Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NEWSROOM
Trump and the Birther Controversy; Syrian Cease-Fire Holds but Aid Stalled; Pro-Kremlin Parties Set to Dominate Russian Election; Frantic 9-1-1 Call Leads to Woman's Rescue; Migrants in England Face Xenophobia; Beatles' Documentary Premieres in London; Syrian Cease- Fire Holds but Aid Stalled; Migrants in England Face Xenophobia; Duterte Ordered Killings as Mayor; Frantic 9-1-1 Call Leads to Woman's Rescue. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 17, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Well, there you have it. That's what he's saying now. The fallout from Donald Trump's admission about President Obama's birthplace.
A fragile cease-fire, the truce in Syria is holding. But humanitarian aid still not reaching those who desperately need it.
Staying in Syria, U.S. forces helping Turkish troops as they clear ISIS from the northern part of that country but this video shows them leaving.
Why?
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast.
Just when you thought the birther issue, that controversy, that it might finally be over, it's not. Donald Trump is now saying the actual words, admitting that the President of the United States, Barack Obama, was actually born in the United States but he's also reviving false claims about Hillary Clinton. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: The Clinton campaign reacted quickly. They said it's sickening and disgraceful to blame the Democrat for the discredited birther controversy. Gary Tuchman has more now on Trump's ties to the birther movement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a narrative stoked by Donald Trump for years, hard-baked to the Trump lexicon since spring 2011.
TRUMP: Why doesn't he show his birth certificate?
If he wasn't born in this country, which is a real possibility. I'm not saying it happened. I'm saying it's a real possibility, much greater than I thought two or three weeks ago, then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics.
Was there a birth certificate?
You tell me. You know, some people say that was not his birth certificate. So maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe it was his birth certificate?
TRUMP: No, I don't know. I'm saying I don't know. Nobody knows.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): CNN went to Hawaii to investigate the same year Trump made those claims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen Barack Obama's original birth certificate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The former director of the Hawaii Department of Health, Dr. Kiomi Fukino (ph), confirmed emphatically the president's birth certificate and that he was born in Hawaii.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a Republican member of the last Republican governor of Hawaii, (INAUDIBLE) cabinet, do you have any doubt that Barack Obama was born in the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not. I have no doubt.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And when President Obama released his long form birth certificate that April, Trump had this to say.
TRUMP: I'm very proud of myself because I have accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But it didn't end there. Trump continued to float the birther idea. In 2014, he questioned the release and legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate in an interview with Irish TV.
TRUMP: I don't know, did he do it?
A lot of people don't agree with you. And a lot of people feel it wasn't a proper certificate.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The issue came up in January this year with CNN's Wolf Blitzer with Trump now running for president.
TRUMP: Who knows about Obama? Obama --
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: -- a U.S. citizen --
TRUMP: Who knows?
You know, can I --
BLITZER: Was he a natural born citizen?
TRUMP: Who knows?
Who knows?
Who knows?
Let's -- who cares right now?
We are talking about something else.
OK?
I mean, I have my own theory on Obama. Someday I'll give -- I'll write a book. I'll do another book. It will do very successfully.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And even more recently when asked, Trump has refused to comment about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't talk about the birth certificate anymore.
Do you regret even bringing it up?
TRUMP: I don't talk about it anymore. I don't talk --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you regret bringing it up back then?
TRUMP: I told you, I don't talk about it anymore.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): It came to head when "The Washington Post" published an interview with Trump late Thursday, where he once again refused to settle the issue, stating, quote, "I'll answer that question at the right time."
That sent the campaign into damage control mode, quickly releasing a statement late last night, saying Trump believes the president was born in the United States and claiming wrongfully that the Clinton campaign was behind the conspiracy, stating, "Hillary Clinton's campaign first raised this issue to smear then candidate Barack Obama in her very nasty failed 2008 campaign for president."
That was followed up by Trump's one-sentence declaration today.
TRUMP: President Barack Obama --
--
[05:05:00]
TRUMP: -- was born in the United States, period.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Gary Tuchman, thank you.
Tom Foreman now tells us how the birther movement got started by Trump and how we got to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The birther movement had its birth in Barack Obama's first presidential run when some Democrats wanted to stop him and hit on this idea that maybe he wasn't born in the United States and wasn't eligible.
Hillary Clinton never embraced that story.
So why do some people think that she did?
Go to 2207, when a campaign aide wrote an assessment of the race, where he said Barack Obama's lack of American roots could hold him back in the primary. What he was talking about was Obama's unusual childhood, living some in Hawaii, some in Indonesia, thought that might not play very well with voters.
He never said Obama wasn't born in the United States. In fact, we know one Clinton campaign worker who tried to push that story out; got immediately dumped by the campaign.
So what kept the story alive?
Republicans embraced it and Donald Trump in particular. As Donald Trump started considering a run for the presidency himself, here we get to 2011 and suddenly he's showing up on TV, saying why doesn't he, Obama, show his birth certificate?
He goes on to talk radio and on the Internet, saying I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country and in an even more pronounced way he said, "If he wasn't born in this country, which is a real possibility, then he has pulled one of the great cons in the story of politics."
So you see how he's stacking up the doubt here. And then Barack Obama releases his long form birth certificate. And everyone thinks the story is dead. It's finished. There's the proof. He was born in America.
But not so fast. We move forward and trump starts bringing it up again, a lot of people do not think it, that birth certificate, was an authentic certificate and then he keeps going, saying things on Twitter, for example. He jumps out there and he says an extremely credible source has called my office and told me that Barack Obama's birth certificate is a fraud.
And he keeps building on it. He never lets it entirely die. Every single one of his appearances did from Donald Trump, a lot of people feel it wasn't a proper certificate. And he never stopped with this. It kept coming up, it, telling CNN just this year, who knows about Obama? Who knows? Who cares right now?
I have my own theory on Obama.
Bottom line, every bit of this came from Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton did not start it. And he did keep it going. Those are two facts, no matter how much Trump may try to deny them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Tom Foreman, thank you.
Hillary Clinton is speaking out about Trump and what he's saying now about the birther controversy.
She says though there is still one thing Donald Trump must do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For five years, he has led the birther movement to de-legitimize our first black president. His campaign was founded on this outrageous lie. There is no erasing it in history.
Barack Obama was born in America, plain and simple. Donald Trump owes him and the American people an apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: All right. A lot to talk about. Let's get some context on all things political with CNN Politics reporter Eugene Scott, live with us this hour in Washington.
Eugene, thanks for being back with us here. Let's talk the birther movement. Donald Trump said the actual words, that the President of the United States, Barack Obama, was indeed born in the United States.
But by saying that, the question is this, could he alienate some of his core supporters or could that give him an opening to African American voters, who have held that against him for an effort, as many criticize him for doing, delegitimizing the first African American president?
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: I think Donald Trump, himself, has made it very clear that there's not much he can do to alienate his base; they are with him until Election Day and perhaps longer than that.
But whether or not this move will be effective enough to bring more African American voters onto the Trump train remains to be seen and quite frankly is not likely. This is just one statement of many that Donald Trump has made that some African American voters have found offensive.
And, arguably, this is not the one that is the most offensive.
But I think Mr. Trump's desire to remove this question from his political campaign is a move that he hopes proves fruitful in the debates.
HOWELL: And also Trump indicating that Hillary Clinton started the birther movement. But again, we just heard from our own reporters who looked into this, that is just simply --
[05:10:00]
HOWELL: -- factually inaccurate.
SCOTT: Yes, multiple fact checks have made it very clear that this did not start with the Clinton campaign. We had her former campaign manager on CNN yesterday, communicating that it was a volunteer coordinator who was the originator of these ideas and that that person was fired immediately. You can see the full story on cnnpolitics.com. But that certainly hasn't kept Trump from saying that it began with Hillary Clinton.
HOWELL: If elected, Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington should have made a better deal with Havana. He's threatening to reverse that deal if Cuba doesn't release political prisoners and allow more political freedoms.
Just a year ago, Trump said that the deal was fine when he was asked about it and then in March of this year, he told CNN he would consider opening a hotel in Cuba.
So this simple notion that Donald Trump would reverse it.
How is that playing with his base and how is that playing with independent voters who are looking at that?
SCOTT: I think there's some continued concern from his base that this deal that we made with Cuba was not in the best interest of the American people and puts our security and our trade policies at risk. Whether or not that is true, is not clear yet and remains to be seen.
As you mentioned, this all happened very recently. But I think Donald Trump is trying to put forward ideas that keep those who have been with him since the earliest days of his campaign on board.
As far as independents are concerned, I think everyone, independents (INAUDIBLE) and even people who aren't supporting Trump are concerned about trade policies and want to see the best trade policies move forward for the American people and whether or not this move towards changing our projections, our efforts forward movement with Cuba would do that. It's not right clear yet.
HOWELL: Eugene Scott live in Washington, D.C., Eugene, thank you.
And also important to point out, with Hillary Clinton, she is back on the campaign trail. Michelle Obama also out, not mentioning Donald Trump but saying about critics, when they go low, we go high. So we are seeing Hillary Clinton again trying to make up for the backslide in the polls that we've seen there. Eugene, thank you.
We move on now to --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: -- we now move on to Syria to tell you abut that cease-fire that started Monday. It is holding. But humanitarian aid is not rolling out as expected. The United Nations has been waiting all week for security guarantees from the Syrian government. And as CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports, mistrust is growing on both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In Aleppo, this is what the cease-fire looks like, government forces moving around armored personnel carriers in a contested district.
And oftentimes this is what the cease-fire sounds like.
Syrian army personnel acknowledging they don't trust the truce.
"We're sticking to the cease-fire," this pro-government fighter says, "but the other side is not. That's why I don't think the cease-fire will work."
For their part, rebels accuse government forces of breaching the cease-fire. Despite the transgressions, though, the U.N. says by and large the cessation of hostilities is working.
But many Aleppo residents are still suffering from the clashes that took place before it went into effect.
At the Ramouseh hospital, Ahmed Jabr and his 7-year-old son, Mahmud, lay side by side, both wounded by rebel shelling that killed three of Mahmud's brothers.
"When the bombshell fell, I went to the ground," the boy says, "and I was bleeding. I felt the shrapnel in my body." It happened last Friday, the day the cease-fire was announced,
crushing Ahmed Jabr's faith that the cessation of hostilities might work.
"Even after the cease-fire, I was here in the hospital," he says, "and I saw wounded people still being brought here."
And the calm remains strained. Damascus saw heavy clashes on Friday around the rebel-held districts of Jobar. And in the early morning hours of Friday, opposition and government forces exchanged fire right here on the outskirts of Aleppo, another sign of just how fragile the current cease-fire is -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: The United States has announced the death of another high- ranking ISIS leader. The Pentagon says a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria, killed ISIS information minister, Wa'il Adil al-Salman. That air raid was on September 7th. The Pentagon saying that Salman was in charge of propaganda videos that show torture and executions. He had direct access to ISIS leader --
[05:15:00]
HOWELL: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Another ISIS leader, Mohammed al- Adnani, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Syria back on August 30th.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, why the last thing that candidates in Sunday's Russian election want is an American flag. We'll explain that.
Plus Taiwan faces its second typhoon in less than a week. After the break, where that storm is headed.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
Russians are about to go to the polls this weekend. This is the first election for parliament in five years. And candidates backed by the Kremlin are expected to win big. Matthew Chance shows us what opposition the candidates are up against.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is the Kremlin-controlled channel, where most Russians get their news and views. For the first time in years, one of the country's main opposition figures is a guest. Mikhail Kasyanov was invited to debate upcoming parliamentary
elections and to have an American flag planted in front of him by a pro-Kremlin candidate, reminding millions of viewers who Russia's opposition is accused of defending.
But even this exposure on state television is an opportunity.
MIKHAIL KASYANOV, PARNAS PARTY: It is angering some people but others start to waking up. They wake up and saying just it is possible, even in the situation where everything seems to be under total control of Putin. But it is possible but here on the first channel and just it -- they just started thinking that something could be changed or something or other is being changed in the country.
CHANCE (voice-over): These are the scenes in 2011 after the last parliamentary elections in Russia. Amid allegations of rigged voting, crowds gathered in Moscow, chanting "Down with Putin." Opposition activists say the Kremlin is desperate to avoid a repeat.
KASYANOV: The differences between this election process and the previous one, which was to solve a dilemma, the difference is that, for the first time, opposition party is allowed to participate in elections. They think they should create some kind of a picture that elections are free and fair, in accordance with international standards and so on.
[05:20:00]
CHANCE (voice-over): But that picture is not complete. Opposition figures like Kasyanov have complained of threats and harassment. Here, he was recorded being attacked with a pie in a restaurant.
There's also been a secretly filmed sex tape that posted online, what critics say was a bid to discredit and humiliate.
It gets more sinister, too. Here Kasyanov is shown with another opposition figure in the crosshairs of a sniper rifle. The video was posted by the head of the Chechen Republic in Russia. He said it was a joke. But in a country where Kremlin critics are routinely murdered, no one is laughing.
CHANCE: How concerned are you?
How frightened are you that something could happen to you?
KASYANOV: These days in my country, unfortunately, everyone should be scared by the behavior of authorities and other people. And, me, too. I'm a normal person. That's why I am also scared. I can expect something to happen with me and my family but I have to continue this, I would say, mission or whatever, job, to which we are already committed to do.
CHANCE (voice-over): And like him, hundreds of opposition candidates across Russia are taking that risk, despite the threats standing in these Russian elections, for a slim chance their opposition voices will be heard -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Matthew, thank you.
Protesters outside the Russian embassy in Ukraine are angry that voters in Crimea will take part in those Russian elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL (voice-over): What you see there looks awfully intense. But keep in mind, those are fireworks hitting the embassy. The protesters threatened to launch rockets next time.
They also chanted, "Freedom to prisoners of the Kremlin."
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine two years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
As politicians make their cases in Russia, one of the country's most famous residents makes his case for a pardon. Edward Snowden fled to Russia about three years ago after leaking a trove of highly classified U.S. national security documents. He now says President Barack Obama should pardon him.
Snowden claims his actions helped to bring needed changes. The White House says he should return and face espionage charges.
Snowden's appeal comes as a new movie about him opens in theaters. Oliver Stone directed the film, which features Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role.
Lawyers for the founder of WikiLeaks say that they will appeal a ruling by a Swedish court to uphold his arrest warrant. Julian Assange is wanted in connection with rape allegations from 2010. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012.
He says he's afraid Sweden would send him to the United States, where he could be charged for publishing government secrets. Ecuador said last month it would let Sweden investigators question him. That is set for October 17th.
A fire has devastated an historic church in Peru. Peru's ministry of culture says flames gutted the San Sebastian Church in Cuzco. We are seeing video now as firefighters try to control those flames. Many works of art there were lost. The church underwent a $1.5 billion restoration in 2013.
The second typhoon to impact Taiwan in less than a week continues to batter that island nation. Our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, is here to tell us about it.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:25:00] HOWELL: Derek, thank you.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead this hour, U.S. special operations forces in Syria, some were taunted. Ahead, why the troops are threatened.
Plus the U.N. says the U.K. hasn't done enough to stop hate crimes. We take you to a Polish community in England, warning one of the victims of attacks against migrants.
We are live from Atlanta this hour. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we are following for you this hour.
(HEADLINES)
HOWELL: The U.S. has sent about 40 special troops to Turkey to help battle ISIS in Northern Syria. The Pentagon said their mission is to train, to advice and assist the Turks. Turkish troops entered Syria in August to clear ISIS out of the border region there.
That cease-fire in Syria is still holding for now. But civilians still haven't received the food and supplies that they desperately need. Some of those U.S. special operations forces are receiving a very cold reception there. Our Jim Sciutto has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American special operations forces taunted as they leave Syria by the same rebel group the U.S. government is arming and backing.
In an embarrassing confrontation, the rebels chant, "Down with America," while the man behind the camera calls the American troops "pigs" and threatens to cut off their hands.
These troops are part of 40 American special operations forces now on a new mission accompanying and assisting Turkish troops in an attempt to clear ISIS out of Northern Syria. But this chilling send-off shows their presence may not always be welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SCIUTTO (voice-over): One person filming the U.S. soldiers' departure says the rebels cannot accept fighting alongside America.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: If it's true, obviously that kind of rhetoric is not acceptable as part of what should be a coalition designed to go after a common enemy, which is daish. And we certainly wouldn't condone that kind of bombastic and pugilistic rhetoric against, frankly, our forces or anybody else.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): In a separate incident, U.S. special forces raised the American flag in an outpost in Northern Syria after coming under fire by what they believe were the forces of U.S. ally Turkey.
Meanwhile, in Aleppo, a U.S. and Russia brokered cease-fire appears to be holding as it enters its fifth day. But desperately needed humanitarian aid convoys are still blocked by Syrian government forces.
The only way into one of the hardest hit areas of the city is one highway fittingly nicknamed Death Row. Until that humanitarian relief starts flowing, the Pentagon does not consider Russia or the Syrian regime to be in compliance with the cease-fire.
Threatening the plan to establish a joint center in Switzerland aimed at coordinating U.S. and Russian airstrikes against ISIS and other terror groups.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: That was our chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, reporting there for us.
A 21-year-old British man has been sentenced to life in prison for an ISIS-inspired murder. Prosecutors say that he and an accomplice planned to murder an imam because the cleric practiced a form of faith healing that ISIS rejects.
The 72-year-old imam was followed as he left prayers at the mosque. He was then beaten to death with a hammer. Authorities say the accomplice may have fled on to Syria.
The United Nations says that authorities in the U.K. need to do a better job at condemning and prosecuting hate crimes. A U.N. report says the campaign for Britain to leave the E.U. incited dangerous anti-migrant and xenophobic rhetoric. Our Isa Soares visited a town in England where immigrants from Poland feel targeted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nita (ph) comes here every day, in silence --
[05:35:00]
SOARES (voice-over): -- with a simple blessing. She pays her respects for life taken away.
Arkadiusz Jozwik was only an acquaintance to her. But his death had made many Poles here in Harlow feel like he was family. He was knocked unconscious and left for dead on this very spot by a group of six teenagers, an incident local police are treating as a hate crime, one of more than 30 against Poles since Britain voted to leave the European Union, according to the Polish embassy.
Nita (ph) has experienced the racism first-hand, both pre- and post- Brexit vote.
NITA (PH), POLISH NEIGHBOR: My neighbor told me to (INAUDIBLE) his country but since Brexit, it's worse, like beautiful balloon blow up. And many hates come on people. Many people are not political correct anymore. And they say what they think, what they always think but never then tell about that.
SOARES (voice-over): It's these experiences that have left the Polish community here on edge. So to ease tensions, Polish police have sent two officers to Harlow to patrol the streets for a week. We bumped into them in the center of town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here basically to help our colleagues from the Essex police. That's our main role. We want to speak with the Polish community, see what their concerns are.
SOARES: Sixty-eight percent of people here voted to leave the European Union. Whilst we can't say that the incidents here are related to Brexit vote, what there have exposed a huge fault line in a community that has one of the highest levels of Eastern European immigrants in the country.
SOARES (voice-over): The locals, many outraged by the death of Arkadiusz tell me this isn't a racist town. They say it's just anti- social behavior by a group of unruly youngsters.
But as we walk through the city center, the social divide is palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've not come across any racism. People argue and get annoyed but we are getting a lot of Europeans coming into the town. And Harlow Council seem that they have given them (INAUDIBLE) housing, when people who've lived there all of their life are struggling to get on that council list.
SOARES (voice-over): Economics clearly play a part here. Harlow, once a vibrant town full of opportunities, with factories dotted around it, is now full of boarded-up properties with unemployment among the highest in the county. And those who have been here for years with little to do are looking for someone to blame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This didn't happen before Brexit, put it that way. It's as simple as that. It didn't happen. Before Brexit, everything was going on all right. But they are blaming Eastern Europeans. You can't blame them. I can understand it. I mean, I'd go somewhere if I could get a better life, get everything paid for me. Of course I would.
SOARES (voice-over): For this 40-year-old night shift factory worker, nothing was for free. And in the pursuit of a better life, he was the one who paid the highest price -- Isa Soares, Harlow, Eastern England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Isa Soares, thank you so much for that report.
Leaders of the European Union have agreed on a road map for the future for that bloc. They held a summit in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava without the United Kingdom. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, says talks about the U.K. split from the E.U. cannot begin without a formal notice from Britain which could possibly come next year.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says the U.K. shouldn't rush into it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: It's crucial London has a seat around the table.
Why?
Because London is a powerhouse for our country. We need to make sure, for example, even outside the E.U., we could have access to a single market. You're right to remind me, we've got to make sure, even outside the E.U., we can possible threshold (ph) services.
And that's why it is important we don't rush in to negotiations with the E.U.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Those complications don't include the chance that Scotland could leave the U.K. in order to stay within the E.U.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, the United States is reacting to shocking allegations against the Philippine president, including claims that a death squad that he controlled fed a body to a crocodile. We'll look into that.
Plus, a U.S. woman made a frantic 9-1-1 call as her alleged abductor slept nearby. What police found when they got into the house -- still ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
In Venezuela, the non-align summit is set to begin. Leaders from nations that are not affiliated with the major power blocs are all gathering to discuss global affairs there.
But before things got underway, Venezuelan officials unveiled a statue of their late president, Hugo Chavez. Some Venezuelans are protesting that resources have been devoted to this meeting. Huge shipments of food have been seen arriving after those meetings. All this while the country's economic crisis has led to crippling shortages of food and basic supplies.
The U.S. reacting to shocking allegations against the Philippine president that claims that he may have fed a body, someone may have fed a body to a crocodile. A self-described hitman has testified that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that a death squad kill criminal suspects and personal enemies, all of this while he was the mayor of Davao City.
And now some Philippine lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation. Our Ivan Watson explains that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a senate inquiry, an eyewitness gave astounding accusations implicating the current president of the Philippines in the killings of a death squad when Rodrigo Duterte was the mayor of the city of Davao.
Edgar Motobato claims that he was a hitman. He claims that he killed at least 50 people and that he was under the direct orders of Rodrigo Duterte during the quarter century that Duterte was mayor of Davao City. In one case, he described feeding a victim to a crocodile.
EDGAR MOTOBATO, HITMAN: (Speaking foreign language).
WATSON: A presidential spokesman denied that Rodrigo Duterte ordered killings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the president is capable of giving such directive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think he's capable?
No, I don't think he's capable of giving a directive like that.
WATSON (voice-over): CNN cannot independently verify the allegations made in this --
[05:45:00]
WATSON (voice-over): -- eyewitness testimony. But the human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, is now calling for an independent inquiry into the allegations, arguing that President Duterte cannot be expected to investigate himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think this was a big day in the Philippines. This was a testimony in the Philippine senate under oath by a man who said that he personally was involved in 50 killings, that he heard Duterte and saw Duterte give orders to kill people.
He saw Duterte kill people with his own eyes and he came across as credible. Now it has to be said, these are just allegations but they need to be investigated. WATSON (voice-over): The reason that the senate inquiry is underway is because of the enormous number of police killings that have taken place. During Rodrigo Duterte's first less than three months in office, he launched a war on drugs and has repeatedly ordered the police to shoot to kill if any suspected drug criminal resists arrest.
According to official police statistics, more than 1,000 suspects have been killed in less than three months -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Ivan, thank you.
Police in Ohio got a desperate 9-1-1 call Tuesday from a woman in that state while she was being kidnapped and led to some gruesome discovery there. Three bodies and a suspect in custody now. Here is how it all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 9-1-1, what is the address to your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the 4th Street Laundromat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 4th Street Laundromat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the problem?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been abducted.
HOWELL (voice-over): The 9-1-1 call is chilling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you are at the Laundromat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm in the bedroom with him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know what color the house is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Please hurry.
HOWELL (voice-over): A woman pleading for help, her accused abductor sleeping in the same room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he have a weapon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got a Taser.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you injured?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little.
HOWELL (voice-over): Speaking in a whisper, the woman's fear is palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any way you can get out of the building?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know without waking him and I'm scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a bathroom in the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, his bedroom is closed and he made it so it would make noise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So if you had to go to the bathroom, he would do something to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because he had me tied up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you tied up now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I -- yes, but I kind of freed myself.
HOWELL (voice-over): The dispatcher encouraging the caller to stay on the line until police arrive at the abandoned house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, (INAUDIBLE), I think I woke him up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just set the phone down.
HOWELL (voice-over): Then silence. Minutes pass as the woman waits desperately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much longer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much longer?
HOWELL (voice-over): Finally, officers arrive and the caller works up the courage to leave the bedroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you get out of the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's locked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's locked?
Are you at the door?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's at the door.
Is there a window there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'm looking out of it. Tell them to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said to -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurry, hurry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said to hurry up and come back.
HOWELL (voice-over): After some 20 minutes on the line, the woman is rescued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come out, come on out. Hurry up, hurry up. Get out here.
Where is he?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bedroom sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still sleeping?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, they have her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands. Put up your (INAUDIBLE) hands right now. Do it!
HOWELL (voice-over): Inside, police arrest 40-year-old Shawn Grate before finding two bodies, including the remains of Stacey Stanley, a grandmother, who went missing last week. Grate also leading police to a third body in the rubble of a burned-out home nearby.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Still ahead, North Korea is embracing satire like it's never done before. The show that is bringing laughs to Pyongyang. That story ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(SPORTS)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: So maybe you want to go out and catch a comedy show.
Ever think of going to North Korea for that?
That might not be the first place that comes to mind. But the country is getting increasingly bold with its political satire -- at least by North Korean standards, as our Will Ripley reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Live from Pyongyang, it's not Saturday night.
But many say it is the "SNL" of North Korea.
This 80-minute comedy show, which aired this summer on state TV, features jokes about U.S. President Barack Obama.
"I smacked my head on the bathroom floor," says this bandaged actor playing the president. "I was so shocked by North Korea's hydrogen bomb detonation."
This sketch and others boast about North Korea's fast growing nuclear program. Last week, Pyongyang announced its fifth nuclear test since 2006, the second this year alone, drawing strong condemnation from the U.S. and its allies.
The North Korean comedy show took aim at those allies, calling South Korea's president a granny and its special envoy a dog, Japan's special envoy is called a monkey, a word North Korean propaganda also used in 2014 to describe President Obama.
While the U.S. president has long been a target of the Pyongyang press, analysts for NK News say this political satire is a first for North Korean TV.
"Saturday Night Live" has featured plenty of jokes about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the one and only shining sun. I am your marshal.
RIPLEY: But the American show mostly makes fun of its own elected officials, something you'd never see in North Korea, where only praise of the leadership is allowed.
In Pyongyang, even political satire has its limits -- Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Not everyone was laughing there but everyone's certainly clapping.
Prince William to the rescue. Let's show you here.
[05:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL (voice-over): The Duke of Cambridge rushing to help a dignitary who took a tumble on Friday. Watch here. The crowd gasped as he fell. Prince William was visiting a school in Harlow, England, at the time it happened. He wasted no time helping the man back up to his feet. (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So you know that saying about cats having nine lives?
I want to show you one cat that may have more than a dozen lives. It's a kitten who fell out of an SUV on a highway in Russia. My goodness, 17 different vehicles just barely missed that tiny cat, often coming within a whisker -- yes, I said within a whisker -- of the frightened cat.
Somehow the cat survived until one motorist stopped in the middle of the busy road and carried that cat to safety.
Wow! That is a lucky cat.
Thank you so much for being with us. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. And for other viewers around the world, "AMANPOUR" starts in a moment. We thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
