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Storm Hitting Bahamas, Heading for U.S.; Syrian Military Says It will Reduce Aleppo Airstrikes; Race to the White House. Aired 12- 1a ET

Aired October 6, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour:

Hurricane Matthew leaves a path of destruction across the Caribbean. Next target -- the Florida coast.

Russia ramps up their defenses inside Syria -- why that's so concerning to the United States.

And Donald Trump takes the credit for his running mate's highly- praised performance in the VP debate.

Hello everybody. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Hurricane Matthew is hammering the Bahamas right now and the southern U.S. could be next. The storm will likely strengthen as it moves north. Matthew has already caused widespread destruction in Haiti, flooding hundreds of homes and forcing more than 300,000 people into shelters. The main bridge connecting the capital to the southern peninsula has collapsed.

In the U.S., store shelves are now empty as many stocked up on supplies. Others have decided to leave with evacuations in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now with the very latest forecast. So Derek -- exactly where is Matthew right now and how strong is this storm?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right. John -- good evening.

This storm concerns me specifically for the immediate threat to the Bahama Islands, specifically into Nassau which is in the direct line of the eye of the storm. Roughly 75 percent of the population of Bahama resides in Nassau. And it is such a low-elevation island that any storm surge threat has the potential to really inundate a good majority of the island. So I'm hoping that all people have finalized their preparations for the storm which is about to impact that region very soon. Hurricane Matthew, latest from the National Hurricane Center, 185 kilometer per hour sustained winds. There is Nassau, there is the Bahama Islands, Cuba to our south. The question is where is it going?

Of course, we need to continue to monitor all various computer models because the exact track of this system is so incredibly crucial in terms of timing and where that eye wall, which is continuing to form, will make landfall and if it will make landfall. In fact, that's also a big question.

Here's a look at our available guide and what I want you to notice is that the storm is projected to run parallel with the East Coast of the Florida Peninsula. This is significant because any deviation in that particular model will either bring the eye wall offshore or onshore and that has major impacts on the wind field that will be moving through the region.

Let me explain. Here's the latest model comparisons and I want you to see that with a storm that's moving in a general northwesterly direction like that, we typically see the strongest of winds on the east-facing side of the storm here in the northern hemisphere.

This is significant because again, I keep talking about this exact track and where the eye wall will actually go. So bringing them on floor graphics and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. The eye wall as it stands right now expected to run parallel perhaps, just grazing the coastline of Florida. But if that was to deviate 50 miles or 100 kilometers inland you could imagine that the strongest winds will be brought inland with it as I just showed you on the map.

If that eye wall is, let's say, 100 kilometers offshore from our model guidance that we continue to look at that will bring the greatest threat away from land and away from the greatest population density which is something that we're hoping will happen.

But of course it's not likely. We do have in our forecast here the potential of a major land falling hurricane so people need to be preparing for that within the next 24 hours for the southeast of the United States -- John.

VAUSE: Ok. Tense 24 hours ahead to say the least.

VAN DAM: Yes.

VAUSE: Derek -- thank you.

VAN DAM: All right.

VAUSE: To Haiti's capital now. Julie Lee with World Vision joins us on the line from the Haitian capital. Julie -- is there a time frame yet when rescue workers are expected to reach those worst affected areas -- the parts which have been left isolated by the storm?

JULIE LEE, WORLD VISION (via telephone): Hi. Good evening -- everyone. Actually at this moment with World Vision, we have started deploying staff to the affected areas. So starting yesterday we have commenced distribution of some life saving emergency supplies to the displaced, the victims of the hurricane. And today we are starting to collect rapid-adjustment data to quickly assess the most immediate needs so that NGOs like World Vision and the government offices can quickly respond.

VAUSE: Ok. What is your assessment now of those areas which have been especially hard hit by Hurricane Matthew. How widespread is the devastation there?

[00:05:03] LEE: The hardest hit area is basically the southern peninsula, the island of La Gonave and some central plateau and north departments as well. Right now data is still trickling in. But we are estimating upwards to about a million people have be exacted mainly through flooding, through collapse of houses, complete destruction or partial damage. But we are also seeing a lot of crops and livestock damaged by the hurricane. So long term food security as well as future farming is also a concern.

We are also seeing as mentioned earlier that communication and transportation are also a concern, mainly the bridge that is connecting the capital to the southern peninsula being damaged. It affects the ability for rescue workers, for NGOs to quickly access these regions. So the main concern is to get the supplies immediately to the affected families, which at this moment, they're living in very overcrowded emergency shelters.

VAUSE: So Julie, you say a million people have been affected at this stage. Is there a number to how many people are in urgent need of help right now?

LEE: Well, this number is an estimation right now. But in terms of the data trickling in, worst-need, thousands of families who are living in -- at least 10,000 families who are living in emergency shelters and a lot of them are accounted for as well. So as the data trickles in we will get more accurate information but currently that one million figure is an estimate.

VAUSE: Julie Lee from World Vision -- thank you for the update there from Haiti. A million people now affected just in Haiti alone by Hurricane Matthew. Thank you -- Julie.

Also here Typhoon Chaba has battered the southern tip of South Korea killing at least six people. Officials say four others remain missing. Heavy flooding has (inaudible) hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of farm land.

Syria's military says it will scale back air strikes and artillery fires on the rebel held areas of Aleppo to allow civilians to leave. The military offensive backed by Russia left hundreds dead and wounded in recent weeks and provoked an international outcry. Activists say civilian targets like hospitals and schools have been deliberately hit after a ceasefire collapsed last month. Also Russia is scaling up its military presence in Syria, deploying a state-of-the-art air defense system. For now U.S. officials believe the Russians are not planning to target American pilots but they call the development a concern.

And with that let's bring in CNN's military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Colonel -- thank you for being with us. How much of a threat is this Russian S-300 air defense system particularly to U.S. and coalition aircraft?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. This is a really good system -- John. The Russians build quality, you know, state-of- the-art air defense systems. But if they leave it positioned on the coast either at their airbase or at their naval facility, it can only reach 200 kilometers in.

Most of the targets of the coalition aircraft, the U.S.-led coalition aircraft, are striking are either on the extreme range of that threat envelope or outside the range. So it really doesn't pose a threat to the aircraft as we are operating right now.

However if we shift our targets to the west a little bit more then they do enter that threat envelope of that SAM system.

VAUSE: The Russian embassy in Washington posted a tweet today with a picture of the White House spokesman Josh Earnest, as well as a photograph of the S-300 with the caption which reads "because you never really know what kind of assistance terrorists might get".

What's the message here and why would they do it like this?

FRANCONA: Yes. You know, that's very interesting. I saw that. And it struck me as odd because, you know, the Russians have really ramped up the propaganda game. If you watch any Russian media at all they are just hurling invectives at the United States, one right after the other. This is all our fault. They're criticizing us. They're conducting large military exercises. They are even threatening that there could be an all-out war. And Mr. Putin has said that we have to be ready to defend against an attack from the west.

So I think it's all posturing.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. -- this is the timing here -- the U.S. is four weeks away from a presidential election. Both candidates, Clinton and Trump, have been talking about safe zones, no-fly zones in Syria. How does the S-300 change the calculation for that?

FRANCONA: Yes. It really makes it difficult for the planners. Now, you know, the Russians haven't deployed many of these systems. I know they've got at least one battery there. And they say it's to protect the naval base at Tartus.

That's fine but if the United States was going to take any kind of action to guarantee a safe zone they have to ground the Syrian air force. And although you can probably do that with cruise missiles, this system is optimized to knock down ballistic and cruise missiles. So it really complicates the plan.

[00:10:07] You could probably overwhelm it with, you know, a mass volley of cruise missiles but, you know, this is really something we do not want to get into a shooting war that the Russians are going to be involved in. This just brings us closer to this thing we have been talking about for some time now, John, is this inevitable confrontation between American pilots and Russian pilots over Syria. We don't need this.

VAUSE: It does feel as though it's inching towards that scenario.

But also what we're seeing as part of this stepped up military offensive on Aleppo, bunker busting bombs -- are they being brought in specifically to destroy the civilian infrastructure which they built underground?

FRANCONA: Yes. That's exactly what they're doing. They're trying to -- and I, we've heard the phrase, you know, they're the bombing the civilians into submissions. I think the Syrians with their Russian support have probably done this -- and I hate to say they've done it well but, you know, they've done it effectively. Let's use that word.

What they've done is they've caused so much damage to the civilian infrastructure. The civilians who are not part of the opposition want to leave and the Syrians are going to give them that opportunity to do that. Once the people who want to leave are out of there, the Syrian army backed by their Iranian support and the Russian air power will go in there roll up that enclave.

I just don't see how they can stand that much fire power. So as we've talked before, John, I think Aleppo has a very short life in the hands of the rebels.

VAUSE: Yes. A question of when, not if at this point, I guess.

FRANCONA: Right.

VAUSE: Colonel, as always, thank you for being with us, sir.

FRANCONA: Good to be with you, John.

VAUSE: Officials in Brussels say two police officers were the victims of a terror attack after being stabbed, one in the neck, the other in the stomach. Their injuries are not life threatening. Their attacker was shot in the leg and arrested.

Police searched his home but no weapons were found. Brussels has been on high alert since March after bombings at the airport and a subway station.

The Italian coast guard has pulled more than 10,000 migrants from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea over the past two days. They say these people were trying to cross from Libya in boats and rubber dinghies. 28 bodies were also found but there is some good news here. Three babies were born on a migrant rescue ship. The doctors say all those births went smoothly. And the former head of the United Nations refugee agency will likely

be the next U.N. Secretary General. Antonio Gutierrez will face a formal vote on Thursday. He's Portugal's former prime minister and had been the front runner. Many eastern European nations wanted someone from their region to lead the U.N. Gutierrez will replace Ban Ki-Moon whose second five-year term ends December 31st.

A short break here on NEWSROOM L.A. but when we come back, the U.S. government says one of its contractors stole top secret intelligence. Details on what was missing.

And then later, Donald Trump reviews the vice presidential debate in his own Trump fashion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Mike Pence did an incredible job. And I'm getting a lot of credit because that's really my first so-called choice. That was my first hire as we would say in Las Vegas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:13:15] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back -- everybody. The U.S. presidential candidates are preparing for their next debates in very different ways. Hillary Clinton off the campaign trail. She's huddling with her advisers. Donald Trump meantime holding rallies in Nevada where he praised his running mate's performance in Tuesday vice presidential debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Mike Pence did an incredible job. And I'm getting a lot of credit because that's really my first so-called choice. That was my first hire, as we would say in Las Vegas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining us here in Los Angeles, Mitchell Schwartz. He worked on Bill Clinton's campaign in New Hampshire. He ran Barack Obama's California campaign in 2007. And Jim Lacy, a Trump supporter and author of "Taxifornia". Thank you both for coming in.

I want to go to Donald Trump first off because he has been out on hustings. He was, you know, lauding the praise on Mike Pence for his performance at the VP debate. Here he was again at Henderson, Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'd argue that Mike had the single most decisive victory in the history of vice presidential debates. I believe that, too. And last night America also got to look first hand at my judgment.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Ok. So Jim, why not just stop at the compliment? Why add in that extra bit at the end? Why can't he let Mike Pence have his moment in the sun?

James LACY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, vice presidential nomination is reflective of the core values of the presidential candidate. You know, he's just one heartbeat away from being the president and I think that Donald Trump deserves some credit. Because what we saw in that vice presidential debate was a policy-oriented discussion.

For once this campaign was able to breakthrough with Mike Pence and breakthrough -- I'm sorry to say -- some of the media obstacles to doing that as well and get down to the issues of taxes, national security and the other problems that we have in this country. Pence clearly won the debate and he's done a fabulous job.

VAUSE: Mitchell -- you would agree with all of that.

MITCHELL SCHWARTZ, DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN OPERATIVE: Well, I do think that Mike Pence did very well. But I don't think he did well for the same reasons that James has said. I don't think that Governor Pence or Senator Pence, whatever did well on the issues. I think he did well in comparison to Kaine.

VAUSE: Sure.

SCHWARTZ: And Kaine was good on the policy and in fact, Pence never answered a lot of the questions about Trump but because

Kaine was so obnoxious and so rude by interrupting, that's what people were -- I don't think --

VAUSE: Why can't Trump let him have his day? Why do you think?

SCHWARTZ: Because Trump is all about one person -- Donald Trump.

VAUSE: Ok.

SCHWARTZ: And we should know that by now.

VAUSE: And Mike Pence, he wasn't taking a victory lap today. Clearly he knows his place on the ticket. Listen to this.

[00:20:03] GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: From where I sat, Donald Trump won that debate. Donald Trump's vision to make America great again won that debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ok. Mitchell, the campaign has denied that Trump was unhappy, denied that he thought he was upstaged by Pence in any way. How do you see it?

SCHWARTZ: I think Mike Pence did very well. He was thoughtful, he was smart and he didn't interrupt and he wasn't obnoxious. Having said that Mike Pence did what he needed to do for Mike Pence.

VAUSE: Right.

SCHWARTZ: He didn't help Trump the ticket, in fact it showed that maybe the ticket should be reversed. He didn't defend Trump on a bunch of things -- from Russia, to the nuclear weapons in South Korea, to a whole host of things.

So I think what Pence was doing, what Mike Pence was doing and something you will see more Republicans do, the race isn't over but it looks pretty good for Hillary right now and I think Mike Pence is doing what all professional politicians do on the Democratic side and the Republican side. They look out for themselves first and foremost.

VAUSE: And Jim, a lot of people have been making that point that, you know, Mike Pence failed to defend Trump or didn't take the bait depending on how you want to look at it on a lot of occasions and that was sort of looking forward maybe to 2020 and 2024.

LACY: Well, I think the campaign should be about issues. If the campaign is about issues, Donald Trump will win. You know, 80 percent of the American public or more feels that the country is moving in the wrong direction. Now, is Hillary Clinton who will be an extension of the Obama administration going the take America in a different direction? The answer is no.

Look, we've had no growth in the United States, maybe 1 percent since 2007. I think if people ask themselves the question are they better off today from a national security standpoint than they were when Barack Obama first became president, the answer is no.

There were 555 murders, shootings in Chicago just this year. That is an outrageous situation. We have big problems in this country.

And what happened in that vice presidential debate, on Mike Pence's side, was a discussion of issues. What Kaine did with his 72 interruptions was to try and bring the level of discussion down. As long as Republicans can focus on the issues that Donald Trump is raising, we'll win the election.

VAUSE: To be fair, Donald Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton 52 times during their debate. But we'll move on.

To the Democrats now Hillary Clinton full of praise for her running mate, Tim Kaine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I thought Tim did a great job and every time he tried to push Mike Pence to defend what Donald Trump has said and done, Pence just bobbed and weaved, tried to get out of the way because after all, trying to defend Donald Trump is an impossible task.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Mitchell, to you, Kaine may not have won the debate but it seems like his job was to go out there and to remind voters what Donald Trump had said, you know, about women, about Mexicans, about President Obama. If that was, you know, what he basically set out to do, he did his job.

SCHWARTZ: Yes. Here's what we are talking about the next day after the debate or about the debate. It's not about how great Trump's vision is or his ideas or how terrible it is, it's how good Pence did on the issues, how Kaine interrupted him. But the bottom line is I don't see how that's moved the needle any which way because he wasn't really talking about Trump issues.

VAUSE: He did defer greatly, Jim, on a number of issues with Trump in particular about Russia and Putin.

LACY: Well, what he talked about were, you know, issues. I mean what the Democrats want to do is take this election and make it about personalities. But there's much more at stake than what Donald Trump happened to say or issues with respect to the character of Bill Clinton.

What's at issue is the fact that we have the highest taxes in the nation. In California when you combine the 39 percent income taxes that the Obama administration put with the 13.5 percent state income taxes at the highest marginal rate today people are working for the government when they hit those wages. And that's why poverty is so perpetrated. California has the second highest poverty rate in the nation for two years running because we have a high cost of living.

We have to do something to get our economy going and it's not going to be with Hillary Clinton who promises to raise taxes even more, even astronomical.

VAUSE: Ok. Let's -- very quickly.

SCHWARTZ: So James I agree with you that the campaign should be about issues and you might even be right that if the campaign was just about issues Donald Trump might be doing a lot better. He can't help himself, he can't talk about the issues. You're right. If Pence was the presidential nominee they would be doing a lot better.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Well, polls came out -- they would be tied, actually.

SCHWARTZ: And so the problem is that you have Donald Trump who doesn't want to talk about the issues and I don't think he really can.

LACY: I think Donald Trump does want to talk about the issues. I think the problem is trying to filter through a news media that is generally opposing him as well as the Democrats who put their spin together.

[00:25:01] You know, I drove in today in the car and I have a 36-page document that lays out all of Trump's policies. All someone has to do is go to DonaldTrump.com and read what the policies are.

We are in a situation where we're in crisis in this nation. It's got to be about policies. And I think that if we keep it to policies, Republicans will be very successful.

And as far as the polls are concerned Trump is the person that is really moving forward is where the momentum is, not Hillary.

VAUSE: Ok. Well, polls come and go, up and down. But anyway, we'll move on because something which has not been an issue throughout this campaign has been Obamacare up until now.

Bill Clinton, you know, he made these comments about Obamacare and for a second day, Donald Trump jumped on them. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Bill called it a system, a crazy system and said that it's the craziest thing in the world. People out there, he said, are busting it sometimes 60 hours a week and wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.

The people getting killed in this deal are the small business people and the individuals who make just a bit too much money to get any of the subsidies. This is Bill Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Bill Clinton tried to dig himself out of that massive hole that he is in right now. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I strongly supported that bill and it's given more than 20 million people more insurance but there are problems with it. There are problems with it and everybody knows it.

The Republicans want to repeal the law. Their idea of solving the problem is to take 20 million people who got insurance and take it away from them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mitchell, 32 days to go, why would President Bill Clinton go out and criticize the one guy that his wife needs the most to win this campaign?

SCHWARTZ: Lord knows why he did it. You know, I worked for Bill Clinton. I worked for his campaign. I worked in the administration, at the State Department. And I think he was a great president and our country was -- really did well.

As a spokesperson on the campaign in both 2008 and 2016 he has not been helpful, unfortunately. I don't know why he can't control some of his talk. That is not helping.

VAUSE: Last word to you, Jim. Why do you think he did it?

LACY: Well, he's speaking the truth. I mean he can speak the truth. I own a small business and when Obamacare went into effect my premiums went up. We felt threatened. We felt like we were going to lose our insurance and our coverages were reduced.

You know, Obamacare has been a disaster and it's not very popular. And the reason that Clinton felt that he could say it is because they had some polling that showed that wherever he was saying it was Obamacare was not a popular thing. It was a mistake but, you know, both sides can make mistakes.

VAUSE: Yes. Exactly.

And of course, you know, the question is how much will this impact Hillary Clinton? She is ahead in the polls nationally and in many of those swing states.

LACY: Depending upon what poll. Come on.

The USC poll, Trump is ahead in all of them; on a series of Fox polls. And you know, it is a tight race.

VAUSE: It's a tight race. I'll give you that.

LACY: There's no question that it's a tight race.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

Ok -- next hour we'll have more on this. Thanks, guys. Thanks for being with us.

SCHWARTZ: Thank you.

VAUSE: Ok. Short break here.

When we come back, another top secret breach at the NSA. Up next, why U.S. officials say a government contractor actually took classified information home.

Also ahead, two American diplomats in Russia claim they were drugged. The U.S. is pointing fingers at Moscow and says it's part of a widening pattern.

[00:28:33] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Hurricane Matthew is heading towards the U.S. after barrelling through the Caribbean. Winds around 115 miles per hour -- 185 kilometers per hour are whipping the Bahamas right now. The hurricane could get stronger again as it moves north. Evacuations are underway in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

U.S. officials say the Russian military has moved a more advance missile defense system into Syria. The U.S. does not believe Russia's plans to target American pilots but calls the development of concern. The move comes as the U.S. suspended efforts to revive a ceasefire with Russia this week.

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is set to be the next United Nations secretary-general. Guterres led the U.N.'s refugee agency for ten years until 2015. He will replace Ban Ki-Moon whose second five-year term ends December 31st.

VAUSE: Now about another breach of a top secret intelligence at the U.S. National Security Agency. Harold martin was arrested by the FBI in August. A law enforcement source says he was a contractor for the NSA. Officials allege he took hard copy and digital files of classified material. His wife says her husband is innocent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE MARTIN, WIFE OF HAROLD MARTIN: You know, he's a good man, and that's all I can really tell you, OK? I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would respect my privacy and respect my family's privacy, and that's all I'm going to say. OK. And I'm going to get the rest of my groceries in the house. OK? Thanks so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said Harold is a good man.

MARTIN: I said I love him very much and he's a good man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The FBI believes the stolen documents related to an NSA hacking tool. Investigators don't have a motive yet, but say it appears that Martin was not working for a foreign government.

The Russians are denying a report that Moscow may be responsible for drugging two American diplomats saying they may have just been drunk. But it's not the first report of U.S. diplomats being harassed in the country.

Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tensions between Washington and the Kremlin are at one of the most dangerous points since the cold war. Vladimir Putin's government is furious over an incendiary story by a U.S. government funded news agency Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports two U.S. officials with diplomatic passports were drugged last year in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The report sites a U.S. government official saying the two people were slipped a date rape drug at a bar and one of them had to seek treatment at a clinic. The State Department inquired about the alleged incident with the Russians.

MARK TONER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: We are looking into it. We are investigating it just as we would any credible allegation. TODD: The Russians are outraged over the allegation. The deputy foreign minister says Russian investigators responded quickly, but didn't get the specifics they asked for from the U.S. embassy or even the victims' names.

In a statement, the minister says, quote, "At the time, no Americans had sought treatment at any St. Petersburg medical institutions. If they had just been boozing at a hotel bar, they have only themselves to blame."

[00:35:13] The State Department has wrapped up its complaints about what it says is a pattern of intimidation toward America's diplomats in Russia.

TONER: Apartments broken into. You know, evidence left behind that people were in an apartment of a diplomat, this kind of stuff.

TODD: "The Washington Post" reported this summer that U.S. diplomats in Russia had furniture rearranged in their homes and said one diplomat reported someone defecated on his living room floor.

In June, an American diplomat was tackled by a Russian guard as he tried to enter the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The Kremlin said the guard was doing his job protecting the embassy from a potential threat.

U.S. officials say the harassment has gotten more intense since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Peter Zwack was the top military official at the U.S. embassy in Moscow then.

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY: Everywhere that we went, we had a sense that they knew where we were. We were being surveilled. You can have this feeling of constant very nervous tension.

TODD: If Putin's government is harassing American diplomats, what's his message?

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: That there aren't any rules anymore. That you America have declared economic war on us, political war, you're isolating us, you're punishing us, and you're signaling to us that you don't have to take us seriously. So we're going to use whatever weapons we have, asymmetric if necessary, to up the temperature.

TODD (on-camera): Russian officials have countered recent allegations of harassment by saying the same thing happens to their diplomats here in the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry says U.S. security services have taken, quote, "unacceptable measures" against Russian officials in America, even sometimes putting psychological pressure on them in front of their families. State Department officials say those allegations are unfounded.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Donald Trump and nuclear weapons striking fear to many on both sides of politics. Ahead, the move to make it more challenging for him or any president to press that nuclear button.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back.

For months now, a major line of attack against Donald Trump, not just from Democrats, but also many Republicans, has been the idea of a President Trump with his finger on the nuclear button.

On Tuesday's VP debate, Democrat Tim Kaine was scathing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM KAINE, U.S. DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ronald Reagan said something really interesting about nuclear proliferation back in the 1980s. He said the problem with nuclear proliferation is that some fool or maniac could trigger a catastrophic event, and I think that's who Governor Pence's running mate is. It's exactly who President Reagan warned us.

MIKE PENCE, U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Senator, senator, that was even beneath you and Hillary Clinton. That's pretty low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:03] VAUSE: During a policy briefing in August, Donald Trump reportedly asked if we have nuclear weapons, why can't we use them. And keep in mind the decision to push the proverbial red button is left entirely up to the U.S. president and no one else.

With more, Congressman Ted Lieu of California joins us now.

(INAUDIBLE) proposal which will require congressional approval before the U.S. launches a nuclear first strike.

Congressman, thank you for being with us.

Before we get to your plan for some kind of checks and balances here. Explain to us how does the system actually work right now? Because it's set up for speed, no questions asked, no firewalls.

CONG. TED LIEU (D), CALIFORNIA: To launch nuclear weapons in America takes the approval of the National Command Authority. That sounds really impressive until you look at it. It's basically two people. It's the president and his or her focal appointee, the secretary of defense, which under a law just lean to execute the order of the president. So basically it's one person giving the order and the nuclear missile is launched.

VAUSE: And the time frame of this could be what? Minutes?

LIEU: Minutes.

VAUSE: That was design to do.

LIEU: That's correct.

VAUSE: OK. So you've got this proposal now. You're one of the sponsors of this bill. If that actually goes through, what would have to happen before the U.S. could launch -- and this is a first strike, right? This is not a response. This is a first nuclear strike.

LIEU: If Donald Trump were president, it would be a catastrophe to give him the nuclear launch codes because he could have a bad night at 3 A.M. and decided to do something horrible, which is why we've introduced this legislation. It's one reason. Because a nuclear first strike cannot depend on just one person who could destroy the world.

Our legislation says, that frames the constitution, gave Congress the power to declare war. A nuclear first strike is war. And so before a president can launch a nuclear first strike, he or she has to first get a declaration of war from Congress.

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and I introduced that legislation and we hope it will pass.

VAUSE: You mentioned Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. And he has struggled with the question of nuclear policy. For instance, he didn't know what the nuclear triad was. And at the first presidential debate, he was asked if the U.S. should adopt a "no first use" policy? And this was his answer. It was rather confusing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would certainly not do first strike. I think that once the nuclear alternative happens, it's over. At the same time, we have to be prepared. I can't take anything off the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You say that much of this is being driven by Donald Trump, but there is this concern that essentially one person alone as it stands now has the power to annihilate all life as we know it, right?

LIEU: That is correct. And that's why, we have this legislation. Because, first of all, it's unconstitutional. The framers of the constitution created huge checks and balances on the president, an entire Congress to stop the president as well as the judicial branch. They never would have authorized a situation where the president can destroy the world and America with a nuclear first strike.

VAUSE: The founding fathers never anticipated the possibility of nuclear weapons. I think it's fair to say. LIEU: That's correct.

VAUSE: So what you are saying is that because Congress has the authority to wage war, and only Congress, would that should also apply to any kind of nuclear strike.

LIEU: That's correct. Because a nuclear strike that can kill hundreds of millions of people in half an hour is war.

VAUSE: Could this problem be solved if the United States adopted a "No first strike policy" like China has, like India has. I think Israel even has it, unofficial.

LIEU: So I also am co-authoring a letter asking President Obama to adopt such a policy. But keep in mind, if Donald Trump were president, he could reverse it on day one in office. That's why you would need legislation.

VAUSE: Congressman, thank you for coming in. We appreciate you explaining that. It seems like a pretty good idea. So thank you.

LIEU: Thank you.

VAUSE: You have been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. "World Sport" starts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Hurricane Matthew is heading towards the U.S. after barrelling through the Caribbean. Winds around 115 miles per hour -- 185 kilometers per hour are whipping the Bahamas right now. The hurricane could get stronger again as it moves north. Evacuations are underway in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

U.S. officials say the Russian military has moved a more advance missile defense system into Syria. The U.S. does not believe Russia's plans to target American pilots but calls the development of concern.

The move comes as the U.S. suspended efforts to revive a ceasefire with Russia this week.

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is set to be the next United Nations secretary-general. Guterres led the U.N.'s refugee agency for ten years until 2015. He will replace Ban Ki-Moon whose second five-year term ends December 31st.

VAUSE: Now about another breach of a top secret intelligence at the U.S. National Security Agency. Harold martin was arrested by the FBI in August. A law enforcement source says he was a contractor for the NSA. Officials allege he took hard copy and digital files of classified material. His wife says her husband is innocent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE MARTIN, WIFE OF HAROLD MARTIN: You know, he's a good man, and that's all I can really tell you, OK? I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would respect my privacy and respect my family's privacy, and that's all I'm going to say. OK. And I'm going to get the rest of my groceries in the house. OK? Thanks so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said Harold is a good man.

MARTIN: I said I love him very much and he's a good man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The FBI believes the stolen documents related to an NSA hacking tool. Investigators don't have a motive yet, but say it appears that Martin was not working for a foreign government.

The Russians are denying a report that Moscow may be responsible for drugging two American diplomats saying they may have just been drunk. But it's not the first report of U.S. diplomats being harassed in the country.

Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tensions between Washington and the Kremlin are at one of the most dangerous points since the cold war. Vladimir Putin's government is furious over an incendiary story by a U.S. government funded news agency Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports two U.S. officials with diplomatic passports were drugged last year in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The report sites a U.S. government official saying the two people were slipped a date rape drug at a bar and one of them had to seek treatment at a clinic. The State Department inquired about the alleged incident with the Russians.

MARK TONER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: We are looking into it. We are investigating it just as we would any credible allegation.

TODD: The Russians are outraged over the allegation. The deputy foreign minister says Russian investigators responded quickly, but didn't get the specifics they asked for from the U.S. embassy or even the victims' names.

In a statement, the minister says, quote, "At the time, no Americans had sought treatment at any St. Petersburg medical institutions. If they had just been boozing at a hotel bar, they have only themselves to blame."

[00:35:13] The State Department has wrapped up its complaints about what it says is a pattern of intimidation toward America's diplomats in Russia.

TONER: Apartments broken into. You know, evidence left behind that people were in an apartment of a diplomat, this kind of stuff.

TODD: "The Washington Post" reported this summer that U.S. diplomats in Russia had furniture rearranged in their homes and said one diplomat reported someone defecated on his living room floor.

In June, an American diplomat was tackled by a Russian guard as he tried to enter the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The Kremlin said the guard was doing his job protecting the embassy from a potential threat.

U.S. officials say the harassment has gotten more intense since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Peter Zwack was the top military official at the U.S. embassy in Moscow then.

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY: Everywhere that we went, we had a sense that they knew where we were. We were being surveilled. You can have this feeling of constant very nervous tension.

TODD: If Putin's government is harassing American diplomats, what's his message?

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: That there aren't any rules anymore. That you America have declared economic war on us, political war, you're isolating us, you're punishing us, and you're signaling to us that you don't have to take us seriously. So we're going to use whatever weapons we have, asymmetric if necessary, to up the temperature.

TODD (on-camera): Russian officials have countered recent allegations of harassment by saying the same thing happens to their diplomats here in the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry says U.S. security services have taken, quote, "unacceptable measures" against Russian officials in America, even sometimes putting psychological pressure on them in front of their families. State Department officials say those allegations are unfounded.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Donald Trump and nuclear weapons striking fear to many on both sides of politics. Ahead, the move to make it more challenging for him or any president to press that nuclear button.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back.

For months now, a major line of attack against Donald Trump, not just from Democrats, but also many Republicans, has been the idea of a President Trump with his finger on the nuclear button.

On Tuesday's VP debate, Democrat Tim Kaine was scathing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM KAINE, U.S. DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ronald Reagan said something really interesting about nuclear proliferation back in the 1980s. He said the problem with nuclear proliferation is that some fool or maniac could trigger a catastrophic event, and I think that's who Governor Pence's running mate is. It's exactly who President Reagan warned us.

MIKE PENCE, U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Senator, senator, that was even beneath you and Hillary Clinton. That's pretty low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:03] VAUSE: During a policy briefing in August, Donald Trump reportedly asked if we have nuclear weapons, why can't we use them. And keep in mind the decision to push the proverbial red button is left entirely up to the U.S. president and no one else.

With more, Congressman Ted Lieu of California joins us now.

(INAUDIBLE) proposal which will require congressional approval before the U.S. launches a nuclear first strike.

Congressman, thank you for being with us.

Before we get to your plan for some kind of checks and balances here. Explain to us how does the system actually work right now? Because it's set up for speed, no questions asked, no firewalls.

CONG. TED LIEU (D), CALIFORNIA: To launch nuclear weapons in America takes the approval of the National Command Authority. That sounds really impressive until you look at it. It's basically two people. It's the president and his or her focal appointee, the secretary of defense, which under a law just lean to execute the order of the president. So basically it's one person giving the order and the nuclear missile is launched.

VAUSE: And the time frame of this could be what? Minutes?

LIEU: Minutes.

VAUSE: That was design to do.

LIEU: That's correct.

VAUSE: OK. So you've got this proposal now. You're one of the sponsors of this bill. If that actually goes through, what would have to happen before the U.S. could launch -- and this is a first strike, right? This is not a response. This is a first nuclear strike.

LIEU: If Donald Trump were president, it would be a catastrophe to give him the nuclear launch codes because he could have a bad night at 3 A.M. and decided to do something horrible, which is why we've introduced this legislation. It's one reason. Because a nuclear first strike cannot depend on just one person who could destroy the world.

Our legislation says, that frames the constitution, gave Congress the power to declare war. A nuclear first strike is war. And so before a president can launch a nuclear first strike, he or she has to first get a declaration of war from Congress.

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and I introduced that legislation and we hope it will pass.

VAUSE: You mentioned Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. And he has struggled with the question of nuclear policy. For instance, he didn't know what the nuclear triad was. And at the first presidential debate, he was asked if the U.S. should adopt a "no first use" policy? And this was his answer. It was rather confusing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would certainly not do first strike. I think that once the nuclear alternative happens, it's over. At the same time, we have to be prepared. I can't take anything off the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You say that much of this is being driven by Donald Trump, but there is this concern that essentially one person alone as it stands now has the power to annihilate all life as we know it, right?

LIEU: That is correct. And that's why, we have this legislation. Because, first of all, it's unconstitutional. The framers of the constitution created huge checks and balances on the president, an entire Congress to stop the president as well as the judicial branch. They never would have authorized a situation where the president can destroy the world and America with a nuclear first strike.

VAUSE: The founding fathers never anticipated the possibility of nuclear weapons. I think it's fair to say.

LIEU: That's correct.

VAUSE: So what you are saying is that because Congress has the authority to wage war, and only Congress, would that should also apply to any kind of nuclear strike.

LIEU: That's correct. Because a nuclear strike that can kill hundreds of millions of people in half an hour is war.

VAUSE: Could this problem be solved if the United States adopted a "No first strike policy" like China has, like India has. I think Israel even has it, unofficial.

LIEU: So I also am co-authoring a letter asking President Obama to adopt such a policy. But keep in mind, if Donald Trump were president, he could reverse it on day one in office. That's why you would need legislation.

VAUSE: Congressman, thank you for coming in. We appreciate you explaining that. It seems like a pretty good idea. So thank you.

LIEU: Thank you. VAUSE: You have been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. "World Sport" starts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)