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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Campaign Shake Up: "Whatever It Takes To Win;" Search And Seizure Warrants For Lochte, Another Swimmer; Son Of Drug Lord "El Chapo" Kidnapped; Neighbor Accused Of Killing Arab-American Man; Ex-Boko Haram Captive Speaks; Eleven People Killed as Floods Engulf Louisiana
Aired August 17, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We're coming to you live from CNN London and this is WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Well, Donald Trump is trying to re-energize his campaign as the election nears saying, he'll do, quote, "whatever it takes to win," unquote. The
Republican candidate shaking up his campaign staff again, this time sending a clear message that he's out for a fight.
He's hired the executive chairman of a right wing news website as his campaign chief executive, a man the campaign knows has been called the most
dangerous political operative in America.
If there's any doubt about what Steve Bannon's role might be, just look at this website, Breitbart, it featured a photo of him today with the title,
"Bare-knuckled fighter."
Later that page changed to this, the headline Trump's Stephen Bannon hire considered a middle finger to the Republican establishment. Jessica
Schneider has more on the major overhaul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump shaking up his campaign leadership team again for the second time in two months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People want to criticize Donald Trump.
SCHNEIDER: Senior adviser, Kelly Anne Conway confirming that she has been promoted to campaign manager and the executive chairman of Breitbart News,
Stephen Bannon, is now the campaign's chief executive. The campaign's embattled chairman, Paul Manafort, will stay on despite his relationship
with Trump going sour in recent weeks.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The campaign is doing really well. It's never been so well united.
PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Trump is very plugged in. He's very connected. The campaign is working contrary to what the media is
saying.
SCHNEIDER: Manafort is under investigation by Ukrainian authorities for allegedly receiving millions in illegal payments from the country's former
pro-Russian ruling party. This is the second major shakeup for Trump's team. Back in June, he fired Corey Lewandowski weeks before the Republican
convention.
TRUMP: He's a good man. We've had great success. He's a friend of mine. But I think it's time now for a different kind of campaign.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I had a nice conversation with Mr. Trump and I said to him it's been an honor and a
privilege to be a part of this.
SCHNEIDER: The news comes as Trump tries to appeal to black voters in Wisconsin, but the audience was mostly white.
TRUMP: I'm asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different and much better
future.
SCHNEIDER: Trump addressing the violent protest in Milwaukee after police shot and killed a black man Saturday.
TRUMP: Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society, a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent, shared directly
in the responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee and many other places within our country.
SCHNEIDER: He's placing the blame for inner city unrest squarely on what he calls failed Democratic policies.
TRUMP: The African-American community has been taken for granted for decades by the Democratic Party. It's time for the rule by the people, not
rule for the special interests. Hillary Clinton backed policies are responsible for the problems in the inner cities today and the vote for her
is a vote for another generation of poverty, high crime, and lost opportunities.
SCHNEIDER: With only 83 days until the election, Trump is digging in on his combative style in hopes of turning around his slide in the polls.
TRUMP: I am who I am. It's me. You have to be you. If you have to start pivoting, you're not being honest with people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Jessica Schneider reporting there. Trump is taking a break from the actual campaign trail today to receive his first classified
briefing on U.S. national security. Just a short time ago, he held his own security roundtable at Trump Tower in New York. The focus there once again
as was the case during a speech a few days ago, Islamic terrorism.
[15:05:05]Let's bring in former Congressman Jack Kingston, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. Let's talk a little bit about this big campaign
shakeup. Paul Manafort keeps his title, but essentially he's been sidelined. Stephen Bannon and Kelly Anne Conway have become the campaign
managers. Is that because there is a lot of concern that this campaign is just not going well right now?
JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well, actually, Hala, I think that the shakeup is a bigger deal in the press than it is in the
close quarters of the campaign itself. We had a great call today.
I've known Kelly Anne for years. She's actually already been involved in the campaign. I'm not certain how much involvement Stephen has had. These
are both very political people, very conservative people.
So for them to be elevated as a position and formally so in the campaign, I don't think is that big of a deal. Certainly we are running to win. We
want to get talent on board. Kelly Anne knows lots of people. Steve's a great operative.
Paul Manafort staying on. It's not like he was booted or anything like that. We're growing this campaign and feeling good about it. And as you
know, we've had a very, very good week.
And when we stay on message and minimize the distractions, Hillary Clinton runs. She's afraid. She doesn't want to talk about the economy. She
doesn't want to talk about the inner city and jobs and lack of opportunities, but we're taking on these issues. So changing some
personnel along the way, I think, is just what campaigns do.
GORANI: So you're saying the media is overplaying this?
KINGSTON: Absolutely.
GORANI: That it's really no big deal.
KINGSTON: Absolutely.
GORANI: That it's a little reshuffle.
KINGSTON: Absolutely. Ronald Reagan did it. In fact, I did not research it, but I bet you most campaigns have had an adjustment within a six-month
period of November. Part of it is the post primary elections are different than -- general elections are different than primaries and so forth. The
campaign grows. There's opportunities. There's gaps that you want to fill in.
GORANI: Yes. Well, Corey Lewandowski was fired and then Paul Manafort came in and now we have this change. All the while against a backdrop of
polls that aren't going in Donald Trump's favor. He also addressed a crowd there in Milwaukee, talking to African-Americans and his poll numbers in
Pennsylvania and Ohio, I mean, the spread.
I don't think I've seen in any other race a spread like this one, 1 percent of African-American voters say they will cast their ballot in favor of
Trump in Pennsylvania, but Ohio 91 percent say Hillary Clinton.
KINGSTON: Well, it's surprising that Hillary is not going to Milwaukee. It's surprising that an African-American would be so loyal to them. When
you look at there is a Democrat mayor in Milwaukee. The policies that have led to the poverty, breakup of the family, and low education standards in
that community are all Democrat policies.
Trump scares the Democratic establishment to death because he's going in there and talking. He's talking to the African-American Sheriff David
Clark and personally taking his advice on what do we need to do? How do you balance the need for law enforcement and safe community and --
GORANI: But it's not translating. It's not translating in the polls. You saw that number in very important swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
KINGSTON: Well, as you know, one of the great tactics that the Democrat Party has done very effectively for 33 years is pull out the race card
every election, every four years, whenever it's needed and send signals to the African-American community that somehow whoever's on the Republican
ticket is racist.
But the reality is here's a guy that if he had a background, a history of racial discrimination, a guy who has so many companies and corporations,
employees, we wouldn't know about it. The lawsuits would be there.
But they're not there. So what we get is a lot of innuendos, a lot of fill-in-the-blanks, a lot of sentences, and a lot of statements. But the
reality is good behavior should be rewarded by the press.
A recognition that a Republican candidate who is only getting 1 percent of the vote, but is willing to go into Milwaukee and talk about jobs and
opportunities and talk about policing and talking about families, that's a good thing.
And that's something that the press and, frankly, I think this is beyond politics, the Democrats should be happy about it, and say, you know, what -
-
GORANI: You know the press's role is not to reward anything for anybody. It's to report the facts and we have with the numbers and we certainly
covered his address.
KINGSTON: But the reality is it's good behavior and it's something that the press should say instead of going out and finding some disgruntled
resident who doesn't like Donald Trump, why not say let's interview sheriff -- African-American Sheriff David Clark and see what he has to say about
the Trump visit, and I think you'll find it's a very, very positive thing.
[15:10:09]He gave a substantive statement on what to do about the inner city and what do we hear from Hillary Clinton? Silence.
GORANI: All right. Well, we did cover that and we certainly covered Hillary Clinton's proposals in that department. I want to ask you quickly
about this classified intelligence briefing. This is what Donald Trump told Fox News about the intelligence community and then I'll get your take
on that. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you trust intelligence?
TRUMP: Not so much from the people that have been doing it for our country. Look at what's been happening over the last ten years. Looks
what happened over the years. It's been catastrophic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: You also said he wouldn't use some of the information from the intelligence community if he's elected as president. What are Americans to
make of this?
KINGSTON: Well, let me say this as somebody who sat in on intelligence briefings, I can tell you that I think it's wise to question them. Were
these the people who told George Bush that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or were these the people who told President Obama that
ISIS was only jayvee.
We have had flawed intelligence come out of these so-called experts for decades now, so I think you have to look at it with a grain of salt, which
is I think what he's referring to.
I'll say this as someone who's sat through many intelligence briefings. It's not unusual at all to walk out of those briefings and see it in the
newspaper. So those briefings tend to be porous. They tend to be superficial anyhow.
GORANI: All right. Jack Kingston, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate your time, an adviser to the Trump campaign. We'll have a lot
more, of course, on Donald Trump, on Hillary Clinton, on this very important and crucial race-- presidential election and race for to the
White House.
Let's turn our attention to Rio. It's day 12 of Olympic competition. The focus not entirely on sports once again. There are growing questions on a
reported armed robbery of American swimmer, Ryan Lochte, on Sunday.
The "Daily Mail" has released this video clip. It appears to show Lochte and three of his teammates returning to the Olympic Village after they
reported the robbery.
The judge in the case also noted that they didn't seem shaken and that they were making jokes and that the men are also in possession of several high
value items like their telephones that you would expect would have been stolen during the robbery.
Now the judge in Rio has issued a search and seizure warrant for Lochte and another American swimmer. The problem is Lochte is no longer in Brazil.
Nick Paton Walsh has all the details and he is live in Rio. So what are people -- what conclusions are people drawing in this case as a result of
this video surfacing showing these swimmers after they reported the robbery?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the simplest conclusion is the people in Brazil are wondering what on earth
happened that particular night. The key issue as you mentioned there is in that CCTV video, the judge's opinion they don't appear shaken.
And you can see in their possession the kind of high value items. Every Brazilian knows it's exactly what an armed robber would take from you.
So yes, the Rio court made this extraordinary move in the middle of the Olympics that one of the men high profiles athletes of the country,
currently the top of the medals table to surrender his passport along with that of his other swimming colleague, James Vegan.
These are both two of the four swimmers who have statements to the police. Now I should point out that Mr. Lochte's lawyer says he cooperated with
anybody who has asked him questions and will willingly do so in the future.
He left Brazil ahead of this search and seizure warrant being issued as he has previously scheduled and hasn't been contacted asking for more help,
but it really adds to this extraordinary development and a tale here.
You know, it was unclear what initially happened. Some denial of saying he had been robbed, then being robbed, then this video emerged. How come the
armed robbers didn't pick up the things everyone seemed to be think they'd be after here in Brazil?
There is a lot of politics being mixed around too. Brazilian officials want to be sure that if the idea that there are men out there dressed as
policemen with guns robbing people is somehow undermined.
But there are still a lot of questions really about this. The judge particularly highlighting the discrepancy in the counts between the two
swimmers. They both spoke to police and they both had different numbers of the robbers who were arm and whether or not they were surprised by them.
So some discrepancies there. At the end of the day, Mr. Lochte basically facing more questions about what happened that night. I should point out
at this point nobody's saying anything anyone has done anything wrong at this point. It's surrounded by a whole host of confusion -- Hala.
GORANI: Right. Certainly when you see the video, you have some questions and perhaps the swimmers will be able to answer them to everyone's
satisfaction. Thanks very much, Nick Paton Walsh live in Rio.
There's a lot more ahead. Infamous drug pin, "El Chapo" left the Sinaloa cartel in the hands of his son when he was arrested. A source tells CNN
one son let his guard down and got kidnapped. Stay with us.
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[15:17:20]
GORANI: Well, the search is on for the son of a drug kingpin, the heir to the Sinaloa drug cartel. A source tells CNN police are scouring four
Mexican states for Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, the son of the incarcerated former kingpin known as El Chapo.
They suspect a rival gang called the New Generation of kidnapping him while he was partying with his guard down. Rafael Romo has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officials say there were 16 people partying at this upscale restaurant in the Mexican beach resort of
Puerto Vallarta. Suddenly seven armed men stormed into the restaurant abducting six people. One of those abducted is a high-profile victim.
This top Mexican official identified him as Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa drug
cartel.
(on camera): An attorney for the Guzman family had already told CNN earlier they were afraid one of the Guzman children might have been among
those kidnapped in Puerto Vallarta. But he didn't specify which one of El Chapo's sons was missing.
(voice-over): The top Mexican official said they learned about El Chapo's son's identity after interviewing 15 witnesses, inspecting five vehicles
left at the restaurant and analyzing surveillance video from businesses in the area.
Nine women were also at the party were let go. At least three of Guzman's children including the eldest have been known to Mexican and U.S. law
enforcement in the past.
Evan Archivaldo Guzman, who is reportedly 33 years old was arrested and imprisoned in Mexico in 2005, but released three years later for lack of
evidence.
Their father Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at one point one of the most powerful criminals in the world was captured in January after escaping a
second time from a Mexican federal prison last summer.
He's currently being held at another maximum security prison across the border from El Paso, Texas. Rafael Romo, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Let's get more on how this will shake up the Sinaloa cartel. Nick Valencia is following this story. So Nick, let me ask you, first of all,
rumors that perhaps another son of El Chapo's may have been abducted.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are some discrepancies here. Initially, the Jalisco state attorney general who came forward and said not
one but two of El Chapo's son had been kidnapped including Jesus Alfredo and Ivan Archivaldo Guzman. He's backpedaled since.
I've spoken earlier with a senior law enforcement source in Mexico who tells me that still has not been confirmed. What is confirmed, Hala, is
that one of his son is currently being held, they believe, by a rival cartel, (inaudible).
[15:20:12]And why this is important is it's crucial to perhaps solving the puzzle of the kidnapping. The New Generation of Jalisco is the fastest
growing cartel in Mexico. They've been around for a while acting as the armed wing of the Sinaloa Federation.
Now all of that changed in January with the recapture of El Chapo Guzman. Slowly but surely they've been getting into skirmishes with El Chapo's foot
soldiers. They've been trying to chip away at his turf and now from this latest development seemed to be going after his family members as well --
Hala.
GORANI: It appears as though there is just more fighting. Is it because El Chapo is no longer there and now there's competition for his old job
essentially so to speak?
VALENCIA: That's certainly what we saw the first time that he was captured. We saw a power vacuum. We saw a lot of these smaller cartels
try to make a name for themselves as El Chapo was in prison.
It's important to note that El Chapo still has and is believed to have some influence over the Sinaloa Federation. So long as he's able to get
visitations from his wife, from his attorney and others, he has some influence on the cartel that he started.
How much that influence is in the day-to-day operations, it's believed that his sons were to be taken that operation over. But the source that I spoke
to close to this investigation tells me from their intelligence that this son that was kidnapped was not taking his role seriously, had been partying
a lot, had been letting is guard down.
What I think we could find interesting by all of this is that he was with friends in this tourist destination in Puerto Vallarta, not around heavily
guarded men.
This source tells me that Jesus Alfredo, the son of El Chapo, essentially let his guard down and allowed for the abduction to happen. We can expect
more skirmishes and clashes to happen between the Sinaloa Federation and this new emerging carter, the New Generation of Jalisco, going forward --
Hala.
GORANI: Nick Valencia, thanks very much for that update.
VALENCIA: You bet.
GORANI: Now it is something that could be a scene in "Jason Bourne" or "The Borne Identity." It's called the highest level defection from the
North Korean regime in history. Thae Yong Ho was the deputy ambassador of the North Embassy right here in London. Seoul is already saying he's
arrived in South Korea. Erin McLaughlin in London has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here outside the North Korean embassy here in London. As you can see it's located on a residential
block, far removed from where countries normally have embassies in the capital.
It was here that Thae Yong Ho came to work. This is where he was based. It's also likely here that he took that decision ultimately to defect to
South Korea becoming the highest ranking diplomat in history to do so.
Speaking to someone who knew him personally described him as someone who was charismatic, intelligent, had a good grasp of the English language as
well an in-depth working knowledge of not only the U.K. but Europe in general.
He told me that he was pretty surprised when he heard news of the defection. He said he was regarded by the North Koreans as a safe pair of
hands. Now potentially a rich source of intelligence to the South Koreans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NILSSON-WRIGHT, HEAD OF ASIA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Mr. Thae will know the personalities and he'll know something about the priorities of the
North Korean government and will know how it works. He will also know, I imagine, a lot about what the embassy in London has been doing, both its
formal diplomatic activity, but also its illegal activity.
North Korean embassies are typically charged with not only to represent their country but also to bring back hard currency to North Korea. I think
the intelligence that Mr. Thae can provide on how that is carried out and implemented will be very valuable both to South Korea and also to other
governments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: Just how Thae was able to get from this embassy all the way to South Korea is a mystery. South Korean officials being very tight-lipped
with those details citing security reasons as well as diplomatic reasons.
We also have no comment from the foreign office here in the United Kingdom and we have yet to get reaction from North Korea as well. We actually rang
the buzzer outside the embassy. No answer. His defection really seen as an embarrassment for that country. Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Fascinating story.
In the U.S., there's been some catastrophic flooding that's damaged more than 40,000 homes and killed at least 11 people in the southern U.S. state
of Louisiana. This next video clip shows how desperate the situation was for people trying to escape homes engulfed in water. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to put these dogs in the boat. Which one do you want me to get first?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Officials say concerned neighbors and emergency workers rescued more than 20,000 people. The state's governor says a thousand pets were
saved as well.
[15:25:11]And speaking of some extreme weather, in California, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes to clear out of
the way of a massive and fast-moving wildfire.
California's governor has declared a state of emergency after a blue cut fire exploded in just 24 hours. You see a time lapse from just a couple of
hours last night. There's been low humidity, triple-digit temperatures all fueling the flames which have already covered more than 12 hectares.
Let's stay in the United States. In the state of Oklahoma, an Arab- American man is dead after what his family call as campaign of terror against him by one of their neighbors. Police say Khalid Jabara (ph) was
shot dead in his own home by his neighbor, Stanley Vernon Majors.
As Brynn Gingras reports the family believes police had opportunities to intervene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dirty Arabs and filthy Lebanese are some of the insults Vernon Majors allegedly called his
neighbors. His anger towards the Jabara (ph) family turned deadly on Friday when police say he shot and killed Khalid Jabara.
Majors is no stranger to the family. For years the Jabaras who are Christian of Lebanese descent say that Majors would terrorized them and
called them names.
In 2013, the family filed a protective order, which prevented Majors from having any contact with them. But records show Majors violated that order.
In September of last year, Majors allegedly hit Khalid Jabara's mother, Haifa, with his car putting her in the hospital for weeks. Majors was
arrested and charged with felony assault. Two judges denied his request to be released on bond.
But three months ago, a third judge against the district attorney's wishes allowed the 61-year-old to post bail releasing him until his trial in 2017.
Neighbors who did not want to be identified say they are not surprised by the allegations against Majors saying he had a history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walked onto our property and started screaming to my family.
GINGRAS: On the night he was killed, Khalid called police to report Majors had a gun after getting a tip from someone Majors lived with. According to
the Tulsa Police Department, officers responded, but could not go inside Majors' home so they left.
Later, police say Majors walked up to the front steps of his neighbor's home and shot and killed Khalid Jabara. His mother says she was on the
phone with her son when it happened, telling CNN, they should have looked at his history at least to see that this is really a dangerous guy. They
could have spared my son's life. My son is gone. My son is gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Sad story there. We're going to have a lot more from the United States including what's happening in a big campaign shakeup. It's not
stopping the slide at the polls. Donald Trump is trying again. We'll see what the latest staff shuffle could mean as the presidential race nears the
home stretch. Stay with us. We'll be right back on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. An important first for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Sources say the Republican nominee is getting a classified
briefing on U.S. national security today. Some Democrats had urged against this. They argue that Trump would not handle the information responsibly.
Also among our top stories, there are growing questions about an armed robbery reported by American Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte, on Sunday in
Rio. A judge in Rio has issued search and seizure warrants for Lochte and another swimmer, but Lochte is no longer in Brazil. His lawyer says the
swimmer cooperated fully with police before leaving the country.
Australia is closing a controversial detention center. The Papua New Guinea prime minister met the Australian immigration minister Wednesday to
discuss the future of the Monist Island Center. This comes day after 100 staff members said the camps were destroying children's lives.
And a senior North Korean diplomat has defected according to South Korean officials. He's been identified at Thae Yong Ho, North Korea's second
highest ranked diplomat right here in London. He apparently slipped out of the embassy in the British capital. Seoul says he and his family are now
under the protection of the South Korean government already in South Korea.
Returning now to Donald Trump's campaign shakeup and what it could mean in the days ahead. Sources tell CNN that Trump had lost trust in Campaign
Chairman Paul Manafort who attempted to mold him into a more traditional candidate.
Manafort is staying on, but two new top staffers will now have significant influence including right winged media executive, Stephen Bannon, an
outspoken critic of the Republican establishment, who's been labeled a bare-knuckled fighter.
Many are expecting Trump to return to his brash and combative roots as he tries to turn around what is in the polls a sagging campaign. We'll have
to wait until tomorrow to see Trump hit the campaign trail after the big shakeup.
Today, he's set to receive his first classified briefing on national security. Evan Perez joins me now from Washington with more on that part
of the story. First of all, what are these briefings about? What's discussed in them?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Hala, it's really to give the candidate a broad picture of what's going on in the world, the things that
are most on the minds of U.S. diplomats, of top intelligence and law enforcement here in the United States, the hot spots, and how to handle
questions about those places, for instance Russia and ISIS and the relationship with Syria and China.
Those are things that are obviously anybody who's about to become president, those are probably some of the first things they're going to
have to deal with. Obviously at this point they're going to be doing two briefings, one for Donald Trump and one for Hillary Clinton and once either
of them is elected they're given a lot more information.
At this point, this briefing, which is going happen in the next 25 minutes or so at the FBI office in Lower Manhattan, it really is a top line. It's
not a lot of operational detail.
There's no, for instance, if the United States is looking to carry out a drone strike against a top terrorist target, that's not the kind of stuff
that's going to be included here.
But it is expected since it is classified that the candidates are supposed to keep this stuff secret because it is given in confidence.
GORANI: But he's going with Chris Christie and another member of his campaign and supporters. I found that surprising and particular. Can you
bring a plus one or plus two or how does it usually work?
PEREZ: Exactly. Well, yes. The candidates are allowed to bring in whoever they want. In this case, he's going to bring in two aids. Chris
Christie, who we already know is very close to him and the former retired lieutenant general, Mike Flynn (ph), who is the former head of the defense
intelligence agency, and who is grown to be one of Trump's closest allies and aides.
He's almost an alternate attack dog who goes out and attacks Hillary Clinton. He is also somebody, who obviously was at the site of the Obama
administration.
He was there alongside the president overseeing some of the most important decisions including dealing with ISIS and the Russian move in to Crimea.
So it's a very high-level group of people he's bringing in.
[15:35:01]GORANI: All right, thanks very much. Evan Perez in Washington reporting on this classified intelligence meeting, Donald Trump's first
just a few weeks from the big day in November.
Let's refocus, though, on the campaign shakeup. Will we see a new Trump moving forward or perhaps some of the old Trump? Leon Wolf is a Republican
of the "Nerve Trump" camp. We know he's not supporting Donald Trump.
He's managing editor of the conservative site, redstate.com and he joins us live from Nashville, Tennessee. Thanks, Leon, for being us.
First of all, will you be voting for -- I know you're from the Never Trump camp. Will you be voting for Hillary Clinton?
LEON WOLF, MANAGING EDITOR, REDSTATE.COM: No. So if it were up to me, these two candidates would find some way for both of them to lose, but I
don't know that that's going to happen. I'll probably vote third party or leave the line blank at the end of the day.
GORANI: All right, so you're from the Never Trump camp, and even after the convention you said never Trump doesn't mean never Trump once he becomes
the nominee. You are still in that camp. You still think there's a way to prevent Donald Trump from being the nominee in November?
WOLF: No, never Trump didn't mean at least to me or most people I know never will he be the nominee. Never Trump means we'll never vote for
Donald Trump even if he is the nominee. So I think a lot of people -- if there wasn't the expectation he was going to be the nominee, I don't think
Never Trump would have any meaning to be honest.
GORANI: All right, so what now, though? He is the nominee?
WOLF: Yes, you know, again, as I said, I hope they both find a way to lose. From my perspective, I don't think that either is of these people is
deserving of my vote and so they won't get it. I will say that as a guy who's opposed to Donald Trump, I'm also opposed to Hillary Clinton.
And I would agree that it's probably overall a good thing for Donald Trump's sake if he wants to win that he goes back to the same stuff in the
primary that he was doing because the attempts to make him a managed candidate has been a total failure.
He still goes off message. He still has gaffs. He still gets himself in trouble. He's just now boring and difficult to watch. He has all the bad
stuff that he used to have, but now he's not the kind of the entertaining charismatic guy he used to be. I think for his sake I hope this is a move
that works out for him.
GORANI: He's bringing in two new campaign managers. Paul Manafort stays on, but he's clearly being sideline and we have the executive editor of
Breitbart. What's he going to bring to the table do you think in your experience?
WOLF: You know, Stephen Bannon is a borderline genius at selling a message to a segment of the Republican Party that Donald Trump already has in his
camp. I've been familiar with his work at Breitbart in the movement that he did about Sarah Palin a few years, which I watched at that time.
I was still a Sarah Palin fan and thought who would watch this and think that it's good and entertaining and useful but it really does strike a
chord with that particular segment of the Republican base.
Is he able to translate that to a wider electorate, to the kind of people who read "Red State" or "National Review" or independent voters or
Democrats? I'm much more skeptical to that, but we'll see as time goes on.
GORANI: Yes, but also there's a new campaign manager, Kelly Anne Conway. Clearly there's a sense within the campaign that something needs to change
at the top, right?
WOLF: Yes, but I don't know that this is necessarily the medicine that they need to take. I guess, in defense of the Trump campaign, this is what
I'll say for people who are criticizing the Bannon hire, with I don't necessarily agree with. It's not what I would have done had I been in
Donald Trump's place.
But at this point, we're 85 days out of an election and Trump is behind by seven to ten or 11 points. The chances of him winning are extremely low.
Who is available at this point who would take that job if offered to them?
Who wants to put on their resume from August through November of 2016 I worked for Donald Trump? I don't think there's that many people in the
country who want that at this point. And so as long as he's going to go in this direction, why not go with Stephen Bannon, I guess.
GORANI: All right, Leon Wolf of redstate.com, thanks very much for joining us from Nashville. We appreciate it.
You may remember several days ago we brought you the story of a glimmer of hope for hundreds of families in Nigeria. A video emerged of their
daughters who were kidnapped by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, more than two years ago.
For some it was the first indication they had that the girls were still alive, 276 of them were abducted in April of 2014. In recent months only
one has escaped and CNN's Stephanie Busari has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): She may have escaped one of the most feared terror groups in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm not scare of Boko Haram. They're not my God.
BUSARI: But she's still almost child-like, even painfully side. Amina Ali (ph) was one of 276 school girls kidnapped at gunpoint by Boko Haram
militants from their boarding school in Chibok more than two years ago.
[15:40:02](on camera): This is only her second time in public since she was found in the (inaudible) forest long believed to be Boko Haram's
hideout and where the remaining girls are being kept.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): All the Chibok girls, we were all kept together for one year in the forest. Some were sent to be
married. That's when I was given to my husband. It was the will of God.
BUSARI (voice-over): The man she calls her husband is the father of her child. Now in detention, he's accused of fighting for Boko Haram. Amina
says she misses him terribly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm not comfortable with the way they have separated me from my husband and the father of my child. I want
him to know that even though we are separated I'm still thinking about him. I have not forgotten about him.
BUSARI: Amina spoke to CNN just days after extremists released a video that shows about 50 of the abducted school girls. One speaks to the
camera, an unwilling spokeswoman. The 21-year-old told her captive school friends to have faith.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I escaped from Boko Haram with my husband. I remembered my mom and she gave me the courage to run. I am
sending a message to my sisters. Please be patient and be prayerful. The way God rescued me from the Sambeesa Forest, He will rescue you too. Be
hopeful.
BUSARI (on camera): Amina is, of course, grateful for her freedom but aware that there are more than 200 others still waiting for theirs.
Stephanie Busari, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, don't forget you can get all the latest news, interviews, and analysis on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/halagoranicnn.
A lot more to come this hour, tens of thousands of homes surrounded by water flooding in Southern Louisiana is now being called the worst natural
disaster in the U.S. since Superstorm Sandy. Stay with us. We're there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Returning now to Louisiana and the really catastrophic state there. It's struggling to recover from all this flooding, 12 parishes
there have been declared disaster areas. Our Rosa Flores is on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In some parts of Ascension Parish, roads look like rivers.
(on camera): We are in one of the hardest hit areas today. We're going out with first responders to check out a community that flooded overnight.
(voice-over): As we venture in, we see people evacuating in boats. Homes are under water and the tops of cars peek out of the flood zone. The first
responders we are with are checking for the welfare of the owners. The first house they check, there is no answer.
(on camera): That woman lost power. Her cell phone died. So they were knocking on her door trying to figure out if she was OK.
[15:45:07](voice-over): First responders document their findings and move on to the next house on their list. Ascension Parish is one of 20 parishes
on the lists under the disaster declaration. People here say the water rose so quickly, many had to rush out of their homes leaving everything
behind.
(on camera): What's the toughest part of all of this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seeing your family suffer.
FLORES (voice-over): Some are going back into their communities on boats to salvage their belongings and also checking in on neighbors they haven't
heard from yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then we're going to head over to our house to see what we can salvage and help anybody else in need.
FLORES: More than 20,000 people have been rescued from their homes. Many are staying with family and friends or in shelters like Jessica May. She
and her six children were rescued by boat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, how am I going to get out of here? I didn't want to get trapped. The first thing on my mind, I got to get out of
there.
FLORES: This family decided not to evacuate, instead staying inside their mobile home. In this case, first responders offer them water and
provisions. That's all they can do for now. Rosa Flores, CNN, Ascension Parish.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: We'll have a lot more after a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Back to Rio now and away from the glitz and glamour of the stadium, there are ongoing concerns about security there. CNN's Nick Paton
Walsh, got a rare access to the homicide unit in one of Rio's toughest neighborhoods to show you what police are up against. We must warn you his
story contains graphic images and content.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the podiums fill (inaudible) echo around the Olympic stadiums the
homicide squad does not get the night off. Here in Rio's violent (inaudible) they hardly ever do.
There are nearly 60,000 murders in Brazil each year and we're on our way to just one of them.
(on camera): We've been called out to what seems to be the death of a motorcyclist.
(voice-over): The towel put there before the police arrived.
(on camera): People here obviously don't want to talk, but they are saying they didn't know this man, but at the same time appear to know that the
motorcycle he was driving was stolen and taken back off him. A confused picture a street here that doesn't want to tell all that it knows.
(voice-over): Watch as over the course of the hour we spend here police struggle to learn one fact, the dead man's name. At first his helmet is
here but no motorcycle. Maybe his shoes were taken too. That sometimes happens.
The bullet casings, however, some near his body and one near his head from the execution shot to the temple don't tell the whole story. The examiner
is drawn to an object in his underwear. He never had a chance to draw it.
[15:50:04]She counts his wounds slowly. He was shot 26 times by three different guns. Violence that is frenetic, carnal, with the currency of
the dirty adult race the undersize side of Brazil was in.
He died around 10:30 p.m. around the time the women's final was being run. Sometimes the noise celebrate with firework, sometimes it's not. His I.D.
and phone missing.
So dark as it is, with his own gun with prints and ballistics may offer the best chance to identify him. Police, locals, nobody will talk on camera,
this may have been a local thief caught and punished by drug militia here.
Someone must surely be wondering where this man is. The Saturday turns into Sunday. The truck gets its first passenger. Please calls it civil
war, murder. Murder did not stop with the games and the games did not stop the murder. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All the athletes in Rio are under scrutiny, but maybe none as much as Caster Semenya, the South African runner, easily won her 800 meter heat
earlier amid fierce controversy over whether she would be allowed to compete at all. In the past she had to undergo gender verification by the
World Athletics governing body.
Let's go to Don Riddell in Rio for more on the background to all of this. What's the latest on her?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Well, she's competing in the semifinals of the 800 meters later this evening, Hala. She is, of course, the silver
medalist in this event from Olympics in London four years ago. She's a former world champion.
And just so much interest in her whenever she competes on the track regardless of all the conversations and debating that has gone on before.
She has a condition known as hyper androginism, which means she has a higher than average level of testosterone in her body for a female.
As a result the athletics world governing body, the IAAF, suggested in fact, demanded that she take medication to reduce the testosterone in her
system, but it hasn't reduced her performances.
Her times haven't slowed down so there remains an awful lot of controversy around her, but it is a very sensitive case and a very complex one, but
whenever she is on the track, it going to be interesting.
GORANI: Right. It sure is. But empty stands, we're still seeing so many empty seats even in very high-profile events. What's going on?
RIDDELL: Yes. Particularly in the track and field which is always the marquis portion of the Olympics. We've seen some performances where it
just looks half empty, which is real shame for the Olympics.
Of course, the local organizers are being asked about this on a daily basis now. I will say it's not the case in every venue. For example, I was in
the athletics stadium on Sunday night when Usain Bolt won his 100 meters and the place was absolutely packed.
The volleyball arenas have been packed when Brazil played the United States the other day. It was an incredible atmosphere. But the numbers are quite
telling. They do say they've sold 88 percent of the tickets.
That doesn't mean that everyone who bought the ticket is going to come along and actually attend the event, but of the events that we still have
to enjoy at the Olympics, we understand there are some 400,000 unsold seats in those events.
Yesterday we heard that the organizers are going to start giving tickets to school kids to try and get them involved and fill the empty seats, give
them something to enjoy in Rio. I must say I don't know why they didn't do this a week ago because this is --
GORANI: I mean, you have a problem if you have to give school kids tickets to go fill seats. I mean, the question is even if the tickets were sold,
and they say they've sold 88 percent of the tickets, what is keeping people away? Because some of these convenience should be fascinating to watch in
person.
RIDDELL: Well, our conversation was preceded with a segment from Nick Paton Walsh about the violence in Rio. That might be keeping people away.
The buildup to the game was built up by the whole Zika controversy. I think a lot of tourists may well have been put off by that.
The government is in meltdown, the economy is collapsing. The games were awarded seven years ago when Brazil was a very different country. The last
two years has been a completely different narrative here.
You know, a lot of people don't have the money here. There's no middle class in Rio to attend these events and a lot of tourists, I suspect, have
decided maybe they didn't want to come after all.
[15:55:07]GORANI: All right, Don Riddell is in Rio. Thanks very much. Don, are you a hugger?
RIDDELL: Yes, I am.
GORANI: OK. I'm not. Personally, but let me tell you why I'm asking you.
RIDDELL: Whatever.
GORANI: OK, virtual hug. That's OK. Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton had an endless embrace. Jeanne Moos takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are hugs where you just throw up your arms and go for it and then there are hugs that keep
going and going and going. Joe Biden wouldn't let Hillary go as they met on the tarmac at Scranton.
(on camera): About four seconds into the hug, they semi-disengage.
(voice-over): Nothing to see here, right? Wrong because the vice president wouldn't unhand Hillary for almost 16 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Notice how many times she tries to tap out. She lets it go. He does not. She taps out. Nope. She's -- nope, he's still
holding on. Second tap out. For God's sake, Joe, you've got to let go.
MOOS: This latest awkward hug would not have been micro analyzed if hadn't been for all the overly handy Biden moments. Critics collect them. At
times when he gently rearranges a young girl's hair and whispers in her ear and then rearranges some more.
There's nothing purvey here. The VP knows he's on camera and the parents are right there as he leans in for a kid. The VP is known as a close
talker. He even does it do the president.
Perhaps his most famous hands-on moment came when he put his hands on the wife of Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Conservatives panned it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the creepiest thing.
MOOS: And so did some liberals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that ain't right, man. That ain't right. Why do you appear to smell her hair?
MOOS: At least the VP didn't get that close to Hillary.
(on camera): Now, Hillary and President Obama have come a long way in their history of hugging. From this paltry excuse for a hug eight years
ago after he defeated her, to this.
A hug so close that Hillary closed her eyes. They even gazed into each other eyes. This was a hug so novel for these two, it looks like the cover
of a romance novel. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Hugs from me, Hala Gorani. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
