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Deadly Stabbing in Central London; GOP Discord as Trump Says All Is Fine; IOC Ruling Expected Friday on Russian Athletes; 300 Escape Plane Crash Landing; Deadly Stabbing in Central London; Philippines President Keeps Promise to Get Touch on Drug Crime; U.S. Veteran Seeks Asylum for Iraqi Who Saved Him. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 4, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


[01:59:54] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour --

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.

SIDNER: And I'm Sara Sidner. Thank you for being here. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

VAUSE: Police are searching for the motive in a deadly knife attack in central London. Six people were stabbed in Russell Square Wednesday night. One woman has died.

SIDNER: Police have arrested a suspect. He is said to be a teenager. Police say mental health is a significant factor, but they haven't ruled out terrorism.

Isa Soares joins us live now from London with the latest.

Isa, what are you hearing now? We're seeing some pictures of them removing the body.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sara, and good morning to you, John, too. As Rosemary spoke in the last few hours, you saw large section of Russell Square behind me had been cordoned off. A section of Russell Square has been partially lifted. We're still seeing police presence, but nothing like we saw in the early hours of this morning. Over my right shoulder, you'll see one tent is still there. Forensics analyzing a section of the square. The tent currently behind me that was where body of the woman in her 60s who died with, that is where it was removed. It was removed in the last hour by a private ambulance where it was taken away.

We're still waiting to get more information from the Met police there regarding the 19-year-old man who carried out this knife attack. We're also had learning more about the other victims. We know from the Met police that three are men and two are women. That's all we know thus far. In terms of the victims, we do not mow the kind of injuries they may have taken whilst this took place yesterday around 10:33 local in London.

Authorities now want to dig deep, finding out more about this 19-year- old. We know he suffered some sort of mental illness. We heard from Met police saying mental illness was important, a key factor. But they also said, quote, "We're keeping an open mind regarding the motive and terrorism remains one line of inquiry being explored."

While this is all happening, I'm seeing London is waking up and making their way on work. Many have not even heard about this.

Still, the resilience, as we've seen before. "It's not stopping me," one man said to me, "from traveling the way I do and I still am being vigilant but it's not going change the way I commute" -- Sara?

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Isa, live from London, the place of a deadly knife attack.

In the race for the White House, Democrats are running high while some Republicans are freaking out a bit.

VAUSE: Just a little.

SIDNER: Just a little bit. Well, the latest FOX News poll shows Hillary Clinton with a 10-point lead over her rival, Donald Trump. That is the largest gap of the general election so far.

VAUSE: When Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, is included, Clinton's lead slips just a little bit.

Meanwhile, many are saying Trump has had one of the worst weeks in his candidacy.

SIDNER: There's a lot of discord within the Republican Party while Trump claims everything is fine.

Phil Mattingly explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: So I just wanted to tell you the campaign is doing really well. It's never been so well united.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump and his top advisers pushing back on growing concerns of their campaign is in turmoil.

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: The turmoil, this is another Clinton error that you put out there and that the media is picking up on.

MATTINGLY: Sources close to the campaign are telling CNN that top Republicans have been calling for a sit-down meeting to get Trump back on track. Paul Manafort today, shot down the idea of any formal intervention.

MANAFORT: The campaign is focused and the campaign is moving forward in a positive way.

MATTINGLY: Sources close to the campaign tell CNN senior Republican officials are growing increasingly frustrated with the GOP nominee. The focus, according to one, has, quote, "strayed miles from his message on the economy, national security and Hillary Clinton."

Trump today making a concerted effort to get back on track and on message.

[02:05:19] TRUMP: We let ISIS take this position. It was Hillary Clinton, that she should get an award from them as the founder of ISIS. That's what it was.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: That's what it was.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Her weakness, her weak policies.

(CHEERING)

MATTINGLY: But it comes after days defined by a feud with the parents of a Muslim American army captain who died in Iraq heroically saving the lives of other soldiers as well as fresh interparty battles.

Newt Gingrich, a close supporter, a finalist to be Trump's running mate, telling the "Washington Post," quote, "The current race is which of these two are more unacceptable because right now neither of them is acceptable. Trump is helping her to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is."

RNC Chair Reince Priebus described as one adviser as furious after Trump told the "Washington Post" Tuesday he's, quote, "just not quite there yet," in supporting Speaker Paul Ryan's re-election bid, a not so subtle jab at Ryan, who told CNN in May --

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now.

MATTINGLY: Mike Pence looking to ease the damage with an endorsement of his own.

MIKE PENCE, (R), INDIANA GOVERNOR & VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I strongly support Paul Ryan, strongly endorsement his re-election. He's a long-time friend. He's a strong conservative leader.

MATTINGLY: That all comes as Trump has in some ways actively moved to fracture party unity, telling the "Washington Post," that along with Ryan, he wouldn't support Arizona Senator John McCain.

TRUMP: I'm only thinking about it. I've they ever been a big fan of John McCain. MATTINGLY: And he criticized New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte, who, like

McCain, is up for re-election this November as weak. Trump tweeting Wednesday morning that, quote, "There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: The infighting at new levels.

That was Phil Mattingly reporting.

On the hills of that controversy, the list of Republicans denouncing Donald Trump is growing. Congressman and Air Force veteran, Adam Kinzinger, says Trump is simply wrong for America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER, (D), ILLINOIS: When I see a front-runner that throws all these Republican principals on their head, that a president who has almost unchecked power in foreign policy, who talks about how great Putin is, who doesn't know the Russians are in Ukraine, makes fun of the disabled, and I'm not saying to other people that you can't support Donald Trump. I'm saying, for me personally, how can I support that? He has crossed so many ready lines that a candidate for commander-in-chief or a candidate for commander-in-chief should never cross. It's a tough position for me to be in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Kinzinger says he won't vote for Hillary Clinton, but there are several Republicans who will.

VAUSE: Meg Whitman today gave more than $100,000 to anti-Trump efforts and plans to raise money for Hillary Clinton.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Hank Paulson is also among those supporting the Clinton campaign.

SIDNER: No one is saying this is going to happen, but what if all these controversies force Donald Trump to drop out of the race?

VAUSE: A Republican source says there's no real movement yet, but there are rules just in case.

Tom Foreman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump received more than 14 million votes during the remember primary. That translated to 1,725 delegates at the convention. But if the Republican Party for any reason needed to designate a new nominee, that decision could come down to just 168 people. How could that be? It lies in rule number nine. It says, "The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur about by reason of death, declaration or otherwise for the Republican candidate for president of the United States. The committee can call everyone back together for a second convention, but the committee can also make the pick on its own and that committee is just 168 people. So the rules do not seem designed to push a nominee aside. But they're vague, so they could be used that way under certain circumstances.

The committee is comprised of three people from each state and U.S. territory who were chosen by Republican are back home and they vote with all the original power of their state's delegation. For example, Nebraska had 36 delegates. The three committee members would have 36 votes, in effect. California had 172 delegates. Their three committee members would have that same cloud. 172 votes. In the end, the vote of the committee is just like it was at the conventions. If anyone gets a simple majority, more than 50 percent, that person would be the nominee, whether or not he or she was even in the race prior to this time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:10:46] VAUSE: Thanks to Tom Foreman for that report.

It's extraordinary to think that after the Republican National Convention that was meant to unify the party, they're now talking about Donald Trump maybe quitting and putting somebody else in there. This is an election campaign like no other. And a top Trump adviser says the candidate has promised to move on to other topics.

SIDNER: We shall see.

VAUSE: Make that pivot.

SIDNER: And one of them, the $400 million the U.S. flew to Iran the day before the Tehran released American prisoners.

Trump called President Obama incompetent over the Iran deal. And his running mate, Mike Pence, seems to agree with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have essentially put a price tag on the head of every American traveling abroad. They have abandon our long-standing opposition to negotiating with terrorists or paying ransoms and that is something this country cannot stand for four more years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The White House says the payment to Iran was not ransom. In fact, they say it was money Iran paid to the U.S., part of a weapons deal, decades ago.

SIDNER: CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, takes a look at the issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Four Americans, including "Washington Post" reporter, Jason Rezaian, were freed from an Iranian prison on January 17th. But just as the Americans boarded a Swiss aircraft bound for Germany, another unmarked cargo plan was landing in Iran, loaded with pallets of $400 million cash, shrink- wrapped Euros, Swiss Francs and other currencies, skirting America's own sanctions that ban transactions with Iran.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a good day.

LABOTT: While the freed Americans were in the air, President Obama announced a historic nuclear agreement with Iran. The White House insists the money entering Iran within a few hours of the American prisoners' leaving was all a coincidence and there was no quid pro quo.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No, it is not a ransom payment. The U.S. does not view that way and it's not accurate to describe it that way.

LABOTT: But that's not how Iranian leaders described it at the time, and Republicans armed with these news details of the money transfer, as first described in the "Wall Street Journal" are outraged.

ED ROYCE, (R), CALIFORNIA: One of the reasons you don't want to transfer $400 million in unmarked bills in cash to Iran is because it's going to end up in the hands of Hezbollah or in the hands of the other Iranian agents.

LABOTT: While U.S. and Iranian diplomats were secretly negotiating a prisoner exchange, separate teams from both countries were resolving a decades-old Iranian claim before an international tribunal at The Hague.

(SHOUTING)

The $400 million, the first payment ending in dispute over a failed arms deal dating back to the 1970s.

OBAMA: Iran will be returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount Iran sought. With the nuclear deal done, the prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute, as well.

LABOTT: After the cash-filled plane landed in Iran and the Americans were freed, Iranian military commanders boasted the money wall a ransom. But the State Department insists the prisoners would have been freed the same day, even without the payment.

MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: We believe so, because that was working through a different process and it was concluded successfully.

LABOTT (on camera): Congress is working on legislation preventing the White House from making any more cash payments to Iran and requiring the White House to make the details of the $1.7 billion settlement public. Meanwhile, just last week, Iran detained another American, Reza Shaheni (ph), and two other U.S. citizens have been held in Iran for months. Their family fears the Iranians are trying to extract another cash payment from the Obama administration for their release.

Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Coming up in a bit, Russian Olympic athletes are anxiously waiting to hear if they're going to compete in the Rio Olympic Games, which opened on Friday.

[02:14:55] VAUSE: Also, the latest on a hard landing in Dubai that caused 300 passengers and crews to evacuate a burning plane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(RIO REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL REPORT)

VAUSE: The countdown is on. About 40 hours from now, athletes will be marching through the stadium in Rio for the opening of the Olympic Games. The competition started on Wednesday. Women's football matches. The host was on the schedule. Brazil defeated China, 3-0.

SIDNER: Right now, everyone is waiting to hear the fate of the Russian national team. More than a hundred athletes are banned in the wake of a doping scandal and the IOC says it will issue its final ruling by Friday.

VAUSE: CNN's "World Sports" Christina McFarland joins us live from Rio.

Christina, it's not just the Russians who are waiting. It's all the other athletes, as well, finding out who they will be competing against. What is the sort of mood? Let's hope they're all banned so I've got a chance for a medal or let's hope they're all included so it's a better competition?

[02:19:55] CHRISTINA MCFARLAND, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'd say, John, there's a great deal of anxiety here. You know, not just on behalf of the Russian with athletes, but the other athletes competing in the competition, as well. Remember, Russia is a powerhouse in the world of sport and there's going to be a great deal riding on the medal outcomes from these Olympics, wherever way the decision goes on these Russian athletes. Russia came fourth in fourth in the medal tally for the London 2012 games. And the reality is that my Russian athletes who make the podium here in Rio there's going to be a serious question mark over their credibility because of everything we've seen. It's certainly going to be casting a large shadow over the games.

What we've seen over the past 10 days is a process that's been under way by the IOC, the individual sports governing bodies have been decide background the eligibility of their had athletes. And those that have been found ineligible have been going to the court of arbitration to have that overturned and a couple of days ago, the IOC set up a three-person panel, the final stage those Russian athletes need to go to, to get a rubber stamp. But as you say, just about 24 hours to go because the opening ceremony and around 200 athletes still don't know their fate.

SIDNER: This says something about the doping scandal. We're hearing from American swimmer, Michael Phelps. And he has made some extraordinary comments about how he sees doping affecting the sports there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PHELPS, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: We all want -- that's all we want. We want everybody to be on the same playing field. For me, I'm the only one that can control myself and that's really all I focus on. You know, I think I can honestly say, as well, in my career, I don't know if I've ever competed in a clean sport. It's upsetting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Incredible. I don't know if I've ever competed in a clean sport. This is a big issue, Christina. Are we hearing anything more, either from his coaches or other players or other members of the Olympic team there?

MCFARLAND: Well, there hasn't been a great deal or reaction. But to say that, this is a huge statement, 18 gold medals, 22 in total. This is going to have a profound impact. And it was interesting sitting alongside him was his long time coach, Bob Bowman, and he went one further addressing the press saying it was a broken system and it need to be fixed. This comes just a week after seven Russian swimmers were banned.

And I think what it shows is the great degree of anger that exists among many athletes about what they're being forced to endure at the moment in the build up to these games.

VAUSE: Christina McFarland there, at 3:22 in the morning in Rio. Thank you for staying up with us.

SIDNER: Thank you, Christina.

300 passengers and crew are safe after escaping a burning plane in Dubai but one firefighter was killed.

VAUSE: Investigators still don't know what caused the crash landing, but what we know is in this report by John Jensen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN JENSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The frightening final moments of Emirates flight 521, a Boeing 777-300, traveling from western India, skids on its final arrival and the plane bursts into flames. Amazing, all 300 passengers and crew escaped with no serious injuries. All flights into and out of Dubai were cancelled or diverted leaves

nervous fliers to sit and wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FLYER: They told us there is an accident and we cannot give any information and they put all the flights are delayed, delayed.

JENSEN: Some six hours later it reopened but investigators still don't know why this happened. The Emirates chairman said they have all the data but it could take time to evaluate.

UNIDENTIFIED EMIRATES CHAIRMAN: It's not available. It is there. Only we have really to verify some of the information. So really I don't want to jump to any conclusion.

JENSEN: They'll look at everything from wind shear to the landing gear, which can't be seen in the wreckage. Officials confirmed one death. An Emirate firefighter died working to extinguish the blaze.

Moments of good fortunate for hundreds and one moment of tragedy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: John Jensen joins us now live from Dubai Airport.

John, what more do we have from these reports that the plane touched down without the landing gear properly deployed?

JENSEN: Jan, that's one of the things investigators here will be looking at. The national transportation safety board has been asked to participate. Right now, the chairman of Emirates are saying they have all the information they need to conduct this investigation, bit will take some time. You point out the landing gear. That will be the main focus. We've seen the pictures through social media of this plane coming to its final decision on its belly. So the questions they will ask is, was the landing gear down when the plane tried to approach the runway or did it simply collapse on its attempted landing? They'll be looking at wind shear as a possibility. Was there a gust of wind that brought this plane down hard onto the runway? But right now, John, we still don't know what brought down Emirates flight 521.

[02:25:45] VAUSE: What is interesting is the 777 designed to be evacuated in, what, 90 seconds. I think that comes from Richard Quest. But we have seen images on board the plane at the moment of impact where people were stopping to get their luggage from the overhead bins. How much of a concern is that to aviation officials there?

JENSEN: I would imagine it would be a big concern. These videos coming out, apparently, shot by someone on board moments before the evacuation. You can see and hear the oxygen masks coming down. And as you rightly note, more than one passenger attempting to go after their bags. Anyone who has traveled on a commercial airline and read that emergency pamphlet knows this is a major no-no. But amazingly, all 300 passengers and crew did make it out without any serious injuries. That may be a testament to the crew, the professionalism of the crew, who you can hear in this video calmly and quickly telling people to exit the aircraft -- John?

VAUSE: Testament to the crew. Certainly not help from the passengers.

John, thank you. John Jenson, with the latest from Dubai, thank you.

SIDNER: And coming up for our viewers in Asia is "State of the Race" with Kate Bolduan.

VAUSE: For everyone else, we'll take a short break. When we come back, police say the London knife attack could be linked to terrorism. We'll take a closer look at the police strategy to try to deal with terrorist attacks.

SIDNER: And the president of the Philippines is keeping his campaign promise to get tough on crime, particularly drugs. Why not everyone, though, agrees with his approach.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:49] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SIDNER: And I'm Sara Sidner.

The headlines this hour for you.

(HEADLINES)

SIDNER: In London, one woman is dead and five others wounded after a knife attack in central London. A 19 year old has been arrested after being tased by police officers. Police say mental health appears to be a major factor but terrorism is under investigation. There is a beefed-up police presence in that area.

VAUSE: Max Foster joins us now from London with more on the strategy of the Metropolitan Police.

Max, this comes as authorities implement Operation Hercules, an attempt to boost the armed police particularly in London. How is all of this coming together?

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting because we saw this new anti-terror unit of the Metropolitan Police yesterday for first time, fully armed on motorbikes with all the Kevlar you would need to deal with an assault in a matter of minutes, actually. And the messaging really from the Metropolitan Police has been we need the public support on this, we need the public to be our eyes and ears.

But a question they've been grappling with over recent years and months is when to call it terror. And they've been doing some soul searching around that. As the threat has evolved, the idea that a lone wolf, for example, has been radicalized isn't really seen in the same way any more. We've seen examples in Europe recently, in Nice, France, where someone had a mental ill, clearly, but attached themselves to ISIS at the last minute. So that makes it terror related. And the police are trying to grapple with what is a terror- related incident.

It was interesting to see how they responded to this incident because it did have the hallmarks of a terror-related incident. Someone with a knife, it's expected to be a knife-related attack in the U.K. more than a gun-related attack in the U.K. because there aren't as many guns. And this why is idea that it was near a tourist area, a busy area, near a tube station, which actually was involved in the 2005 terror attack. So it had all those hallmarks, but the police didn't call it terror related. Terror officers were involved, but it's being led by the homicide unit. So it's been an interesting involvement with what is terror, how to respond to these incidents and what they are doing today is beefing you on police on the British secrets, which is not a big thing here, as you know, John. This is not a tradition here.

VAUSE: And quickly, if we look at how the police are responding to this, this use a taser, they managed to arrest the suspect. Is this all part of the new shift w in dealing with how the to deal with the potential terrorist threat?

FOSTER: I think it's all ramped up, from what I can see. Mark Rowley, who heads up anti-terror operations in London and across the U.K. was brought in straightaway and his team, I know from behind the scenes, to head this one up. And then he made the call about whether or not it was a terror-related incident. And he didn't do that. He called it homicide.

So they are responding in a high-level way to these sorts of incidents and that allows them to give the appropriate response, rather than a knee-jerk reaction and calling in the FSA, for example, straight away.

VAUSE: Max, thank you. Max Foster, giving us insight with how the London authorities are dealing with what may or may not have been a terror-related incident.

Thanks, Max.

The Philippines president, Rodrigo Dutarte, campaigned for office with a tough no-nonsense approach to taking on crime, but the killings of hundreds of suspected drug dealers have some questioning this method of law enforcement.

[02:35:10] SIDNER: CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, has more.

And we want to warn you, some of the images in his report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A searing image form the streets of the Philippines capitol, a woman clutches her husband soon after an unknown attacker shot him dead. Left by his body a sign calling hill a "drug pusher." While his killers have not been identified, the images are at the heart of a debate over the country's new president and his controversial war on crime.

Rodrigo Dutarte, nicknamed "the Punisher," campaigned on a vow to eradicate drug trade.

RODRIGO DUTARTE, PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(APPLAUSE)

WATSON: Now, one month after taking office, his crackdown has been swift and brutal.

DUTARTE: We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financer have surrendered or put behind bars --

(APPLAUSE)

DUTARTE: -- or below the ground if they so wish.

WATSON: The Philippines police say, within three weeks of Dutarte's inauguration, they killed at least 139 drug while arresting more than 3,000. Press photos show crime scene after crime scene, body after body, all, police say, alleged drug dealers killed in shootouts.

The president instructed security forces to kill if suspects violently resist arrest. And he announced regular citizens have the same rights.

Local media tallied hundreds more alleged drug dealers and users killed by suspected vigilantes.

The trail of bodies, human rights activists say, a sign of authority's blatant disregard for due process and an endorsement of vigilante justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of these incidents need to be investigated. There must be a half to the informal killings, which is a violation of the right to life and Philippines obligations.

WATSON: But Dutarte is not backing down, going after more and more senior targets. And the president also acknowledged this famous photo. "Stay away from drugs," he warns or else, "you end up sprawled on the ground and you're portrayed in a broadsheet like Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ."

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Joining me from New York is Phelim Kine, a deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate your time.

PHELIM KINE, DEPUTY ASIA DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you. SIDNER: Before being president, Rodrigo Dutarte was a mayor for 22 years, who used similar tactics in that town, which was the murder capitol of the country. Crime fell dramatically there and that is what got him in the position he is today. Voters said, yes, we like that, but do the ends justify the means at all in this situation?

KINE: Well, what we see in the Philippines now since President Dutarte took office on June 30th is a real blood bath. We've seen this alarming surge in police killings of drug users, alleged drug users and alleged drug dealers. And at the same time, we've seen this rise in extrajudicial killings by apparent shadowy unidentified vigilantes. And, you know, the president, instead of expressing shock, alarm, and asking for an emergency, he's praising these killings. He's a cheerleader for this. It's creating this situation in the country where extrajudicial violence is getting an implicit and an explicit nod from the chief executive, which is a very dangerous thing for the country.

SIDNER: The majority of those killed have been killed at the hands of police, according to local reports from local media. But there have also been killings, as you mentioned, by others who had decided to take this on as a cause themselves. If the president continues to have really strong political backing -- he's only been in office for more than a month now -- but if he continues with this popularity, is there anything that might rein in this aggressive plan that, if the popularity is high, the public in some ways supports?

[02:39:57] KINE: I think we need to remember that President Dutarte was elected on a plurality of 40 percent of the vote. The majority of Filipinos who voted in this presidential election did not vote for President Dutarte. The other element is that this campaign, both by the police by these unidentified vigilante killers is getting such visceral coverage in the Philippine media, these extremely disturbing images of corpses by the side of the road, of grieving family members, cradling the bodies of their murdered loved one. And these are elements that if we continue are going to contribute to a rising sentiment among the public that the cost, the human cost of President Dutarte's law-and-order war on drugs is simply too high a price to pay.

SIDNER: All right. Phelim Kine, the Human Right Watch deputy Asia director, thank you so much for joining uses on this important issue.

KINE: Thank you.

VAUSE: And we'll take a short break. When we come back, a U.S. veteran tries to repay the Iraq officer who saved his life. We'll tell what he's doing to try to return the favor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Now to the story of a U.S. military veteran is trying to repay a debt. Chase Millsap says a former Iraqi officer saved his life during a patrol in 2006.

SIDNER: Millsap is now helping the man known as "The Captain" seek asylum in the United States. Millsap says that officer, later injured in an IED blast, now lives in legal limbo in Turkey.

Millsap spoke to "National Geographic."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:45:08] CHASE MILLSAP, U.S. MARINE VETERAN & FORMER GREEN BERET: We were at the check point together. The sun was going down. It was another day in Iraq. And we were shot at by a sniper. He pushed me down. And he ran toward the sniper, directly at him, risking his own life to protect mine. He saved my life that day. We became more than friends. We became brothers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: That U.S. veteran joins us now here in Los Angeles.

Chase Millsap, thank you for being here.

You're a former Green Beret with three tours in Iraq.

MILLSAP: That's right.

SIDNER: Your life was saved because of this captain and you are going something for him. I'm curious the lengths you are going through to get him legally into the United States and whether the process was extremely difficult or not?

MILLSAP: It's extremely difficult. It's one of those things as a veteran, especially as a Special Forces veteran, we live by the motto free the oppressed. When the captain called me and said I need help, it's a no brainer to say I'm going to help you out and follow you down this path as long as I can help. We found barriers across the way. This is one of the largest refugee crises since World War II and looking at barriers internationally and nationally here in an election year it is difficult when we talk about immigration policy and things like that. So with this I knew it was going to be a daunting task but bottom line I knew this story needed to be told. And the best thing I could do and other veterans could do is tell that story. That's why I met with the captain years after I left Iraq and said how can I help?

SIDNER: This was Skype and phone calls. You actually went with him.

MILLSAP: Absolutely.

VAUSE: Donald Trump has made it a part of his platform for a temporary ban of Muslims into the United States. The fact that he has put it out there, it's a major part of his stump speech wherever he goes and it does have considerable support from, you know, a large number of Americans in this country. How does that complicate everything for you?

MILLSAP: Well, I tell you things for me are simple. When you overseas and on the ground, you work with and advise, train soldiers from all over. I trained and served next to Muslim soldiers. And I look at this now and think this is so, so political at this point but also you got to go back to the human side of it. And I said it doesn't really matter. I hear things that come over and come out and a lot of it is hate and it comes out as toxic. For those of us on the ground who do this every day we have to trust the people next to us regardless of religion. When we hear those things coming out from both parties it makes our job difficult on the ground.

SIDNER: He saved your life but you have been talking to him for such a long time. He is now in a really difficult spot. He has three kids and his wife. They are in a country where they don't speak the language. How hard is it? There is talk about how easy it is to come to the United States.

MILLSAP: It's not easy. And the first thing he has to do is be declared a refugee by the U.N. before he could start the process. For a year nothing happened. Finally, he got through that. And now he is at the system where we can look at him from the U.S. refugee side and say this is somebody we would consider letting him come in here. For the captain, obviously, this has an emotional toll but I worry about the children. The three kids that have been forced to flee Iraq and pick up everything and now they are like what am I going to do?

VAUSE: Left everything behind. They're living in a small apartment in Turkey --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: -- in a strange place. He's was injured by an IED. This is a guy who has done his duty for the country.

Chase, thanks for coming in. Thank you.

SIDNER: Thank you for coming in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:49:34] SIDNER: And we will be back after this short break. Stay with us.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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VAUSE: Don't look down. Tourists in southwest China can now walk around a mountainside thanks to a high-altitude glass-bottom walkway.

SIDNER: It opens this week. It overlooks a mountain road with 99 turns. Its name means avenue to the sky.

VAUSE: Oh, my god. They love it.

SIDNER: Be very careful.

VAUSE: Yeah. SIDNER: Yeah. You notice they're wearing those booties. But as you're looking down, I saw video earlier the people were screaming.

VAUSE: I don't blame them.

SIDNER: Straight down.

VAUSE: The energy in the passive driving the anti-Trump movement has turned into a money making opportunity for one budding entrepreneur.

SIDNER: Some homemade posters, a sense of humor, and a dash of spite are adding up to a lot of dollar signs for one teenager.

Jeanne Moos explain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A couple of street-savvy guys are cashing in on Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a regular tall black guy.

MOOS: Sort of bemusing blackmail, give me $1 or I'm voting, Trump.

A 19-year-old from Ohio, who would only give his first name, Josh, got the sign idea off the Internet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just started traveling the U.S. about a few months ago and I've made around 12 grand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 12 grand, tax free.

MOOS: Self-described tall black guy, who does most of the talking, met josh shortly after the teen arrived in New York.

We stumbled on them in the shadow of the Trump International Hotel in Columbus Circle, which has become a bit of a magnet for protests like this Trump hair hut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 96 hula skirts into the shape of Donald Trump's head.

[02:55:11] MOOS: Two ad agency guys dreamed this up to protest wealth inequality, matching dog not included.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go inside and think about what would happen if that man came to power. Oh, my god.

MOOS: A hair hut, made out of Mexican straw, is meant to make a point, not a profit.

While the sign guys can make as much as $235 per day.

Who would pose in front of it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sum's down, everyone. MOOS: Maybe someone who felt insulted by the Donald.

TRUMP: They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime.

MOOS: The people posing were tourists from Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED TOURIST: This is no good for Mexico.

MOOS: But he's good for these guys, entrepreneurs who didn't even attend Trump University.

TRUMP: At Trump University, we teach success.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we do.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In a bizarre way I think Donald Trump would be proud. It shows that certain capitalistic

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SIDNER: And I'm Sara Sidner.

The news continues after this with Rosemary Church.

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