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Hala Gorani Tonight
Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton Hold First Joint Rally; Candidates Stump In Key Battleground States; CNN Outlook: Two Key States Are Back In Play; New Batch of Hacked Emails Released By WikiLeaks; CNN Goes Inside ISIS Tunnels
Aired October 27, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: And let me tell you this is not about Republicans versus Democrats. None of that matters this time
around.
No, no, this election is about something much bigger. It is about who will shape our children and the country we leave for them, not just for next
four or eight years, but for the rest of their lives.
Because as Hillary pointed out, we all know the influence that the president has on our children. How they turn on the TV and they see the
most powerful role model in the world. Someone who shows them how to treat others.
How to deal with disappointment whether to tell the truth. They're taking it all in. And as Hillary said when you raise children in the White House
like Barack and Hillary and I have, you are reminded every day of the impact that you have.
You start seeing the images of every child in this country in the face of your child. So when people wonder how Hillary keeps her composure through
the overwhelming pressure of not just this campaign, but of her career -- or how Barack and I have dealt with the glare of the national spotlight
these last eight years, that is the answer.
With every action we take, with every word we utter, we think about the millions of children who are watching us, who hang on to our every word,
looking to us to show them who they can and should be.
And that is why every day we try to be the kind of people and leaders that your children deserve whether you agree with our politics or not. And when
I think about this election, let me tell you that is what I'm thinking about.
I'm asking myself, what do my girls, all of our children, deserve in their president? What kind of a president do we want for them? Well, to start
with, I think we want someone who is a unifying force in this country.
Someone who sees our differences not as a threat, but as a blessing. As Hillary said, we want a president who values an honors women, who teaches
our daughters and our sons that women are full in equal human beings worthy and deserving of love and respect.
We want a president who understands that this nation was built by folks who came here from all corners of the globe. Folks who worked their fingers to
the bone to create this country and give their kids a better life.
We want a president who sees the goodness in all of our communities, not just the brokenness, someone who understands that communities like the one
where I was raised are filled with good, hardworking folks.
Folks who take that extra shift, who work that extra job because they want something more for their kids. And finally, we want a president who takes
this job seriously and has the temperament and maturity to do it well, someone who is steady. Someone who we can trust with the nuclear codes.
Because we want to go to sleep at night knowing that our kids and our country are safe and I am here today because I believe with all of my heart
and I would not be here lying to you. I believe here with all of my heart that Hillary Clinton will be that president.
You see over the years I have come to know Hillary. I know her, not just her extraordinary professional accomplishments, but I know her personal
values and beliefs.
[15:05:06]I know that Hillary was raised like Barack and I in a working family. Hillary's mother was an orphan abandoned by her parents. Her
father was a small business owner, who stayed up nights, pouring over the books, working hard to keep their family afloat.
So believe this, Hillary knows what it means to struggle for what you have and want to something better for your kids. That's why since the day she
launched her campaign, Hillary has been laying out concrete detailed policies that will actually make a difference for kids and families in this
country.
She said she plans to make college tuition free to help young people drowning in debt. She going to handle making sure that our climate is
protected and let me tell you this about Hillary.
She is involved and engaged in every policy issue that she has developed. You go on her website, she is going to raise the minimum wage. She is
going to cut taxes for working folks. She is going to do her best to help women get equal pay for equal work.
And if you want to know more, just go on her website hillaryclinton.com because here's the thing about Hillary. Thankfully Hillary is a policy
wonk.
And let me tell you when you are president that is a good thing because policies matter. They really matter. They determine whether our kids have
good schools, whether they can see a doctor when they're sick.
Whether they are safe when they walk out the door on the way to school. Policies matter and that is why Hillary has fought so hard for children's
health insurance as first lady.
For affordable child care in the Senate that's why as secretary of state she has gone toe to toe with world leaders to keep our kids safe and that
is why day after day, debate after debate, she has shown up such strength, such grace, refusing to be knocked down, pushed around, or counted out.
Hillary does all of this because she is thinking of children like her mother. Children like her daughter and her grand kids. Children who
deserve every chance to fulfill their God-given potential.
That is why Hillary is in this. She is in this race for us. She is in this for our families, for our kids, for our shared future. So let me tell
you that is why I am inspired by Hillary.
That is why I respect Hillary because she has lived a life grounded in service and sacrifice that has brought her to this day. That has more than
prepared her to take on the hardest job on the planet.
She has run an extraordinary campaign. She has built an impressive grassroots organization. She has raised the money. She's won all of the
debates. So Hillary has done her job.
Now we need to do our job and get her elected president of the United States because here is where I want to get real. If Hillary doesn't win
this election, that will be on us. It will be because we did not stand with her.
It will be because we did not vote for her and that is exactly what her opponent is hoping will happen. That is the strategy, to make this
election so dirty and ugly that we don't want any part of it.
So when you hear folks talking about a global conspiracy, and saying that this election is rigged, understand that they are trying to get you to stay
home.
They are trying to convince you that your vote doesn't matter, that the outcome has been determined and you shouldn't even bother making your voice
heard.
[15:10:06]They are trying to take away your hope. Just for the record in this country, the United States of America, voters decide the election.
They've always decided. Voters decide who wins and who losses, period, end of story.
And right now, thankfully folks are coming out in droves to vote early. It is amazing to see that we're making our voices heard across this country
because when they go low, we go high. And we know that every vote matters, every single vote.
And if you have any doubt about that consider this, back in 2008, Barack won North Carolina by about 14,000 votes, which sounds like a lot, but when
you break that number down, the difference between winning and losing this state was a little over two votes per precinct.
I want you all to take that in because I know that there are people here who didn't vote. Two votes and people knew people who didn't vote. Two
votes. If just two or three folks per precinct went the other way, Barack would have lost that state, could have lost the election.
And let's not forget back in 2012, Barack actually did lose the state by about 17 votes per precinct, 17. That's how presidential elections go.
They are decided on a razor's edge.
So each of you could swing, in this stadium, think about it, each of you could swing an entire precinct and win this election for Hillary just by
getting yourselves, your friends, and your family out to vote. Just doing what you're supposed to do. You can do this.
But you can also help swing an entire precinct for Hillary's opponent with a protest vote, or by not voting at all. So here is what I'm asking you.
Get out and vote. Get out and vote for Hillary. Vote early, vote right now. Leave here, go vote, and don't let anyone take that right away from
you.
As Hillary mentioned, you may have seen in previous weeks that votes were trying to cut early voting places and cut the hours they were open, but
that didn't stop people in the state, that's beautiful.
Now I understand there are more locations that are opening and I want you all to crowd those places. I want you to remember that folks marched and
protested for our right to vote. They endured beatings and jail time. They sacrificed their lives for this right.
So I know you can get yourselves to the poll to exercise that right because make no mistake about it, casting our vote is the ultimate way we go high,
when they go low. Voting is our high. That is how we go high. We vote.
How do we go high? We vote. How do we go high? We vote. That's it. And after you vote, volunteer. No, no, no. We need you to volunteer, roll up
your sleeves, make calls, knock on doors, get people to the polls, it's turnout that will make the difference. We have to turn our people out.
Do not let yourself get tired or frustrated or discouraged by the negativity of this election. As you out there working your hearts out for
my girl, here is the thing that I just want to tell you all because this has been a draining election.
But I urge you to please, please, be encouraged. You know, I want our young people to be encouraged. We still live in the greatest country on
earth. We do and I have never felt more hopeful about the future, and I think our young people deserve that. Be encouraged.
I feel that way because for the past eight years, I have had the great honor of being this country's first lady.
[15:15:11]First ladies, we rock. But I have just travelled from one side of this country to the other and met people of every background and walk of
life including people that disagree with just about everything Barack and I have ever said, but they welcome us into their communities.
Remember our neighbors are decent folks. These are all good people who are open hearted and willing to listen. And while we may not change people's
minds, when it comes to what really matters, when it comes to our hopes and dreams for our children, we're just not all that different.
I want you to remember that part of us as Americans, that piece of us, that's what drives folks like Hillary's mother that said to herself I may
not have grown up in a loving family, but I will build a loving family of my own.
I will give my children what I never had. I will pour my heart into raising a strong, smart, loving daughter. That is what drives people like
my father who kept getting up and putting in those long hours saying I may not have gone to college, but I'm going to keep working because maybe my
son or daughter will.
Because in this country, anything is possible. As we walk away from this election, remember that is what makes us who we are. Remember that, a
country where a girl like me from the south side of Chicago, whose great grandfather was a slave, can go to the finest universities on earth.
A country where a bi-racial kid from Hawaii, a son of a single mother, can make it to the White House. A country where the daughter of an orphan can
break that highest and hardest glass ceiling can be broken and become president of the United States.
That is who we are. That is what is possible here in America, but only when we come together and only when we work for it and fight for it. So
that's why for the next 12 days, folks, we need to do everything possible to help Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine win this election.
Are you with me? Are you with me? I can't hear you? Are we going to do this? We're going to vote? We're going to vote early. We're going to
stand in line. We're going to make our voices heard. Nobody is going to take away our hope. Let's get this defense attorney. Thank you, all, God
bless.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL GUEST ANCHOR: Let's get this done. She is in this race for us, our families, our kids, our shared future, words of
the U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama appearing with Hillary Clinton for the first time in this presidential campaign at a rally in North Carolina.
Obama is the Clinton campaign's not so secret weapon for getting out the vote. We heard her urging her listeners to go out and vote and help others
to get out to vote, and also for calling out Donald Trump who has a vision of hopelessness and despair of a country that is weak and divided.
While Clinton, she said, by comparison, has a vision of a nation that is powerful, vibrant, strong, and is big enough for all of us. For her part,
Hillary Clinton had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This may be one of the most important elections of our lifetimes, no matter our age, but for young
people, it will be so consequential because every election is about the future. And this one is about whether we build on the progress we've made,
the legacy that President Obama has built, or rip it away and go backwards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Trump is on the trail as well speaking in Ohio last hour. Ripping into Clinton over what he says was learned in the latest WikiLeaks
documents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:10]DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In fact the Clinton Foundation even hired a law firm to find out if their pay for play would
jeopardize their foundation scheme with the IRS. If the Clintons were willing to play this fast and loose with their enterprise, when they
weren't in the White House, just imagine what they will do given the chance to once again control the oval office. We have had enough of the Clintons
in all fairness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Maybe so, all this as the battleground opens up. CNN projections has categorized Nevada and Florida as leaning Democratic, but now they're
toss ups once again.
Senior political correspondent, Chris Moody, and senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter are both in New York and joining us now.
Gentlemen, I know you were watching along with us, what was going through your mind, Chris Moody, as Michelle Obama was talking?
CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: One thing I kept thinking is that for many voters this election truly has been a bear. It has been
long and difficult and sometimes discouraging. People are tired and ready for Election Day to come and go.
They may so tired that just say throw up their hands and say I'm not going to participate. I'm not going to vote. Those were the voters that
Michelle Obama was speaking to in that speech saying, I know you're exhausted, but you need to get out there and be part of this process.
Especially as they might see certain news reports saying that Hillary Clinton possibly has this thing in the bag, that might keep people from
going to the polls on Election Day, and Michelle Obama was quite a spirited advocate for the case of not giving up.
That the light is at the end of the tunnel, so to speak and that people still need to get out and vote even if they feel very discouraged, which a
lot of people do.
MANN: Brian?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This was an extraordinary American image. The current first lady endorsing the former first lady who
wants to be the next president. Just visually a fascinating thing to see especially giving that Michelle Obama campaigned with her husband to beat
Hillary Clinton eight years ago.
So to see them talking together on stage for the first time today, just thinking about the visual of it is fascinating and to think about what it
means for women who are watching it is also fascinating.
Michelle Obama is beloved in the United States, even more so than her husband, and so to see her in a sense passing over the torch to Hillary
Clinton, welcoming her to take over the White House, is very interesting.
And I was struck by what Michelle Obama said about the rigged election claims that Donald Trump has been pushing. Up until today Donald Trump on
Twitter warning about votes being stolen from him without a shred of evidence.
Well, Michelle Obama took that on and said, they are trying to convince you not to vote. They are trying dissuade you from voting. So she is
suggesting all this talk of a rigged election is designed to tamp down and depress the overall vote. It could hurt Trump and also Clinton. It was
important that she went directly to that point in the speech.
MANN: I don't know if it was a matter of protocol, Michelle Obama is the first lady, and Hillary Clinton has no position right now, but usually in
presidential campaigns, you find the speaker speaking first tends to warm up the crowd for the candidate.
This way it was the other way around. I'm just wondering if both of you think this is just a concession to the obvious fact that Michelle Obama as
a personality is still way more popular in this country than the Democratic candidate for president.
STELTER: For sure, I was very struck by that. I was actually surprised that Clinton spoke as long as she did because she knew the main event her
was Michelle Obama and Michelle Obama delivered. You know, the speech a couple of weeks ago really attacking Trump amid these allegations of sexual
assault really could not be topped. I don't think Michelle Obama topped it just now, but she did present a very optimistic vision and Clinton knew
that was going to be the point of today.
MANN: I wonder, Chris Moody, if we can turn to the timing for this because this was the first appearance of these two women together, and it comes at
a time when a lot of people say the race is tightening, that the early over confidence, the euphoria that some of the numbers were Clinton camp, has
dissolved a little bit.
Because the polls and even our own look at the battleground states seem to suggest things will be tougher for Clinton than we thought. Where do
things stand?
MOODY: Well, our Electoral College analysis has shown quite a tightening in key states Florida and Nevada. But if you look at the Electoral College
map and you give Florida and Nevada to Donald Trump, but you give Ohio or Pennsylvania or North Carolina to Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton still
wins.
Even if Donald Trump gets these other states. He has a very tight road to the White House. There is zero room for error for him while for Hillary
Clinton she can lose a couple of key states and still come out on top.
[15:25:00]So what he has to do is win Florida, Ohio, Nevada, and Pennsylvania if he wants to win -- if any of those cards fall for Donald
Trump, he loses in November. I think the key question here is going to be organization.
I just saw another group of polling showing that Georgia is going to be a battleground state, something that hasn't been for quite a long time and
Hillary Clinton in all measurements has better ground organization, far more paid staffers, more people getting people registered to vote and out
to the polls on Election Day.
Donald Trump has not beefed up those efforts in a way he needs to do so it's going to make it really hard for him to get people to those polls in a
way he needs to and to target voters in the neigborhoods and the precincts he needs. Hillary Clinton is ahead in that regard by many, many measures.
MANN: Chris Moody, Brian Stelter, I'm afraid -- that's all the time we have. We'll be talking more about this in the days to come. Thank you,
Gentlemen, for joining us.
Still to come, it's not the headline Hillary Clinton wants 12 days before the U.S. election. WikiLeaks releasing a new batch of hacked e-mails
exposing the inner workings of her campaign and more.
Plus, hidden until now, we'll take you deep underground to expose ISIS's secret network of tunnels. Stay with us for that. This is THE WORLD RIGHT
NOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back. Let's look at the hour's top headlines. Central Italy has felt a series of aftershocks after two strong earthquakes hit
Wednesday. The strongest was magnitude 6.1. No injuries have been reported, buildings heavily damaged. The quakes hit not far from when in
August have killed nearly 300 people.
Turkish President Tayip Erdogan wants to join the U.S. in attacking ISIS's strongholds in Raqqa, Syria. Mr. Erdogan says he told U.S. President
Barack Obama there is no need to use Kurdish militias to do it. Some are supported by the U.S. Turkey considers them terrorist.
The British economy grew 0.5 percent in the third quarter defind forecast that the Brexit vote would trigger recession, but experts are cautioning it
could take some time before the full effects of the vote are felt.
Twitter is firing more than 300 employees as it shrinks its workforce by also 10 percent. The social network also announced that it's totally
killing off its Vine app that let users share 6-second videos.
Back now to the race for the White House, Hillary Clinton drawing on some major star power to get out the vote. Her first joint campaign appearance
with First Lady Michelle Obama wrapped up just a short time ago in North Carolina.
Mrs. Obama appealed to voters on a personal level saying the future of America's children is at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Hillary knows what it means to struggle for what you have and to want something better for more kids. That's why since the day she launched
her campaign, Hillary has been laying out concrete detailed policies that will make actually difference for kids and families in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Clinton is still ahead in most polls, but Donald Trump is getting closer in the rearview mirror. CNN's latest poll of polls shows Trump with
a 6-point deficit nationwide and there's just 12 days left to close the gap.
Clinton trying to stay focused on her message, though, the constant drip, drip of revelations from hacked e-mails has her campaign on the defensive.
CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, has been looking into the latest batch published by WikiLeaks and joins us now. By now,
Jim, there have been so many e-mails, what more are we learning? I mean, how much more detailed is the picture getting? How much is it changing
with the new (inaudible)?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There are so many e-mails because virtually every day there is a batch released, and it's the
belief of U.S. intelligence, these e-mails were hacked by actors working for the Russian state and they have been funneled through websites such as
WikiLeaks.
So they are coming out every day solely focused on the Democratic Party. What you're finding is really what can be at times an embarrassing look
inside the Democratic Party operation.
On the headline issue, is there evidence in these e-mails that favors were traded while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state? In other words
saying, you know, I'm going to do this work of state for you if you make a donation to my foundation, for instance.
There is an evidence of quid pro quos like that, but there is somewhat unseemly relationship here where, for instance, there were states who were
donating to the Clinton Foundation when they have business before the U.S. Department of State while she was secretary of state.
Then you have this other angle here because we are seeing this relationship with Bill Clinton as well. That businesses that had business before what
is, in effect, an investment bank called Teneo (ph) that was run by Bill Clinton's former chief of staff.
Big companies that had business there were encouraged to donate to the Clinton foundation. Now what the Clinton campaign will say, hey, it's a
foundation. It does a lot of great charity work. So ask them for a donation while they're doing business with us, no big deal.
But then you have an added layer where at the same time they were being asked, Jonathan, to donate to the foundation, they were also being asked to
find gainful employment in effect for Bill Clinton, sometimes just in paid speeches, but perhaps other business relationships with those companies.
So it shows an unseemly relationship between the money earning aspect of the Clinton family, the foundation, and then some of this happening while
she was secretary of state.
MANN: Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.
SCIUTTO: Thank you.
MANN: Let's talk more about the impact of all this on Hillary Clinton in the final days of the campaign. We are joined by Matea Gold, national
political reporter for "The Washington Post." Thanks so much for being with us.
Let me ask you first of all about the e-mails, every day there are new headlines. None of them looked good for the Clinton campaign. It doesn't
matter at this point or is everyone just sick of hearing about it?
MATEA GOLD, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, probably both are true, right. That it could be contributing to some of
the tightening polls, but we also heard from voters that they're really tired of hearing about the e-mails.
We have yet to see a revelation in the hacked e-mails posted by WikiLeaks that is the October bomb shell that was promised that would alter the
trajectory of this race. At this point, Trump has very, very narrow path to win the White House.
MANN: Now you used the word everyone is using today, tightening, what do you make of it? Why is it happening?
GOLD: Well, I think it is important to remember that a single poll is just a snapshot in time. If you look at the trend of polls overall, Clinton has
a very sizable lead in the electoral and that is really all that matters right now.
So while one poll here and there might show him up a few points and her down a points, I think the most conservative estimate is just to look at
the trend line and it's still in her favor.
MANN: And yet, you think about Donald Trump, he is a man who has been rejected by many leaders of his own party, by millions of voters within his
own party, by every major newspaper in this country. Hillary Clinton brings, as we heard from the first lady, such a long resume and the Clinton
family dynasty along with her and a political organization unmatched in this country. Why isn't she doing better? Why is he still biting at her
heals?
GOLD: I think there has been so much attention paid to his negatives and the fact that he really enters this race with one of the highest
unfavorable ratings we have ever seen.
[05:35:06]And the truth is that she also is an incredibly unpopular candidate. Voters feel very dissatisfied with their choices. You see that
reflected in the polls.
You see that reflected in some of the movement in which I think there is not a very strong affiliation between a lot of voters and these candidates.
And so they can be easily pushed in one way or another.
MANN: You know, people have said going into every election in memory that turnout is going to be crucial. It's not after all about convincing
people. It's about getting their votes, but this time that seems to be more serious.
And in fact published reports suggests that the Trump campaign is hoping to suppress voter enthusiasm, and to make people basically not want to cast
ballots, is turnout going to potentially be the big surprise of this election?
GOLD: Well, I think at the end of the day, it's really the mechanics of turning out voters, which is all that really matters. And if you look at
the numbers and the investments made, the Democrats have a huge advantage.
The AP did a tally yesterday and found that the Democrats and Clinton's operation together have almost 5,000 paid staffers compared to 1,500 for
Trump and the Republicans. That is the kind of ground operation that is hard to compete with when there is such a big imbalance.
MANN: Matea Gold of "The Washington Post," thanks so much.
GOLD: Thank you.
MANN: Now to something you may not know about Hillary Clinton, she says she loves humor and looks for something to laugh about every day. In fact,
she thinks all Americans need to have more fun and she reveals her plan to make it happen on a radio program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I keep telling people I want to close the deficit and one of the deficit I want to close
is the fun deficit. You have to close the fun deficit. I'm sick of all of the meanness and why don't the people who support my opponent go out and
have fun dancing. I think we need a big national dance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Those last images, of course, from her now famous shimmy at the first presidential debate. We don't know what the play list will be for
Clinton's national dance party, but she practiced moved to some Latin music when she dropped by a talk show on Univision. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He doesn't know how to dance, I'm terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: No dancing on this, let's talk about a serious issue for whoever gets into the White House, America's war against ISIS. Right now, U.S.
backed forces are heading straight for the thousands of militants thought to be riddling the city of Mosul. CNN's Arwa Damon takes us inside a key
part of the militant strategy, a labyrinth of hidden tunnels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Inside a residential home. All of the rooms have been filled with the dirt that they dug out
from underneath so that no one could see what it was that they were up to.
They have dismantled some explosives that they found down inside as well. When they came, they saw that this ladder was already in place. They found
a couple of drills and wheelbarrows that they've removed.
Look at this cable, they're running electricity down here. This is another of the tires that the counterterrorism soldiers burnt inside this tunnel to
try to suffocate any ISIS fighters that may have been inside, and that's why there is this black soot that's covering everything.
It is sort of a staircase that they have carved out that goes all of the way up to the road. It is pretty narrow and hard to move through here.
This goes all of the way up into a hole that opens up on to the street that we were just walking down and ISIS fighters were able to use this to move
up and launch surprise attacks on troops as they were advancing.
But he was saying that it also serves as a way to circulate oxygen because this tunnel complex is pretty far underground and it goes off in another
direction. They have a fan down here as well.
[15:40:03]This distance that we just came through underground, had they been able to complete it, this would have opened up on the other side of
the main street. Arwa Damon, CNN, Bartola, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Still ahead, don't blink or you'll miss it, new high speed trains on Japanese test tracks promise to
revolutionize transportation with the help of magnets. We'll take you faster than a speeding bullet train coming up.
And later, an incredible story of survival and resilience. One woman's quest to overcome a childhood of trauma and loss. A CNN "Freedom Project"
inspiration, still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. When it comes to getting around, nobody does it faster than Japan. It's high-speed trains crisscross the country at speeds
no other country can match and Japan is upping the pace even more as Will Ripley shows us in today's "On Japan," they're doing it with magnets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the most sophisticated transportation networks in the world, the arteries of
Japan, pumping millions of passengers across and the trains are almost always on time.
Walking into Tokyo station, you're surrounded, more than 3,000 trains and half a million people passing through this one station every day, but
trains are much more than transportation here in Japan. They tell a story of this country's character and changing relationship with the world.
(on camera): Was this your seat right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
RIPLEY: And so does being in here bring back memories for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course.
RIPLEY: Fumihiro Araki is living history. He was a conductor of the Zero Series Shinkansen -- Japan's first high speed rail.
(on camera): Tell me what it was like when the bullet train first was unveiled in Japan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
RIPLEY: We're standing on board the original train unveiled in 1964. At the time, it topped 210 kilometers an hour, which was unheard of. The
fastest trains in Europe pushed 160. The Shinkansen was a show of force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
RIPLEY (voice-over): Now Japan is upping the ante again.
(on camera): Look at that, incredible, how fast is it going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 311 miles per hour.
RIPLEY: It's 311 miles an hour.
[15:45:01](voice-over): The SC Magnum recently clocking in at speeds of 600 kilometers per hour. Testing is underway at a track outside of Tokyo,
hidden in the mountains of a sleepy town called Yamanashi.
(on camera): How does it go so fast?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is levitating using magnetic force.
RIPLEY: So literally the train isn't touching the surface, it is just floating just above?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
RIPLEY (voice-over): But travel on Maglev isn't going to happen overnight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We already gained the speed of 550 kilometers per hour in 1997. However, we need to make the system and technology into a
practical level and that's going to take time.
RIPLEY: This new technology requires all new tracks, 85 percent of which will be underground to compensate for the fact that Japan is incredibly
mountainous and also to avoid purchasing the land the train tracks go through. Even then this first line is estimated to cost $55 billion.
(on camera): Walking on boar the fastest train in the world almost feels like you're getting on an airplane and the Maglev can travel nearly as
fast.
(voice-over): The ride is surprisingly smooth, although your ears pop after you go a certain speed. A journey that many in Japan can't wait to
be a part of.
(on camera): Doesn't get old, so cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: So cool. Coming up "The Great British Bake Off" is over for the BBC. What is next for the future of an iconic baking show? We'll be there
to watch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. From the CNN Freedom Project now, a story of survival and resilience. A young Columbian emerging from a childhood of
trauma and abuse has flowered into a creative and forward looking adult.
She tells our Rafael Romo despite her struggles and with the help of kind strangers she's learned, at least, to love herself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): How does it feel to walk in another's shoes? The age old appeal to empathy may
have never applied more than to someone like Monica Meduarte Morales.
MONICA MORALES, TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR (through translator): The first memory I have is when they killed my father. He was killed in front of me
after buying me some ice cream.
ROMO: Monica, now 21, says she grew up in one of Colombia's most dangerous neighbors.
DILIA STEIN, ORPHANED STARFISH FOUNDATION: When she was 2 months old, her mother was murdered by a local gang. When she was four years old her
father was murdered.
ROMO: Dilia Stein works with the U.S.-based Orphaned Starfish Foundation, which assists orphanages around the world. After losing both parents at
such an early age, Stein says things only got worse for Monica. There is a trust that family and friends hold her to different families who wanted
children.
MORALES (through translator): I would be abused sexually and I was mistreated physically and verbally.
ROMO: At age 11, Monica was brought to a home for abused girls that worked with the Orphaned Starfish Foundation. There things finally started to
turn around for her.
[05:50:04]MORALES (through translator): I started to study and to dance and do things I never thought I would be able to do. My dream is to be a
great fashion designer, dancer, person, and building more dreams.
ROMO: Recently Monica received a scholarship to study fashion at a local university.
STEIN: She already is becoming one of the most successful students in her university. Her designs have been chosen for catwalks in Milan.
ROMO (on camera): Do you feel like you have recovered?
MORALES (through translator): Not a 100 percent. I'm a very strong human being and was born for great things. The most important thing was learning
to love myself and if you have the will to do something, you can do it.
ROMO (voice-over): A lesson that we can all learn from a strong survivor, who may one day be dancing in shoes she's designed herself. Rafael Romo,
CNN, Colombia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: We have so much more online about the Orphaned Starfish Foundation and other global efforts to stop human trafficking and modern day slavery.
You'll find it all on your CNN Freedom Project website.
A sad day in the U.K., the people of Britain bidding a font cheerio to "The Great British Bake Off" in its current wildly popular form.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The winner of the great British bakeoff, 2016, is -- Candace!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: The suspense was killing me there for a moment. BBC actually lost its bid for the rights to the program. So even though the show will carry
on another channel, but people seem to be perturbed, 14 million watched the finale Wednesday.
That's more, for example, than people watched the most popular live event in the BBC's Olympic coverage this year and it's not just a British thing.
You can watch a version of the show in nearly 200 countries as of last year.
Bakers can bring a slice of the franchise into their own kitchen. Last season's winner has released her recipe book in June. It has already sold
25,000 copies.
Let's talk about what does means for the British people and for bakers everywhere. Neil Midgley is a media commentator for "The Daily Telegraph,"
who joins us. Thanks so much for being with us. Did you watch the final and what was going through your mind as you did?
NEIL MIDGLEY, MEDIA COMMENTATOR, "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH": It was very sad. It was a very weird event because, of course, the show is prerecorded
earlier in the year before the BBC lost the rights to the program from the next season onwards.
So the people who are appearing on screen last night was (inaudible) innocent compared to the rest of us who had to go through this traumatic
experience of seeing the bake off ripped from the hands of the BBC by the money grabbing hands of its rival broadcaster Channel 4 and the show's
producers Love Productions.
MANN: You sound pretty worked up about this. I mean, just explain to people who have not seen the program or shared its joy of baking, why is it
so iconic and why have you put the chains the way you have?
MIDGLEY: Nobody quite understands why the bake off is quite as big as it is. Cake is universal, we all love it, but there is a show that just
chimes with Brits in the modern world. The world at the moment is very divided. We're all divided over Brexit and the bake off brings us all
together.
We all feel cold and anxious because of the economic climate, the threat of terrorism and the bake off makes us feel warm and cozy, and it has a
brilliant array of on screen stars.
So it's presents a story, Mary Berry, who everybody in Great Britain wants to be their grandma who is the nearly octogenarian judge of the bake off.
And all those constituent parts together have just made it grow and grow and grow until now, as you say, 14.9 million people was the peak audience
last night and you compare that to 17.4 million who voted for the Brexit and the referendum and you see how big it is.
GORANI: It's amazing. And it is reaching beyond the television sets of the nation and into the kitchens and the bake shops and that baked off
effect that in fact baked goods in Britain are getting better because of the program.
MIDGLEY: It's about time, wasn't it? It is all about cream cakes and it is uniquely British thing trying to explain to an American what a cream
donut is, for example, a donut with whipped cream and jam piped into it.
[15:55:11]And Americans tend to pull the most appalling faces.
MANN: The program is not going away entirely, but it is changing networks and as you mentioned, three of its presenters are leaving, how many people
will tune in and watch it next year?
MIDGLEY: Well, it won't even be next year because there is a clause in the BBC's current contract for the show that says if they switch to a rival
broadcaster, there has to be a non-compete year. So it won't been on Channel 4 until 2018.
Channel 4 has really been guilty of conduct unbecoming here. They're publicly owned broadcaster, but commercially funded unlike BBC and so they
are able to reach into their commercial pockets and pay a price, which the BBC didn't feel they were able to pay for the show, a reputed 25 million
pounds a year.
So that's about 30 million pounds a year compared to the 6 million pounds a year, which the BBC is paying at the moment and it was much of that money
goes into the pockets of the independent production company, Love Productions, which are the owners of the format.
So there has been weird thing where the Wizard of Oz came out from behind the curtain, and we have been enjoying this program on the air, but behind
the scenes, there is all this financial greed going on and I think it will poison the bake off when it does eventually get to Channel 4.
GORANI: Our hearts broken a little by baking, who would have thought? Neil Midgley of "The Daily Telegraph, thanks so much for this.
While Brits are sighing and giving up on their "Bake Off" host ever rising together again, fans of one band have been keeping their hopes high for
decades. All we can say is Mama Mia, here I go again.
Can you resist them, Abba announcing they will officially reunite for the first time in more than 30 years? I'm speechless.
This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Thanks for joining us. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
