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Shimon Peres Lies in State in Israel; U.S. Sending More Troops to Iraq; Congress Overrides Obama's Veto on 9/11 Families Bill; Clinton Super Surrogates Our on the Trail; Trump Bashes Former Miss Universe. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 29, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:09] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. A third hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
SESAY: Israelis are getting ready to pay their respects to former leader, Shimon Peres. The gates at Knesset are opening to the public. His body will lie in state before his funeral on Friday.
VAUSE: Moments ago, Israeli leaders laid wreaths at Peres' coffin. He died on Wednesday at the age of 93 two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. He is one of Israel's founding fathers, dedicated a half century to public service.
Oren Liebermann is at the Knesset and joins us live.
Oren, walk us through. How will this all proceed in the coming hours?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, members of Knesset are here paying respects around the casket of Shimon Peres, laying wreaths from the family and a number of organizations, including the military, the court system, all different ways of paying respect. Just moments ago was the beginning of the wreathe-laying ceremony. That's when Netanyahu, the speaker of the Knesset and the speaker of the parliament and head of the opposition paid their final respects. Moments before that, after Shimon Peres concluded his trip from Tel Aviv to in Jerusalem, here in the Knesset, the casket was brought out, led by the military rabbi, held by eight soldiers who placed on the pedestal behind me, saluted the casket and went back in the Knesset. That's the beginning of the Israeli leaders paying their respects to Peres.
In a few moments, these doors will open. The gates of the Knesset will open and thousands of members of the public will pay their respect. That will be the focus of today. The gates will be open from 9:00 in the morning local time until 9:00 at night, perhaps later, if the queues are that long, and they may well be because of how much he meant to this country and its people -- John and Isha?
VAUSE: Oren, I guess the question will be how many will turn out today, how long they will stay, how long they are allowed. I'm assuming it will be a continual procession of people as they make their way past the coffin. Also on this day, essentially how is Shimon Peres being remembered now the shock of his passing has passed. How are people looking back at his time?
LIEBERMANN: There's so much to remember. More than a half century in public service and holding virtually every position multiple times in the government, Virtually every other major and most minor roles in the government.
He's remembered as the man that held the torch of peace and carried it forward regardless of how many obstacles or how much the peace process stagnated. That's his legacy. He's taken the mantle on and carried it forward. He said he hoped someone else would carry it forward.
His position evolved from the beginning of his career to the end. He was a hawk when he started years ago. He was pro settlements. He evolved after decades in public service. His position evolved believing the only way to move Israel forward and the best result was a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That's his legacy and what the messages we saw, not only from Israelis but around the world, that's what they focused on.
I will talk about the most famous Israeli writer eulogized him in the paper and said, "Many mocked Pares and compared him to Joseph from the Bible who was a dreamer, from the book of Genesis, a dreamer." He pointed out the significance of that. Joseph brought its people out of one of the darkest times. Yes, he was a dreamer but it was a good thing, and he said it was a good thing for Shimon Peres who believed in the positive, and more often than not able to make it happen. He was mocked. He was a dreamer, a visionary, but they are good things. He believed in hope, trust, he believed in a better world at all times.
[02:05:25] SESAY: As you were speaking there we could see the gates have opened and members of the public have started to arrive. As we have been reporting, the first members of the public will be about to pay their respects to Shimon Peres. This could go on for quite sometime.
We will leave it there for now. Oren, we will check in with you later on. Thank you.
SESAY: The crowds are gathering in expectation as there will be a lot of people.
VAUSE: This is the thing. It will be interesting to see how many people turn out. A lot of people will. How the narrative will change, the shock of the death and then people, if my experience in Israel -- there's this sort of outpouring of emotion, favorable and maybe some question, some critical view of his place in history but that is yet to come.
SESAY: It will be interesting. The question when you ask scholars about his legacy, they say it depends who you speak to.
VAUSE: It is mixed.
SESAY: Very mixed.
Other news, the U.S. will send 600 more troops to Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS. Both governments agreed on the efforts to retake Mosul from the terror group. The additional U.S. troops would help to train and advise, but they will not have a combat role.
VAUSE: President Obama talked about troop deployments, particularly in Syria, during a CNN town hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are going to be bad things that happen around the world and we have to be judicious thinking is this a situation which inserting large number of U.S. troops will get us a better outcome knowing the incredible sacrifices that will be involved? And in Syria, there is not a scenario in which, absent us deploying large numbers of troops, we can stop a civil war in which both sides are deeply dug in. And the key in Syria at this point is, unless we can get the parties involved to recognize they are just burning their country to the ground, and get it on a diplomatic and political track, frankly, there's going to be a limit to what we can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: CNN senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, joining us.
Fred, President Obama being frank about the limits of U.S. diplomacy in bringing the conflict to an end, saying both sides are dug in. Let me ask you this, in the absence of U.S. diplomacy, is this a battle that can be won by either side, definitively, militarily?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Probably not. If you look at the situation on the battlefield over the past couple of years -- I have been going to Syria the past three years, many times every year. There have been some gains by certain sides, some losses by certain sides, but if you look at the situation right now the battle lines are almost in the same place they were three years ago. There's some key towns that the Syrian government has won back. There's some key neighborhoods that recently the Syrian government has won back by agreements with rebels on the ground where rebels were bussed to other places and the Syrian government retook control of some areas but by and large the battle lines haven't shifted much.
A lot of that can be seen in the situation in Aleppo, Isha. Where, after the ceasefire broke down, you had the massive battle that broke out almost immediately with heavy munitions being used and a lot of air strikes. A lot of civilians coming to harm there, many killed. At the same time, we can see the front lines haven't shifted much in eastern Aleppo. The Syrian government said it retook some neighborhoods. The opposition denies that. By and large, there hasn't been much territory gain. It's one of the things I've seen time and again in Syria, is when a place does exchange hands, when you have one side moving in to a certain area, in a lot of places you will have had a tough battle, many people, both soldiers and civilians killed and in the end the one that ends usually inherits a big smoldering pile of rubble.
The president is probably right when he says the two sides need to understand -- all the sides need to understand that there can't be a winner on the battlefield. It will have to come through some sort of diplomacy and negotiation -- Isha?
SESAY: As you talk about smoldering piles of rubble, sadly two more hospitals in eastern Aleppo were hit in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday. Talk to us about the situation on the ground now and specifically is aid, any relief supplies getting in yet?
[02:10:05] PLEITGEN: That can be answered pretty quickly. There's no aid getting in at this point in time whatsoever. We were speaking yesterday with UNICEF and other members of the United Nations and they said, look, with the current situation on the battlefield the way it is, with these air strikes and shelling going on in both directions it's impossible for the United Nations or the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to run aid convoys in the eastern district of Aleppo. It's one thing to not be able to get goods in. That's obviously a terrible situation. There's a lack of water, lack of food and medical supplies but another thing to not be able to get people who are wounded, sick, elderly and malnourished out to get them real medical treatment. That is certainly a very large concern. None of that shows any sign of letting up at this point in time. Right now, for the civilians, who are trapped in the eastern district of Aleppo, the only thing they can do, hunker down, hope they survive, and hope some way Russia and the U.S. can get back together and warring factions can negotiate and diplomacy gets on track. Right now, that is not looking good.
SESAY: It is incredibly bleak.
Fred Pleitgen, thank you for joining us. Fred, thank you.
VAUSE: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the killing in Aleppo is worse than a slaughterhouse and whoever is responsible is guilty of war crimes.
For more on that, I have been speaking to Barbara Walter, a professor at the University of California, San Diego.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA WALTER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO: President Bashar al-Assad is consciously engaging in ethnic cleansing in Aleppo. That's a fact. He's doing it for two reasons, first he wants to get rid of Sunni civilians in Aleppo because they are supporting the opposition so if he clears them out or kills them the weekend's support for the rebels and their weaker as a result. The second reason is he wants to send a signal to Sunnis civilians living in the rest of Syria, who are supporting the opposition. If they continue to do that they too will be targeted. It is intimidation strategy with larger Syria and ethnic cleansing strategy in eastern Aleppo.
VAUSE: The speed and intensity of this offensive has the White House considering plan "B," if you like, which is supplying better, more effective weapons, giving them to rebel fighters that have been vetted and allowing Turkey and Saudi Arabia to do that, as well. At this point, though, would providing better, more effective weapons to the rebels have any effect?
WALTER: That's not going to significantly affect what is happening. These are bunker-busting bombs. They are coming from the air. The Assad regime, backed by Russia, has the advantage there. This will be very difficult to stop using military weapons. It's something that will have to be stopped by convincing Russia to stop backing this particular regime.
VAUSE: On the diplomat front, the U.S. threatened to suspend talks with the Russians if the assault on Aleppo continues. That was mocked today by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. They put out this statement. I want to read it to you. It's lengthy, so stay with us. "Finally, a real power move in American diplomacy. Secretary of State John 'not delusional' Kerry has made the one threat the Russians feared most, the suspension of U.S./Russia bilateral talks about Syria. No more lakeside tete-a-tetes in five-star hotels in General. No more press conference in Moscow. We can only imagine that having heard the news, Putin has called off his bear hunt and is rushing back to the Kremlin to call off Russian air strikes on schools, hospitals and humanitarian aid convoys around Aleppo."
We heard that Russian officials want to salvage the peace talks, but if you listen to the cynicism from McCain and Graham, do you think it is justified?
WALTER: I think it is justified. I think President Putin has no interest in a negotiated settlement at this point in time. I think he will eventually seek a negotiated settlement, but not now. Right now, he wants to make as many gains or he wants his favored side, President Bashar al-Assad, to make as many gains as he can so that the negotiated settlement at the end will be more beneficial to Assad and to Putin, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Barbara Walter speaking earlier, providing great insight.
VAUSE: Yeah, absolutely.
SESAY: The American relatives of those who died in the 9/11 terror attacks are now legally allowed to sue Saudi Arabia. The Congress took an extraordinary step Wednesday, voting to override President Obama's veto of a bill allowing the lawsuits. VAUSE: Mr. Obama said the vote could expose U.S. military personnel
and diplomats to potential lawsuits from other countries. He called the vote a politically motivated mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:15:05] OBAMA: Sometimes you have to do what's hard. Frankly, I wish Congress had done what's hard. I didn't expect it because voting -- if you are perceived as voting against 9/11 families right before an election, surprisingly, that's a hard election for people to take. But it would have been the right thing to do. And I am concerned, and this is not just my concern. General Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said this is a bad idea. Secretary of defense said it was a bad idea. And then we found out some of the people who voted for it said, frankly, we didn't know what was in it. And there was no debate. And it was basically a political vote. I understand that, but, you know, my job as commander-in-chief is to make sure we're looking ahead at how this is going to impact our overall mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, 9/11 families have long claimed the hijackers had ties to Saudi Arabia government.
You can watch an encore presentation of Barack Obama's town hall with servicemembers, veterans and their families just under four hours from now at 11:00 a.m. in London and 6:00 p.m. in Hong Kong.
VAUSE: Stay with here on CNN NEWSROOM. After the break, an international investigation reveals what brought down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 killing 298 people.
SESAY: Plus, Hillary Clinton is bringing out the big guns as U.S. the presidential election enters the home stretch. What these super surrogates are giving her campaign, next.
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(SPORTS REPORT)
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[02:20:37] VAUSE: Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail after struggling in his first U.S. presidential debate.
SESAY: On Wednesday, Trump traveled to three states. He went after Hillary Clinton's health in one of his most explicit attacks yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have six weeks until the election. Think of it, from June -- think of it. Do you believe it? I have been out from June 16th. It has been full time, all the time. You see all of the days off that Hillary takes?
(LAUGHTER) TRUMP: Day off, day off, day off.
(SHOUTING)
TRUMP: All of those day offs and then she can't make it to her car. Isn't it tough?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Meantime, Hillary Clinton enlisted some high-powered surrogates to hit the campaign trail for her.
Brianna Keilar tells us how Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama are giving her a boost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNE KEILAR, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton tapping Bernie Sanders' star power yet again in New Hampshire.
BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This election is enormously important for the future of our country. It is imperative that Hillary Clinton as our next president.
KEILAR: She is trying to attract young voters who overwhelmingly voted for Sanders in primary, pushing her plan for free public college tuition for families earning $125,000 or less a year.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how we got where we are but we are going to fix it. This is wrong.
(CHEERING)
CLINTON: It's wrong for students, it's wrong for families and it's wrong for our country.
KEILAR: Polls show some Millennials are looking past Clinton, past Donald Trump to third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. The White House is worried it could endanger President Obama's legacy.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: If you vote for someone other than Hillary, or if you don't vote at all, you are helping to elect Hillary's opponent.
KEILAR: The first lady rallying voters in Pennsylvania. Also appearing in a new ad --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA: Hillary will be a president our kids can look up to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: -- and taking on Trump.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Then of course, there are those who question and continue to question for the past eight years whether my husband was even born in this country.
(BOOING)
MICHELLE OBAMA: Let me say hurtful, deceitful questions, deliberately designed to undermine his presidency, questions that cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference.
KEILAR: The Clinton campaign continues to get mileage out of the story of Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe, who Clinton referenced during the debate. Trump is under fire for how he treated Alicia Machado for gaining weight, making no apologies this week.
TRUMP (voice-over): She gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.
KEILAR: His campaign call Machado's allegations that Trump called her Miss Piggy and Miss Housekeeping because she is Latina unsubstantiated but Machado, a Clinton supporter, is standing by her claims about Trump.
ALICIA MACHADO, FORMER MISS UNIVERSE: He was rude with me. He tried to destroy my self esteem. And now I'm a voice in the Latin community. He can say whatever he wants to say.
KEILAR: Brianne Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Donald Trump is refusing to back down on his comments about Alicia Machado and says he saved her job.
VAUSE: Earlier, we spoke to political analyst and radio host, Mo Kelly, who called Trump's behavior petty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MO KELLY, RADIO HOST, THE MO KELLY EXPERIENCE & POLITICAL ANALYST: It's not like he has to get into an argument over it. Just say that is the past. Let's talk about America. That's the lack of discipline that he exhibits time and time again. He didn't have to take it in that direction but he was making the same mistakes he did during the event. He should have been talking about Hillary Clinton from a strategy standpoint and now he is just elongating the bad performance he had during the debate.
SESAY: From a strategy standpoint is there any way you can take on the face of his statement that he is trying to spin it as a champion for women here?
KELLY: That's how he is spinning it in his mind but that's not what came out of his mouth. He sounds like a rich guy who is wanting to objectify a woman and talking about the weight of a woman as opposed to the more serious issues. You have to be presidential all the time not just some of the time.
[02:25:27] VAUSE: Part of the attacks, which is more offensive, the Miss Piggy comment or the Miss Housekeeping?
KELLY: I don't know if it's either/or but I would say Miss Housekeeping. That is an ethnic level. It is not just one person's specific weight, even though many women deal with those issues. But when you say Miss Housekeeping, that is code, as far as I'm concerned.
VAUSE: Feeds into the narrative.
SESAY: We have been talking about this and it's been going on for multiple days. Will it make a difference to the poll numbers?
KELLY: It may not impact his poll numbers but he's not gaining any constituencies. Let's not be too wrapped up in the poll numbers. Everything could change if there is another health event with Hillary Clinton or Trump does something. But we have these benchmarks. They are the debates. Whatever happens right now is secondary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Two more debates to go.
Coming up next for our viewers in Asia, much more from the U.S. presidential trail on "State of the Race" with Kate Bolduan
SESAY: And news elsewhere, next here on CNN NEWSROOM, L.A., how students in the U.S. are trying to tackle an international criminal industry of human trafficking.
VAUSE: Also, it has been more than two years since the crash of flight MH17 and investigators say they know what brought the plane down. That's next.
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[02:30:14] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Last 30 minutes here of NEWSROOM L.A.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Are you counting?
VAUSE: I am counting.
I'm John Vause.
SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: International prosecutors investigating the downing of MH17 say a Russian-made missile brought down that plane two years ago. They say the missile was fired from a village under control of pro- Russian separatists. Russia denies any involvement in the 2014 incident that killed all 298 people on board.
VAUSE: CNN's Phil Black has more on the investigation and he takes us back to the site of the crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The challenges for anyone trying to work out what happened to MH17 were enormous. At the scene, we found a vast unsecured debris field in the middle of a war zone. Wreckage, evidence, victims their personal belongings, all left lying in it is fields of eastern Ukraine.
(on camera): The remains of its crew and passengers are everywhere, and yet there is no one here trying to work out what happened, no one here to take responsibility for this.
(voice-over): Over the following weeks, the victims were recovered. Four months later, the wreckage was finally removed.
(on camera): This is part of the operation. And you can see it's not a delicate one to collect the scattered debris of the aircraft.
(voice-over): As investigates piece together what remained of MH17, they found among the wreckage and within the bodies of the crew pieces of a BUK missile. They were compared to unfired missiles of the same type.
(EXPLOSION)
BLACK: One was detonated to study the force and nature of the blast.
Investigators were in no doubt about what brought down the aircraft, but tracing its origins required meticulous forensic work. They studied data from local phone towers, recordings from intercepted calls made and received by officers traveling with the weapon. Videos and photos posted online, witness accounts and satellite images. The investigators say all of that has allowed them to accurately plot the course of the convoy carrying the missile system which shot down MH17. They say the journey started and ended in the same place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The system was brought in from the Russian Federation territory and returned to the Russian Federation afterwards.
BLACK: The investigators say the missile was fired from a patch of farmland near the village of Pervomalsky (ph). Now their work is on who was responsible. Their ambitious intention is to prosecute those people before a court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): By now, there are 100 persons who in one way or the other can be linked to the crash of MH17 or the transport of the BUK.
BLACK: Investigators say they're trying to pull apart the chain of command, to determine who gave the order to fire, and why, the unstated implication, they're investigating Russian military personnel.
Moscow has always denied any involvement and insisted its evidence indicates that Ukrainian forces were responsible. It says the latest report is biased and politically motivated.
But the families of victims disagree. They believe this investigation update is the best explanation yet of how those they loved were torn from the sky. They say it confirms what they have long suspected -- Russia was involved.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Earlier, I asked CNN contributor, Jill Dougherty, to weigh in on the MH17 investigation and the impact it will have on Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN ANALYST: This kind of reopens the wound. It's been festering really for two years since MH17 was shot down. Russia continuing to deny that he had any role in that. Remember, going back to the period, that is when it really galvanized the Europeans to come on board and begin with their own sanctions and support other sanctions from the international community. So, I think you already have a very bad relationship. We won't even right now have to get in to Syria, what's going on, Secretary Kerry threatening Russia really that cooperation on Syria cannot continue if the bombardment of Aleppo goes on. Right now, Russian relations, Russia-U.S. relations are extremely bad.
[02:35:19] SESAY: Jill, you mentioned those E.U. sanctions. What does this report mean for any course to soften them, any attempt by Russia to get a change in the sanctions? Is that off the table now?
DOUGHERTY: One would have to think that because, after all, this is being described as irrefutable evidence that Russia had some complicity. If that's the case, it would be hard, I think, for Europeans to make the case they should lift sanctions.
SESAY: We know the Dutch investigators, the Dutch-led investigation team says they have something like 100 people under suspicion. They haven't named them. The general expectation is they are Russian soldiers or Russian officers. What are the chances that Russia would ever agree to having suspects from their country extradited to stand trial on this issue?
DOUGHERTY: I think extradition would be almost impossible, but also it's more complicated, Isha. Right now the joint investigative team is still collecting evidence. The idea would be that eventually it could lead to a criminal trial, but the complication of that is that Russia a year ago at the United Nations voted against creating an international tribunal, so that -- without an international tribunal, it's unclear where such a trial could be held. So both on that basis and the basis that Russia would certainly never extradite anyone for this, it's clear not much would happen in that direction. However, I think as more evidence comes out, at least there's more information for the families who lost their relatives and friends, and at least the culpability might be clarified by evidence. But you can bet that Russia will never accept what the European investigators are saying. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to CNN contributor, Jill Dougherty, who was speaking to us last hour.
A short break. When we come back, how lessons from the past are being used to try to end modern-day slavery. Our latest Freedom Project report in just a moment.
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[02:41:17] SESAY: The CNN Freedom Project is dedicated to shining a light on human trafficking and putting an end to modern-day slavery.
VAUSE: In the U.S., high school students are drawing on the lessons from the civil rights movement to try to fight sex trafficking.
Boris Sanchez has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUDREY DOUGHERTY, STUDENT: Good afternoon.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Audrey Dougherty is a 16 year old senior at Coral Reef High School in Miami. She's a good student. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.
AUDREY DOUGHERTY: That should be good.
SANCHEZ: She's a typical American teenager in so many ways but one of her biggest passions sets her apart. She hopes to be a generation of activists in the fight against modern-day slavery.
AUDREY DOUGHERTY: It is important to engage students because a lot of people that are in sex trafficking are girls 14 to 16, children and it's people we could be going to school.
SANCHEZ: Engaging students in the anti-slavery movement is a big goal for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We won't to welcome you here today.
SANCHEZ: That's why they are hosting this workshop for college students and high school seniors, teaching them to plan, strategize and ignite an activism movement against human trafficking.
DEBORAH RICHARDSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CENTER FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS: Young people now have the intelligence, they have the tools, we are helping them with the commitment and strategies, and I believe we will get there.
SANCHEZ: Richardson is quick to draw parallels to the American civil rights movement of the 1960s when a majority of activists were students.
RICHARDSON: Those young people brought about a seminal social change in America 60 years ago. What are the lessons then? How can we apply them to modern-day human rights?
AUDREY DOUGHERTY: Forced to work like almost every day, all day.
SANCHEZ: The first step is awareness. Audrey says she first learned about the issue when she read a book about child sex trafficking in India. She was moved but she assumed it was a third-world issue. Than she found out that sex trafficking is happening to children her age right here in Miami. And she knew she had to get involved.
AUDREY DOUGHERTY: It was like, wow, I'm stressed about school and they are stressed about where they are going to sleep tonight or if they are going to be abused tonight and realizing it could be anyone I know or anyone around me, someone I see on the streets it was eye opening. I never thought about it like that before.
SANCHEZ: Daniel Alvarez had a similar experience. He's a graduate student at Florida International University working on his masters in social work. He recently attended a course where he heard a quote that stuck with him.
DANIEL ALVAREZ, STUDENT, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: There are bad people working hard to exploit human beings. Good people need to work twice as hard to do something about it. That resonated with me and made me ask myself what am I doing to help to bring an end to this issue?
RICHARDSON: I feel the human trafficking awareness issue campaign has been raising awareness but not as much due diligence in giving people tools they can interrupt it.
SANCHEZ: Tools like boycotting businesses that haven't taken steps to ensure their supply chain is free of slave labor.
Audrey says she's learning as much as she can and is determined to make a difference.
AUDREY DOUGHERTY: You just have to be passionate. If you are passionate, I think people see that and are like, wow, they are working with that issue. Maybe I should work with that. I think that if I try to talk more about it and get out there, people will see what I'm doing and then it will inspire them to make a difference, too.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: Boris Sanchez, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:45:08] SESAY: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, why legendary singer song writer, Bruce Springsteen, is thrilling fans once again.
VAUSE: Because he's "The Boss."
SESAY: That might have something to do with it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Dramatic images from China where 33 people are missing in two landslides. A typhoon triggered the slides on Wednesday.
SESAY: Several buildings collapse in another area as mud and water rushed through. The typhoon made landfall earlier in the day. It killed four and injured more than 500 in Taiwan.
VAUSE: China's richest man, Dalian Wanda, is buying what is an American institution, Dick Clark Productions, that produces the Golden Globes and American Music Awards among others.
SESAY: He's been very open about wanting to own a major Hollywood --
VAUSE: I want a major Hollywood studio.
SESAY: You want many things.
VAUSE: Absolutely.
SESAY: Let's bring in Andrew Stevens joins us live from Hong Kong.
Andrew, Wanda wants the benefit of what America has to offer in terms of entertainment, but it is my understanding Dalian Wanda wants to beat the U.S. at its own game, is that right?
[02:50:18] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Absolutely. There's nothing un-ambitious about Wanda Dalian. He is -- his focus is sort of global domination if you like, certainly in the entertainment industry. He wants to be the biggest in China and the world. He said he is patient but he will buy one of the big six Hollywood studios.
As we know he has already bought legendary entertainment. They made "The Dark Knight" and "Jurassic World." He's in talks with Dick Clark. He has the second-biggest movie chain in the U.S. So it is all part of a big plan. What he does is gets a lot of expertise from the U.S. to bring back to China. That's what he is doing. He is developing theme parks to take on Disney in Shanghai. He's been highly critical and combative about Disney in China saying that he's going to basically smash Disney in China. He's been saying he wants to make it unprofitable within the next 10 to 20 years.
This is what he had to say about them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DALIAN WANDA, CHAIRMAN, WANDA GROUP (through translation): We are partner and competitors. When it comes to movies, Disney is our biggest partner and our market share is the largest here. But when it comes to tourism we are arch rivals. Of course, we want to smash them. We are launching multiple projects to encircle Disney. I believe because of our cost, speed and operational efficiency we will defeat our competitors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Wanda calls himself a pack of wolves and Disney a tiger. He says the wolves will win out in the end. He is just over the $5 billion theme park in a second city. He has another 13 planned. In all he will have 15 multi-billion dollar theme parks in China to take on Disney. That's really what he wants to do. He wants to crush the opposition. He is making no bones about that.
SESAY: Pack of wolves, it all sounds very frightening. Is he taking sides in the upcoming election?
STEVENS: No, he's not. He's careful to say that. He did watch the debates, as did millions of others. He said, it is the same line. What is said on the campaign trail is usually quite a lot different than what actually happens in the real world of being the president of the United States. So he says, we're listening but not taking too much notice of the more stride dent anti-China rhetoric we are hearing at the moment. He said he sees the U.S. as a major trading partner, which it is and any damage to that relationship between the two is going to hurt both of them. Do they really want to go down that path? Does the next president want to do that? And he sees the U.S. has a messy investment opportunity.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANDA (through translation): There maybe some impact but we have investments in the U.S. I like the U.S. It's the world's biggest market with a lot of freedom, innovation and cultures. I can't find a better country to invest than the U.S. It doesn't matter which party takes office, I will continue to invest in the U.S.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: This is a man in a hurry. He's got the money to back up his words. So expect more big announcements over the next years as he consolidates his position -- guys.
SESAY: A wolf and a pragmatist.
Andrew Stevens, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you. .
VAUSE: Very intense. Wolves and tigers and things.
SESAY: He's on a mission.
VAUSE: He got the bucks.
SESAY: Jealous?
VAUSE: Absolutely.
SESAY: All right. Bruce Springsteen fans lined up for hours around New York City on Wednesday for a chance to meet him. He was promoting his autobiography "Born to Run." Took him seven years to write.
VAUSE: Boy, is he tired signing copies of the book, shaking hands and taking pictures with his fans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hugged him and said thank you for being who you are and he thanked me. He's a great person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There it is. There's the signature I have been waiting for 1978 to see this man. Awesome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm speechless. I just said thanks, Boss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Springsteen sold 120 million albums, which is why they call him "The Boss."
Finally this hour, a story about booze --
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: Something you like.
[02:55:18] VAUSE: In Miami, Florida, they are competing for the title of bartender of the year.
SESAY: Down to six finalists with the winner decided on Thursday. They compete in speed drills and are judged on degree of difficulty and taste. This year's extravaganza is highlighting the growing impact of women in the industry.
VAUSE: It will be cocktail hour somewhere in the world right now.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: You are watching CNN live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
The news continues with Hannibal Jones in London. With 100 percent more Hannibal Jones.
SESAY: Just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:10] HANNIBAL JONES, CNN ANCHOR: Paying their respect.
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