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CNN NEWSROOM

Deadly Attack in Kabul, Afghanistan; Munich Pays Tribute to Victims of Friday's Shooting; Hillary Clinton Unveils Tim Kaine as Running Mate; In the Wake of the Failed Turkish Coup; IOC Set to Review Russian Athlete Ban; MH-370 Search May be Suspended Soon; Texas Water Slide Wipeout. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired July 24, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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


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[04:00:12] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Afghanistan's president declares a national day of mourning after ISIS claims responsibility for one of Kabul's deadliest attacks in months.

Munich pays tribute to the victims of Friday's shooting while police try to find out why the teenage gunman carried it out. Plus ...

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HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Please join me in welcoming the next vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Hillary Clinton unveils her running mate. And Senator Tim Kaine is already going on the offensive against Donald Trump.

Hello, I'm Ivan Watson, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Dozens of people are dead after one of the bloodiest attacks in months hit Afghanistan's capital city. ISIS media wing says two of its fighters blew themselves up among a crowd of peaceful protesters in Kabul, Saturday. At least 80 people were killed and 260 others wounded. The country's president has declared Sunday as a day of mourning. Here's video from the moment of the explosion.

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WATSON: Now for the latest I'm joined on the phone by a journalist Rahola Kabulwak (ph) who's in Kabul. First of all, Mr. Kabulwak, my condolences on this horrific attack, what are you hearing from people in Kabul right now?

Yes, what are you -- I was there about a month ago. I was struck by how low morale seemed to be among many of my old friends in Kabul. Do the people there have faith that the security forces can protect the civilian population from horrific attacks like this?

RAHOLA KABULWAK, JOURNALIST: Yes, this is another act to the morale of the people where recently we have had devastating attack in Kabul, and throughout the country, not only by Taliban, but also militant groups like ISIS and others who are carrying attacks on daily basis in Afghanistan, particularly they have focused on Kabul.

WATSON: And of course this is the latest in a series of attacks. But this one has been claimed by ISIS, which is not one of the bigger players in Afghanistan. How is the government reacting to this? And also, how is the Taliban reacting? Is ISIS an ally of the Taliban or a rival?

KABULWAK: Well, ideologically looking at -- they have the same mentality and the same ideology, of course, I'm going to mention bringing chaos to the state. But, they have been in skirmishes and war between each other between Taliban and ISIS fighting in eastern Afghanistan, and yes, this is the first kind of attack, sophisticated attack, by ISIS on soft targets of minority groups in Kabul.

WATSON: And can you tell me about how leaders of the Hazara community are reacting right now? This is a long persecuted ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan. And also, is the Afghan government trying to send any messages to reassure members of this long- persecuted community?

KABULWAK: Yes, the Afghan government has reacted angrily and they have announced just weeks before this attack. A major, major operation against ISIL, and they knew that ISIL was planning to infiltrate to Kabul to attack and do attacks. So of course they knew and before this happened Afghan government warned the Hazara community who were planning this protest about a possible attack but it still went through and sadly a lot of people were killed in yesterday's attacks.

WATSON: And it's worth again noting that this was a peaceful demonstration, a peaceful political protest that was so viciously targeted. Journalist Rahola Kabulwak in Kabul. Thank you very much for speaking with me.

Now this bombing is just the latest in a string of ISIS attacks or ISIS-inspired attacks in Afghanistan over the past year. On April 18th last year, a suicide bomber on a motor bike blew himself up in front of a bank in the eastern city of Jalalabad. At least 33 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded. In that same city, three ISIS fighters launched an attack on the Pakistani consulate in January of this year.

[04:05:05] Officials say six people were killed, as well as the three assailants. And just last month, 16 people were killed during a suicide attack on a bus carrying Nepalese security cards in Kabul. ISIS claimed responsibility, but so did the Afghan Taliban.

Michael Weiss is a CNN contributor and the co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror" and he spoke earlier with CNN about the Kabul attack, and ISIS' global aspirations.

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MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Taliban is now seen as the somewhat softer Islamic fundamentalist organization in Afghanistan. This is the reason that the Russians and the Iranians are even trying to work with them to rebuff ISIS' advances in that country. I mean, look, ISIS is billing itself globally not just against the Taliban but also al-Qaeda and other completive Jihadi organizations, as the vanguard movement.

The only one that has got a nation-state to its name, the one that is inspiring people around the world to take up whatever weapons available at their disposal to kill infidels. And, you know, they are the custodian and the defender of the Sunni (ph) mosque. So they're spreading their so-called Goliath (ph) or provinces around the world, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Sinai Peninsula, now even in Indonesia and the Philippines and Bangladesh as we saw last week.

So, you know, the question now is, will they actually make significant inroads into Afghanistan? I don't think that they have the capacity there to do what they've done in Syria and Iraq, which is to take and hold terrain. But, this kind of attack is exactly what they're resorting to now internationally. You know, discombobulating traumatic terrorist assaults. You mention the Hazara minority group is Shia.

ISIS is perhaps above all other Jihadist organizations, genocidal when it comes to Shia. They are committed to their extermination worldwide because they do not consider the Shia to be Muslim. And this goes back to their founding father Abu Shabal Zarqawi who even alienated Osama Bin Laden with his pathological confessional hatred of that Islamic minority population.

So this is exactly par for the course for ISIS. We saw it in Baghdad as well. And this happens every day, at least. Focused on the attacks that affect westerners but now you see what 60-plus people had blown up at a protest rally, asking for electricity. And these are the poorest of the poor.

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WATSON: The United Nations, the U.K., and the U.S. have all condemned the attack. Now let's move to Europe, and the aftermath of a very different deadly attack there in Munich, Germany, police have raided an apartment in connection with the shooting rampage that left nine people dead. Neighbors say 18-year-old Ali Sonboly lived in the apartment and he's been identified as the gunman who opened fire at a McDonald's and a shopping mall Friday, and then killed himself.

Authorities say he had no apparent religious or political motive, or ties to terror groups, but police found several documents on rampage killings among his belongings.

Our Will Ripley, he's live now in Munich with more on this. Will, is it far too early to call Mr. Sonboly a copycat attacker, given that this attack took place on the anniversary of those awful attacks in Oslo in Norway?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the similarities are certainly impossible to ignore, Ivan, as you know. 77 people died in the Norway attack. The majority of them were children, or young adolescents. Similar to -- on a far smaller scale here in Munich, well have -- nine people who were killed, seven of them were teenagers ranging from 14 to 19 years old. And witnesses say it seemed as if Ali Sonboly was deliberately aiming his weapon at adolescent people, people younger than him or right around his age because he, of course, was 18, still in school full-time.

Police are saying there are indications that he was probably receiving psychological treatment, possibly for depression. But there was no suicide note, so those research materials, including that book about why students kill, perhaps indicate an attempt to self-analyze. As we have seen with other mass shooters. The Sandy Hook shooter, also, kept a really extensive diary trying to diagnose what was going on inside of his mind. But all of those questions, of course his parents are still being spoken to by the police here in Munich. They were detained and questioned after a really horrifying time for them as well, just overtaken with grief, in addition to all of the families who were out here.

And it goes to show that even though everybody's mind first jumped to, you know, Islamic or Jihadist terrorism, it wasn't the case here. The case was somebody motivated differently yet the outcome remains the same. Families have lost children, people have lost those who they love, and there are others, more than two dozen, who are recovering from in some cases very serious injury.

[04:10:12] WATSON: And, Will, it's very important to bring that up, because you coming very fresh from the horrific July 14th attacks in the French city of Nice, a very different method of killing, at least more than 80 people, with different political motives apparently, that being linked somewhat to ISIS. But I wonder, are you seeing any similarities in the reactions among the bereaved there? What kind of questions are people asking after both the Nice attack in France, and now this horrific attack apparently by a very disturbed teenager in Munich?

RIPLEY: A lot of the same emotions, grief, shock, anger, of course people were looking for a scapegoat here in Germany right away. Thinking that it might have been somehow a refugee who committed this crime because there was an attack on a train here also here in the state of Bavaria by a refugee teenager who was affiliated with ISIS, and so the police came out very quickly to say this was not linked to refugees, that this was already a divided country that has opened its doors to migrants, the majority of them families with children who are trying to escape the kind of violence that has broken out over Europe.

One thing that really struck me just visually behind me and you can see the crowd of people there standing around a spontaneous memorial. And we saw this in Nice, as well. These flowers, and candles and teddy bears marking the spot right on the pavement along the Promenade des Anglais where children had died standing there with their parents. Now we have flowers here and candles, where people were shot down after coming to this McDonald's restaurant. The attacker may have even posted an ad on Facebook to get more young people to go there in search of free food.

And the thing that keeps coming to my mind, Ivan, is there are just too many of these spontaneous memorials. There's too much of this happening. And people in Europe feel the same and yet they don't know what the solution is. How do you prevent somebody who might be a lone wolf from doing this when they give almost no indication to those close to them that this is what they're planning?

WATSON: It's so sad, Will, that we see these similar scenes of flowers, of candles, of heartfelt signs cropping up on sidewalks in cities and towns all across the world after these acts of senseless violence. And I know that our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families of the victims here.

That's CNN's Will Ripley live from Munich. Thank you very much, Will.

Now, the German Chancellor describes the attack in Munich as a night of horrors. Angela Merkel says she shares the pain of the families who will never see their loved once again, and people across Germany are devastated and in shock.

Our Frederik Pleitgen, has more from Munich.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mourning the dead. Many clearly overwhelmed by pain, sadness, and anger, at the makeshift memorial near the scene of the killings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so glad that no one of my friends is affected, and they are all alive and safe. And I'm so sorry for the people who were here at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean I'm scattered in pieces. I don't know. I haven't foreseen that like happening in your own -- in your own neighborhood, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray for Munich. And pray for the world.

PLEITGEN: The shooter, identified by CNN as 18-year-old Ali Sonboly, killed nine and wounded more than two dozen when he opened fire here on Friday afternoon.

Police are still trying to determine what may have motivated the shooter to go on this rampage. But they say there are strong indications that he may have specifically been targeting younger people.

So far none of those killed or wounded have been publicly identified.

PROFESSOR PETER BIBENTHALER: We have all the equipment inside you need for every ...

PLEITGEN: But at Munich's biggest hospital, Professor Peter Bibenthaler and his team remember all too well the mass casualty situation they were confronted with, treating several wounded, but unable to save one of those rushed here.

BIBENTHALER: Really makes me sad because I want to fight for every life, and -- especially in young victims, this is not a good thing for a physician.

PLEITGEN: The aftermath of this crime weighing heavily on Munich and all of Germany as this country grieves for those killed, and struggles to understand what may have motivated the man who took their lives.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Munich, Germany.

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WATSON: Now, America's political spotlight shifts to the Democrats as they head to their Philadelphia convention.

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TIM KAINE, (D) U.S. V.P. CANDIDATE: (Speaking foreign language).

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WATSON: How the democrats are reaching out to a crucial voting block, just as a new development threatens to revive the bitterness of the party's primary fight.

[04:15:11] Stay with CNN.

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WATSON: Welcome back to CNN, I'm Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong.

Hillary Clinton and her vice presidential running mate are campaigning together ahead of next week's Democratic convention. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine is bilingual. He spoke in Spanish at times, to the crowd in Miami.

Republican Donald Trump has angered many Latinos with his call to build a wall on the U.S. border and make Mexico pay for it. Clinton and Kaine both attacked the Republican presidential nominee in their first rally together.

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KAINE: From Atlantic City to his so-called university, he leaves a trail of broken promises, and wrecked lives wherever he goes.

We can't afford to let him do the same thing to our country, and folks, we don't have to, because Hillary Clinton is the direct opposite of Donald Trump. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:08] WATSON: Donald Trump tweeted a sharp response, "Just a saw a crooked Hillary and Tim Kaine together. ISIS and our other enemies are drooling. They don't look presidential to me."

Now, the mother of the U.S. ambassador killed four years ago in Benghazi, Libya, wants Donald Trump and the Republican Party to stop using his name in its election campaign against Hillary Clinton.

J. Christopher Stevens was one of four Americans killed in the attack. Some conservatives allege that Clinton and the Obama administration were responsible for security failures at Benghazi.

But the ambassador's mother has written to the New York Times saying, "I know for certain that Chris would not have wanted his name or memory used in that connection. I hope there will be an immediate and permanent stop to this opportunistic, and cynical use by the campaign."

The Democrats have a new problem as they get set to nominate their ticket. WikiLeaks has now released nearly 20,000 e-mails from staff members of the Democratic National Committee. Chris Frates looks at why they're creating such a stink within the party.

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CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders and his top aides have complained for months that the DNC under Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is putting its finger on the scale for Hillary Clinton.

And these new e-mails add fuel to that fire. Now, take this one from May 13th, just days after Sanders won West Virginia. An aide to Wasserman Schultz informs her that Sanders campaign manager, a guy named Jeff Weaver, thinks Sanders should take his fight all the way to the convention floor.

And she responds that Weaver, quote "He's an ass." A few days later on May 17th, that same aide tells Wasserman Schultz that in an interview with CNN, Weaver was asked about violent behavior by Sanders supporters at the Nevada Democratic Convention.

And he then criticized the Nevada State Party. Wasserman Schultz replies, "Damn liar, particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred." Now, it's worth repeating that CNN has not independently established the e-mails' authenticity.

The e-mails could flare tensions ahead of this week's Democratic National Convention in Philly. They could threaten the truce between Sanders and Clinton. And that includes a more progressive party platform in exchange for Sanders dropping his fight to replace Wasserman Schultz as the DNC Chair.

And Republican Donald Trump really tried to stoke those flames of discontent this morning by tweeting about how the e-mails show the DNC was planning to destroy Bernie Sanders.

And for Clinton and other Democrats who are really hoping to unite the party in Philadelphia this week, these e-mails are really bad news. Chris Frates, CNN, Washington.

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WATSON: Democratic National Committee Secretary Stephanie Rawlings- Blake is responding to the controversy denying any suggestion that Clinton received favorable treatment.

A top Democrat close to the committee says Wasserman Schultz no longer plans to speak to the convention. Let's move to the west coast now where northeast of Los Angeles, California, the body of a man has been found near where a wildfire is expanding, an investigation is under way.

The so-called sand fire near Santa Clarita has grown to 20,000 acres, that's around 8,000 hectares. The fire's just 10 percent contained. Hundreds of people have been evacuated. And people in 1,500 more homes have been told to get to safer ground.

And the weather forecast will continue to make it challenging for firefighters in the week ahead. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is at the World Weather Center. What is the forecast for people struggling with this terrible wild fire?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is really been quite the challenge. And yes, the weather is the big problem across this region. They have been in extreme or extraordinary drought conditions now for quite some time.

And it looks like little, if any, change is expected, as temperatures soar into the low triple digits or over 35 degrees plus Celsius. That and conducive wind. So, we see breezy weather conditions. The terrain just causes this fire to jump from one hilltop or canyon to another.

Also, it's encroaching across some populated areas. So, they've had to call for mandatory evacuations. Just a day and a half ago, this was just a minor brush fire. But now, just about 10 percent contained. There are some estimates that perhaps firefighters in some areas are able to get a hold of this.

But here you can see as you go into the next 48 hours or so, still offshore flow continuing across this region with the searingly hot weather conditions making it extraordinarily hot.

[04:25:06] Let's go ahead and show you some pictures coming out of this region, which lies just about 60 kilometers to the north of Downtown Los Angeles, very spectacular pictures there as this occurs across the Canyon Region. There had been several structures that have been affected. About 1,500 structures are threatened right now.

There have been mandatory evacuations. They say there are about 1,000 personnel, firefighters, and coordinators who are trying to battle this blaze, which as I mentioned, was just a quarter acre fire about a day and a half ago.

Now, across the Hawaiian Islands, this has been tropical storm Darby. Take a look at these waves just crashing along the shore there. Estimates are that some portions of the Hawaiian Islands could see as much as a half a meter of precipitation over the next day or so.

And tropical storm Darby now supporting winds of about 40 miles per hour and it's moving towards the west and towards the northwest. But in its wake, we could see some power outages, mud or landslides. And looks like as we go in to the next day or so, this will gradually move into open waters, start to weaken, because of the shear factor, also because we've got much colder water temperatures. Ivan, back to you.

WATSON: And Karen, incredible that that wild fire was just a quarter acre in size such a short time ago and it's now so huge. Thank you. Karen Maginnis, live for CNN.

Now, Turkey's President is stepping up. His attacks against a cleric he accuses of a failed coup and how an upcoming rally may test his commitment to Democracy. Next.

And Russia will find out soon if it's banned from the 2016 RIO games. The latest of the doping scandal clouding the country's Olympic Dreams, that's coming up.

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[04:30:32] WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're watching "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Ivan Watson coming to you live from Hong Kong, the headlines this hour.

ISIS is claiming responsibility for a suicide attack on a peaceful protest in Kabul, Afghanistan. The country's president is declaring Sunday a national day of mourning for the 80 people killed. The twin blasts wounded 260 others. A security official says a third attacker was killed by police.

Neighbors say the apartment that Munich police raided after a deadly shooting Friday belonged to 18-year-old Ali Sonboly. Police say the gunman had no connection to ISIS, but he had researched shooting rampages extensively. Police in Munich -- people in Munich rather, are mourning the victims, most of whom were teenagers.

Hillary Clinton's running mate is hitting the road at her side, ahead of next week's Democratic Party convention. Senator Tim Kaine spoke at a rally in Miami. Kaine said Republican nominee Donald Trump leaves a trail of broken promises, and wrecked lives wherever he goes.

Turkish authorities have arrested a top aide of this Cleric. Turkey's president accuses Fethullah Gulen of last week's failed coup, and is requesting the U.S. to extradite him. Gulen's aide entered Turkey two days before the coup attempt. And was arrested in the country's north.

Later Sunday, Turkey's main secular opposition party is expected to hold a pro-Democracy rally in Istanbul. That rally will test the commitment of the Turkish government to freedom of expression and political unity.

Our Ian Lee joins us live from Istanbul. Good to see you, Ian. It's interesting now, for a week now supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been out in the streets of cities and towns all across Turkey.

I know very well from personal experience, if any group that dares to criticize Erdogan tries to go into that square that you're standing in front of, within a matter of minutes, police are likely to intervene with water cannons, and tear gas and pepper spray. Will this opposition rally? Will it be authorized and tolerated by the police?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well you know this is some strange times here in Turkey, Ivan. You do have the CHP, the main opposition group, calling for the rally today.

But in the lead-up to it, the A.K. party, Erdogan's party, the main political party, asked if they could join, and CHP agreed. So, they're holding a joint rally there, and it really does make for some strange bedfellows as you pointed out.

These two sides don't see eye to eye, rarely see eye to eye and Turkish politics is quite divisive. At times it can be deadly. So, you are seeing this rare show of unity here in Turkey among the political parties, as all of the opposition group has come out and said, you know, we are against the coup. We are for democracy. And you are seeing this unity in the aftermath.

But, there are these cracks that are starting to form in the unity, with really the state of emergency. CHP, as well as their pro-Kurdish H.D. party have said that they do not support the state of emergency, that they see this as a crackdown on freedoms, as well.

The head of the H.D. party said yesterday said there's really not much of a difference between a military coup and state of emergency. Both limit freedoms.

Although, Erdogan and the A.K. party have said that the State of Emergency is about seeking out those who tried to have a coup and not against personal freedoms of the people here in Turkey.

WATSON: So, Ian, I have another kind of logistical question. We've heard about the tens of thousands of people being arrested, people from all ranks from the military, from the police, the judiciary, even many teachers, and reports of more than a dozen universities that are going to be closed down.

How will the Turkish State Bureaucracy function in the days and weeks ahead, with so many people pulled out of positions of responsibility, particularly in the security forces, when you also have very recent threats carried out by ISIS, and by the Kurdistan workers party?

[04:35:05] LEE: Well, that's right. And a third of the generals and admirals of the Turkish military have been arrested, and a large chunks of that security establishment, as you said, has been moved aside. And that is going to be the main task and challenge for the Turkish government moving ahead, because as you said, they have faced terrorism threats not only from ISIS, but the PKK, the Kurdish separatists. So, it has been a very volatile time here in Turkey before this coup attempt. And now with this purge that we're seeing, it's going to make it a lot more difficult. Although we are hearing from the government saying that this won't affect security here and that they're trying to make up for it in other ways possible going to the teachers, and the educational institutes that have been shut down.

Erdogan and the government have said that they're looking for 20,000 new teachers to fill these positions. So, while they are taking from one area they're trying to back fill that to get new people in. But this is posing a serious challenge, not just for how the state functions, but really the security of the state when you do have such a volatile southeastern region as well as bordering Iraq and Syria with the ISIS just next door.

WATSON: All right. That's Ian Lee live from Istanbul and he'll be covering this upcoming rather unusual show of unity between the opposition CHP party, and the AKP. Thanks very much, Ian.

Let's move on to Brazil now where authorities are combing through the computers and cell phones of 10 recently arrested terror suspects. The suspects, all Brazilian nationals were allegedly inspired by ISIS and plotting terror attacks during next month's Rio Olympics. On Saturday Brazil's foreign minister linked the terror threat to growing international extremism.

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JOSE SERRA, BRAZILIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through interpreter): It fills me with sadness and apprehension and makes everyone feel unsafe amid the peak of irrationality where terrorists carry out suicide attacks. This creates great apprehension as the world is seeing a new level of fanaticism, which was not there before. This is critical for the world as a whole not just for Brazil, but for the world. And it is not because of the Olympics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now under Brazil's new anti-terrorism law the suspects can be held for 60 days without charges.

The International Olympic Committee is set to rule on banning Russia from the 2016 Rio Olympics. 67 Russia track athletes have already been banned following allegations of state sponsored doping. For more on the controversy we're joined now by former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty in Moscow.

Good to see you, Jill. It's incredible, these developments, just two years after Russia enjoyed Olympic glory at the Sochi Olympics. How are Russians reacting to this potential ban?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FORMER MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: You know, this really is, Ivan, huge for Russia. It's huge for Russia, the country and it's huge for President Putin, who, after all, was the face of the Olympics in Sochi. So, right now I can tell you Moscow really is bracings for this decision. And President Putin has been taking kind of, you know, a dual approach. He has definitely denied that there is any state- sponsored doping in Russia. But on the other hand, he's been saying, "Look, we're taking this very seriously."

It is a big problem in the world, and if there's any going on in Russia we are going to do something about it. So right, at this point you have five officials who are temporarily sidelined as this is being investigated, and then also President Putin urging the Russian Olympic Committee, which it did, to create an independent commission that will look into doping. That's on, you know, the higher level.

The level of the people is that people, many of them, feel that this is once again the United States, perhaps the west, the weak Europeans trying to make things difficult for Russia. Trying to destroy its reputation, destroy its president and damage the credibility of Russia.

So, even though there may be some concern that, yes, there is doping, it's kind of like, well, it may be happening but doesn't everybody do it. And by the way, we're under attack from the United States. So I think that's the way it shapes up. But it would be very really difficult decision for the athletes who may not be able to go to Rio depending upon this decision, the entire team, I mean.

WATSON: And we know you'll be following it closely. Thanks very much, Jill Dougherty, live from Moscow.

Now take a look at Russia's medal haul in previous Olympics.

[04:40:02] Russian athletes won a total of 33 medals at the 2014 winter games in Sochi including 13 gold. They fared much better at the 2012 summer games in London with a whopping 82 medals, 24 of them gold. Russian athletes won just 15 medals at the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Beijing in 2008 was a much bigger success with Russia taking home 73 medals, overall including 23 gold.

Now Russia's doping woes aren't the only concern dogging the Rio Olympics. With Brazil in recession, athletes can expect sparse accommodations. Organizers even considered charging for air conditioning, can you believe it? But there are some amenities athletes won't find anywhere else. As Shasta Darlington shows us from Rio's Olympic village.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 31 17-story towers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now this is a typical apartment. This is the social space surrounded by the bedrooms, bathrooms. Minimal amount of seating.

DARLINGTON: Getting a tour of the athletes' village from the man who's been providing the Olympic furniture for them since Sydney 2000. 3,604 apartments, 18,500 beds, disposable wardrobes.

With Brazil in recession and the Olympic budget tight these rooms being called basic, even austere. Definitely cold.

There was this discussion about whether or not there would be air- conditioning. They didn't want to pay for it but with the Zika scare they had to put it in the rooms, is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they put air-conditioning in all the bedrooms. Fans in non bedrooms but no television.

DARLINGTON: In the bathrooms, shared mirrors and 13,000 toilet seats.

But no drawers for the 42 condoms per athlete then?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I guess that's going to be stuck in the bedside tables.

DARLINGTON: But what it lacks on the inside it makes up for on the outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Swimming pools, tennis courts, everything you can imagine. This is a five-star accommodation environment that I've never seen in the games village before.

DARLINGTON: Also bike lanes, a massive cafeteria and gyms. And with all this space for pool parties and barbecues you got to wonder who's going to miss all of those television sets? Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Yeah, with that skyline you do not need T.V.s.

Now, a new report is revealing clues about what might have happened to missing Malaysian airlines flight 370. The evidence found on the pilot's home computer, that's coming up after this break.

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[04:45:53] WATSON: Welcome back to CNN. Five people were killed in San Juan Chamula, Mexico Saturday including the town's mayor and vice mayor.

Chamula is in the southern state of Chiapas. The officials were meeting with people in the main square when a group of gunmen opened fire on the crowd. 12 others were wounded in the attack. The state's attorney general's office says it is investigating the incident.

Now let's move to Malaysia and a big mystery. Officials say the search for Malaysia airlines flight 370 will be suspended if the aircraft is not found soon. We're also learning now new details about the movements of the pilot just a month before the plane went missing two years ago. And for details I'm joined now by Asia Pacific Editor Andrew Stevens on the scene there. Thank you for joining us, Andrew. Incredible, two years since the plane disappeared and now we get these new details coming out about what the pilot apparently was doing before that fateful flight. How are families reacting to this development?

ANDREW STEVENS, ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, that's right, Ivan. It's been such a long time. And this is not a new story. I mean we know that the -- initially during that investigation that the pilot was front and center, if you like, to with what could have happened.

Now what's happened since two years later that there's been a leaked document to the New York magazine which says that the FBI uncovered a new program in his homemade flight simulator software, which suggests that he had been plotting a flight down to the area where we believe 370 was actually last heard of.

So, there is evidence to suggest at least at this stage that the strongest evidence we have so far that this could actually have been a suicide. But, what the people here in Kuala Lumpur are saying, Ivan, is that they're baffled, because the pilot has effectively been cleared of the investigation. There have been no personal problems ever heard of to do with the pilot, no financial problems. There was a fairly exhaustive criminal investigation into him and the co-pilot. Didn't find anything. That's what the families were told here. That's what we read in official investigations.

I spoke to the spokeswoman, if you like, of voice 370, this is a group who represent the families. Her name is Grace Nathan. And, you know, she expressed bewilderment about this new development. Let's watch she had to say.

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GRACE NATHAN, MOTHER WAS IN MH370: I don't know what to believe. And until there is, for example, like the Malaysian authorities and the investigation team in Australia have said that they already dismissed, that it was possibly like pilot suicide or a controlled ditching so, or at least they dismissed the pilot suicide portion of it. So I mean I can just feel like I'm back to where I always am like in the middle of this floating around not knowing what to think or what to believe and this is all very stressful, really.

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STEVENS: OK, Ivan. So you heard there it's very stressful situation. And also the other question they're asking is if these investigations are actually new, why's it taken two years or why has it taken so long for this to come out again. So, a lot of the families are saying that they blame the Malaysian authorities who have been very reluctant to offer a lot of information out over the past 2 1/2 years. There's no love lost between the families of those onboard and the authorities here. Because the families say they're just not getting the information in a timely manner or enough information to actually know what's still going on, Ivan?

WATSON: That's Andrew Stevens live from Kuala Lumpur on this enduring major aviation mystery. Thanks a lot, Andrew.

Now, most people do not hop on a water slide thinking they're risking life and limb. But one Texas man learned his lesson the hard way, and that is coming up next.

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WATSON: Welcome back to CNN. That's a live shot overlooking the cityscape of Hong Kong. Hot but beautiful day here and that leads us to our next story. Water slides. They're a popular pastime for many kids and plenty of adults too. They're getting in on the fun to beat some record high heat waves. But check this out, one Texas man's wipeout is getting all the buzz online lately. And Jeanne Moos has more on that.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Giant water slides. They're supposed to be fun. Whether sliding down an enclosed tube.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoo!

MOSS: Featuring a light show or enclosed in a capsule as the door opens beneath you.

It's supposed to be scary but not this scary. Watch Dallas resident David Salmon use his arm to try to steer himself down a slide near Austin, Texas. It's even more frightening in normal speed.

[04:55:03] 32-year-old David posted on his Facebook page, "Too dang old to be going down water slides. Fell off this one that is over a rocky cliff. Broke my arm and fractured ribs. Multiple lacerations." EMS had to carry him up the hill and take him to the hospital. He since been released.

But this wasn't at some water park. This was at somebody's house their own private water slide. At a rental house near Lake Travis, Texas, the water slide snakes down the canyon from the back patio.

The video quickly got over a million views, commented one friend, so glad you're not dead. Also so glad this was caught on video, because it's amazing, I can't stop watching.

Less sympathetically someone posted, "Hahahaha, he will never be a bobsledders." We weren't able to reach David, but he seems to have a sense of humor judging from the hashtags he chose. Among them #notdead. To those of you who crave the thrill of a water slide ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoo! That was a hell of a ride.

MOSS: No, this is a hell of a ride! Jeanne Moos, CNN New York.

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WATSON: Wow. Who's got a water slide like that in their backyard? All right. Let's move on now to an aircraft that's powered only by solar energy, no water slides here. It has begun the final leg of its flight around the world. Solar Impulse 2, it took off from Cairo Sunday morning on its journey to become the first-ever fuel-free flight across the globe. The plane is en route to its final destination, Abu Dhabi, that's the same city where its voyage began in March of 2015.

That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. And I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world. Stay with us.

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