal is still on the cards potentially.
CHURCH: Most definitely. Christina Macfarlane, always a pleasure to speak with you. Joining us there live from Rio. Many thanks.
And let's take a look at the medal count. The U.S. leads with 11 gold. China has 10. Japan, 6. Australia and Hungary have 5 a piece. And Russia moves into sixth place with four gold. The U.S. still leads the overall medal count with 32. How about that.
Well, Thursday will be a busy day in the pool for American Michael Phelps. He will compete for his 22nd gold medal in the 200-meter individual medal. Two dozen women will take part in the medal round of the artistic gymnastics all-around competition.
[03:15:05] And the first round of Olympics golf begins featuring Americans Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler.
And coming up, the Philippine President insults the U.S. ambassador to his country. How Washington is reacting to that.
And take a look at this incredible blaze. It's been raging since Monday. More on the wildfires in Portugal that no one has been able to contain.
And it seems people just can't keep their hands off Donald Trump's yard signs. Just ahead, the extreme things people are doing to hold on to Donald.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know the saying some things never change. That is really the pattern across parts of the State of Florida. The Panhandle region of Florida. The weather pattern has not changed for about a week's time across this region.
There's a disturbance right there locked in across parts of the Panhandle region that's produced very heavy rainfall. About 200 to 300 millimeters in a few spots have already come down. The flood watches remain in place.
And you notice the models do want to highlight the heaviest rainfall further towards the west now, New Orleans, towards Shreveport, on to Dallas, Texas, where temperatures finally will want to cool off across that region with rainfall coming in.
And to the area it's not going that much around the northeastern U.S., Manchester, New Hampshire, Boston, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut, all of these cities going to see some toasty weather, 32 degrees, that looks like the predominant temperature turning across the eastern seaboard of the U.S.
But you factor in the humidity, of course, you will feel closer to 35, maybe 36 degrees and a few spots across that region.
How about around Chihuahua, like in the 30 degrees. Thunderstorms possible across the entire region. Working your way to the east, Havana, Cuba also should be in the lower 30s there. And of course the big story has been the poor conditions in the weather world out of Rio.
Some thunderstorms over the past several hours. Delaying some evens and some activities. Can you imagine trying to cycle through gusty winds and wet with weather full of storm system. It cruises out of the area but still looking at some windy conditions in the forecast for Thursday's events across this region.
CHURCH: The Turkish President is giving the U.S. an ultimatum to extradite a Muslim cleric. Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames cleric Fethullah Gulen for inciting a failed coup attempt last month. Gulen denies any involvement.
But Turkey says it has officially requested his extradition. At one of the pro-government rallies across the country on Wednesday, Erdogan attacked Fethullah supporters who he accuses of belonging to the Fethullah terror organization or FETO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:20:02] RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): Sooner or later, the United States will make a choice, either Turkey or FETO. They will either choose the terrorist FETO or Turkey, the democratic country. They need to make a choice. We sent 85 boxes of files.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Turkish military, meanwhile, has launched air strikes in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Worker's Party or PKK. The Turkish government officials are blaming the group for recent attacks in southern Turkey, including two separate bombings that killed at least eight people on Wednesday.
The PKK wants greater autonomy in the Kurdish region. The U.S., Turkey and the E.U. consider the PKK a terrorist group.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could face questions from Swedish prosecutors in the coming weeks. Ecuador says it sent a note to Sweden saying its willing to set a date for an interrogation at its embassy in London. That's where Assange has been hold up since 2012 when Ecuador granted him asylum.
Sweden wants to question Assange about sexual assault allegations. But he says he fears United States may try to extradite him if he goes to Sweden. He denies any wrongdoing.
Well, Iraqis are venting their fury at the government after a fire with a hospital in Baghdad killed at least 11 newborn babies. Some are calling for the resignation of the country's health minister.
Senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon tells us what caused the deadly fire and why people are blaming the government.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was not brought on by violence. These were not lives, some just hours-old lost to a senseless attack.
Shaima Hussein should have been leaving the hospital cradling her newborn, instead she's clutching papers in utter shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAIMA HUSSEIN, MOTHER (TRANSLATED): My son's birth was difficult. I left him and I came with milk powder for him and then this happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: A fire broke out on Yarmouk maternity ward around 2 a.m. Wednesday. A security source was at the scene says it was sparked by an electrical short to one of the air-conditioning units in the pre- term birth room. The oxygen going into the incubators fuel the fire.
Firefighters stationed nearby arrived on scene within 10 minutes, but there are no emergency exits, no evacuation plans. Firefighters had to push through human wave of fear and pandemonium to reach the fire at the back of the hospital.
It took an hour to put out the blaze. Parents wait, desperately hoping that perhaps their newborns were among those saved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN OMAR, FATHER OF MISSING TWINS (TRANSLATED): Where are my twin babies, a baby girl and a baby boy. I don't know whether they are still alive or not. We were told that the seven babies were rescued and transferred to Iskan (Ph) Hospital. We went to the other hospital but we couldn't find them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: Along with the personal sorrow, there is rage. Electrical fires are common here. Buildings are antiquated. Wiring, shady. And none of the government pledges to refurbish infrastructure have materialized.
"At Yarmouk Hospital fire negligence, incompetence, and corruption," one tweet reads. And another states, "Stealing money was not must have. Now, they are stealing souls."
Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
CHURCH: Well, Moscow is accusing Ukraine of orchestrating attacks against Russian forces in Crimea. Russia annexed the region two years ago through a controversial referendum. Now, Russia's intelligence agency claims it foiled a series of arm raids.
Task news reports that authorities found explosives in Ukrainian army weapons as they tried to detain suspects. Vladimir Putin blamed Kiev for escalating tensions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): I think it is obvious for everyone now that the current Kiev authorities are not seeking a way to solve the problems through talks, but choose terror. This is concerning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Office of Ukraine's President released a statement calling the allegation a pretext for Moscow to carry out more military threats against his country.
Well, the Philippines say it remains committed to ensuring strong diplomatic relations with the U.S. The statement comes after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte insulted the U.S. Ambassador to his country.
Our Elise Labott has the details. And we have to warn you her report contains the offensive and profane language used by Duterte.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte under fire for using a homophobic slur against the U.S. Ambassador.
[03:24:59] In televised remarks to the country's troops, Duterte recounted a fight he had with Secretary of State John Kerry over Ambassador Phillip Goldberg during Kerry's visit to Manila last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): I told him your ambassador is a gay son of a bitch. I was annoyed at him for interfering in the elections, giving statements here and there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: The State Department treating carefully with a key U.S. ally summoned Manila's eenvoy to to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what we're seeking is perhaps a better understanding of why that statement was made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: Duterte accused Goldberg, one of the State Department's most senior diplomats of meddling in his country's elections, criticizing this joke Duterte made when he was a mayor about the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUTERTE (TRANSLATED) : I was angry she was raped, yes. That was one thing. But she was so beautiful. I think the mayor should have been first.
PHILIP GOLDBERG, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE PHILIPPINES: Statements by anyone, anywhere, that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder are not ones that we condone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LABOTT: Duterte's inflammatory language has earned him the nickname Donald Trump of the east by the international media from The Washington Post to the Guardian. He once cursed Pope Francis over the traffic caused by the span of visit to Manila and said he didn't care about human rights, calling on police to kill drug dealers and other criminals who resist arrest.
And in his same remarks about Ambassador Goldberg, President Duterte called Secretary of State Kerry crazy for giving the Philippines a $33 million aid package despite his homophobic slur, joking that maybe he should continue to offend the U.S. more often.
Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department.
CHURCH: It was supposed to be a drill, but turned into a real, live tragedy. A 73-year-old woman is dead after she was accidentally shot and killed during a citizen academy exercise in Florida.
Mary Knowlton was participating in an active shooter scenario when an officer mistakenly shot her with a live round. All of this happening in had front of more than 30 others civilian participants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM LEWIS, PUNTA GORDA POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: We were unaware that any live ammunition for this particular weapon existed. We believe that the particular caliber of the weapon used that they were only blank rounds available to the officer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is underway. And grief counseling has been offered for those who witnessed the shooting.
Well, Germany is taking action after attacks left the city on edge. Details ahead on the new security measures the country is set to announce a few hours from now.
And with the release of more e-mails, there are more questions about the Clinton Foundation ties with the U.S. Department. A closer look, that's still to come.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you on the main stories we're following this hour. U.S. democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is accusing
Donald Trump of, quote, "casual inciting of violence." On Tuesday, the republican nominee suggested gun rights supporters could do something to stop Clinton from appointing Supreme Court justices. Critics slammed the remark as a veiled threat.
A Russian general says the cessation of hostilities will begin this hour in Aleppo, Syria, but it's not clear if it will be observed by all sides. The general says the three-hour humanitarian window will happen daily.
Still, the U.N. says, that's not long enough to stop a horrific humanitarian tragedy as is calling for a weekly ceasefire of 48 hours.
Canadian authorities say they have thwarted a potential terrorist threat. CTV and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report that a suspect was killed Wednesday in a confrontation with police. That man was an ISIS supporter who was arrested in 2015.
Well, Germany is looking to rid its country of ISIS. In a couple of hours, we expect Germany's Interior Minister to lay out new security measures after recent terror attacks.
Police raided homes and businesses in western and central Germany on Wednesday. The raid spans five cities and targeted three people suspected of having ties to ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRAUKE KOEHLER, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE SPOKESWOMAN (TRANSLATED): The three suspects belong to a Salafist theme. They are suspected of teaching religion and behavior to people willing to go abroad.
More specifically, Salafist Jihadist teachings in order to encourage them in this way to join the so-called Islamic state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Germany is a big recruiting ground for ISIS, according to experts at the Suvan group more than 800 Germans have travelled to Syria to join the terror group. Almost a third of them are believed to have returned to Germany.
Well, there were four attacks in Germany last month alone. First, a man went on a stabbing rampage on a commuter train near Wurzburg wounding five people. A few days later, a gunman with mental issues killed nine people at a mall in Munich.
On the 23th, a man blew himself up outside a festival in Ansbach. And that same day, a Syrian man fatally stabbed a pregnant woman near Stuttgart.
Well, Matthew Karnitschnig is Politico's chief Europe correspondent. He joins me now via Skype from Crete in Greece. Thank you so much for being with us. So, Germany is set to propose these new tough security measures in the
wake of these recent attacks in the country. Just hour far reaching will these measures likely be and what impact will it likely have on terror attacks going forward in Germany?
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, POLITICO CHIEF EUROPE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's the big question right now. What we've heard so far is they want to do things like hiring more police, they want to make it easier for doctors either psychologists, psychiatrists do reports especially terrorist because Germany had very strict confidentiality laws in terms of doctor privacy on patient privacy.
[03:35:11] So, you're going to see that kind of thing. You're also hearing reports about a possible Burka ban. You know, these are more symbolic measures. And I think this is a lot of what the government is trying to do is to reassure the population that is responding to these attacks that it is taking these threats seriously, and it's doing everything it can.
The problem would be to find a way to introduce stricter measures at our also allowed by the German Constitution and when you get into religious issues you very quickly run up against with the freedom of religion and possibly overstepping those bounds in banning certain religious practices, for example.
So, there's going to a lot of debate about this in Germany. There are already this debate and we'll see what proposals the interior minister presents this afternoon. But this is by no means a sort of done deal. And it is far from the kinds of steps that we've seen in other countries, including the United States.
If you look at the Patriot Act and things like this, so far, Germany has been fairly lucky in that these attacks that has suffered have been fairly mild in comparison to France and Belgium.
CHURCH: And of course, the focus clearly needs to on be on fighting terrorism. No one would dispute that. But should there be more attention pay perhaps to fighting the root of terrorism as well?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, this is often brought up in the political debate in Germany where all the parties agree. Yes, they need to get to the root cause of terrorism but that would mean engaging war in Syria and nobody wants to do that. And that is really the dilemma that they face, is that they really have their hands tied in regards to going into Syria.
Nobody wants to become more active there. They don't want to send more airplanes or, you know, let alone troops and have some of a kind ground presence there.
So, it really isn't clear what they can do when they talk about rooting out the causes of the terrorists. And one thing that is really making people nervous in Germany is obviously the fact that they brought in so many refugees over the past year.
Even though these attacks that we've seen in recent weeks where refugees who arrived in that recent wave there were people who lived either have grown up here or who had -- who had come several years ago. But for obvious reasons, there's a lot of unease about what lies ahead in that regard.
And this week they also arrested as you mentioned in the run up, a suspected terrorist who police believed was finally attacking, and he was in fact a Syrian refugee who is believed to have thoughts with ISIS.
CHURCH: And, of course, not all attacks are terror related. Mental health issues have a role to play and, of course, those troubled individuals are particularly vulnerable to the messages put out by terror groups.
How much attention needs to be placed on that challenge?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, the Germans have been fairly active in this area, in fact, in trying to go into schools and communities and find out, you know, who is -- who is the risk and also in trying to get to those youth in mosques and in other places where they sense that they could be heading to Syria or they could be susceptible to these radical messages.
So, I think that they're doing what they can, but they are going to need to devote a lot more resources and it's a very difficult task. Because if you look at the Munich attack which wasn't an Islamic attack per se, in fact, the shooter in that incident was more of a right wing racist.
But, you know, they didn't see that coming. And it's very difficult to detect every attack. And as we saw in that instance, the assumption was immediately that it as a terror attack. And it shut the entire city down for a better part (Ph) of two days.
CHURCH: All right. Matthew Karnitschnig, thank you so much for speaking with us.
A new release of e-mails is renewing attention on the ties between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department.
Jeff Zeleny reports on an issue that's dogged Clinton's campaign for months.
[03:40:03] JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Old e- mails causing new trouble tonight for Hillary Clinton. As she campaigns in Iowa, a new batch of messages from her time as Secretary of State is racing fresh questions about the influence and access donors to the Clinton family charitable foundation had on the State Department.
The e-mails released Tuesday after conservative watch dog group, Judicial Watch filed suit. It's adding new fuel to a controversy hanging over her campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know people have raised questions about my e-mail use as Secretary of State. And I understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: In one change, a longtime aide to President Clinton, Doug band lobbied Secretary Clinton's aides to find a job at the State Department for someone who was important to take care of.
The name of the person Band is trying to help is redacted. He made the request to Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, two top Hillary Clinton aides who remain among her closest advisers. Abedin reassures personnel, Band personnel has been sending him options.
There is no indication he was a donor. It's the latest chapter in a long saga over the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails, particularly her decision to use a private server as Secretary of State. The FBI did not file charges, but it's taken a toll on her credibility.
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CLINTON: And I want to be as transparent as possible.
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ZELENY: In another e-mail, Band tries to connect a Clinton Foundation donor a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire with the State Department's substance person on Lebanon. "As you know, he's a key guy there and to us, his love in Lebanon very important," Band wrote.
Donald Trump is seizing on the disclosure. Calling it an example of cozy and corrupt relationship between Clinton donors and the State Department.
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TRUMP: It's called pay for play. And of these were really, really bad and illegal.
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ZELENY: A Clinton campaign spokesman brushed aside the criticism saying "Hillary Clinton never took action as Secretary of State because of donations to the Clinton Foundation."
And Hillary Clinton is doing extensive outreach to republicans including writing an op-ed in the Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper, reaching out to Mormons there, saying that she represents their values more than Donald Trump.
It is part of her extended campaign to reach out to republican voters here in our campaign against Trump. She'd be coming to Michigan to deliver an economic address on Thursday. Again, campaigning where Donald Trump did earlier this week making the case against him with three months before the election. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Detroit.
CHURCH: And you can keep up with all the developments on this political campaign at cnn.com/politics.
Winning Olympic gold is making more athletes feel compelled to speak about doping. Just ahead, we will hear what Americans Michael Phelps and Conor Dwyer have to say about it.
And crews are desperately trying to contain deadly wild fires in Portugal. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more when CNN Newsroom continues. Back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Crews are desperately working to contain dozens of wildfires in Portugal. Four people have died since they ignited earlier this week.
The Tourist Island of Madeira is particularly hard hit. More than 1,000 residents had to leave their homes as flames ripped through whole neighborhoods. Dozens of homes and a five-star hotel have been destroyed. August is peak wildfire season in Portugal.
And joining us now is our meteorologist Derek Van Dam with more details on just how this all began. What sort of it at the?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's technically we need three different ingredients for wildfires like this to continue to spread. We need oxygen and that's being fueled by strong winds. We need hot temperatures. We've had daytime highs soar into the upper 30s or lower 90s in terms of Fahrenheit, and we also need low relative humidity as well.
Take a look at this and we'll try and give a better perspective on what's actually happening here. But you can get the depth of how large these fires are because, well, the smoke continues to billow across the horizon and NASA has a really spiffy way of detecting these hot spots across the world.
In fact, you can individually see the spot fires just north of the Lisbon area then as we head to Madeira, the little tiny island just off of Portugal, also a very mountainous part of the world. Think about this as a very similar climate to that of Southern California.
Winds come off of the mountains, heat up as they do so and also speed up helping fuel the flames. Look at this. The flames have so large you can actually see it from space. One of NASA's satellites as well that they are drifting off the Portugal Coast.
And as we head into Madeira, the smoke starting to drift across the Atlantic Ocean as well. So, what is taking place? And is there relief in sight? Well, here's the hot temperatures.
Lisbon, 34 degrees. But look at the drastic change in temperatures across the Madeira area, actually daytime highs have leveled off below normal for that region because a cold front has swept through and there is some relief in sight at least for the majority of mainland Portugal within the near future.
We have to wait a few days, but Madeira already experiencing lighter winds, lower temperatures and more relative humidity.
Here's Lisbon's three -- seven-day forecast as you say. And the relief coming in at least by the end of the weekend. so, some good news there. Other big story we're watching, of course, Rio, the big-time 31st Olympiad taking place right now.
I've been to Copacabana. If you haven't been there do yourself a favor, check it out. It's a fantastic place to be. The weather obviously playing a factor lately. Windy conditions will be the main story heading into the day on Thursday.
We're just coming up on 5 a.m., local time in Rio de Janeiro and the winds are really going to pump, so that's going to impact perhaps the rowing once again.
Good is, no rain in the forecast for today, but that could change as we head into Friday. Look at our high risk imagery there. Some of those light shades of blue working in their way by Friday. And, well, the tennis matches were all but canceled because of rain a couple of days ago. Maybe that will happen again this weekend.
CHURCH: Yes. They've had some problems with the wind, with the rain. Hopefully it will be nice for this next Tuesday.
(CROSSTALK)
DAM: They have. Don't blame the messenger, OK, Rosie?
CHURCH: We won't do that. Thanks so much, Derek. I appreciate it.
Well, American swimmer Lilly King says she's proud to be the poster child for clean sports. King won't be competing for gold in the women's 200-meter breaststroke race on Thursday, but her Russian rival Yulia Efimova will. This spot is prompting more athletes to speak out against doping.
CNN's Don Riddell reports.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: It takes sacrifice and determination to make an Olympic champion but it takes courage and leadership to become a role model.
At the age of just 19, American swimmer Lilly King has achieved both here in Rio taking a stand against her Russian rival in the pool and all drug cheats saying it just proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top.
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MARK KING, LILLY KING'S FATHER: Hopefully this will create momentum with the governing bodies, with FINA, with, you know, of course the governing body of swimming. Hoping this can give them some momentum to push a little harder to do it right.
RUTA MEILUTYTE, LITHUNIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMER: I think it was very brave of Lilly. You know, just after she became a champion to speak out and be brave to show her opinion and she, I think, she said what we all think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: It all started when King's Russian rival, Yulia Efimova declared herself the number one after winning in the semis.
[03:50:03] Among other things, the Russian was caught doping in 2013 and was banned for 16 months. But King beat her to the gold medal saying "You wave your finger number one and you've been caught drug cheating? I'm not a fan."
Neither, it seems, is the Olympics' most decorated athlete, Michael Phelps who voiced his support. And after the revelation of a state- sponsored doping program, Russian athletes have been cast as the chief villains of the games rekindling sentiments of the Cold War.
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SVETLANA KHORKINA, FORMER RUSSIAN OLYMPIC GYMNAST (TRANSLATED): No, it's not war. It's an attempt to mix politics and sport, but I wouldn't want to do that because the international sporting tent was an idea of a nice little island where everybody was friends, talked made peace. We, and Russia have a strong state. Strong sportsmen and it seems that disturbs someone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: But it's not just the Russians and it's not just the Americans taking a stand. Australian gold medalist Mack Horton clashed with his Chinese rival, Sun Yang, found to be taking prescribed heart medication which was on the banned list but no longer is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KITTY CHILLER, AUSTRALIA CHEF DE MISSION: Won't be apologizing, the Australians, we won't be apologizing, and the Australian Olympic Committee won't be apologizing. Mack, as I just said, had every right to express that opinion. He has strong opinions on the need for clean sport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Athletes used to assume that their governing bodies would protect them from cheats but that confidence has been eroded because of flawed tests, inconsistent punishments and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM NELSON, 2004 SHOT PUT GOLD MEDALIST: Athletes have to come together and say this is what we demand, this is where we're going to go with it and you guys, IOC and WADA need to follow us for a change. CONOR DWYER, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: People are starting to speak up
about it and some of the people I have raced against have failed tests and that stinks to be racing people that have failed a test before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: There are many questions that need to be answered after these Olympics. Rules and policies that need to be addressed. The athletes say they've been too quiet for too long but they're learning fast and they're not prepared to let it lie.
Don Riddell, CNN, Rio.
CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. Still to come, caught on camera. People swiping Donald Trump's yard signs in drive-by's and even jog-by's. That story still to come. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: Well Donald Trump may be lagging behind his political rival, Hillary Clinton, in recent polls, but he is leading in the number of people stealing his yard signs.
Jeanne Moos shows us how they're getting caught red handed.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are looking at perhaps the most endangered species of yard sign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four signs I had up with Donald Trump was missing.
MOOS: They tend to be drive-by's, someone makes a beeline for the Trump sign, grabs it then jumps in a getaway car. And check out this dainty thief. The most recent theft involved a runner in Hillsdale, New Jersey. She jogged past the house, waited for a car to leave then came back, picked up the sign and took off.
When the video went public, she turned herself in but the sign owner declined to press charges.
[03:55:01] Meanwhile, the neighbor's Trump sign was plucked by a masked woman. It could be worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Respect my opinion to vote for who I want to.
MOOS: This artist created a giant T for a yard in Staten Island. In the middle of the night, someone set it on fire. The Donald, himself, called to commiserate. What's an artist to do? Rebuild.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be huge.
MOOS: This house in Indianapolis lost a dozen Trump signs in three weeks. We found very few Hillary signs reported stolen. Either her supporters aren't posting them or they're being left alone.
In Haverhill, Massachusetts, one of Richard Earle's sign was spray painted, never, over Trump. He had nine signs ripped out and tossed in the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to take them down. The signs are staying up.
MOOS: Some bipartisan tips for protecting your yard signs, a Pennsylvania man slathers roofing tar on the edges. Hard to get off and easy to spread to clothing and car.
Another person went and bought a giant jar of Vick's VapoRub and smeared it over every inch of the sign. When Hillary for prison signs disappeared out in the Hamptons, the owner reinstalled them on 12-foot poles with surveillance cameras and electric fencing. It may not be easy to steal an election, but an election sign?
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Where are they putting all those signs? I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for your company. The news continues on CNN. You have a great day.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
