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Chaos in Baghdad as Hundreds of Protesters Storm Parliament; Kenya's Stand Against Poaching; Caitlyn Jenner on Bathroom Bills; Obama's Final White House Correspondents Dinner; Leicester City: The Little Club That Could. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired May 1, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


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[03:00:00] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN HOST: Chaos in Baghdad as hundreds of protesters storm the Iraqi parliament, demanding a government shake up and an end to corruption.

A little club that could -- How Leicester City went from English Premier League also runs to overwhelming timeful favors.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Eight years ago, I was a young man. All of my idea was bigger. Now, look at me now. I am gray, grizzled, just counting down the days until my death panel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: Nobody is immune from mockery during Barack Obama's final Correspondents Dinner as a President, especially the man himself.

Hello, I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to the "CNN NEWSROOM".

We'll begin with the latest in Baghdad. The Iraqi capital is under a State of Emergency this hour. Protesters on Saturday charged the city's Green Zone. Iraqi forces say they now have control of the usually well-secured area where the government has its offices.

Iraqis have been demonstrating for months over government corruption. The top Shiite cleric speech brought that frustration to a tipping point.

Ian Lee has been following the upheaval and followed this report from Cairo.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chaotic being played out inside the Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad, hundreds of protesters stormed heavily-fortified Green Zone, pushing at multiple security cordons (ph). Once inside, they chanted, "The cowards ran away", referring to the parliamentarians. These supporters of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are angry over the deadlock in the parliament. They think the government is corrupt and want reform.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is attempting to reshuffle his cabinet with non sectarian technocrats, the demand of the protesters, but he's facing opposition from parliament members. The prime minister was set to reveal the names of his new cabinet, Saturday.

But there weren't enough parliamentarians still present to form a quorum and that's what's enraged protesters, leading to the storming of the building. The U.N. said it's gravely concerned by the developments and calls for the restoration of security and a dialogue to implement the reforms.

U.S. officials fear the ongoing political crisis will make it to believe have to fight against ISIS despite there being no reports of violence. The storming of the Green Zone is a major security breech. It isn't just home to the government but also many embassy. State of emergency has been declared in Baghdad, all roads leading into the capital have been closed.

Ian Lee, CNN Cairo.

STEVENS: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with foreign diplomats in Geneva on Sunday and Monday to discuss efforts to reaffirm the cessation of facilities in Syria.

The U.S. and Russia reached an agreement to recommit to a truce for path to Syria on Friday. The U.S. is pushing for the truce to also include Aleppo (ph) as the U.N. warns the situation there has become catastrophic. At least 230 people have been killed in the Syrian City over the past week.

Well, the U.S. is expected to voice its concerns to Russia after a Russian fighter jet conducted a barrel roll maneuver over U.S. military plane. As Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reports, this is the second of such incident by a Russian war plane within a month.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Another dangerous military maneuver by the Russians. It happened Friday over the Baltic when an Air Force RC-135 aircraft, a reconnaissance aircraft was flying in international airspace over the Baltic. Suddenly, a Russian Su-27 fighter came up alongside within 25 feet of the American aircraft and did a barrel roll maneuver.

That means it came up over the side, inverted, flew over the top of the American aircraft, came back down the other side at close range at high speed. This is one of the most dangerous, unsafe maneuvers that can happen according to the Pentagon. And actually, it was the second barrel roll this month by the Russians.

There was also another incident when the Russians flew very close to U.S. forces in that region. The question now is what are the Russians really up to? Is all of these happening under direct orders from Moscow, or is it happening because Russian pilots are out there hot dogging?

For the U.S., it doesn't really matter. The Pentagon making very clear it wants the Russian military to stop these unsafe dangerous maneuvers.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

[03:05:00] STEVENS: Brussels airport partially reopens its departure hall this Sunday. The move comes 40 days after the Brussels' terror attacks in which 12 people were killed by suicide bombers at the airport.

Following an opening ceremony, passengers of three flights will be able to check in at the departure's hall on Sunday afternoon. Check- ins to other flights will be handled at temporary instructions.

Kenya is taking an unprecedented stand against poaching. 12 tons of elephant tusks and rhino horns have been burning in Nairobi National Park. The flame is consuming more than $170 million worth of ivory and horn poached from the wild. It's not the first place of its kind but it the biggest.

Robyn Kriel has more.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fire is crackling loudly. And you can feel the warmth of it from far away. And the smoke is quickly filling the air.

In some parts of the world, this would be considered ludicrous. In fact, there's been a lot of controversy surrounding this burn.

105 tons of ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horns literally going up in the smoke, that's an estimated black market value of $172 million, now, no more.

Kenya's message to the world, this ivory is worthless. It has no value unless it's on a live animal.

It's not the first burn in Kenya's history. Kenya first began burning ivory in 1989 and initially saw a good result.

Experts have tribute this recent scourge in poaching to Asia's voraciously growing appetite for ivory, particularly in China. This is the biggest ivory burn in the word's history. It snatched 12 piles of contrabands like this, blackened with smoke in a fire due to last for more a week.

The Kenyans hope this will change perception for ever.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi National Park, Kenya.

STEVENS: Poaching of rhinos and elephants is a serious problem. In 2015, more than 1300 rhinos were killed in Africa for their horns. The number has been going up every year. Since 2008, the total is about 6000. And today, three of the five rhino species worldwide are critically endangered. The outlook is grim for elephants as well. In 2015, some 35,000 elephants were killed in Africa. That's one elephant killed illegally every 15 minutes. Almost 70 percent of Africa's elephants have been lost in the last 35 years.

Well, meanwhile crews in Kenya's capital are desperately looking for signs of life after a building collapsed there on Friday. The seven- storey building fell after days of rain and flooding in the area. At least 12 people were killed, dozens are still missing, and they fear, trapped in debris. Officials say the structure had been condemned but that order was ignored.

Well, the flood threat continues across Kenya's capital, with more rain in the forecast.

Let's go to meteorologist, Derek Van Dam now with the latest from the National Weather Center.

How bad is it looking for the rescuers? And how much, at this stage, has it been hampering, that the search for survivors of that collapse, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we do know for sure that the flooded roadways in Kenya's capital actually delayed the onset of the search and rescue teams heading to the collapsed building. That was bad news but at least there was at least some glimmer of hope with the rescues that did take place.

Look at the flooded space, people waiting through water, trying to get on with their daily lives. They've had over 200 millimeters of rainfall in just a few days.

Here and get to my graphics, and you'll see that there is more rain to come from Nairobi to the west, and that's where we're expecting our heaviest rain for Western Kenya over the next 48 hours so. 100 t0 200 millimeters of additional rainfall, that means localized flooding, flash flooding, once again, a concern.

And precipitation forecast going forward, it looks very active. Just a quick reminder that we do have our peak rainy season from April into May for Nairobi, so more rains certainly can be expected.

Now, we're going to take you to the other side of the world where we've also been dealing with flooding, this time, in the U.S State of Texas. Take a look at these totals and some of these video coming out of Palestine, Texas. This is, unfortunately, deadly flooding that took place here. Death toll in this area, up to six now.

But what I want you to see is that the flood waters, the flash flood actually made it as high as the roof this person's house. That was very unfortunately, four children and one grandmother passed away, swept away by the turn of water that moved to the region. Just showing and highlighting the extreme dangers of flash flooding.

And then back to my graphics, this is the amount of rain that we have coming forward into the New Orleans region. That's where we have our heaviest rain for the rest of the weekend until Monday. Eastern and Central Texas looks to start drying now.

But we have also had a numerous severe weather reports as well. 92 hail reports from the past two days, 97 wind damage reports, and 8 tornadoes that left scenes just like this.

[03:10:06] Take a look at what happened in Lindale, Texas. This is a sports and recreation store that basically was obliterated. Thanks to a tornado that moved to the region. This is about two hours East of Dallas. The tornado ripped the parts of the city. But it actually kept certain buildings intact, a very telltale sign and characteristic of tornadoes as they pass through.

They actually unfortunately, Andrew, they don't really have a specific structure that they're targeting. They can sometimes leave one standing and obliterate another. It's very scary, to say the least.

STEVENS: Yes, absolutely very scary. Yes, impossible to predict.

Thanks very much for that, Derek.

Now, American transgender celebrity, Caitlyn Jenner, is taking a stand on the transgender bathroom debate, a message to two republican presidential candidates, next.

Leicester could have historic run this Sunday, a look at the small time club taking over European football, just ahead.

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STEVENS: Rallies are planned around the world this Sunday. And celebration of international Worker's day or May Day as its know, looking here at images of a mass rally in Seoul, South Korea on this May Day. Some 30,000 people expected to turn out there, calling for better working conditions.

In the U.S. Presidential Race, it is mathematically impossible for Republican Candidate Ted Cruz to secure his party's nomination on the first ballots at the convention in July. However, Cruz is trying hard to stop the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, from doing just that.

Well, on Tuesday, the State of Indiana holds a very important primary. Cruz released two ads there, linking Trump with the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. Here's one of those ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two sides of the same coin, both support the Obama Care individual mandate, both support taxpayer funding for planned parenthood, and both support letting transgender men go in little girl's bathrooms.

Trump and Hillary, do we really want two big government liberals on the ballot in November?

(END VIDEO CLIP) STEVENS: And as you heard in that, Ted Cruz is blasting Trump to saying that a transgender bathroom law in North Carolina is not a good idea. That law says the transgender people must use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificates.

And now, Miguel Marquez reports transgender advocate and celebrity, Caitlin Jenner, is now taking a stand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAITLYN JENNER, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: Oh my god, a trans woman in New York. I have to take a pee.

[03:15:00] Anyway, oh my god, a Trump International hotel. I love this.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Call it the politics of case, the conservative republican transgender star, injecting herself into the national debate over controversial proposals banning transgender people from using public facilities based on how they identify.

TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he still can't use the little girl's restroom.

MARQUEZ: In deeply religious Indiana, the issue, front and center.

CRUZ: If you value religious living, the right of everyone of us to live according to our fate than according to our conscience, to seek out and worship God Almighty without government getting in the way.

MARQUEZ: Religious voters here, crucial to Cruz, 72 percent of adult Indianans identify as Christian, 31 percent of them as Evangelicals. It is a full on battle for their support in his effort to stop Trump.

CRUZ: It doesn't make sense to allow grown, adult men, strangers to be alone in a bathroom with little girls. And anyone who says differently is political correctness on steroids.

MARQUEZ: Trump on the "Today Show" said Caitlyn Jenner could use any bathroom she wanted in his Trump Tower. Jenner who had expressed support but not an endorsement of Cruz took the billionaire up on his offer.

JENNER: Donald Trump said I could take a pee anywhere in the Trump facility, so I am going to go take a pee in the ladies room.

MARQUEZ: Trump says his remarks only meant that transgender people using public facilities is a state not Federal issue. Cruz not letting up, running this campaign ad across Indiana.

Evangelicals here already on the defensive after the failure of a controversial religious freedom built made national headlines.

(OFF-MIC)

MARQUEZ: But is it too little too late for Cruz? DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My mother gave me this bible.

MARQUEZ: Trump's support among Evangelicals, surprisingly high throughout the primary, even vesting Cruz among deeply religious voters in a majority of states.

TRUMP: I want to thank the Evangelicals.

MARQUEZ: The politics of Cait.

(OFF-MIC)

MARQUEZ: Now, playing in the "Who's your state?"

(OFF-MIC)

JENNER: OK. Thank you, Donald. I really appreciate it. And by the way, Ted, nobody got molested.

MARQUEZ: Gender politics meets religion, meets the Republican Presidential hopefuls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: The transgender bathroom controversy is now part of Senator Cruz' stump speech as he barn storms across Indiana. It is a state with 57 delegates at stake. It is not winner take all. The senator will need all or as many as he can get of those 57 delegates in the "Who's Your State?" And he hopes to stop Donald Trump.

STEVENS: Miguel Marquez reporting there.

And Washington, rolling out the red carpet on Saturday for the White House Correspondents Dinner. This was the last time Barack Obama attended the dinner at U.S. president. Donald Trump decided to skip the event. In his absence, Mr. Obama and the Comedian Larry Wilmore made plenty of jokes at Trump's expense. And that didn't spare others either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Good evening everybody.

It is an honor to be here at my last and, perhaps, the last White House Correspondent Dinner. The end of the Republic has never looked better.

LARRY WILMORE, HOST, "THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE": Nice to be here at the White House Correspondents Dinner, whereas you know, they're going to call us next year, Donald Trump presents a luxurious evening paid for by Mexico.

OBAMA: We've got the bright new face of the Democratic Party here tonight, Mr. Bernie Sanders. Bernie, you look like a million bucks or to put in terms you'll understand, you look like $37,000 donations of $27 each.

WILMORE: I can't understand why everybody treats Donald Trump with kid gloves. And then I realized they're the only gloves that will fit his stupid little baby hand.

OBAMA: Bernie's slogan has helped his campaign catch fire among young people. Feel the burn. Hillary's slogan has not had the same effect.

WILMORE: There is a joke going around the internet that Ted Cruz is actually the zodiac killer, right? I'm not making that up, you know. Come on. That's absurd. You know, some people actually likes the Zodiac killer.

OBAMA: Meanwhile, some candidates aren't polling high enough to qualify for their own joke tonight.

[03:20:06] WIMORE: Ted Cruz got zero delegates in New York, which is actually five more than I thought he would get for the Zodiac killer.

OBAMA: Well that, I just have two more words to say, Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: And with that, he received a standing ovation.

Now, Leicester City football club takes its best shot if history in just about six hours from now. It can clinch an English Premier League title with the win over Manchester United.

And we had seen this first after nearly being demoted from the Premier League after a miserable showing last year. Now, they can wrap things up in a season for the ages.

Now, the beginning of the season, Leicester was facing odds of 5000 to 1 to clinch the Premier League title. According to the book "Michael Petey Powell", that means that with odds of 1000 to 1, Bono has a better shot of becoming the next pope. Singer Lady Gaga was more likely to become president of the United States in 2020. Their odd is just 500 to 1 according to William Hill. And with odds of just 250 to 1, the American rapper P. Diddy is more likely to be the next James Bond.

Leicester has a strong ties to Thailand. Thanks to its owner to grew up there. His company, King Power, is on the front of the Leicester Jersey. And now, it looks to be behind a new wave of star footballers.

Now, Christina Macfarlane visited Thailand to see how the club's success was inspiring young players.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what affect Leicester City's success is having on the other side of the world, thousands of children, patiently queuing for the chance to become the club's next Thai star of the future, hoping one day to wear the King Power blue shirt.

It's part of the "Foxes" new reality TV show in Thailand, taking place all over the country under the watchful eye of the team of scouts. It's just one example of how the club's Thai owners are giving back to their homeland.

MICHOK RASDRANUWAT, CREATIVE DIRECTOR "GOAL" (through translation): The owner of Leicester City is Thai and this is such a good opportunity to be able to see Thai's play in the U.S. Premier League. The show is just the first step to give Thai players that opportunity.

MACFARLANE: It's not the only place the owners are making an impact. In August, Leicester City are rumored to be sending a team of coaches to help the national team qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

If anyone knows about succeeding against the odds, it's Leicester.

PEERAPOL "CHAMP" EUARIYAKUL, TV HOST, "HOT SHOTS BY CHAMP": Good scout, great analysis can mean more than splashing hundreds of millions of dollars or pounds if the Thai football can take something from Leicester. I think they have the edge.

MACFARLANE: Thailand's top sports presented Champ Euariyakul has seen first hand how the club's success is changing attitudes across the country.

EUARIYAKUL: The problem with the Thai society is that, sometimes we're too humble. And when we said I have this dream to become the best player in the history of the game, people will say, you know what, you're too cocky.

But now, (inaudible) has shown. If Leicester can win the English Premier League, the number one league in the world, then why can't Thailand qualify for the World Cup?

MACFARLANE: But if Thailand doesn't succeed in the upper echelons of the game, it's here at the grass roots level, the real work needs to be done.

Acadena Bangkok has been running a football education program here in the city's biggest slum for the past two years. The goal is to help these kids play their way out of poverty by providing a pathway to a footballing future.

CHARLY NOMDEDUE, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, ACADENA BANGKOK: With these things today is to help them to have like a structure. They need to arrive on time, have the good food, sleep good. That's what difficult to implement here because they are living in the slum, and so the condition around them are not really good for that.

It's possible for me to see them in the Premier League Spanish into about three years.

MACFARLANE: Really?

NONDEDUE: Yes. MACFARLANE: There may only be one Leicester City shirt I a sea of Barcelona, Man United and Liverpool, but there's no doubt who they all want to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamie Vardy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamie Vardy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamie Vardy.

MACFARLANE: f the club's influence continues to filter down from the top of the Premier League to a slum in the backstreets of Bangkok, it could be the beginning of a new era for football in the land of smiles.

Christina Macfarlane, CNN Bangkok.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: And just a reminder, that match is six hours from now.

Now, when you think of all the materials of going to the modern skyscrapers, you probably think concrete, glass and steel. Here in Hong Kong though, workers employ a more traditional resource to reach new heights.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more on Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolding.

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[03:25:06] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 30 stories of hanging on a bamboo pole. This is how they build and repair skyscrapers in Hong Kong with scaffolding made of bamboo.

It's a common site in these urban Kenyans, towering ladders of sticks trusted by the workers who cling to them. It's all the more remarkable when you consider bamboo is technically the largest member of the grass family.

To get a better sense of how this very modern city uses such an ancient technique for construction, I went to bamboo scaffolding school.

So, this is the bamboo?

WEN CHI-LIEUNG, MASTER AND INSTRUCTOR AT A BAMBOO SCAFFOLDING SCHOOL: Bamboo.

WATSON: Master Wan Chi-leung explains, because it's both hollow and strong, bamboo is lighter, cheaper and more flexible than metal scaffolding, and that allows him to work at dizzying heights.

You've worked 88 stories up on bamboo?

I could see a lot of clouds from up there, he says. The key to this job is a safety technique master Wan calls riding the bamboo, keeping an ankle locked around the pole at all times.

You keep your gloves in your helmet?

CHI-LEUNG: Yeah.

WATSON: As for the scaffolding, you make it look so easy, it's held together with simple knots made of nylon strips.

Maybe you can finish this one for me because I've ruined it.

I should probably stick to my day job.

It goes up like that.

The people who do this work are proud of their craft.

Bamboo scaffolding is an art, the scaffolders says, a Chinese traditional art that can be traced back thousands of years.

It's certainly an example of an ancient skill that continues to be taken to modern day heights.

Ivan Watson, CNN Hong Kong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: So, secured by your ankle from 50 stories, not for the faint hearted.

And that's it, thanks for joining us. I'm Andrew Stevens, "Supercharged" is next here on CNN.

But first, I'll be back with a quick check of the headlines. Stay with us.

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