tv CNN Newsroom Live CNN May 30, 2016 11:00pm-1:01am PDT
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where's my cocktail? the battle to retake fallujah from isis is under way, but tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped in the city and could easily be caught in the crossfire. plus outrage after a zoo kills an endangered gorilla to save a little boy. and we will speak to one expert who thinks it was not necessary. plus -- injustice is telling them education is the key. wile you continue to change the locks. >> you've got to see this. an inspiring message on education and injustice. we'll speak to this harvard graduate about his viral commencement address. hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. thanks for joining our two-hour
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block. "cnn newsroom" starts now. a south korean military official says north korea attempted to launch a missile early on tuesday and apparently failed. this is just the latest in a string of missile tests as pyongyang tries to advance its weapons program. >> japan says there's no indication that any north korean missiles are flying their way. but it will keep its military on alert. cnn's paula hancocks joins us now from seoul, south korea. paula, what more are we learning about this missile launch, and what more is south korea and japan saying about it? >> reporter: well, rosemary, we know that it happened in the early hours of tuesday morning. the south korean joint chiefs of staff saying it did appear to fail. at this point they were calling it an unidentified missile, but
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the overwhelming opinion among local media was that it was a mid-range missile, a musudan missile. this hasn't been confirmed by officials, but if that is the case, then it's not the first time north korea has tried this. they've been trying three times last month to launch a successful mid-range missile. they failed on all counts. and, of course, today's also believed to be a failure. there has been a reaction, though, from japan, saying they're watching the situation very closely. >> translator: there is no missile confirmed to have flown towards japan, so we don't recognize it as something that would directly influence our security. in order to take all possible measures to protect the lives and assets of our people under any circumstances, we've ordered the self-defense forces to take necessary actions. >> reporter: now, of course if this was a musudan missile, then the lowest range would take in
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all of japan and south korea as a target. the upper range of this missile could take u.s. military bases in guam. certainly it's something that officials in the region and in washington are watching very closely. rosemary. >> and, paula, is there any significance attached to the timing of the launch of this missile? >> reporter: well, it's something we always try and figure out, whether or not there is a significance. it's not clear at this point whether there is. it is clear that north korea wants to have this capability. they have tried this a number of times in the past. in recent days and weeks, we've also seen north korea reaching out to south korea for talks. pyongyang said they would like military talks, but the answer has been no because they don't think they're genuine. they don't believe there's any point in talking if denuclearization is not going to be discussed. pyongyang has made it abundantly
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clear that it warnlts to keep its nuclear program and it has no intention of including that in any talks with the south. rosemary. >> just after 3:00 in the afternoon there in south korea, in seoul. paula hancocks joining us live with that update. we'll talk against next hour. many thanks. as we've been telling you for the past few days, iraqi forces backed by coalition warplanes have launched an all out offensive to take out the isis strong hold of fallujah. they're trying to push their way into the heart of the city after capturing a handful of villages and towns on its outskirts. >> they're meeting resistance and as the fighting ranges, it's feared that 50,000 civilians are caught in the crossfire. here's cnn pong correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: isis under heavy pressure on multiple battle fronts in iraq and syria. u.s. special operations forces hoping local troops inching closer to the front lines. the iraqi military announcing it's beginning the battle to
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clear fallujah, attempting to take back the strategically important city just 40 miles west of baghdad. isis tunnels already discovered nearby, a sign of the tough fight to come. the u.s. providing air strikes and watching the iraqi forces closely. >> we're seeing everything from iraqi security forces, the regular army, to the police, to even their elite counterterror servers all participating in this action. >> reporter: less discussed but also involved in the fallujah fight, iran and the shia militia it backs joining the fight to knock isis from the city, raising concerns as they move against the heavily sunni populated area. it could all lead to more sectarian violence. to the north, a kurdish offensive under way around mosul, iraq's second largest city. an attempt to squeeze isis and force it to fight in multiple locations. >> we do recognize the value of
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simultaneousity when we go after this enemy right here. when we present them with multiple dilemmas, then we generally see more success with them. >> reporter: and across the border, u.s. special forces are accompanying and advise be syrian rebel forces fighting on the doorstep of isis' self-declared capital in raqqah. during the recent visit to iraq and syria, the general said he's also looking at what more the u.s. can offer. >> as the conditions continue to change, as we continue to move into new phases the overall operation, we'll continue to re-evaluate that and where we identify the need for additional capabilities, we'll ask for them. >> reporter: u.s. special forces on full display in tampa, florida, over the weekend during an exercise drill that showed why these elite forces are now constantly called to action. u.s. officials do point to some
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measures of success. for example, they estimate inside syria, isis has lost 20% of the territory it once held. but nobody is counting isis down and out just yet. military commanders say there is still a very long way to go. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> while iraqi soldiers and militia battle isis militants in fallujah, tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside the city. >> that's right. one resident says isis gunmen have been going door to door, pulling men, women, and children from their homes. hundreds of people have been able to flee fallujah and its outskirts since the offensive began last week, but that is just a fraction of the overall population. many of them are now taking shelter in camps. they say the situation inside fallujah is dire with very little food, water, or medicine. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman has reported extensively on the fight against isis in iraq. he joins us now live from rome
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this morning. ben, we know isis uses civilians during conflict. they're not above putting innocent people directly in harm's way. just tell us more about what we're learning about how those residents who were unable to flee are being treated right now. >> reporter: yeah, we understand that it's very difficult at this point for people who live in fallujah proper as opposed to the outskirts, to flee. we know from the unhcr that around 800 people have been able to flee the edges of the city. but inside the situation is extremely difficult, and we're hearing reports, for instance, that isis has executed young men and others who have refused to fight. and you have to realize that we're at that sort of critical turning point. it's clear that the iraqi army is going to proceed with this offensive. they've mustered so many men and material for this fight that in
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a sense, the days of isis in fallujah are numbered. so there may have been people who are wavering in the past who might have supported isis in the past. but they see now that the tide is turning. they don't want to fight and die for isis. so many people are just staying as low as possible, hiding in their homes. but, of course, in their homes, first of all, it's very dangerous because the city is under a round-the-clock artillery bombardment and also air strikes as well. and of course we know that there's been a six-month siege on fallujah. and so food, water, medicine are all in short supply. so the situation is extremely dire, and at this point it's not clear how long this offensive is going to take. it's one thing to clear the villages around fallujah, but keep in mind that the fighters in fallujah have a lot of experience fighting the americans before and now, of
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course, the iraqi army. and we've seen in the past isis fighters are willing to fight to the death. errol. >> ben wedeman live in rome for us this morning with the latest on the fight in fallujah. ben, we'll reconnect with you again next hour. thanks. a zoo in the united states is standing by its decision to kill a rare gorilla after a boy fell into its habitat. >> this comes as some blame the zoo and the child's parents for negligence. jessica schneider has the latest. >> reporter: a tense and terrifying ten minutes inside the gorilla world exhibit. a 3-year-old boy dragged and tossed by a 450-pound, 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named harambe. >> engine 32, the gorilla has the child. >> reporter: the young boy ducking under a railing, climbing through protective wiring, and dropping more than ten feet into this moat according to zoo officials.
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>> this is a dangerous animal. now, i know the photos, videos, he doesn't seem dangerous. we're talking about an animal with one hand that i've seen take a coconut and crunch it. >> reporter: the zoo's dangerous animal response team tried to lure harambe from the exhibit, but he didn't respond. the team forced to shoot and kill the gorilla to save the boy. >> naturally we did not take the shooting of harambe lightly, but that child's life was in danger, and people who question that were our monday morning quarterbacks or second guessers and don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback. >> reporter: a group of protesters expressed outrage outside the zoo, calling for justice for harambe, and a petition has garnered more than 100,000 signatures, demanding the parents be criminally charged. >> if minutes went by, then certainly there's critical negligence on the part of the mom to not supervise a
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3-year-old at the zoo. so one can make an argument. i highly doubt there will be criminal charges brought against the mother. >> reporter: the boy's mother called out to her son. >> mommy loves you. i'm right here. >> reporter: the family today only releasing this statement. we are so thankful to the lord that our child is safe. he is home and doing just fine. we extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the cincinnati zoo staff. the zoo director says the gorilla exhibit has existed since 1978, and there has never been an incident like this. >> politicians and pundits point fingers. we live in the real world, and we make real decisions. people can climb over barriers, and that's what happened. >> jessica schneider reporting there. joining us now to talk more about this is gazela kaplan. she is a professor at animal behave specialist. thank you so much for being with us. so we know, of course, the cincinnati zoo has said that they took the appropriate action
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under the circumstances, but you don't agree with that. why is that? >> well, let me put it this way. the gorilla is a very benign and pleasant -- [ inaudible ] and the male in particular has the role of keeping the peace in his group. so he resolves conflicts rather than creating them. and it would have been right up his alley to resolve this particular problem as well. and we have ample evidence now that gorillas tend to type their risk assessment very accurately and judge whether something is dangerous or not. obviously a 4-year-old boy is not an imminent danger to his group nor to his own life. so the normal course of events would have resulted in him saving and helping that little boy. there is one element in there
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that wasn't there 30 years ago in the jersey zoo. two elements that are different. 30 years ago when a boy fell into the enclosure, just in a similar way as in this case, a, there were no guns, so they couldn't shoot the animals. they had to find some other means if there was any interference at all. and, secondly, the crowd didn't scream and shout, and that in itself is something that the gorilla may have interpreted as something that was a threat. and he may, in fact, have tried to get the boy away from that as quickly as possible. >> but the unsettling part of that is how the gorilla did that, isn't it? and it's difficult to know how this could have turned out if no one had intervened. if that had been your 3-year-old child in the enclosure with the gorilla, would you have been comfortable waiting out another few minutes to see how this all played out?
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>> i do not -- as one doesn't know what someone does is emotional, anything is possible. i don't vouch for myself, and i'm not critical either of the zoo or of the parents. but the point is this could set another horrible precedent as well. it's taken us a long time to change the view of the general public and the world about gorillas as benign and very intelligent and very sensitive and, in fact, very gentle species. so an incident like that can easily swap it the other way. and there's also the problem of protection of the gorilla's behavior. now, when he took the boy by the arm and by the leg, that's exactly what they do with their own offspring. this wasn't, in itself, a particularly aggressive gesture. and he was standing in the end,
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on his arm, which is not a threat gesture either. so we have to realize that there were a number of elements at work which led unfortunately to this very tragic outcome. and many say, well, the zoo had no choice. the keepers certainly had no choice. it was policy of the zoo, so they could only function within their policy. but i think sometimes it is important to remember perhaps the martial arts, and when you look at the martial arts, the ruling is you don't kill in the first instance. if you can't deter, you maim. if you can't maim, only then in the ultimate would you actually proceed to kill. and i think we are far too ready to shoot dead whatever is uncomfortable and dramatic. perhaps the training in future should go exactly to such emergency moments and say, well, we must find more humane ways because this isn't just an effect on this one gorilla.
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its entire family will suffer severely and be traumatized and in shock, and i wonder whether the zoo is going to offer any program for the gorillas to cope for their whole family that has lost their leader, to cope with that loss. and it's massive. >> there has been global outrage. people are upset on both sides of the equation here. it is difficult for all of us, of course, to know how we would respond in the same circumstances and make that sort of judgment. but professor, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> great pleasure. thank you very much. all right. still to come this hour, a leading republican throws a curveball at donald trump, promising a strong third-party candidate to run for president. that story and much more on the race for the white house, next.
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secret service agents sprang into action to protect the democratic presidential candidate there at the podium as you see. >> other agents caught at least four demonstrators and led them away. bernie sanders was not hurt. now, on the republican side, a prominent anti-trump journalist says an impressive independent candidate is about to enter the race for the white house. >> and the presumptive nominee fired back in true donald trump fashion. chief political correspondent dana bash has more. >> reporter: if you want to make a splash, send a mysterious tweet on a sleepy holiday weekend, like this from bill kristol. >> there will be an independent candidate, an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance. kristol, the staunchly anti-trump editor of the conservative weekly standard magazine has been working hard to find that third-party candidate. in an e-mail to cnn, he said an announcement is not imminent,
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but his tweet sure got a lot of attention, especially from donald trump, who responded, if dummy bill kristol does get a spoiler to run as an independent, say good-bye to the supreme court. cnn is told that kristol, along with other never-trump republicans have done extensive polling and gathered private data, talking to potential candidates and financial backers. >> there's an opening obviously for an independent candidate. >> reporter: they point to public polling as proof there is an appetite. in a survey earlier this month, little more than half of respondents, 51%, said they would be satisfied with a trump/clinton matchup. 44% said they'd want a third-party option. as for just republicans, target voters for kristol and other anti-trump conservatives, 39% said they'd want a third-party candidate. but the open question is who? >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> reporter: two sources close to mitt romney tell cnn the 2012 gop nominee will still not go so
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far as to run as an independent. never-trump forces have also been trying to recruit nebraska senator ben sasse or retired general jim maddis. sasse sources tell cnn he is still a no. jim mannis has also said thanks but no thanks. kristol has also floated gop congressman adam kenz inger. a source tells he would have considered it quote, literally to save the union because clinton and trump scare him. but he doesn't think the infrastructure exists to get on the ballot. on the stump, trump mocks kristol. >> he can't find anybody. what a loser. >> reporter: most republicans argue a third-party run would be a disaster for the gop, splinter the party, and help elect hillary clinton. >> they can try to hijack another party and get on the ballot. but, look, it's a suicide mission. >> reporter: even those who are not big fans of trump. >> absolutely not. i'm going to have my say --
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>> no third party? >> no way, and i would advise people not to go down that road. >> reporter: still separate from kristol's efforts, two former republican governors, gary johnson and bill weld, want the libertarian party nomination this weekend. the most experienced candidates ever for that party. >> that was chief political correspondent dana bash reporting. now, earlier i spoke with the director of the center for politics at the university of virginia, larry sabado, about which party a third candidate would hurt most. >> in both cases, i think it will be donald trump. certainly that's the case for kristol's candidate. now, we're all dying to find out exactly who this is. we heard speculation about lots of names, and they've all denied it. so there's got to be somebody, and we'll find out soon. even if that individual gets only a couple of percent of the vote, probably that's enough to deny trump the presidency. if it turns out to be a close
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race, some dispute that it will be close in the end. but if it is close in the end, well, we've had cases of this in the recent past. so i think trump has to be worried about the kristol candidate, and even with respect to the libertarians. in general, libertarians tend to take a few more votes from republicans than they do from the democratic nominee. so i think in both cases, the republicans have to be concerned. >> now, i also asked sabato about donald trump's attack on the judge presiding over a lawsuit against trump university. find out what he has to say about that and much more coming up in our next hour of "cnn newsroom." and cnn's new show, "state of the race" with cate bolduan is just ahead for our viewers in asia. >> coming up for everyone else, a kenyan military defeat that's been sha secrecy. the toll is finally becoming clearer. we'll show you our exclusive report.
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man 1:man 2: i am. woman: ex-military? man 2: four tours. woman: you worked with computers? man 2: that's classified, ma'am. man 1: but you're job was network security? man 2: that's classified, sir. woman: let's cut to the chase, here... man 1: what's you're assessment of our security? man 2: [ gasps ] porous. woman: porous? man 2: the old solutions aren't working. man 2: the world has changed. man 1: meaning? man 2: it's not just security. it's defense. it's not just security. it's defense.
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bae systems. a warm welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and everyone tuned in around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. it is time to update you on the main stories we've been following this hour. a south korean military official says north korea attempted to launch a ballistic missile and apparently failed. local media reports suggest it was a medium-range missile. this is the latest test by north korea in recent weeks. their last three attempts failed. iraqi troops have launched a major offensive to take back the isis stronghold of fallujah. they're trying to storm their way into the city center after capturing several surrounding towns. hundreds of civilians have fled,
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but as many as 50,000 people may still be trapped in the city. a court in senegal has sentenced chad's former president to life in prison for crimes against humanity. hissene habre was convicted of rape, forced slavery, kidnapping, and ordering the killings of 40,000 people from 1982 to 1990. human rights watch says he is the first african former head of state to be convicted on the continent. a kenyan military defeat has largely been shrouded in secrecy until now. terrorists launched a bold attack on a kenyan base in somalia back in january. but kenya's government kept it quiet. >> now the world is finally starting to see just how deadly that attack was. robyn kriel has this exclusive report. >> reporter: the photos he sent home told his family he was
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brave. but in his personal life, the corporal didn't like conflict. >> he was always jolly. he had a permanent smile. >> reporter: his job was to drive tanks out of the base in southern somalia. his pictures showed what he called his new home. >> and i don't know even in the family. >> reporter: on january 15th, his camp was attacked by militants. his family didn't hear from him again. kenya's defense force brought four caskets home with full military honors, but the corporal was not among them. the somali government says there were an estimated 200 kenyan soldiers at the base the day of the attack. but the kenyan government has released no details of what happened. no official death toll.
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but four months after the attack, a picture is emerging of heavy losses as body after body is quietly released for burials across the country. kenyan media has documented at least 30 funerals. the terror group al-shabaab posted this propaganda video showing the attack and the brutal way wounded and surrendering kenyan soldiers were simply shot dead. al shabaab claims more than 1 kenyan soldiers were killed. at least 50 casualties can be counted in the video. but the death toll may be even higher than that claimed by al-shabaab. two officials familiar with the recovery operations have told cnn that the kenyan death toll from that day is at least 141, making this attack the bloodiest defeat for the kenyan military since independence. the kenyan defense force would not respond to repeated cnn requests for comment. one blogger who posted photos and information about the attack was arrested under a rarely
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enforced national security law. but it was later released by the kenyan government without charge. >> although they cite national security reasons, in fact what they end up doing is creating an opportunity for al shabaab in many cases to prop began ziez their victories, perhaps exaggerate them. but there's no way of countering that narrative because there is no real narrative coming from the government. >> reporter: after seven dna tests, the corporal was finally identifi identifi identified. a tree like this one will be planted near his grave site, but his sister still has many questions. >> we would like to know who are these people? it is a question to live in our mind forever. because even if you've got your body, what about the rest? how many were they? how many are they rescued?
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you know, you don't know. >> reporter: for now, the story of the kenyan soldiers who fought and bled that day is being told not by the country they died serving, but only by the families of the dead and the terrorist group they had sworn to fight. >> robyn kriel joins us from nairobi, kenya, this morning. robyn, why the dramatic loss? kenyans have much better weaponry. were al shabaab just tactically superior to the kenyan military? is that possible? >> reporter: that's a question that has been asked repeatedly, and this is not the first attack of this kind, errol. two similar attacks occurred on other contributing countries to the mission to somalia in the past. it has happened to the ugandans. this was the third very similar style attack of al shabaab where you saw an enormous number of fighters, much larger than
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usual, 200 to 300, beginning with a large car bomb and then breaching the base, walking up and killing a large number of african union fighters. what a lot of military experts are asking is where were the guard patrols? where were the forward patrols to see that this group of fighters was come something they crossed across that field as you can see from that video in broad daylight, literally jumping over a very low -- about a foot-high razor wire fence. where were the machine guns? where were the arks of fire? they do have superior weaponry as well as armored personnel carriers. this is a really concerning question that people are saying the leadership of the kenyan defense force needs to answer. but this is also a hugely concerning question for the people of kenya, who still do not know how many of their troops died that day. and to the family of those troops, errol, who have not seen their husbands, their brothers, their soldiers' names on a plaque, remembered, and indeed they don't know how most of them
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died. at the moment, the only information is coming from the terrorist group, al shabaab. >> and just imagine being without your loved one since january and having no clue what happened to them in their final moments. we'll talk to you again next hour. robyn kriel with us live from nairobi, kenya, this morning where it's just past 9:30 there. robyn, thanks. still to come after this short break, the latest blow to a disastrous start for brazil's interim president. why his anti-corruption minister is stepping down. back in a moment. y ingredient is the main ingredient. whether it's big... or small. first to go. or best for last. sweet. or not so sweet. whether it's tossed... or twirled. if it's easy prey. or plays hard to get. every last crunch, sprinkle and drip... should be as clean as it is delicious. panera. food as it should be.
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investigation. fabiano silveira was caught on tape advising brazil's senate leader on how to defend himself from a probe into state-run oil company. >> transparency ministry staff protesters outside the presidential palace earlier on monday scrubbed the sidewalk and building, symbolically demanding a government cleanup. >> and a brazilian teenager who says she was brutally gang-raped in a rio de janeiro slum is telling the world what happened to her. >> of course this case has sparked outrage throughout the country after video of the attack was also posted online. shasta darlington reports. >> reporter: a case that has caused shock in a country accustomed to a relatively high level of violence. now the 16-year-old victim is speaking out in an interview with cnn affiliate. she says she's afraid justice will never be done.
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>> translator: if i have to wait for the justice system, they've already shown me that nothing is going to happen. i am waiting for the justice of god. it might be late but never fails. >> reporter: this all started last week when a 38-second video emerged on the internet purportedly posted by one of the suspects. it shows the victim naked and unconscious. you can hear men's voices in the background, bragging about how more than 30 people have had sexual intercourse with her. in the interview, she also spoke about that experience. >> translator: i fell asleep and woke up in a completely different place with a man under me and one on top of me and two holding me down on my hands. many people laughing at me, and i was drugged, out of it. many people with guns, boys laughing and talking. >> reporter: over the weekend, there were numerous protests across the country.
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here in rio de janeiro, a city that's going to be receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors for the olympic games in just two months' time, protesters took to the beach. they hung up laundry lines with clothes painted red, undergarments painted red. in brasilia, hundreds of protesters carrying flowers were held back with pepper stray as they tried to storm a part of the supreme court. police on monday launched a new raid in the western fa vela here in rio de janeiro where the incident took place. they have six arrest warrants and orders from the interim president on down to try and capture the suspects and quell the protests. shasta darlington, cnn, rio de janeiro. a former u.s. attorney general says the man who leaked the country's surveillance secrets actually did a public service. >> eric holder talked about edward snowden on a podcast.
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he said snowden's leak of classified documents led to a national debate over techniques and prompted changes. he also said snowden's actions were illegal and harmed american interests. he wants snowden to return to the u.s. from rush to face trial. now, the harvard commencement speech that's being called the most inspiring address ever given by a student. >> at the core, none of us were meant to be common. we were born to be comets, darting across space and time, leaving our mark as we crash into everything. >> if you haven't seen this yet, quickly google it because our conversation with that student is coming up after the break. businesses need the agility to do one thing & another. only at&t has the network, people, and partners to help companies be... local & global.
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lift off. those are the words of advice that one harvard student used to close his commencement address. but it's not just what he said that's getting attention. it's the way he said it. >> yeah, it wasn't your standard speech but, rather, a spoken word poem on race and education in america. here's what he had to say. >> i've always been a thorn in the side of injustice, disruptive, talkative, a
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distraction with a passion that transcending the confines of my own consciousness, beyond your curriculum, beyond your standards. i stand here a manifestation of love in pain, with veins pumping revolution. i am the strange fruit that grew too ripe for the poplar tree. i am a dream act, dream deferred, incarnate, an amalgam of memories america would care to forget. my past alone won't allow me to sit still, so my goid, like my mind cannot be contantd. our stories are the ladders that make it easier for us to touch the stars, so climb and grab them. keep climbing. grab them. spill your emotions in the big dipper and pour out your soul. light up the world with your ill luminous allure. today when i look my students in the eyes, all i see are constellations. if you take the time to connect the dots, you can plot the true shape of their genius shining in their darkest hour. i look each of my students in the eyes and see the same light
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as the pyramids of giza. i see them beneath their mast and their mischief, exist in authentic. at the core, none of us were meant to be common. we were born to be comets, darting across space and time, leaving our mark as we crash into everything. a crater is a reminder that something amazing happened right here, an indelible impact that shook up the world. are we not astronomers searching for the next shooting star? i teach in hopes of turning content into rocket ships, tribulations into telescopes so a child can see their true potential from right where they stand, and injustice is telling them they are stars without acknowledging the night that surrounding them. and justice is telling them education is the key. while you continue to change the locks. education is no equalizer. rather, it is the sleep that
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preceding the american dream. so wake up. wake up. lift your voices until you patch every hole in a child's broken sky. wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential. i've been the black hole in the classroom for far too long, absorbing everything without allowing my light to escape. i belong among the stars, and so do you. and so do they. [ applause ] together, together we can inspire galaxies of greatness for generations to come. so, no, no. sky is not the limit. it is only the beginning. lift off. >> donovan livingston joins us now via webcam from myrtle beach in south carolina. donovan, congratulations and thanks so much for joining us on cnn today. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much for having me. i'm blessed to be here. >> i'm just curious.
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why do you think your message, which was generally to teachers to reach out to students, has resonated in such a big way, particularly among african-americans here in the states? >> well, i honestly think that there's something in the poem that kind of touches on the human experience for all of us, especially black americans in terms of tracing our history of being marginalized and left out of certain educational spaces. i was really glad to be able to use that stage in a way that really elevated our voices and our experiences in school, so we could work to engage in dialogue on how to eradicate those differences in educational outcomes in our country. >> and, donovan, tell us how you first found your voice and what you hope to do with all this newfound attention when it comes to your chosen field of education. >> definitely. so spoken word poetry has always been a significant part of my identity, and i think i kind of touched on it a little bit in the piece itself. i talk about an instance in which my seventh grade social
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studies teacher really pulled me to the side and encouraged me to harness all of the extra energy i was displaying in class in a positive way. and she actually coached our speech and debate team. and that was kind of my first introduction to public speaking. from there, i kind of started to write and draft my own prose and poetry and really she was a catalyst in a lot of ways in helping me find my voice initially. from there, it just kind of took off. i'm a big fan of hip-hop. i'm a big fan of poetry and being able to merge different aspects of my culture and perform them for other people has been a very authentic and genuine experience for me. >> and i think what's interesting and eye opening for so many people is that your speech talks about teachers who helped you but some who also held you back. you mentioned in high school a teacher discouraging you from reciting a spoken word speech. i know they've since reached out to you. everything is cool now. why were they holding you back, and how could that be true as well for other american students right now? >> well, i feel like students
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are often in many ways silenced, and we don't often know it in the moment. but i honestly did not know it in the moment or view it as such. i was just trying to abide by protocol, and i didn't want to be taken offstage, so i kind of, you know, followed suit and provided a more traditional graduation address. but as time went on and spoken word became more a part of who i was as a person, i saw fit to implement that in every space i possibly could, whether it was onstage or working one-on-one with students. and i really believe that every student has a particular niche. for me, it's poetry. other students, it might be dance or theater. and really being able to find what it is that students need to be successful and be their authentic selves, i think it's something that teachers should do no matter what the crick lar constraints might be. >> and, donovan, just finally what do you see as your calling in life? what is next for donovan livingston? >> well, next academically and
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professionally i'll be pursuing a ph.d. in education leadership with the concentration and cultural studies. but on a much more larger scale, i'd like to evoke some sort of change in the field of education where we do create spaces for students to be their best selves both in and outside of the classroom. i really feel like school is one of those few institutions that every human passes through at some point in time. and really using schools as a mechanism to leverage e quality and talk about injustice and how we can overcome those together as humanity, i really see school as a place for that to take place. so if i can evoke some sort of change in schools and systems of education across the world, i really want to do that. >> and i guarantee you this has already started a conversation, a discussion. it will continue to as people watch this. i'm not poetic, but you did say, i've always been a thorn in the side of injustice. so, donovan, keep poking. we appreciate the work that you're doing. >> and as you said, lift off.
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donovan livingston, thank you so much for speaking with us. >> you all have a blessed evening. take care. >> you too. bye-bye. what an inspiring young man, isn't he? >> the world needs more donovans, and they're out there. >> and he speaks so well, too. thanks for watching "cnn newsroom" this hour. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. remember you can always connect with us on social media. it is great to hear from you all. next hour, our last hour together, more "cnn newsroom" after this short break. >> stay with us. in a good, clean salad, every ingredient is the main ingredient. whether it's big... or small. first to go. or best for last. sweet. or not so sweet. whether it's tossed... or twirled. if it's easy prey. or plays hard to get. every last crunch, sprinkle and drip... should be as clean as it is delicious. panera. food as it should be.
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intense fighting in fallujah has iraqi forces try to storm their way into the isis stronghold. but thousands of civilians are caught in the middle. plus another twist to the u.s. presidential race. some anti-trump conservatives say they may be close to announcing an alternative candidate. and measuring the human cost of the war against al shabaab. families of kenyan soldiers seek answers from a silent government as they bury their loved ones. a very big welcome to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching all around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. thanks for joining us here on "cnn newsroom."
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a south korean military official says north korea attempted to launch a missile early on tuesday and it apparently failed. we can show you what is the latest in a string of missile tests as pyongyang tries to advance its weapons program. >> in april they tried three times to launch missiles and failed with all three. cnn's paula hancocks joins us now with more from seoul, south korea. so, paula, what more have you been learning about this missile launch and, of course, the reaction there from south korea and, indeed, japan? >> reporter: well, rosemary, at this point it's been described as an unidentified missile by the joint chiefs of staff. but the assumption here is from the local media that it was a musudan, a medium-range missile. as you say, three times in april, north korea attempted to launch that missile and failed. so potentially this is the fourth time in two months it's
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not managed to test-fire that missile. but certainly everyone in the region is concerned that these tests continue to happen. we had had a relatively peaceful and quiet may when it comes to testing. certainly we had the congress in north korea, the political focus took over. but now it appears we are back to what kim jong-un feels is a very important part of his rule, which is continuing to test his capabili capabilities, continuing to improve his missile program, once again showing that he has no intention of putting nuclear missile programs to one side in violation of u.n. security council resolutions. now, certainly south korea and japan are watching developments very closely. in japan, the chief cabinet secretary reacted earlier this tuesday. >> translator: there is no missile confirmed to have flown towards japan, so we don't recognize it as something that would directly influence our
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security. in order to take all possible measures to protect the lives and assets of our people under any circumstances, we've ordered the self-defense forces to take necessary actions. >> reporter: so in the next few hours, i think we can expect some kind of reaction from washington. just last week, the u.s. president, barack obama, said that even when these tests happen, even if they fail, north korea is still learning something. so a big concern for washington as well. rosemary. >> we'll keep a very close eye on this. our pal la hancocks reporting live from seoul in south korea. always a pleasure to talk with you. a deadly fire breaks out in an army ammunitions depot in india. it happened tuesday morning in the western state. at least 15 army personnel were killed and 17 others injured. officials say the fire has been contained but more than 1,000 people were evacuated as a
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precaution. as of right now, the cause of that fire is unknown. we'll continue following details for you. iraqi government forces have stormed their way to the outskirts of the strategic city of fallujah. now they face the toughest part of their operation, to rouft isis out of the city itself, which is just 65 kilometers or about 40 miles from baghdad. >> iraqi soldiers are trying to get into the center of fallujah. iraqi and coalition warplanes are backing them up with heavy air cover. but the troops are facing fierce resistance from the hundreds of isis fighters who have holed up inside fallujah. >> our senior international correspondent ben wedeman has reported extensively on the fight against isis in iraq, and he joins us now from rome. ben, we can see that the strategy has been to slowly move to the surrounding villages and circle the city, and go in for a direct fight with isis. but how likely is it that some militants will be taken alive
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should there be a high-priority to do that considering all that's at stake? >> reporter: it's estimated there is somewhere between 503,000 isis fighters within the city, and certainly normal practice in war fair is you do want to get prisoners because they're a very good source of intelligence. but what we've seen in the past is sometimes the discipline among the iraqi forces, particularly among the shia-led militias, tends to break down when it comes to dealing with prisoners. they're oftentimes simply summary executions on the battlefield. last time i was on the front lines outside of fallujah with one group of iranian armed and trained iraqi fighters, i asked the commander, you know, have you gotten useful intelligence from isis fighters that you've captured? and he said simply, i don't
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capture. i kill. he went on to say that we're bored with interrogations. we know who these people are, and we just take them out as soon as we get our hands on them. so perhaps the situation will be different. now we understand that these shia militias are not going to be taking part in the actual street-to-street fighting inside the city. that responsibility will be taken up by iraq's elite anti-terrorism forces, which are much better disciplined and trained, and by the anbar police force. anbar, of course, being the province within which fallujah is located. and of course it's composed of sunni members rather than shia. so the hope is that the kind of sectarian revenge killings that we've seen elsewhere in iraq will not take place. but there is no guarantee that that's going to happen. errol. >> and, ben, what of just the
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overall status of the fight against isis in iraq specifically? is the territory the group controls shrinking in a significant way? i know there's also a planned fight for mosul, another stronghold of theirs at the moment. >> reporter: there's no question that isis at the moment is on the back foot in iraq. if you look back over the last year, they've lost ramadi, which is the second largest city in anbar province. they've lost tikrit. they've lost bagi, which are two important cities north of baghdad. they also were driven out of the sinjar mountain, which is near the border with syria in the kurdish part of the country. so they're definitely on the defensive. now, mosul, of course, is going to be the hardest nut to crack so to speak because it is, of course, iraq's second largest
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city. isis has invested a lot of time and effort to apparently build up defenses there in anticipation of an eventual attempt by the iraqi forces supported by the united states and its coalition partners to retake that city. so that's the next step, and no one has -- is under any illusions that that's going to be easy. >> it will continue to be a slow and consistent fight against those isis militants. ben wedeman live for us in rome this morning. ben, thanks. while iraqi soldiers and militia battle isis militants in fallujah, tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside the city. >> one resident says isis gunmen have been going from door to door, pulling men, women, and children from their homes. hundreds of people have been able to flee fallujah's outskirts since the offensive began last week, but that's just a fraction of the city's population. many of them are now taking shelter in camps. they say the situation inside
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fallujah is dire with very little food, water, or medicine. >> and the situation is worry som in the makeshift camps as well. later this hour, i will talk with a refugee official about what's being done for the hundreds of families who have fled fallujah. now, the director of a u.s. zoo where workers killed a rare gorilla says they made the right decision. >> zookeepers shot the ape after a young boy fell into its enclosure. now some say the zoo and the child's parents are both negligent. >> looking back, we would make the same decision. i know that after it is over and the child is safe, it's easy like a monday morning quarterback to look at it and say, wow, wow, wow, don't we need to do this differently? the people that say that, a, don't understand primate biology and silverback gorillas and the danger the child was in, and, b, were not there at an important time to make important decisions. we stand by our decision, and
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we'd make the same call today. >> and earlier i talked to professor and animal behavior specialist gisela kaplan about the actions taken by the cincinnati zoo in this situation. >> we have ample evidence now that gorillas tend to type their risk assessment very accurately and judge whether something is dangerous or not. and obviously a 4-year-old boy is not an imminent danger to his group nor to his own life. so the normal course of events would have resulted in him saving and helping that little boy. there is one element in there that wasn't there 30 years ago in the jersey zoo. two elements that are different. 30 years ago when a boy fell into the enclosure, just in a similar way as in this case, a, there were no guns, so they couldn't shoot the animals.
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they had to find some other means if there was any interference at all. and, secondly, the crowd didn't scream and shout. and that in itself is something that the gorilla may have interpreted as something that was a threat, and he may in fact have tried to get the boy away from that as quickly as possible. >> but the unsettling part of that is how the gorilla did that, isn't it? and it's difficult to know how this could have turned out if no one had intervened. if that had been your 3-year-old child in the enclosure with the gorilla, would you have been comfortable waiting out another few minutes to see how this all played out? >> now, when he took the boy by the arm and by the leg, that's exactly what they do with their own offspring. this wasn't in itself a particularly aggressive gesture, and he was standing in the end on his arm, which is not a threat gesture either. so we have to realize that there
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were a number of elements at work which led unfortunately to this very tragic outcome. and many say, well, the zoo had no choice. the keepers certainly had no choice. it was policy of the zoo, so they could only function win their policy. but i think sometimes it is important to remember perhaps the martial arts. and when you look at the martial arts, their ruling is you don't kill in the first instance. if you can't deter, you maim. if you can't maim, only then in the ultimate would you actually proceed to kill. >> kaplan also says that the gorilla's family will be severely affected by the loss of its leader. well, donald trump is taking shots at one of his biggest critics, who says a new impressive candidate is about to enter the race for the white house. plus a kenyan military defeat that's been shrouded in secrecy.
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months later, the toll from a brazen terror attack is finally becoming clearer. we'll show you the exclusive report after this. hey there, hi. why do people have eyebrows? why do people put milk on cereal? oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. i got your back. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you.
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one of donald trump's biggest critics says the republican front-runner will have some new competition in the race for the white house. >> and as you'd expect, the presumptive nominee fired back in true trump fashion. cnn chief political correspondent dana bash has the latest. >> reporter: if you want to make a splash, send a mysterious tweet on a sleepy holiday weekend, like this from bill kristol. there will be an independent candidate, an impressive one with a strong team and a real chance. kristol, the staunchly anti-trump editor of the conservative weekly standard magazine, has been working hard to find that third-party candidate. in an e-mail to cnn, he said an announcement is not imminent. but his tweet sure got a lot of attention, especially from donald trump, who responded, if dummy bill kristol actually does get a spoiler to run as an
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independent, say good-bye to the supreme court. cnn is told that kristol along with other never-trump republicans, have done extensive polling and gathered private data, talking to potential candidates and financial backers. >> there's an opening obviously for an independent candidate. >> reporter: they point to public polling as proof there is an appetite. in a survey earlier this month, a little more than half of respondents, 51%, said they would be satisfied with a trump/clinton matchup. 44% said they'd want a third-party option. as for just republicans, target voters for kristol and other anti-trump conservatives, 39% said they'd want a third-party candidate. but the open question is who? >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> reporter: two sources close to mitt romney tell cnn the 2012 gop nominee will still not go so far as to run as an independent. never-trump forces have also been trying to recruit nebraska senator ben sasse or retired
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general jim mattis. sasse sources tell cnn he is still a no. jim mattis also has said thanks, but no thanks. kristol has also floated gop congressman adam kinzinger, a source familiar with kinzinger's thinking tells cnn he would have considered it, quote, literally to save the union because both clinton and trump scare him. but he doesn't think the infrastructure exists to get on the ballot. on the stump, trump mocks kristol. >> he can't find anybody. what a loser! >> reporter: most republicans argue a third-party run would be a disaster for the gop, splinter the party, and help elect hillary clinton. >> they can try to hijack another party and get on the ballot, but, look, it's a suicide mission. >> reporter: even those who are not big fans of trump. >> absolutely not. i'm going to have my say -- >> no third party? >> no way, and i would advise people not to go down that road. >> reporter: still separate from kristol's efforts, two former republican governors, gary
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johnson and bill weld won the libertarian party nomination this weekend. the most experienced candidates ever for that party. the libertarian party is already on state ballots across the country. one of the many challenges for the kind of independent run that bill kristol is envisioning is getting on those ballots. for example, the deadline for the e lector rally rich state of texas has already passed. a source works on this tells me they can always stage a write-in campaign or file lawsuits to solve the ballot issues. which they can do with enough money and the right candidate. it's a combination that has eluded these anti-trump forces, though, for months. dana bash, cnn, washington. >> now, donald trump is also taking aim at a federal judge presiding over a fraud lawsuit against trump university. >> the billionaire's attack began after the judge ordered the public release of internal documents from the university. trump has also tried taking shots at the judge's ethnicity.
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>> i have a judge who is a hater of donald trump, a hater. he's a hater. his name is gonzalo curio, the judge who happens to be, we believe, mexican, which is great. i think that's fine. you know what? i think the mexicans are going to end up loving donald trump when i give all these jobs. >> in an interview monday, cnn "new day" host alison cammarata pushed back on trump's claims, telling his spokeswoman katrina peer son that curio was born in the u.s., not mexico. and acoursing to pearson, trump only said, we believe curio is mexican, and she continued trying to link the judge to anti-trump protesters. now, hillary clinton will be in california this week for a major multistop swing before the state's primary next tuesday. >> the democratic candidate took a break from the campaign monday
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to march in her hometown's memorial day parade. clinton has tried to attend the parade every year since she moved to the area in 1999. bernie sanders has crisscrossed california for the past week as he battles clinton in the delegate-rich state. he was interrupted at a rally in oakland when yelling protesters rushed the stage. >> as you see there, secret service agents quickly intervened, protecting him and leading at least four demonstrators away from the podium. after the rally, sanders repeated his plan to stay in the race. listen. >> there's been some discussion that some of the media is going to say the campaign is over. she is the nominee on tuesday night after the votes come in from new jersey. that's not accurate. i don't think the dnc thinks that's accurate. she has received, obviously, a whole lot of super delegate support. no question about that. a lot, lot more than i have. but super delegates don't vote
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until they're on the floor of the democratic convention. that's when they vote. so our job between, you know, starting yesterday -- our job is to convince super delegates of one very, very important fact, that their most important responsibility is to make certain the democratic party has the strongest candidate possible. >> joining me now to discuss all the big political headlines is larry sabato. he's the director for the center of politics at the university of virginia. larry, always good to see you. so bernie sanders will continue campaigning, and hillary clinton's e-mail judgment, let's call it, is being pilloried daily. are democrats fully realizing how vulnerable they are as a party this election cycle because even clinton's attacks on trump don't seem to be working? >> democrats are very nervous, errol, and they should be. i don't think hillary clinton or most of the democratic party leaders imagined last year that
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this would go all the way to the end of the primaries, and certainly that bernie sanders would be as strong a candidate as he has proven to be. mrs. clinton is almost certainly going to be the party nominee, but bernie sanders has gained enough delegates, probably 40% or so of the convention, that he'll have a significant impact on the platform, on the selection of the vice presidential candidate, and on the future of the party. will they be unified going into the general election? >> and it's not to say that the republicans have their own issues. the federal judge, for example, presiding over the case against trump university unsealed documents that related to that case. donald trump, in turn, called him a hater and a mexican even though he's an american citizen born in indiana. a bit of coded language there, many are saying. can anyone on trump's team show him how damaging that kind of behavior is? >> i don't think anyone can tell
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donald trump what to do. i'm not even sure anyone can suggest it, even inside his campaign organization. the attack on the judge was very trumpian, and it certainly was outrageous. i think people across the spectrum could agree with that. you can disagree with the judge's decision on releasing information regarding trump university, but to base your attack on the fact that the judge had parents from mexico, as you noted, he was born in 1953 in indiana. he has been an american all of these years, and really it's just unfortunate. >> if we ever see someone who can stand up to donald trump and publicly say they told him he was wrong, we would all be quite surprised because there's yet to be an individual like that. now, because of those issues that republicans and democrats face, there is this opening, many believe, for a third-party candidate.
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the libertarians just elected former new mexico governor gary johnson as their choice. bill kristol of the weekly standard saying an impressive independent conservative candidate is coming. which candidate would be hurt the most by either of these two possibilities? >> in both cases, i think it will be donald trump. certainly that's the case for kristol's candidate. now, we're all dying to find out exactly who this is. we've heard speculation about lots of names, and they've all denied it. so there's got to be somebody, and we'll find out soon. even if that individual gets only a couple of percent of the vote, probably that's enough to deny trump the presidency. if it turns out to be a close race, some dispute that it will be close in the end. but if it is close in the end, well, we've had cases of this in the recent past. so i think trump has to be worried about the kristol candidate, and even with respect to the libertarians.
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in general, libertarians tend to take a few more votes from republicans than they do from the democratic nominee. so i think in both cases, the republicans have to be concerned. >> this is as an unpredictable election as it can get. larry, you're going to have work for quite a long time. larry sabato, thanks for joining us today. >> thank you, errol. still to come this hour, a brazen attack on kenya's military has largely been kept a secret until now. we'll have an exclusive report on what may be one of the country's bloodiest defeats ever. plus protests have erupted in brazil after a 16-year-old girl said she was brutally gang-raped. now she's speaking out about her horrifying ordeal.
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welcome back to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching all around the world. it's your last half hour of "cnn newsroom" with the both of us. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. want to check the headlines for you right now. a south korean military official says north korea attempted to launch a ballistic missile and reportedly failed. this is the latest test by north korea in recent weeks. their last three attempts failed. a court in senegal has sentenced chad's former president to life in prison for crimes against humanity. hissene habre was convicted of rape, false slavery, kidnapping, and ordering the killings of 40,000 people from 1982 to 1990. human rights watch says he's the first african former head of state to be convicted on the
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continent. iraqi troops have launched a major offensive to take back the isis stronghold of fallujah. they're trying to storm their way into the city center after capturing several surrounding towns. hundreds of civilians have fled, but as many as 50,000 people may still be trapped in the city. the situation is increasingly desperate both for the families who remain in fallujah as fighting rages as for the hundreds of men, women, and children who have managed to get out. naz rim ma fla hi is the iraq country director for the norwegian refugee council and joins me now from amman, jordan. thank you for talking with us, sir. so some 50,000 civilians are still trapped inside fallujah. what are they facing right now? what have you learned from those family members who have fled to your camps? >> the situation in fallujah is dire. the problem is that there is no
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food. water is scarce, with water being contaminated and people drinking from contaminated sources, agricultural channels, which have animal carcasses. there are no medicines. people have run out of anesthetics. and they've had no anesthetics for a long, long tile. so people have having limbs amputated to ease their pain. that's the situation in fallujah at the moment. >> it is just too horrifying to fathom. what resources are available in the refugee camps for those people who were able to get out of fallujah? >> for the people who are escaping from fallujah, the humanitarian aid agencies are providing food, water, shelter,
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medical supplies, et cetera. so they are receiving the assistance they need if they can escape from those areas. unfortunately it's very difficult for people to escape from those areas. >> and so you mentioned drinking water. how hard is it going to be to have availability of this clean drinking water, safe drinking water and, of course, food and other resources such as medicines? >> at the moment, because there's not a huge displacement, it is managed. i mean the majority of those displaced are coming from the surrounding areas. the agencies, nrc included, are responding and have the adequate resources to respond. however, if there is a mass displacement, and we're talking around 50,000 people. and if we just imagine 20,000 people manage to get out, then of course our resources would be stretched dramatically, and we wouldn't have sufficient resources to actually cover those mass displacements if that
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were to happen. >> and of course the big fear now, these summer temperatures are on the way, and that is going to make all of this situation even worse than it is already. thank you so much for talking with us. we do appreciate it. >> thank you very much. now, after months of secrecy, the world is just starting to see what terrorists did to kenya's military in a brazen attack back in january. >> kenya's government has said very little about the el shibab attack, but just seeing the number of caskets and number of funerals, the toll is now becoming much clearer. robyn kriel has this exclusive report. >> he was telling us this is not my home. >> reporter: the photos he sent home told his family he was brave. but in his personal life, corporal james kuronoi didn't like conflict. >> he was always jolly. he had a permanent smile.
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>> reporter: his job was to drive tanks out of the al aud day base in southern somalia. his pictures showed what he called his new home. >> and i don't know even if the family. >> reporter: on january 15th, kuronoi's camp was attack the by al shabaab militants. his family didn't hear from him again. kenya's defense force brought four caskets home with full military honors, but kuronoi was not among them. the somali government says there were an estimated 200 soldiers at the base the day of the attack. but the government has released no details of what happened, no official death toll. but four months after the attack, a picture is emerging of heavy losses as body after body is quietly released for burials across the country. kenyan media has documented at least 30 funerals.
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the terror group al shabaab posted this propaganda video showing the attack, and the brutal way wounded and surrendering kenyan soldiers were simply shot dead. al shabaab claims more than 100 kenyan soldiers were killed. at least 50 kenyan casualties can be counted in the video. but the death toll may be even higher than that claimed by al shabaab. two officials familiar with the recovery operations have told cnn that the kenyan death toll from that day is at least 141, making this attack the bloodiest defeat for the kenyan military since independence. the kenyan defense force would not respond to repeated cnn requests for comment. one blogger who posted photos and information about the el adde attack was arrested under a rarely enforced national security law but was later released by the kenyan government without charge. >> although they cite national security reasons, in fact what they end up doing is creating an
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opportunity for al shabaab in many cases to propagandaize their victories, perhaps exaggerate them. but there's no way of countering that narrative because there is no real narrative coming from the government. >> reporter: after seven dna tests, james kuronoi was finally identified. a tree like this one will be planted near his grave site. but james' sister still has many questions. >> we would like to know who are these people? how many were they? it is a question that will live in our mind forever because even if you get your body, who about the rest? how many were they? how many were they rescued? how many are they? you don't know. >> reporter: for now, the story of the kenyan soldiers who fought and bled that day is being told not by the country they died serving but only by the families of the dead and the
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terrorist group they had sworn to fight. >> robyn kriel joins us live from nairobi, kenya, this morning. robyn, obviously this was a tactical disaster for the kenyan military. but what could it be trying to hide by not publicly acknowledging this battle for so many months? >> reporter: well, that's exactly what a lot of people are asking, including the families, the several hundred families of the deceased soldiers who died uncounted and unknown. the families are asking why can't there be a roll call of honor, a national day of mourning perhaps, and perhaps a monument with the names of the soldiers that were killed in that attack on the 15th of january in el adde, southern somalia. at the moment, there has been very, very little, and those men, they say, deserve the recognition. now, what could the kenyan government be trying to hide by not releasing that information?
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it's really anyone's guess, and indeed many people are saying that they do want to say heads rolling, as it were, because of this attack. the bloodiest since independence. another thing that a communications strategist has told us -- sorry -- something else that a communications strategist has told us, errol, is that silence is not a way to win a battle. paul d. williams, who is an international affairs professor at the george washington university, told us that by showing how al shabaab lies, allowing them to control the narrative is what the kenyan defense force should be doing. silence is not a winning strategy in the world of strategic communications. errol. >> a very important story. we should pay attention to it. apology for some of the technical glitches there. our robyn kriel speaking to us live this morning from nairobi. thank you. this just in to cnn.
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observers in syria say at least 23 people were killed in air strikes in the northern city and that a hospital was one of the locations that was hit. the syrian observatory for human rights says seven children are among the dead, and we will of course follow the developments and bring you the details on this story as they're coming to us. more still to come this hour. a brutal rape sparks outrage across brazil, and now the teenager who says she was attacked by dozens of men is sharing her story. details after the break. headache? motrin helps you be an unstoppable "let's rock this" kind of mom. back pain? motrin helps you be a... "side planking, even though you'll feel it later" kind of woman. body pain? motrin helps you be an... "i can totally do this in one trip" kind of woman. when pain tries to stop you, motrin works fast to stop pain. make it happen with motrin® liquid gels. also try motrin pm
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this is just a horrifying story. a brazilian teenager who says she was brutally gang-raped in a rio de janeiro slum is telling the world what happened to her. >> the case has sparked outrage across the country after video of the attack was posted online. shasta darlington reports. >> reporter: a case that has
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caused shock in a country accustomed to a relatively high level of violence. now the 16-year-old victim is speaking out in an interview with cnn affiliate. she says she's afraid justice will never be done. >> translator: if i have to wait for the justice system, they've already shown me that nothing is going to happen. i am waiting for the justice of god. it might be late but never fails. >> reporter: this all started last week when a 38-second video emerged on the internet purportedly posted by o one of e suspects. it shows the victim naked and unconscious. you can hear men's voices in the background bragging about how more than 30 people have had sexual intercourse with her. in the interview, she also spoke about that experience. >> translator: i fell asleep and woke up in a completely different place with a man under me, one on top of me, and two
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holding me down on my hands. many people laughing at me, and i was drugged, out of it. many people with guns, boys laughing and talking. >> reporter: over the weekend, there were numerous protests across the country. here in rio de janeiro, a city that's going to be receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors for the olympic games in just two months' time, protesters took to the beach. they hung up laundry lines with clothes painted red, undergarments painted red. in brasilia, hundreds of protesters carrying flowers were held back with pepper spray as they tried to storm a part of the supreme court. police on monday launched a new raid in the western favela here in rio de janeiro where the incident took place. they have six arrest warrants and orders from the interim president on down to try and capture the suspects and quell the protests. shasta darlington, cnn, rio de
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janeiro. oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. i got your back. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you. my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com
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headache? motrin helps you be an unstoppable "let's rock this" kind of mom. back pain? motrin helps you be a... "side planking, even though you'll feel it later" kind of woman. body pain? motrin helps you be an... "i can totally do this in one trip" kind of woman. when pain tries to stop you, motrin works fast to stop pain. make it happen with motrin® liquid gels. also try motrin pm to relieve pain and help you sleep. australian scientists say that more than a third of major sections of the great barrier reef have been destroyed by coral bleaching.
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>> warmer water slowly kills the coral and turns the once vibrant reef white. conservationists are worried it will only get worse from here with water temperatures still on the rise. and that leaves one of the world's seven natural wonders in danger of disappearing. >> these massive bleachings that are occurring at the scale of almost an entire ocean, they're completely unprecedented. we've just completed an underwater survey on 84 reefs along the length of the great barrier reef, measuring the amount of mortality from the third coral bleaching event. on average we found that 35% of the corals have been killed by this bleaching event.
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this is the third time in 18 years that the great barrier reef has suffered mass mortality from bleaching, and it's certainly by far the most severe. if the bleaching is severe, if it's prolonged, if the hot water hangs around for a sufficient amount of time, that's when we start to see very significant amounts of mortality. part of the backbone of the reef, they're the architects. they make the habitat. it's a problem for the whole ecosystem. >> unbelievable. our meteorologist derek van dam joins us now to explain more about what is happening. just heart breaking, derek. >> it's tough to see those images because it has major ramifications on you and i and the entire fish population across the oceans. now, we're coming off the strong
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el nino season. el nino is the warming of the ocean waters. a lot of that warmth has spilled into the greater queensland area over eastern australia, and that allows for this fragile ecosystem, being the coral reefs, to potentially become extinct because of this issue, or i should say killed because we are seeing this mass bleaching effect taking place. the third time in the past 18 years as that gentleman just mentioned. what happens is when we get this one degree temperature, one degree celsius above average in terms of water temperatures, the coral actually loses its algae, and that is crucial for the health of these coral reefs. eventually that cuts off the oxygen supply to the sensitive ecosystems. the algae takes over and eventually kills off the entire ecosystem. so this study from the university of queensland highlighted some hot spots along the 2,300 kilometer stretch just
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outside of cooktown. anywhere you see that shading of pink and red, that is an area that they've identified between 35 to 50% mortality rate with these coral reefs. now, this has got a ramification that affects not just the coral reefs but humans losing these precious ecosystems can actually lose protection from tsunamis and storm systems, and it also disrupts the overall food chain for the greater plant as well. so this is a real big story and not to mention this is one of the world heritage site that i'm sure you and i would like to continue to visit, right, rosie, errol? okay. this is the hardest part of the show. saying good-bye to my dear friend errol, who as you would all agree -- and i'm sure you feel this too -- has given eight years of service to cnn. two of those years by my side as
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my co-anchor. he is amazing. i'm going to miss him so much. but we wish him all of the best because you are going to shine as you take this next step along your career path. >> thank you so much, rosemary. >> i'm going to miss you so much. >> thank you. cnn hired me after graduating from ucla. i was lucky at that. i was fortunate to be sent to the middle east, throughout africa and on many stories and to be here by your side during this simulcast to witness world history. i will miss you. it's because of everything i've done here that i'm able to go to a dream job in washington. so you'll all still be able to see me elsewhere. but for now, rosemary, thank you so much for being a great co-anchor, a great friend, and i will miss you. >> a great friend. good luck. >> it ythank you so much, thank, rosie. >> thank you.
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why do people have eyebrows? why do people put milk on cereal? oh, are you reading why people put milk on cereal? why does your tummy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. i got your back. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you.
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new this morning, the secret service act as the protesters try to storm bernie sanders on stage. he is campaigning ahead of the california primary. happening today. big revelations from donald trump. how much he raised for the veterans and the issues with trump university. and the cincinnati zoo offering sympathy, but no apologies for killing a gorilla to save a little boy. hear what officials are saying forced them to take action. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> nice to see you. it is tuesday,
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