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President Obama and Prime Minister May Meet; Pope Francis to Canonize Mother Teresa; Race for the White House. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired September 4, 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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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is President Barack Obama, arriving for the opening ceremony of the G20 summit in China. We'll have more on the upcoming meetings and the ones that have already taken place, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Also, becoming a saint: the portrait of Mother Teresa will soon be displayed at the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The start of her canonization ceremony less than two hours away.

Plus: the storm that won't go away. Hermine is expected to intensify Sunday. Widespread flooding may throw a damper on weekend holiday plans in the Eastern U.S.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

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ALLEN: We continue to follow the G20 summit, underway in China; as you just saw, President Barack Obama arriving for the official opening ceremony.

The American and Turkish presidents met also a short time ago and said they would cooperate to bring justice to those behind the failed coup in Turkey.

Mr. Obama and Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke at the end of their meeting at the G20 summit. Again, this was about one hour ago. Mr. Obama says they agree to continue pursuing a peaceful political transition in Syria.

Earlier, Mr. Obama and Theresa May said ties between their countries will remain strong despite Brexit. Mr. Obama doesn't have an official meeting set with Russian president Vladimir Putin, seen arriving there.

But if they happen to meet at the summit, the Syrian civil war would likely be a topic they'd discuss. Our Matt Rivers joins us now live from Hangzhou, China. That's where the summit is taking place.

And, Matt, we've been seeing a lot with President Obama just in the past few hours.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right and the most recent meeting that we saw him at, as you mentioned, was with Turkish President Erdogan and both men on either side of the table reaffirmed their commitment to one another, reaffirmed the relationship between both countries in their ongoing fight against ISIS.

But this meeting comes at a time when relations between United States and Turkey have been strained since that failed coup attempt back in July against President Erdogan. And from the Turkish side, you're hearing a lot about this criticism based around one man. That would be Fethullah Gulen, he is a Turkish theologian currently living in exile in the United States and a vocal critic of the Erdogan regime.

Now the Turkish authorities have accused Gulen of being the mastermind behind July's coup. They say that they've been gathering evidence to prove that is the case. And they want to give that evidence to U.S. authorities. President Erdogan actually spoke about that at their meeting. Let's hear a little bit of what he had to say.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Against this terrorist, before the coup attempt, we had put together some documentation, amassed some evidence, which we have submitted to the United States and the post-coup attempt related documentation and evidence therein will be amassed.

And they will be submitted to our friends in the United States. The efforts are still underway.

We have welcomed a delegation from the American ministry of justice and a similar delegation from the Turkish ministry of justice will go to the United States. Our minister of interior and minister of justice will travel together to the United States, whereby they will concentrate their efforts on the elaboration of this evidence.

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RIVERS: Most people are expecting that, after the evidence is submitted, the Turkish authorities would formally request that Gulen would be extradited from the United States. Now the United States leadership authorities in the U.S. have said that they want to see this process go through the courts.

But it's a very touch-and-go subject right now between both sides. This is a country, Natalie, that the United States really relies on in terms of fighting ISIS. There's an airbase in Turkey that the United States uses, relies on, to launch airstrikes against ISIS.

So this relationship, while strained at the moment, is one of the United States' most important in terms of combating ISIS in the region.

ALLEN: And, Matt, as we were speaking, we just learned that President Xi Jinping of China is now welcoming the leaders who have gathered there at the summit. We might see live video of that in just a moment.

But I also want to ask you, as we see this beginning there in Hangzhou, about the meeting with the prime minister of the U.K., Theresa May, and Barack Obama, talking and solidifying their close relationship in the wake of Brexit and talking about the Syrian --

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ALLEN: -- war and what to do about that.

RIVERS: Absolutely. Well, this is an economic summit, after all, the G20. So what you're hearing a lot from the brand new prime minister from the U.K. here is her willingness, her desire to start reopening these channels of communications, laying the groundwork for new trade deals that will have to be negotiated with all these different countries here at the G20 after the Brexit vote.

And the most important country, according to Theresa May, for that to happen with is the United States, their largest trading partner.

So what you saw her and President Obama say up on stage earlier today was that they're committed to that relationship. They want to lay the groundwork for a new trade deal.

But they're not there yet. There will be negotiations that take place. The United States says that Britain will not get any special treatment as it seeks to negotiate other trade deals before the one that they will negotiate with Britain.

But I don't think there's really that much doubt that somewhere down the road there will be a trade deal that is put together between the U.S. and Britain because, as both sides say, their relationship is as strong as ever.

ALLEN: And we're seeing the leaders come in one by one, greeted by Xi Jinping there and also Vladimir Putin is there as well.

The question is, will he and Barack Obama have a conversation?

RIVERS: Well, they have no bilateral formal meeting scheduled but what you saw last year is that they had an informal meeting on the sidelines. And officials from both sides have said there is the potential to do that again. And if they do do that, you can bet that the Syrian conflict will certainly come up.

Both sides have said that there is the potential during this summit for a new ceasefire deal and a cooperation deal in terms of fighting ISIS that could be revealed during the G20 summit.

But earlier today President Obama said there remains significant differences between the Russians and the United States on that deal and so it's a possibility. But apparently, according to President Obama, there still is a long way to go.

ALLEN: All right. We'll wait and see what happens next with the summit. Thank you, Matt Rivers, covering it for us from Hangzhou, China.

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ALLEN: In just a few hours, Mother Teresa will soon join the ranks of other Catholic saints. Known as the Saint of the Gutters, the Roman Catholic nun devoted her life to helping the poor, the sick and the marginalized. She received a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 1979. She died in 1997 at the age of 87.

Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher joins us now live from Rome as thousands are gathered at the Vatican for this canonization ceremony.

It looks like a lovely day for this spectacular event to be led by Pope Francis.

Hello, Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you, Natalie. That's right; I've got about 80,000 people already in the square behind me. Many more are coming in as we speak.

What we're going to shortly witness is one of the most important events in the Catholic Church, when they declare somebody a saint.

In the case of Mother Teresa, many people already thought she was a saint because of course we know a lot about her life and her work with the poor.

But the Vatican has its own lengthy investigative process before they officially declare somebody a saint, which is what Pope Francis will be doing today. And of course in the course of that process, they're looking for two miracles.

And for Mother Teresa, those two miracles were a woman, Monica Besra, in India, who was suffering from stomach tumors and was miraculously, according to the Vatican, cured of those tumors.

And a man in Brazil, who was suffering from a brain infection. And he held a holy card with Mother Teresa's picture on it up to his head. He slept with it under his pillow and he and his wife prayed to Mother Teresa for his healing.

The subsequent, medically inexplicable, spontaneous disappearance of those abscesses in his brain was determined by the Vatican to be the second miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint.

Now one of the interesting things that came out of that Vatican investigation, Natalie, was that Mother Teresa suffered doubts about her faith, not something we think about when you think about a saint.

But she wrote privately letters to her spiritual director, saying she felt abandoned by God, that she said, "I have no faith."

And this is something which came up after her death. She didn't want it to be known during her lifetime. But she suffered many long years of what they call a dark night of the soul. I should say, Natalie, that Pope Francis, we've just been told, is

offering a pizza party after the ceremony for some 1,500 homeless and poor around Rome, some of them from Mother Teresa's missionary house next to the Vatican. That will be --

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GALLAGHER: -- held in the Vatican. And perhaps a fitting gesture on the part of Pope Francis who, as we know, has made service to the poor a priority of his pontificate on this day of the canonization of this nun, who has served the poor during her lifetime -- Natalie.

ALLEN: I have to say, Delia, when you started to say -- and Pope Francis will offer -- I did not expect you to say a pizza party to the people there.

But Pope Francis certainly has his way, doesn't he?

And what about this actual ceremony?

Can you give us a little snapshot of what takes place?

GALLAGHER: Well, what happens, Natalie, this is a very standard ceremony. Of course, it's happened throughout the centuries here. So we witness something which goes back a long time. It's mainly in Latin.

The actual moment of canonization happens right at the top. One of the cardinals comes out and talks about Mother Teresa, talks about her life and requests that the pope declare her a saint. And then there's a formula that the pope will say and that's the moment she's declared a saint.

The rest of the ceremony is a mass of thanksgiving, they say, to this woman who will be, in about an hour from now, Saint Teresa of Kolkata.

ALLEN: All right. Delia Gallagher, covering it for us, Delia, thanks so much. We look forward to seeing it when it happens.

And now let's go to Kolkata, where Mother Teresa founded her organization, Missionaries of Charity. CNN's Mallika Kapur grew up in Kolkata.

And as you've relayed to us, Mallika, something many of us didn't know, you knew her when you were growing up and your mother volunteered. And it was not something perhaps you thought of as exceptional. It just was part of your life. That's so fascinating.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I didn't at that time because Mother Teresa was just a regular Kolkatan like anybody else. And it wasn't just me who felt that way. So many people in Kolkata who lived here in the '70s, the '80s and '90s, which is really when Mother Teresa was at the height of her service, felt that way about her. And it's really because she was so accessible.

With the canonization today, so many people have been talking about Mother Teresa, of course, and sharing their stories. And I can't tell you the number of people who have reached out to me and said, you know, I used to see her everyday on the way to school.

Or I remember when I saw her at the station or I saw her at the airport or I saw her here or I saw her there or, you know, my school organized a trip to Mother House to meet her.

So she was very much a part of the city's fabric and very much a regular Kolkatan like anybody else. And, honestly, back then we saw her, we saw her often. We had a chance to meet her.

I did because my family, like many other families in Kolkata, used to volunteer at her homes and we saw her. But back then, we had no idea that we were watching history unfold. And here we are today, outside Mother Teresa's house.

This building behind me is where she lived. It's called Mother House, it's where the Missionaries of Charity is based, their headquarters. This is where she lived, this is where she died. We're outside that place today on a day of great pride and immense joy for the people of Kolkata -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Yes. We can tell from the buzz behind you, there's a lot going on there. Mallika, I'm curious.

When she's officially declared a saint, does that change her charity at all?

Does that change anything with its operation?

KAPUR: Natalie, I'm so sorry, it's so loud over here.

Could you repeat your question?

ALLEN: Yes, I'm just wondering are there expected to be any significant changes with her charity, once she's officially declared a saint?

KAPUR: They've been very strong in saying, no, that it's not going to change anything because that's not what Mother Teresa would have wanted. In fact, people who are close to her say that one of Mother Teresa's wishes was that her work should go on in exactly the same way it was carrying on when she was alive and that is in the simplest way possible.

For example, I spoke to somebody who was a really close confident of hers and she said, things are not going to change. That's not what Mother Teresa wanted.

For example, you won't suddenly see the nuns getting into an air conditioned van, roaming around the city. So the goal was to keep things moving in the same way and I can tell you right now that her legacy and her work is still very much alive in the way that she would have wanted it to be.

ALLEN: It just seems unreal that she's been gone since 1997 because she has such a presence around the world and certainly with people like you, in your personal lives. Thanks so much --

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ALLEN: -- Mallika Kapur, there for us in Kolkata.

And there again is the Vatican, again, the canonization begins in just a couple of hours.

Two other stories we're watching, an earthquake that struck the Southern Philippines.

And also in the U.S., the tropical storm that just goes on and on. Hermine is gaining strength now.

And Derek Van Dam watching both of these stories for us.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We'll start with the earthquake in the Philippines. This happened in the southern island of Mindanao and the epicenter of this 5.9 magnitude was 400 kilometers to the southwest of Davao.

Well, I should say Davao is 400 kilometers to the southwest of the epicenter, just to clarify that. The depth here was rather shallow, only 12.4 kilometers deep So that's pretty significant when considering the potential of damage.

But the good news is we've checked all social media avenues that we possibly can. We've reached out to people in some of our bureaus in the region and so far we haven't had any reports of injuries or any significant damage as well.

But it was certainly a scary day for local residents there because you can see roughly 250,000 people felt either strong or very strong shaking from this magnitude 5.9. And the U.S. Geological Survey really does comparisons to previous earthquakes with a similar depth, similar location, also similar structures and buildings and similar magnitude as well.

And they put out what is called the estimated fatalities. And the good news is the highest probability of either having no fatalities or at a very minimum at one.

So it appears that this earthquake was more of a jolt than anything but not a major destructive event.

I want to bring you to Japan, because we're following this typhoon that was really a close call, especially for the Kyushu island in southern portions of the mainland. It's barely holding on to typhoon strength so it's -- technically it is weakening, losing a lot of its organization at the moment.

You can see some of the cloud cover just east of the Kyoshima (ph) region and as it moves in a general north to northeasterly direction over the next two days, it will continue to weaken. As it does so, just scraping along those eastern prefectures -- I should say, western prefectures of mainland Japan. So this threat will be more just gusty winds and potential for heavy

rainfall across this region.

Now let's take you into United States, where still have Hermine that we're monitoring very closely, 38.5 million people currently under a tropical storm warning from this system that includes New York. Wow, this is something that we need to monitor closely because you can see the path it has, potentially meandering westward and obviously the closer a tropical system gets to the coast, the more impacts it will bring. So storm surge, gusty winds and the potential for coastal erosion as well.

ALLEN: Hermine just keeps going on and on.

VAN DAM: It does. We've been tracking this for 3.5 weeks. It was a tropical wave over Western Africa, finally moved across the ocean and is now impacting us.

ALLEN: All right, Derek, thank you.

Officials in the state of Oklahoma had an earthquake that they're studying and they're ordering the closure of 37 wells that disposed of toxic wastewater. Oil and gas producers use the wells. And the governor says that may have played a role in an earthquake there on Saturday.

Oklahoma has seen many more earthquakes in the past few years. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more about it.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Here is what we know. It was a magnitude earthquake of 5.6. Now that ties for the strongest earthquake in Oklahoma recorded history. It was about 74 miles north- northeast of Oklahoma City and about an hour west of Tulsa.

But it's the depth that's most important with this particular earthquake. It was only 6.6 kilometers deep or about 4 miles.

When it's that shallow, and it may not seem like it, 4 miles may seem pretty far away. But in earthquake terminology, that's incredibly shallow. And that means that areas that are pretty far from the epicenter will still feel some of that shaking.

Here is a picture of a well-built brick home in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is about 30 minutes away from the epicenter. Notice the giant crack that runs through the center of that building. In Stillwater, not the only area that felt it, we had 3.7 million people that felt some form of light shaking with this earthquake and over 200,000 people that felt moderate shaking. In fact, this particular earthquake was felt in as many as seven different states.

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ALLEN: Earthquakes used to be rare in Oklahoma, now there are up to 1,000 a year. Donald Trump takes his campaign to an African American congregation in Detroit. But outside the church, vocal protesters make it clear they don't want him in their city. We'll have that in a moment.

Plus a woman tries some acrobatics in the middle of a flight. How her workout in the sky went awry. We'll have that as well.

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ALLEN: Donald Trump has made his strongest pitch yet to African American voters. The U.S. Republican presidential candidate took his campaign to Detroit, Michigan, Saturday, where he attended a service at a predominantly black church.

It's the first time he's directly addressed a largely black audience since he began his presidential campaign. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump took his outreach to African American voters right to the African American community here in Detroit. Donald Trump's spoke to the great faith ministries where he abandoned his characteristic brashness, in favor of a little bit of a more subdued tone.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For centuries, the African American church has been the conscience of our country For centuries, the African-American church has been the conscience of our country. So true.

It's from the pews and pulpits and Christian teachings of black churches all across this land that the Civil Rights movement lifted up its soul and lifted up the soul of our nation.

It's from these pews that our nation has been inspired toward a better moral character, a deeper concern for mankind, and spirit of charity and unity that binds us all together. And we're bound together and I see that today.

This was -- this has been an amazing day for me. The African American faith community has been one of God's greatest gifts to America and to its people.

DIAMOND: That rhetoric was very different from the kind that Trump has employed on the campaign trail in recent weeks, as he's made his outreach to African American voters largely before predominantly white crowds.

Donald Trump has talked about African Americans saying that they have, quote, "nothing to lose in voting for him," saying that they have no jobs, no schools.

I also caught up with Dr. Ben Carson, who went with Donald Trump to his childhood home here in Detroit. And this is how Dr. Carson talked about Donald Trump's remarks.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if you ask him about those comments, though and allow him to explain it, you'll see he said very readily, I have a lot of African American friends who are very wealthy, who do very well and I know that the majority of black people don't live that way.

But the problem is we have a very large percentage of people in our inner cities who are not experiencing any of the benefits of our society. And that's a problem for all of us.

DIAMOND: But here outside the church where Donald Trump spoke to African American voters, there were a number of protesters who showed up and they said that they're not going to forget Donald Trump's brash words anytime soon.

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ALLEN: And here's a look at those protesters Jeremy just mentioned.

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ALLEN (voice-over): While Trump spoke to the congregation inside the church, these protesters outside --

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ALLEN: -- were calling for him to leave their city. Trump has been criticized throughout his campaign for not reaching out to African American voters in their communities.

An airline flight attendant wouldn't stand for it when a passenger started doing headstands in her seat. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on a workout that didn't quite work out at cruising altitudes.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As if shoes on the armrest, bare feet on the tray table, ponytail over the screen aren't bad enough, how about a headstand on an aisle seat?

RAAD MOBREM, PASSENGER: We were all laughing because this was, in my opinion, the best in-flight entertainment I've ever had.

MOOS: Raad Mobrem whipped out his phone and captured this passenger limbering up on a two-hour United flight from L.A. to Mexico. He started a live tweet making up names from the moves, from the dragonfly shuffle, to the raptor spirit.

But when she started to do a second headstand, a flight attendant intervened. And Raad tweeted "my face right now." MOBREM: She is saying, like, Miss, if you could please stop doing that. And the lady is like, I guess. She was a little weird. I'll be honest. But she seemed like a sweet lady too.

MOOS: At least she wasn't naked wearing a pillowcase over her eyes or giving herself a pedicure or trying smash the door to the jetway.

MOOS (on camera): The lady doing the headstand told the flight attendant said she wasn't feeling well.

This latest example of a passenger misbehaving comes just as American Airlines has launched a new ad campaign.

MOOS (voice-over): A campaign showcasing how the greatest flyers are supposed to behave. They like babies, but bring noise-canceling headphones. They always ask before they raise and lower the window shade. But shouldn't you ask before raising your legs?

MOBREM: In all fairness to her, she did it really well.

MOOS: So well she didn't even wake up the guy sleeping next to her.

MOBREM: We told him afterwards when he woke up. And we showed him videos and he could not believe it.

MOOS: Feet in the air, at 35,000 feet -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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ALLEN: Oh, my what will passengers think of next?

Thanks for watching, I'm Natalie Allen. Erin Burnett "OUTFRONT" is next. And I'll be right back with our headlines.

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