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Ecuador Rescue Operations Continue; London Police Investigate Mid-Air Incident; Pope Takes in Three Syrian Refugee Families; Girls in Vietnam Forced into Marriage; HBO Docudrama on Clarence Thomas Gets Attention with Supreme Court Vacancy. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 18, 2016 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[01:00:12] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, rescue operations under way on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean after separate earthquakes strike Japan and Ecuador over the weekend.

Plus, large celebrations in the street of Brazil after that country's president from one major step closer to being thrown out of office.

And protests shower, U.S. presidential candidates motorcade with one dollar bill.

Hello and thank you for joining us this time. I'm Isha Sesay Newsroom L.A. starts right now.

Recovery efforts are underway in Ecuador after the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Take a look at the devastation throughout much of the country where collapsed buildings, outnumbering those still standing in some areas.

Gustavo Valdes is live in the capitol of Quito and joins us now.

Gustavo, thank you so much for being with us. I know that it is late where you are, it is midnight there in Quito. But set the scene for us, what are you hearing about conditions there in the quake zone and the response?

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN AN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. Everybody is very shaken up even here many hundred of kilometers away from the epicenter.

The people in Quito in the capitol felt the earthquake. It was a massive earthquake that also was felt all the way from the Colombia boarder through the Peruvian border.

But six regions in the coastal zone of Ecuador is where we've seen most of the damage. The president went on national T.V. shortly before 11 p.m. local time. He race back from the Vatican where he had a meeting. He took in 30 hours to get back to his country and he made a call for the country to unify behind those who are trying to rescue people.

He said there at least 237 people confirmed dead but he assured the nation and the world that the number is likely to increase into the number of people they believed are still trapped under the rubble.

More than 3,000 people injured so we still to know what the total tally of this tragedy is going to be. What we do know is that people from all over the country, from all over the Latin-American nations are mostly trying to help rescue those who are still trapped and trying to start, helping those who were affected by this earthquake. Isha.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: All right. Gustavo Valdes joining us here from Quito, Ecuador. Gustavo, appreciate it. Thank you so much for the live report.

I Apologies to our viewers for some of the audio problems in that report from Gustavo, it was a little loud around him. But we want to bring you that report and get a sense of what's happening there on the ground.

Meanwhile, in Japan, rescue crews are desperately searching for people trapped in rubbles after two powerful earthquakes hit Kyusha Island. The combined death toll has risen to 42 with more than a thousand people injured. Officials say about 180,000 people have been move into more 800 shelters.

Our Matt Rivers has been following the deadly earthquakes from Japan and joins us now live from Minima (ph) -- from Minamiaso Village, apologies for that.

Matt, I understand you're at a rescue site. Set the scene for us, there's some activity behind you.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, right now rescuers, there's about 200 or so people here trying to find two people that officials tell us are trapped in that landslide behind us that was triggered by the earthquake that has occurred here on Saturday.

This kind of scene here happening across this area still eleven people reported missing at this point. So that's obviously the top priority.

We're in a mountainous region here but down below in the valley and the more urban areas, while the rescue operations are going on here, down there people are finally beginning to go back to their home or to what is left of their homes.

So we spoke to one woman who took us along as she saw her home for the first time since the earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: Her 80-year-old father survived when this building collapsed on top of him. And that's the only piece of good news Kiyomi Matsuoka has got. It's just so surreal. She says, I'm still in shock. Kiyomi's family rent a salon and in this building for 40 years. They lived together in the back, but two earthquakes, the first on Thursday then again on Saturday shredded her home.

It's devastating she says, utterly devastated. Kiyomi is like tens of thousands of others in south west Japan still reeling from the unexpected disasters. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured and some are still missing, buried under twisted metal and wood.

[01:05:08] We watched as a rescue team went property by property looking for anyone still alive extreme work, few has been found so far. But that's partly because precautions were taken.

This picture is from Friday and this is what that same home looks like right now. Oddly enough many people we spoken to in this neighborhood tell us they're actually happy that two earthquakes occurred.

After the first one hit, tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate from neighborhoods like this one, so when the second one hit on Saturday some 15 times stronger than the first one there were less people around. That might have save lives.

Most of those evacuees ended up at shelters like this one. Parent's, kids, grandparents, dogs, some don't have homes to return to, the ones the do are simply too afraid to go back for fear of more aftershocks.

Everything was shaking so badly during the earthquake. He said "I thought it was the end of my life. Kount Kiyomi Matsuoka among those with no where to go, she's staying in her car for now but with so stoic and calm when she talk to us. She only choked up when we asked her what comes next.

I wanted this business to stay in my family for generations she says, I'm not sure that could happen now. The earthquakes where over in a few moments but their effect will be felt far longer than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And while the focus remains on rebuilding or it's really just shifting to rebuilding down in the more urban centers up here in the mountains. Focus clearly remains on hoping to find any survivors that remain in that rubble, rescuers here hoping to use what little daylight left here sunset is in just not too long away probably about five hours or so from now and they can't work into the night. They tell us because they don't have the proper lighting equipment to do so. So, time is running out here fro these two people trapped in this land slide behind me, Isha.

SESAY: And Matt to that very point, what are authorities emergency responded saying to you about how long anyone trapped in those kinds of conditions beneath that landslide? How long could they survive?

RIVERS: Oh, we asked that very question to a commander here not long ago and he said typically in this kind of a situation with a landslide like this. The window is roughly around 72 hours and so this landslide was triggered by an earthquake that happened Saturday morning at around 1:30 a.m. and so we are well passed the 48 hour mark now, we are swiftly approaching the 72 hour marking and with each hour that goes by. Unfortunately Isha, the chances of finding these two people alive both here and in other parts of this village gets that much slimmer.

SESAY: A very, very distressing situation for all those in Minamiaso Village, Matt Rivers, we appreciate the reporting, thank you so much.

Before closer look at the quake with Ecuador and Japan, I'm joined by Seismologist and Geophysicist, Mark Simons. Mark thank you so much for being with us.

MARK SIMONS, SEISMOLOGIST AND GEOPHYSICIST: You're welcome.

SESAY: To ask you a question that many are wondering right now. Two powerful earthquakes, one in Ecuador, one in Japan hours apart, are these linked in anyway?

SIMON: That's right, that is a very natural to question to ask, but its not likely did not. You know these earthquakes are occurring about 15,000 kilometers apart, a third of the way around the globe, they involve different tectonic plates. It really is kind of like a tree falling in the forest in Canada and Cactus us falling in the desert in Mexico, they're really unconnected events. They're important, they're dramatic but there's no obvious way to connect the two.

SESAY: You said they were different tectonic plates, help us understand that because the different types of earthquakes people might not know that and somewhat to place in Ecuador was a Megathrust event.

SIMON: That' right. So, in Ecuador, this earthquake it was as a thrust event where this one plate, the Nazca plate is subducting or diving down below Ecuador and at this contact point were the two plates meet sometimes it sticks and then eventually would generate an earthquake. It's very much the same mechanism that we had with the earthquake in Japan in 2011 that we had in Chili in 2010.

This very large magnitude eight nine earthquakes are frequently in this Megathrust zones, which is very different from this earthquake that we have in Japan just the last couple of days which is a strikes slip earthquake where one fault slides pass the other one horizontally very much like what we have on San Andreas fall here in Southern California.

SESAY: If people who are concerned, they see two powerful earthquakes happening close together, different side of the world but if there is a concern that, could this happen more often.

[01:10:03] Is the signaling something in terms of the frequency of powerful earthquakes. What will you say to them?

SIMON: No, no that I don't think there's a signal there in fact, you know, this processes are pretty random. The earthquakes, what would you says of them? SIMONS: Not, no, that I don't think there's a signal there. In fact, you know, these processes are pretty random. The earthquakes will occur eventually in this plate boundary zones because the plates are moving together constantly. Sometimes, they come together in clusters and sometimes it can be a long periods of time between events. And so, it looks important but in fact, it's pretty random process.

SESAY: OK. And very quickly, for you you're going to be studying these events what would you'll be looking for? What does this point to us in some of new areas of study?

SIMONS: Well, in the case of the Japanese earthquakes it's interesting because over these two or four shocks, the two magnitude six earthquakes a day before hand, and trying to understand the relationship between the four shocks and main shocks were they related by slip on the fault in the subsurface that generated these earthquakes or did one earthquake triggered the other earthquake, these are the kinds of questions that we hope to be able to get at over the next months to a year.

SESAY: Mark Simons, such a pleasure having you with this. Thank you so much. Thank you.

All right, turning to the situation in Brazil now where lawmakers have dealt a major blow to President Dilma Rousseff. The law house voted overwhelmingly to impeach her for allegedly hiding a budget deficit to win reelection in 2014. Celebrations broke out on the streets as the tally was announced. Look at those scenes Brazil's senators will now vote on whether to proceed to a trial.

Meanwhile President Rousseff insists she is innocence and says impeachment is conspiracy to push her out. President Rousseff went from a prison cells to presidential office CNNMoney's Maggie Lake has more on her dramatic rise and have fight to stay in power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNNMONEY ANCHOR: The size and scope of the protest are unprecedented.

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are taking to the street, demanding the resignation of Dilma Rousseff. A once popular president brought down by scandal, recession and a fear that her country is spiraling out of control.

KATHRYN ROONEY VERA, BULLTICK CAPITAL MARKETS: Brazilians have no confidence in their government. Domestic sentiment is through the floor. The market wants to see it, Dilma gone that's what the market pricing in. We've seen a tremendous rally in Brazil over the past months precisely base on that.

LAKE: It is a tragic reversal of fortune for Rousseff who was imprisoned decades ago, while fighting to over through Brazil's military dictatorship. Her path to the presidency can be tied directly to former president and mentor Lula da Silva. He hand, pick her to become his successor, making her the countries first female president. RICARDO GANDOUR, VISITING SCHOLAR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: It's clear that Lula saw in Dilma a possibility of being a continuity of his government.

People said well, that's the woman Lula is saying will continue his government over I'll vote for her it was simply like that.

LAKE: In 2014, Dilma was re elected in the hotly contested rate but soon her fortunes changed.

VERA: Lula had great will. Under Lula, China was going in double digits, commodity boom with still enforcement. Dilma comes in and the commodity boomed burst and Brazil slow down tremendously.

LAKE: And then, the Petrobras scandal hit. Rousseff has not been charged with corruption but she was head of the oil giant when wrong doing is said to have taken place. Rousseff says she is innocent. Brazilians are not convinced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translation): I think she should throw in the towel. This government has been really disastrous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translation): The future of our country is in God's hand at this point. Things are very precarious at the moment.

LAKE: Dilma is accused to join to manipulate the state budget to high deficits. And her attempt to appoint Lula as chief of staff is highly unpopular. But as an impeachment proceedings move forward and her approval ratings fall below 10 percent, Rousseff refuses to step down.

DILMA ROUSSEFF, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL, (Through Translation): Impeachment without a proof of her crime of responsibility is what? It is cue.

VERA: I suspect that Dilma for political survival will fight this to final (ph) to the last day which would be the worst case for the country.

LAKE: A campus nails warrior for her country is now facing the political fight for life. With struggling Brazilians caught in the middle.

Maggie Lake, CNNMoney, New York.

SESAY: Time for a break now and it rain called cold hard cash here in Los Angeles. Ahead of a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. For those who weren't her supporter throwing money as her.

[01:14:43] Plus actor Johnny Depp's wife appeared in an Australian court Monday after the couple was accuses smuggling they're dogs into the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE RILEY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with you CNN World Sport headline. We start and saying where early days after exiting the champions league Barcelona were shocked home by Valencia in La Liga action. The visitors went ahead to know before Messi would get one back from Bartra to break his longest goal (ph) round.

But it wasn't enough as Valencia hold on to win 2-1 on decathlon suffering a third excessively league drop (ph) for the first time since 2003. One point now separates Bartra, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid for the top of the league.

To the English premiere league now a lesser must feel as though they've taken another big step towards the historic title. That's the hosting West Ham and the Ham has taken two one lead after Leicester Jamie Vardy was shown a red card but Ochoa who would play the hero for the foxes finishing a penalty late on overtime 2 all its how it would end. The draw and Leicester lead to 8 points over second place total place take on Monday.

And from the pitch to the clay course in the Monte Carlo masters where Rafael Nadal claims his 9th title. And Nadal was up against Frenchman Gael Monfils and all though he slips off in the second set allow the match to go the distance and shows in the third why he can be so dominant on the dirt (inaudible) important wins since 2014 French Open with 28 master titles name.

That's to look at all sports headline, I'm Kate Riley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Australian media report why did actor Johnny Depp has pleaded guilty to providing a false immigration document after the couple, was accused of sneaking their two dogs into Australian last May. Two other charges against Amber Heard have reportedly being dropped, Depp was not charged over the incident.

Time to talk U.S. politics. And supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders showers Hillary Clintons motorcade one dollar bill as you just saw there.

This as she drove to a pricey fund raiser hosted by actor George Clooney and his wife Amal right here in Los Angeles on Saturday night and Clooney doesn't disagree with that point about campaign finance laws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: They're right to protest, they're absolutely right it is and I've seen amount of money, the Sander's campaign when they talk about it, it is absolutely right. It's ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics I agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, joining us now Johm Thomas a Republican Consultant and founder of Tomas Partners Strategy, and Dave Jacobson a Democratic Strategist and campaign. We show then communications by wise men return and Dave to start with you. [01:20:04] You know when you hid the details of the fund raising dinner, at Clooney's held Hillary Clinton, say he could be thousand dollars to get in the room to be a co-host was over 300,000. This is the stuff that makes people feel a little achy about politics.

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It gave birth to Bernie Sanders at the campaign, right? I mean that why he's raising so much money from low dollar donors that's why there was fundraiser right toward a birth George Clooney's house for $27 of pop.

I mean the reality is, the reason why Bernie Sanders has been sort of become this movement candidate is because people are fed up with the establishment. What the campaign finances system, they feel like it's rigged and that gave birth to his candidacy. That's why he's won eight out of the last nine contests, that's why he's closed the gap in New York. He came back from 48 points behind a month ago to now anywhere from 6 to 14 points.

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, its fascinating, in elections prior in 2008, those are sign of cash in status to have celebrities out raising money for you, large sums of money. In fact, there was a point that candidates would brag about. And now, it's -- I think that the American elector across the political spectrum is fed up with the system and how much influence money does have on politics.

SESAY: Yeah.

THOMAS: And Hilary's event in this stunt was a good way of highlighting that. There's a ...

SESAY: It sold this neatly into Bernie's narrative.

THOMAS: It did, it did.

SESAY: So bearing in mind its full discerning into the native. I want to ask you about New York and what we are looking at here. One can only imagine that the rhetoric is only getting it nastier in days ahead as we count down to Tuesday day.

JACOBSON: Right. I mean look, we had a debate last week, CNN host said both candidates intensify their debates, we sort of, of their tax pardon me. We sort of felt like there was a boiling point in the campaign trail in both candidates understanding that this is a must win state, right? It will be an enormous embarrassment if Secretary Clinton, who was a two-term senator in New York, lost the state. Right her home state that she lives in.

Simultaneous to that, Bernie Sanders has such a delegate deficit. He's going to keep on winning to create an argument that he is viable for the Democratic nomination. Anything short of that or at least closing the gap to the point where it said "A single digit lost", I think it makes it harder for him to have a narrative moving toward that he is actually got a pathway to get the 2383 delegate number in order to secure the nomination.

SESAY: So, what does a win have to look like to Hilary Clinton in New York?

THOMAS: Well, she has to win decisively. She just can't win by a point.

SESAY: And what is that?

THOMAS: Well, she got to crack over 50 percent. She's got to do that. But we'll see if she can. I mean, I think Sanders right now is kicking himself but he hadn't gone "Negative" earlier or the tone that we saw the debate last week was exactly telling that Sanders should have had from the outset. He should have ...

SESAY: But he tried to run as a different kind of candidate. So she used that kind of tone.

THOMAS: Well, look his beating and his attacking her on the issues and on substance not on cheap tactics. Like the justification for Sanders campaign is that he isn't behold on the Wall Street in the 1 percent and his opponent appears to be, if he had done these months ago. If he had perhaps, spoken about her e-mails and question those. We might find ourselves in the different position today but I'm afraid it's too little too late, the math is just start against senator Sanders.

SESAY: We really too excited about beating down on the Democrats, lets talk about your people the GOP.

THOMAS: Sure.

SESAY: Donald Trump continuing his refrained of complaints about the delegate apportionment system. I want you to take a listen to what he said over the weekend complaining that the system is rigged.

Both of you take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact that you taken all these people out and whining them and dining them. Nobody does that stuff better than me. I just don't want to do it. I just don't want to do it. And now you have Wyoming, it just came out. Not a lot of delegates but it would be easy, I'll go, I'll fly to Wyoming, I'll meet the Chairman, I guarantee you within 10 minutes he's my best friend. He dropped a guy like Cruz in about two seconds, OK. But I just don't want to it because it's not the right thing to do. We have a bad system and the system has to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Isn't it a bad system. You can't help but laugh. You know and John, is it a bad system? Does he have a point? Or I mean it's the way business is done.

THOMAS: Well it is and people forget that the nomination process isn't a Democratic process but being general electorate doesn't under that isn't. Did -- are there certain states that rules or pretty upside down? Does it make a lot of sense? Yeah, I did it. But is Donald Trump getting outplayed by Ted Cruz at this point. Yes, he is. Donald Trump could do a better job. He knows how to win the narrative and the news cycle. But he doesn't know how to -- kind of get the X's and O's a basic campaigning, that's what he have to figure out.

SESAY: Is it, is it a case that he doesn't want to play the game or he doesn't want to play or doesn't know how to play? What's going on as he shapes this narrative?

JACOBSON: I think it's both. I look at the study earlier today. Since March 22nd, Ted Cruz has picked up a 132 delegates to Donald Trump's 66. I think it underscores the fact that Donald Trump doesn't fundamentally understand that you have to have a grassroots driven, infrastructure campaign sort of on the ground and all it, its why he was an Iowa, right? It's an organizing game when it comes to that state. It's why he's lost delegates in Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, Georgia.

[01:25:10] I mean fundamentally, he just doesn't get it. This is been -- he's had the criticism of not sort of hiring people to have on the ground effort and all the states, since Iowa and he just hasn't really pivoted to that effort. Until just recently, when he hired a couple of new strategist who are gonna brace that but on the ground effort.

SESAY: But not working (inaudible) to him. Is that the new strategist?

THOMAS: Well, look I don't want customs them because either they're coming in late. It's hard. They did -- the ground work needed to laid months ahead -- before and they didn't. So, but I think Donald Trump's doing something very smart here. Not just saying the systems rigged but he is drawing a clear line of which candidate is outside of this establishment and which candidate is part of the establishment. He's casting lying Ted Cruz as part of the establishment.

As we go into this delegates fight, you know, there's gonna be a segment of the electorate and the delegates that are going to say I want some who's not behold into the establishment and Trump has clearly saying, "I'm so outside the establishment." They continue to take advantage of me and but you by extension.

SESAY: Dave, very quickly, you both know the power of communications. Donald Trump shaping, you know, like if he use to become the nominee full shadowing how is gonna take on Hillary Clinton. We had some of that language given the name calling this weekend. What would you make of that and the road is going is going down?

JACOBSON: I think it's a message that resonates. I mean it's a very similar message to what you're saying with Bernie Sanders. The system is rigged. That's the talking point we've heard from the inception of Bernie Sanders campaign is going against Wall Street. He's going against free trade agreements. He's going for more of an isolation as foreign policy.

These are all messages that Bernie Sanders has been caring through out this campaign. He's trying to talk independent voters to deliver the events -- the nomination to or part made be victory in the general election right, and sort of middle of the road voters. Those are the people feel that's in franchise and those are the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump voters.

THOMAS: It's good to be effective if Donald Trump is the nominee as smart as him, to start to lay the foundation. Look, the nation is largely shifted to become populous and these messages work with them.

SESAY: Dave, John, always pleasure. Thank you so much.

THOMAS: Thank you.

SESAY: And so much to discuss in Tuesday ...

THOMAS: never ending.

SESAY: Never ending, thank you guys here. All right, well, now Trump is of course a controversial figure at home and abroad. He's been praised by leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin that it appears he is as popular in Pyongyang, Senior North Korean official gave a rare exclusive interview to CNN's Will Ripley and talked about the Republican front-runner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It did even officials here in North Korea are taken a back by some of the rhetoric on the campaign trail in the United States specifically, those comments by Donald Trump that Japan and South Korea could arm themselves with nuclear weapons, a suggestion that one official here in Pyongyang tells me, it's not only absurd and illogical but also dangerous.

Few North Korean officials understand American politics like Ri Jong Ryul a long time diplomat and former ambassador is deputy director general of the Institute of International Studies as Pyongyang think tank monitors global events and reports back to North Korean leadership.

RI JONG RYUL, DEPUTY-DIRECTOR GENERAL INST. OF INTL, STUDIES (Through Translation): We're really interested in the U.S. selection he says. We don't care who become the next U.S. president, whether Republicans or Democrats take power. It has nothing to do with us. U.S. politicians have always had a hostile policy against Korea.

RIPLEY: Ri is one of a handful of North Koreans who can access the internet. State media doesn't cover details of the U.S. presidential campaign. The average person wouldn't even recognize any of the candidates. In recent months each has spoken out against North Koreas nuclear and missile programs.

DONALD TRUMP: Good to with you.

RIPLEY: Republican front-runner Donald Trump shock American allies in Asia when he suggested Japan and South Korea could arm themselves with nuclear weapons.

TRUMP: Nobody asked them. So, North Korea has nukes, Japan has a problem with that. I mean they have a big problem with that. Maybe they would infect be better off if they defend themselves from North Korean. Maybe, it would be better off including nukes, yes.

RIPLEY: What is North Korea's response?

RYUL (Through Translation): Donald Trump's remarks are totally absurd and illogical he says. The U.S. tells us to give our nuclear program is preparing a nuclear attack against us. And on the other hand, would tell its allies to have nuclear weapons? Isn't this is a double standard.

RIPLEY: Pyongyang has not officially responded to Trump's remarks. Last week North Korean Propaganda attempted political satire adopting the voice of Abraham Lincoln scolding President Obama for U.S. nuclear policy. Even in a country known for bellicose rhetoric Ri believes Trump's ideology is dangerous.

RYUL (Through Translation): Trump's remarks give us a deeper look in America's hostile policy against my country, he says. Simply put America's hostile acts against us or making the situation on the Korean peninsula worst.

RIPLEY: Two more is a policy like Trump's would only escalate North Koreas nuclear arms raised

And there is growing concern among some North Korea observers. The country maybe preparing for yet another nuclear test the head of a major political gathering next month with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un could gain even more power by restructuring his party leadership.

[01:30:11] Last year, Jong-un reached out to Washington proposing peace talks, but that request was rejected when Pyongyang refused to take its nuclear program off the table, saying even if a deal was reached, they will continue to develop their nuclear arsenal.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: A possible dangerous collision in the air between a drone and a jet at one of London's biggest airports. The details just ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from L.A. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

[01:34:54] SESAY: London police are investigating a mid-air incident apparently caused by a drone, they believe collided with a British Airways jet making a landing at Heathrow Airport. The Airbus A320 landed safety but the owner of the drone is still unknown.

Geoffrey Thomas joins me now, editor-in-chief of airlineratings.com.

Geoffrey, always good to have you on the show. One flight safety specialist has been quoted as saying it was only a matter of time before we had a drone strike. Your thoughts on what happened at Heathrow Airport?

GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: He's absolutely correct. This is a very serious problem and it's a growing problem. Last year there was a quadrupling of incidents in the United Kingdom alone of near misses with drones, with aircraft. The owners of these drones are flouting the rules, which are not to fly them above 400 feet, and also not to fly them within 5 miles of an airport. And the incidents that are occurring are often occurring as high as 3,000 feet and well and very close to the airport as well. So, you know, the number of aircraft coming and going into an airport like Heathrow, which is the largest international airport in the world and the number of drones that are out there are nearing the millions, it's only a matter of time before we have a tragedy.

SESAY: So, Geoffrey, answer the question for me, how much damage could a drone cause to an aircraft?

THOMAS: Well, it's a good question. It depends on the speed the drone's flying. They can fly up to 50 miles an hour. If a drone was to be ingested into the engine, it would severely damage the engine. In fact, it would probably stop the engine, which is critical when they're coming in to land. But possibly more concern would be if it hit the windshield of the aircraft, distracted the pilots in the final seconds of coming in to land. There's a variety of scenarios that could play out here, none of them are very good for the aircraft or the people on board.

SESAY: OK. You mentioned that there are rules. Rules for the use of drones in and around airports. Use of drones in general. Talk to me about the enforcement of these rules? I mean, where's the break down here?

THOMAS: The break down is in the registration. In the United States, the federal aviation authority introduced in December, only in December, a few months ago, the compulsory registration of a drone. It costs $5, but there's 2.5 million drones in the United States. It's estimated. Only 400,000 people have thus far registered. Now the issue is, a drone hits an aircraft, it's ingested into the engine, for instance, it would be almost impossible to tell where that drone came from after it had been ingested into an engine. And if the owners aren't registered, it's almost impossible to track down the perpetrators. If they capture -- if they capture somebody who has illegally flown a drone, again, in different parts of the world, up to five years jail in a worst-case scenario, but the fines are not generally tough enough to be a deterrent. And of course, without registering, then it's very hard to track people down.

SESAY: Clearly a lot of work still to be done here to get the situation under control.

Geoffrey Thomas, editor-in-chief of airlineratings.com, always good to have you on the program. Thank you so much.

THOMAS: Pleasure. Thank you.

SESAY: Now the U.S. and Russia are locked in a dispute about aerial maneuvers over the Baltic Sea. The U.S. claims a Russian jet came within 20 meters of a U.S. reconnaissance plane on Thursday and did a barrel roll. A spokesman at the U.S. European Command called it aggressive and unsafe. But Moscow has down-played the encounter. Russia says the jet was dispatched as the U.S. plane neared its borders. The incident came days after a Russian plane buzzed a U.S. warship in the same area.

Now the pope is leading by example when it comes to responding to the migrant crisis in Europe. Pope Francis spoke with empathy and mercy when he met with migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday. He then brought three Syrian families back to Rome.

Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DALIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: It was a short trip, but one which left a lasting impression, not only on those that the pope met, but on the pope himself. He called it a day of tears.

Returning on the papal plane to Rome, he showed journalists drawings that the children had given him, showing people drowning and the sun crying.

On the island, the pope gave an important speech in which he said the worries of the institutions and people of Europe are understandable and legitimate when it comes to migration. But that he wants to show that migrants are not just statistics but have names and faces and stories, names like Hassan and Nour and Osama. Those are just three of the lucky people who were chosen by lottery to return back to Rome with Pope Francis in this unprecedented and surprise gesture. They are three Syrian Muslim families. All three had their homes bombed, all three made their trek through Turkey to the island of Lesbos and are now here in Italy, where the Vatican will pay for their housing and help to assist them in finding jobs and starting a new life.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:40:47] Remarkable.

Time for a quick break. New film drama relives, one decade ago, Anita Hill's riveting testimony at the confirmation hearings of a U.S. Supreme Court justice and the spectacle that unfolded. That is just ahead.

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SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. The CNN Freedom Project is shining a light on human trafficking and hoping to end modern-day slavery. We're learning of girls in Vietnam who were tricked into crossing the border with China and then forced into marriage. CNN's Alexandra Field reports on why they're in such high demand and

spoke to some women who managed to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:44:50] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crossing the border separating China and Vietnam can be as easy as this.

"As soon as we reach the river, we see people paddling between the two countries."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): They told us to start moving. They forced us into a car.

FIELD: A survivor of human trafficking tells us how quickly it happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): It was just me with six Chinese men. They called a lady to come and buy me.

FIELD (on camera): You were tricked into crossing the border into China?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): They not only tricked me, but so many others. I don't know how many people.

FIELD (voice-over): In the mountains of northern Vietnam, a group of women tells us, first, they were sold simple lies, then brought to China to be sold as brides.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): She said that her friend had asked us to come visit his house.

FIELD: "My friend came and said her boyfriend would come and wanted me to go out with them."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): When I woke up I didn't know I was in China.

FIELD: Dithong (ph) started the Pacific Link Foundation and says this is a prime hunting ground for those who form a pipeline to China.

(on camera): What's the going rate for a bride in China?

UNIDENTIFIED FOUNDER, PACIFIC LINK FOUNDATION: For the end buyer, we've been told that the prices have been $3,000.

FIELD (voice-over): Girls in Vietnam's ethnic minority groups are common targets. Dithong (ph) says that's because there are cultural similarities with Chinese men on the other side of the border who struggle to find Chinese wives.

UNIDENTIFIED FOUNDER, PACIFIC LINK FOUNDATION: You have the one-child policy that has favored sons in general, right? And over time, this has exacerbated in such a way that they need more and more women. FIELD: We're not identifying the women we spoke to, to protect them

from retaliation. They don't know how much money they were sold for, but they say they were forced into labor, threatened with work in brothels, and that their husbands got money-back guarantees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): He said if I didn't agree to get married, they would beat me and kill me. I had to go.

FIELD: Today, she lives in a shelter with women who fought to find a way out, even at the cost of leaving children behind.

(on camera): What would you say to your daughter if you were able to say something?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I would apologize for leaving her there. I hope she'll have a better life there.

FIELD (voice-over): Her baby was 5 months old when she made a daring escape. After two years in China, she said she and another bride finally found an opportunity to take a taxi to a police station.

FIELD (on camera): What were you most afraid of in the time that you were being kept there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): That they would sell me to a brothel and I could never come home.

FIELD (voice-over): Those who did come home want to spread the word.

UNIDENTIFIED FOUNDER, PACIFIC LINK FOUNDATION: For us, the most important thing is to do this, to make sure that people don't cross the border.

(SHOUTING)

FIELD: The survivors return to the same places traffickers target to try to warn other unsuspecting girls.

Alexandra Field, CNN, northern Vietnam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:51:40] CLARENCE THOMAS, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: This is a circus, a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, it's a high-tech lynching.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SESAY: HBO revisited the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The docudrama "Confirmation" focuses on what happened after Anita Hill's graphic testimony about sexual harassment she says she endured while working for Thomas. He was confirmed to the Supreme Court on a 52-48 Senate vote. The film is getting a lot of attention because of the current battle brewing over the vacant Supreme Court justice seat.

Areva Martin joins us now. She is an attorney and legal affairs commentator.

Areva, such a pleasure to have you here to talk about this, because this is one of those moments, you know, one of those hearings which, I think may be lost on people around the world, if they weren't here watching closely, but it transfixed the nation. This was huge.

REBA MARTIN, ATTORNEY & LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Huge. It was ginormous. Hearings that went to 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. Language being used in a Senate confirmation hearing for a U.S. Supreme Court judge, words like penis, oral sex. These are words that never, ever come up in a Senate confirmation hearing. And people were just, you know, affixed to their televisions, watching this play out.

And I think one of the things for me, having watched it, having lived through that, knowing some of the parties -- I was a law student of Professor Charles Ogletree at Harvard Law School.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: He was the lawyer for Anita Hill. He stepped in. He was being considered for tenure at Harvard Law School. And there was some concern about whether getting involved in this controversial matter would derail his tenure prospects, but he said, you know what, this is too important, I need to be here to represent her.

I was rooting for Anita. But what I learned in my research is seven out of 10 Americans disbelieved her, believed that her allegations were made up and that Clarence Thomas was telling the truth, when he categorically denied that he ever sexually harassed her.

SESAY: His statement where he says, in part, this is a high-tech lynching, he played the race card in all of this, in these hearings, but there are those who today say, if anything, this was a moment where gender trumped race as we look at the composition of that hearing committee.

MARTIN: Let's step back a minute, because Clarence Thomas was being nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall. And Thurgood Marshall is a civil rights icon, a very liberal and progressive voice on the court. And here you have an African-American man, Clarence Thomas, who is very conservative, being nominated to replace Marshall, and he plays the race card. And you have this all-white, all-male panel of Senators who are really pushed back and really didn't challenge Clarence Thomas when he played the race card.

And what happened after these hearings was the year of the woman, 1992, lots of women elected into office, both at the Congress level and the Senate, because women sitting back watching this is thinking, my god, maybe the outcome, maybe there would have been more of an effort to investigate the veracity of the charges --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: -- rather than just to protect Clarence Thomas, had there been one woman on that panel.

[01:55:19] SESAY: Let me ask you about where that all leaves us today, as we watch the contested nature of that confirmation hearing, and we look now at the contested moment here once again for the Supreme Court. We don't have a lot of time, I'm sorry.

MARTIN: I think political theater. That's what comes to mind for me. That's what we saw in the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings in 1991. And that's what we're seeing playing out today as President Obama tries to get his nomination at least a hearing, at least the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings. We're seeing more political theater. But at this time around, at least there are more women in Congress, more women in the Senate. So something good came out of those hearings, even though Anita Hill was not believed by the majority of Americans.

SESAY: Areva Martin, thank you for joining us to talk about this and put it in perspective.

Thank you.

MARTIN: Thank you.

SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett right after this.

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