rescuers struggle to find survivors of a cruise ship disaster in china with hundred of people still unaccounted for. >> plus, sepp blatter's surprise. fifa's president says he is resigning as head of futbol's governing body. >> and a trans-woman, supermodel gives us unique perspective on caitlyn jenner's new identity. >> hello, welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. this is "cnn newsroom." first up the surprise announcement from the most powerful man in futbol. just five days ago, sepp blatter won re-election to his fifth term as fifa president.

well now, he is resigning. >> the organization is mired in a bribery and corruption scandal with investigations under way in switzerland and in the united states. blatter says he wants to do what is right for fifa and for futbol. >> translator: fifa need a profound overhaul. while i have a mandate from the membership of fifa, i do not feel that i have a mandate from the entire world of futbol. the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe, and love futbol, as much as we all do at fifa. >> for more on the announcement, let's bring in amanda davis, live in zurich, switzerland, this morning. amanda, what a stunning turn of events from a man who appeared to see himself as above all the controversy just last week. i mean what changed and how can sepp blatter now fix things in the interim? >> errol, yeah, even for

futbol's great survivor the pressure got too great after what blatter himself described as unprecedented event last week. the controversy surrounding his re-election. there was that verbal battering at saturday's press conference where he had to defend himself against questions about what he knew. and then we had yesterday his number two, general secretary, jerome valcke being caught up in the allegation as but what he knew -- about what he knew about the alleged $10 million bribe paid from south africa to the concacaf nations around the world cup bid in 2010. closest advisers to sepp blatter really got in his ear and said "enough is enough." in terms of what happens next, he has said he is going to stay in charge until the, the next

president is elected and really try to use that time to reform. there is no doubt stepping aside is the right thing to do. but it is going to be a very long road ahead. blatter said that he wants to change the age limits for, not only the president, but also those on the executive committee. he wants a smaller executive committee. to make people more accountable. he wants to change the way that those people are elected onto the executive committee by a congress rather than the different regions of the world. he is going to do this or attempt to do this alongside, the head of the auditing scum ply ya -- compliance committee. he is going to oversee the next electi election. no doubt it will not be an easy task. many say it is not going to work while sepp blatter is still there. we need a new man in charge. a clean break. and a new restructuring.

but many people seeing this, around the, the in comparison to the 2002, salt lack scandal, surrounding the international olympic committee, a real chance to make a stand and make it a real change. >> so, amanda kidding seconside blatter went hatch the election untilened of this year. beginning of next year. wonder what will happen in the interim. how alienated is he, you have prince ali, welcoming. secretary-general, implicated in $10 million, possible bribe. and more of blatter's inner circle in deep trouble. blatter is not charged with anything directly yet. but does he have many friends left? >> well, that is the question, really, the sponsors have spoken out in support of his decision. some of futbol's top brass have spoken how brave and bold the

move is, the likes of the u.s. soccer president, and the michel pitina, head of uefa spoke out how it is the right way forward. there are many pleased to see sepp blatter say he is going to step down. but there is still that area of support in the world. the people who are disappointed to see him leave. his traditional power bases. likes of asia. the likes of africa. one of the, african futbol association heads. the president of sierra leone, said sepp blatter brought transparency, commitment and integrity to futbol. he does still have that power base. because of what he has done over his tenure to develop futbol in places like africa. but the thing that is emerging here at fifa is the real lack of trust between the member nations between the top executives. with these investigations ongoing. who should people ally

themselves with now. who is going to be caught up in the fbi investigation next. and that will be fascinating to see how that plays out over the coming months. >> yeah, in fact, u.s. attorney general loretta lynch said as much last week. the corruption and funneling of money hurts futbol clubs in developing nations, poorer, economies who desperately need money for development. we understand why there is this chasm of trust right now. thank you to amanda davis, talking to us from zurich, switzerland. past 9:00 in the morning there. thank you. >> a number of fifa sponsors are applauding blatter's resignation. in a statement, visa wrote -- it is our expectation that fifa will take swift and immediate steps to quickly rebuild a culture with strong ethical practices. coca-cola added, its expectation remains that fifa will continue to act with urgency to win back the trust of all who love the sport of futbol.

and mcdonald's said, it was hopeful that the changes being implemented within fifa will be a big first step in gaining back trust from fans worldwide. >> as you might expect, there is a lot of money at steak here. according to estimates by ieg, consulting and research firm, adidas, visa, paid average of $32 million a year for their partnership deals with fif@. budweiser, mcdonald's, coca-cola forked over average of $19 million each. >> futbol fans from around the world are praising blatter's decision to step down. >> right from europe to south america. a sampling of what some had to say. >> he has done the right thing. probably shouldn't have been voted back in as president to start with. >> translator: at a certain point, you have to leave the position to some one else who will clean up fifa and get rid of the corruption from this federation. >> translator: i am really

happy. perhaps fifa now can be reformed now that he is gone. there can maybe be more transparency. >> any change, anything that substitutes any one of them is good. the people can't take it anymore. >> what the fans think there. let's bring in world soccer magazine's, for his perspective. he joins us live via skype from london, england. thank you so much for talking with us. so lastsepp blatter was celebrating. being elected to a fifth term as president, and said "why would i step down?" tuesday he announced intentions to do just that. what happened in the four days to change his mind do you think? >> well, what everyone is pondering, wondering, and it is speculation. there is more to come, as the u.s. justice department this week.

particularly concerning evidence given to them by the whistle blower, chuck blazer. there are suggestions, that michel pitinini, said you really need to go now. blatter said, we are on congress, it's too late. i think his daughter, corine suggest heeded he apparently st to be worn down by pressure. that's surprising. those of us who have seen blatter stick it out through one scandal after another. >> interesting. i want to get an idea how surprised you are when you heard sepp blatter intended to step down. do you think fifa need an independent person to restructure and overhaul the organization rather than blatter himself? >> well it was, i mean it was astoni astonishing. the greatest astonishment, after an astonishing week at fifa.

they called a press conference. very short notice. an hour or so. they gave no indication what it was about. most speculation, it was concerning. the secretary-general. valcke. then comes blatter and drops his bombshell. where fifa goes now. it will be very interesting. as your reports have indicated. there is massive division between the rich west if you like and the developing world in fifa. i think the election, campaigning. for blatter's successor which will start all most immediately is going to be very divisive and quite lengthy. >> the big question everyone is asking now, of course, is what happens to the russian world cup, 2018? and in 2022, in qatar? is there likely to be a change there? >> the russian world cup will go

ahead. it is far too late to unpick that, or do anything about that. i think the qatar world cup is a much more interesting issue because a lot of powerful european nations may feel they got rid of blatter and their next target will be qatar world cup. it will be very difficult to change that. it would be extremely costly because all of the contracts are signed. however i think you can expect more turbulence over that award. >> well, we have been stunned and surprise sewed far the we will watch as these developments continue. thank you so much forri joinings there from london. appreciate it. >> to the u.s. authorities in boston have shot and killed a man under surveillance by a terrorism task force. they say the 26-year-old suspect lunged at them tuesday with a large knife. you see it there. after they confronted him for allegedly making threats against police on social media. >> authorities believed the man was radicalized by isis.

>> clearly in these circumstance thousands, the fbi, and boston police, did everything they could possibly do to, to, get this individual to drop his knife. at some point unfortunately we had to take his life. >> that shooting was caught on surveillance videos. witnesses saw what happened. it remains under investigation. >> after weeks of political wrangling, the u.s. freedom act is now law. u.s. president barack obama signed that measure late tuesday night. >> the new surveillance law cuts back nsa access to millions of phone record. cnn's dana bash has more on the intense senate debate that led up to the new law. >> mitch mcconnell is rarely this animated. >> no content. no names. no listing the phone calls of law-abiding citizens. none of that is going on. >> reporter: the senate majority leader can't contain his exasperation which started when his junior colleague from kentucky, who mcconnell endorsed

for president launched a filibuster that derailed his plans on the patriot act. >> just today a cnn poll exactly -- not exactly part of the right-wing conspiracy -- states that 61% of americans, 61% of americans think the expiring provisions of the patriot act including my colleagues, including data collection, should be renewed. so if there is widespread concern out across america about privacy we're not picking it up. >> reporter: the senate intelligence chairman warned about threats he says spy powers could stop. >> the terrorists aren't going away. america is still their target. no matter what we say on this floor. we're still in the cross hairs. >> reporter: and this member of the intelligence committee was so perplexed he was almost speaking in riddles. >> it is a devil's choice. is something better than nothing? or is something really nothing

and you end up with nothing and nothing? >> as for rand paul, today he was silent. a no-show on the senate floor. after leading the charge against any surveillance programs even those with reforms. he used it to energize his presidential campaign and democrats were quick to gloat about how much disarray it has caused the gop. >> we as senators are not here to serve as extras in a presidential campaign commercial. >> that was cnn's chief u.s. congressional correspondent dana bash reporting. >> the first overhaul of surveillance saw since the 9/11 attacks. >> at least 400 people are still missing. a day and a half after a cruise ship capsized in the yangtze river. we will have a live update on the rescue efforts. >> plus the latest on the deadly lion attack at a wildlife park

in south africa. after a woman left her car window down. stay with cnn.

it is a race against time in

eastern china. thousand of rescuers are struggling to find survivors of a cruise ship that capsized in the yangtze river. >> state media report -- rescuers are trying to cut part of the ship's hull open. they're also searching underwater and along the river. the chinese government says 15 survivors have been rescued so far. that's out of more than 450 people on board. so far, 18 are confirmed dead. let's cross to our ana coren tracking developments from hong kong. what can you tell also bout the vessel's route, the vessel went down quickly, it may shed light on exactly what happened before it sank? >> that's right. we have, confirmation if you like from a website, by the, transport ministry, china's transport ministry that the ship did make a sharp turn at 9:21 p.m. now, if we go by what we have heard so far, which the ship

sank at 9:28. this would indicate the turn took place before the ship capsized. now, we cannot confirm whether it was the result of the captain or the crew's actions. whether they were reacting to the storm. whether there was some sort of malfunction with the, with the ship. certainly, it would indicate that the sharp turn has taken place in what was, cyclonic conditions. it has been confirmed by the -- by the national weather bureau that a tornado did hit that region at the time that the ship sank. it lasted, something like, 15, 20 minutes. wind gusts 110 kilometers an hour. width of 1 kilometer. so we know that the ship certainly was hit by the tornado that there was a sharp turn. we don't know who made the turn. why the turn was made. but obviously this is part of the ongoing investigation, errol. >> we also know the captain and chief engineer somehow were able to make it off the vessel.

they are in custody right now. but what, what are rescuers dealing with out there. the yangtze river is huge. its currents are strong. that's really just the challenge below the surface? >> yeah, remarkably, another survivor was plucked from the water this morning. taking the number to 15. that's the number of people who, who have managed to make it out alive. but, out of 458, that is just a small percentage. so, as you say, thousand of rescuers, are there on site, trying to, to find any more survivors. there are divers in the water going through the compartments of the ship. it is four stories. 75 merltz loters long. 13 meters wide. a lot of area to cover. where the majority of the body are believed off to be trapped. they're obviously looking for those who managed to find air pockets in the hull of the ship. as the time goes by, errol, we know that the chances of people

getting out alive are just becoming more slim. obviously there are people on top of the, the ship, on the hull of the ship. making room itch yf you like, incisions in the hull to fiend potential survivors. and also teams scouring the yangtze river up and down the yangtze river in boats looking for any body. it is a huge operation. authorities are throwing absolutely everything at this. bah the priority of course is still to find any survivors. >> heartbreaking to think outside of the confirmed deaths and confirmed rescues there are more than 400 people missing. and possibly trapped under that vessel right now. so important for the rescuers to do their work. anna coren following developments for us from hong kong. rosemary? >> we want to bring in, meteorologist ivan cabrera for a closer look at weather conditions in the area. what are some of the major

challenges there for the rescuers. >> yeah, get to the forecast in a second. with violent condition and capsizing happening so quickly didn't have time to get the life boats out. if there would have been a little more time the wind were gusting over 100 kilometers an hour. that would have been very difficult to, impossible to get folks off the ship there. just terrible timing here with this explosive thunderstorm cell that popped right on top of the river on top of the boat. you can see this as we take you monday, 21:30. exactly when we have the information that the boat ran into trouble. capsized. you can steep what was on top of them there. this is a monster storm over them. and this is the parent cell that the bureau and as far as national weather service is telling us, spawned a tornado. we don't have radar to confirm that. we are going with what they're saying. that its what we have here. 117 kilometer per hour winds. as far as intensity there. that apparently enough off to capsize that top heavy boat.

as far as conditions. very important right now. search-and-rescue obviously continues, 24 hours here. so that front that brought that, nasty weather has continued to sag to the south. it will continue to do so. put we do have this feature upstream that is going to be diving down. i think what that will do. bring us additional showers. but gusty wind. see it as it comes through there. i think within the next 24 hours. gusty wind. 25, high as 45 per hour kilometer wind. then, look at that. clear out for the weekend. so we are going to be done with this storm system here. of course that front meanders north and south. by the time we get into next week. a different story. at least for the time being. we are going to be in the clear pocket of air. that's what they need over the next couple days. guys? >> yeah, certainly very well needed as well. >> it is. >> ivan, thanks. >> new details on the american tourist killed in a lion attack on safari in south africa. the victim identified as 22-year-old katherine chapel. witnesses say she and a tour

operator were driving with their windows down when the lion attacked. the tour company says chapel was taking pictures at the time. >> the driver of the vehicle survived that attack. and remains hospitalized. he denies that they were driving around the lion enclosure with open windows. >> south african officials are preparing to respond to those very serious bribery allegations related to the 2010 world cup. after the break we will get you live to johannesburg with that story.

thank you for staying with

us. you're watching "cnn newsroom." your last half-hour of the day with the two of us. i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church. time to check the headlines this hour. fifa president sepp blatter says hissing or ne ing oorganization overhaul. he is resigning. fitcha is embroiled in a bribery corruption scandal. u.s. authorities filed charges against corporate executives last week. >> in eastern china, rescuers are trying to cut open a capsized cruise vessel in the yangtze river in search of survivors also searching underwater and along the river's banks. authorities say there are 15 survivors and at least 18 are dead out of more than 450 people on board. >> u.s. president barack obama signed the so-called usa freedom act into law. the measure limits the nsa's access to millions of american phone records. for weeks lawmakers haggled over

surveillance issues allowing key parts of the patriot act to expire. >> let's get you more now on the scandal rocking the world's most popular sport. i think an understatement to say it has been a bad week for fifa. what started this all was u.s. authorities announcing a wide ranging corruption investigation that really has reached the group any highest levels. >> yeah, president sepp blatter has not been charged with any wrongdoing. but, on tuesday he announced he was stepping down. >> reporter: it was the bombshell resignation many thought would never come. >> translator: i am going to put my presidency forward through a special elective congress the date of which a new president should be chosen for the presidency to succeed me. >> reporter: days after sepp blatter was elected fifa president and less than a week since criminal investigations on both side of the atlantic targeted officials at the highest level of the sport. early in the morning last wednesday, swiss police swooped

in on this luxury zurich hotel and arrested seven fifa officials. later that day, in miami florida, u.s. federal investigators entered offices of concacaf, the federation that runs the support in central and north america and caribbean. >> this really is the world cup of fraud. and today we are issuing fifa a red card. >> reporter: among the accusations of fraud, money laundering and racketeering, a claim that bribes had helped secure the first ever world cup held in africa. the accusations left futbol's world governing body in shock, and were even more remarkable in their timing, just two days ahead of its presidential election. on friday, the election went ahead with sepp blatter looking to take a fifth term at the helm. his only opponent, was prince ali of jordan. to many people's surprise, the vote went to a second round. but then, prince ali withdrew,

ultimately leaving blatter victorious. >> i thank you for the trust and confidence, trust and confidence together we go. let's go, fifa. let's go, fifa. thank you. >> reporter: blatter celebrated among adoring delegates from across the world. but fast forward four days, with more accusations swirling, the fist pumping had stopped. and something changed blatter's mind. alongside his resignation, strong word about fifa's future. >> translator: fifa needs a deep restructuring. >> reporter: as this chapter closes the extraordinary news conference ended with this simple message to the futbol world. >> have a nice day. south african officials are scheduled to hold a news conference in a few hours to

respond to allegations of bribery related to the 2010 world cup. we are joined live from south africa with more on that. diana, front and center here, is a $10 million payment. a key part of the indictment accusing former fifa vice president, jack warner of taking a bribe in exchange for helping south africa to get the 2010 world cup. what is expected to be said about that bombshell allegation? >> well, so far the sports minist minister's reaction to what has been laid out in the u.s. indictment and this $10 million allegedly paid is complete denial. he labeled allegations as "mudslinging" and south africa as a country is big fighting corruption which raised a few eyebrows here. and there was no bribe paid. but since he made those comments a few interesting revelations have come out which he will now

have to address. first of all over the weekend, danny jordoun, president and head of the organizing committee, admitted in a newspaper to a newspaper, "the sunday independent" that money had been made in 2808, $10 million to concacaf, jack warner's entity, futbol entity, in the caribbean. but because it was paid in 2808, four years after the bid was one it couldn't possibly be seen as a bribe. then a letter from the then president emerged too, with the secretary-general of fifa. sepp blatter's nm were two, jerome valcke which clearly states this $10 million should be diverted from the money that fifa pays to a host country. and -- paid instead to -- concac concacaf. in the interests of supporting the african league.

it didn't come from south africa's government coffers, diverted from money that fifa was to pay the south african government. in effect that is how money is launder laundered. these are serious allegations. at the very heart of the investigation by swiss and u.s. investigators. and they will have to be addressed by the sports minister when he hold a press conference in just a few hours time. i don't think anyone here is expecting him really to -- to -- to engage particularly with them. given what he said when the revelations first started trickling out which was as i said abject denial. rosemary. >> we know you will be listening and watching that news conference and see what is said. diana magnay reporting live from johannesburg, south africa, many thanks to you. >> the south african world cup not the only one surrounded by controversy. russia of course will hold the

next world cup tournament in 2018. and president vladamir putin has been a ve cocal supporter of se blatter. from moscow, senior correspondent, matthew chance has reaction to blatter's surprise resignation. >> i think there must be a stunned silence among russian officials learning of this unexpected rez eed resignation blatter. of course, concern as well what it all means for russia's prospects of hosting the world cup in 201. the russian sports minister expressed his surprise. but just a few days ago, vladamir putin had sent a telegram to the newly re-elected fifa president congratulating him on his victory. the russian media of course has been a strong defender of sepp blatter. criticizing the fifa investigations as politically motivated and an attempt to wrestle the 2018 tournament from russia, a swiss-led

investigation is of course looking into money laundering surrounding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 world cups to russia and qatar. there still is no indication that either of the host countries will have the tournaments taken away. in fact, fifa has said that they will not. but with the departure of sepp blatter, on top of these investigations, into corruption. the whole issue may have been blown open once again. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. and there is much more about blatter's surprise resignation including reaction on twitter. visit anytime at cnn.com/international. now with isis gaining more territory in iraq and in syria, the international coalition held new talks on strategy. we're going to bring you a live report on what was decided after this short break.

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welcome back, everyone. the international coalition is pledging ongoing military support in the battle against isis. partners held a crisis meeting in paris. >> iraq's prime minister asked for help saying "the world had failed his country." isis made significant gains in iraq and syria recently. ian lee is tracking developments from cairo. he joins us now with the latest. ian, i am wondering what is iraqi leader mr. al abadi asking for specifically that would help defeat isis in his view? before the meeting kicked off, the prime minister wants aerial surveillance to be monitor where isis moves and also hit them as well. ramadi is surrounded by desert, so when you see these movements

by isis, you can at times tell where they are, even though, they try to disguise themselves as civilians. he wants to make it more dangerous for them to move in, out, around ra maddmadi. one thing he did criticize. he wants more military support from the west. something he says he is not getting. but looking at the outcome of this conference, yes, they're united against fighting, fighting isis. but the way forward is still uncertain. they don't seem united. u.s. deputy secretary of state saying politically and militarily they're on the right path. strategically they are winning. pointing to the fact that isis controls 25% of less territory. so there is some differences in views there. on the way forward. we are not expecting any large scale, weapons, troops going to iraq any time soon. there was also a push for

international efforts to stop the flow of weapons, money and also foreign fighters from going and -- and, replenishing the lines of isis. >> that's right. and of course they have made an effort, this past week in fact not to just retake ramadi but eliminate key isis supply lines in the space between iraq and syria. just wondering while those efforts to kind of get a unified front and strategy together are under way. what new information is there from the battlefield in iraq today. isis of course being challenged on many fronts there. >> well, what we are hearing this morning is that isis is -- controlling the dam near ramadi, that, that lead to the flow of the euphrates they're limiting or potentially cutting off the flow of water which would create a humanitarian crisis for government controlled cities down river, two city the

government controls that would face severe shortage of water. we are also hearing that this could potentially be a strategic move by isis by lowering the rivers it makes it easier for them to navigate, maneuver and to attack a government forces. errol? >> ian lee live for us out of cairo this morning. thank you. >> and, you are watching "cnn newsroom." coming up, a super model reflects on her own experience of making the transition from one sex to another. just as caitlyn jenner has done. we're back with that. will damage your teeth? introducing listerine® healthy white™. it not only safely whitens teeth... ...but also restores enamel. lose the nerves and get a healthier whiter smile that you'll love.

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welcome back, everyone. we have new insight now phone caitlyn jenner's sex change from the olympic gold medalist known as bruce. now the journalist who wrote about caitlyn's transgender experience for "vanity fair" speaking to cnn. >> the contributing editor researched and wrote the 12,000 word article and told anderson cooper he thinks j s jenner is happier living life as a woman. you spent hundred of hours with

bruce genre, a lot of time with caitlyn, are they different? do they seem different? obviously in terms of appearance, obviously. >> yeah, they're very different in appearance, obviously. they do seem different. it's a work in progress in the sense of we are getting to know caitlyn. caitlyn is just getting to know herself. the difference i see is caitlyn is having more fun in life. bruce don't have much fun in life, last 10, 15 years, had no fun in life. was lonely and alone. and not really motivated in the shadows of the kardashian family. caitlyn seems very emotionally connected. reaching out to the, so-called jenner kids more than ever before. happy, alive. and learning to listen and learning about empathy which are all characteristics frankly that bruce never came near. >> you talked to her subsequently after the photo came out. what was her response? >> overwhelmed. overwhelmed. >> her twitter has exploded.

>> overwhelmed. i think had a great impact. i think she realizes i have a responsibility, a responsibility to the transgender community, a responsibility to urge tolerance. i think without the reaction, this and diane sawyer interview. i think it would have been very, very different. she knows she can help people if she wants. she can make a major, major difference and has. >> andrea pejic joins us from new york. she is a transwoman and supermodel to talk about what it is look to do what caitlyn jenner is doing. thank you so much for joining us. i am just wondering now that caitlyn jenner is in the public eye, what kind of advice would you give her on how to navigate the many comments and questions from everyone out there and especially the people who don't understand what being transgender is. what advice would you give? >> well, look it's definitely not an easy situation to, for one to find themselves in. i definitely know what it is look to transition publicly and

have to worry about not just family acceptance but also the public reaction. i would just say you know keep your head grounded as much as possible. and keep great people around you. and, and, you know, try to stay sane. and i think she is already spreading her story and kind of trying to do good to, to bring about awareness of the issues. and so i think that's great. that can be a very rewarding process. and, you know, sometimes you just -- will encounter people that will just never understand certain things. and that has to be okay too. >> and, andrea, you are so much younger than caitlyn jenner who is taking this journey much later in life. how much harder will this likely be for her because of that? and what does caitlyn need to look out for along the way do you think? >> well, yeah, i would say our

stories are quite different. mine is more, i representative of a younger generation, i started transitioning at theage of 14. and whereas, caitlyn's story is more potentially of the past few decades and older generation. i kind of relate to the challenges she faces. i haven't necessarily, i don't know the pressures of having to be a parent and a father. but you know, i think it is important. she has a great family around her. and i know what it is look to have a very supportive family. very accepting family. and i think that's -- that's kind of something that got me through everything. i hope it does that for her as well. >> you talked about going through this transition as a teenager. you can imagine how difficult something like that is, everybody deals with identity, use at that age. from what i can understand being a transwoman and going through the transition, deals with identity, who you think you are, feel you are as a woman. we know within the modeling

industry. photo shopping is the norm. you wonder if models are the right spokespeople for female identity because this industry sets some pretty unattainable standard wouldn't you say? >> the industry can be ape powerful force in exploring diversity. and i feel very lucky to have success in the industry. i became the first transwoman to sign a cosmetics contract, to be featured in american vogue, and i do think that send a positive message out to young people. it says that you can be different and still be kidded beautiful. but, you know, obviously the fashion has its issues. definitely. and i think those need to be addressed as well. and not forgotten. >> andrea, when did you first realize that you wanted to live your life as a woman and what has been the hardest part of your journey. you did mention at 14, you

started that transition. but it must have ben at a much earlier age that you realized that you wanted to change things? >> so, i definitely did, you know, it was classic case, i preferred girlie things. so i, behaved like a girl for the most part. and then, at the age of 13, i sort of, but i didn't know, i didn't have the word to describe my feelings, or to know what, what i needed to do about it. and at the age of 13. i simply went to the library. i googled transitioning and realized that, that i'm not insane and that there is a whole medical community out there and there is help. and so it was crucial to sort of start everything early on because i felt like if i had gone through a male puberty i wouldn't have been able to look the way would want to, or the way i felt inside. so definitely it is not an easy

journey by any means. but it can be a very beautiful journey. and i think it is something that -- that can be a very enlightening human experience. >> you are certainly an example of that, andrea pejic, 22, a role model for many going through a similar transition. congratulations on your success. we wish you much more. joining us from new york. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for being here. >> andrea, she is gorgeous. it is interesting the point she makes. she was 14 when she started to transition. it does make a difference when you catch it before going into puberty. >> before you have lived your whole life really amazing. with caitlyn jenner, what some would say as late in life. difficult for those who can't relate to think of being trapped in your own body how they describe it. feeling like you are one gender but your body being opposite. i think this whole, you know, caitlyn doing this so publicly is teaching a lot of people about what, what a dem graphing

of humans go through all around the world. >> and for andrea, knowing at 14, i mean she knew at much earlier than that of course. she was saying she played with a lot of girl's toys, but to be able to make the decision at 14 you are ready to transition. more power to her. you are watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. do stay with us. and "early start" is next for viewers in the u.s. >> for the rest of you another edition of "cnn newsroom" begins after the break. have a great day.

♪ terror investigation in boston. law enforcement the opens fire on a man believed to have had ties to isis. watched by investigators for more than a year. this morning, a new arrest connected to the case. we have details ahead. time running out for the desperate search for survivors of a deadly cruise ship crash. hundreds still missing. a stunning corruption scandal. fifa's president stepped down just days after he was