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Aleppo Fighting Continues Despite Ceasefire; Trump Ramps Up Attacks Amid Firestorm Over Comments; Russia-Ukraine Tensions Rising Over Crimea; European Wildfires Worst In 20 Years; Phelps and Lochte in League Of Their Own; Reports: Erdogan Gives Ultimatum To U.S.

Aired August 11, 2016 - 10:00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to the International Desk, I'm Isa Soares.

The window aimed at stopping the fighting in Eastern Aleppo so food could get in has very closed for today with little to show but more violence. We

are hearing that jets continue to come in the city. Russia, which backs the government, declared a three-hour ceasefire to allow in desperately

needed aid to the rebel held area. As the fighting persists, the handful of doctors left in this part of Aleppo making a desperate appeal to U.S.

President Barack Obama taking him to intervene while rebel held district of Aleppo had been under siege for months now. The rebels manage to puncture

that siege recently as you know.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen brings us an inclusive look of the fighting there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN REPORTER: Salvo after salvo they fire at an enemy only yards away. A massive assault eventually breaking the Syrian regime

siege of Eastern Aleppo, deemed all that impossible only a few days ago.

"Put your hand from here," a fighter instructs a comrade.

CNN has exclusively obtained this footage for the front line. In a rare unified moment, rebels from both moderate and Islamist groups attack Syrian

army positions. Pushing bullets from inside the besieged part of the city and from rebel held territory to the west, they overwhelmed the regime's

defenses.

Opposition activists say up to 7,000 fighters were involved, the lead group formerly under al-Qaeda's command. They released this drone video showing

the extent and the intensity of the battle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The importance of this battle is we broke the siege. They had us under siege and now we have them under

siege and have cut-off their supply line, thank god.

PLEITGEN: Rather than a rug tag band of rebels this appears to be a disciplined fighting force, resting and regrouping near the front line and

then chanting, "Our prophet Mohammed. Our commander forever," as they march into battle.

Video from inside Eastern Aleppo showed civilians cheering the end of the siege. President tells CNN many see the hardline Islamist groups as heroes

braving pro-government forces and Russian airpower to come to the aid of 300,000 trapped people.

But the U.N. warns with still no guarantee of humanitarian access, both regime and rebel held Aleppo may suffer from even more severe shortages

than in the past. After their unlikely victory, breaking the Aleppo siege, these rebels now say they will take back all of the city. But the Syrian

regime and its allies are hitting back hard, both sides desperate to win Syria's largest city but threatening to crush it in the process.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: An exclusive look there at the dire situation in Aleppo where our Clarissa Ward covered Syria in depth. She's been there meantime, in fact,

she was there few months ago. And she gave us firsthand account of the dire situations to the United Nation's recent. Take a listen to what she

had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The thing that has been killed in Syria, that is much more difficult to rebuild than a bombed

out building is trust. There's no trust. No trust in the Assad regime, no trust in ceasefires or cessation of hostilities or humanitarian corridors,

no trust in the Russian, and no trust in you, by the way, in us, in the international community, who have been wringing their hands on the

sidelines while hospitals and bakeries and schools have been bombed while phosphorus and cluster bombs have killed countless civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So what if anything can be done in this crisis? Here is what some of the doctors have to say, these doctors, 15 doctors were serving

remaining 300,000 citizens. This what they say, "What pains us most, as doctors, is choosing who will live and who will die. Young children are

sometimes brought into our emergency rooms so badly injured that we have to prioritize those with better chances or simply don't have equipment to help

them. Two weeks ago, four newborn babies gasping for air suffocated to death after blast cut off oxygen supply to their incubators. Gasping for

air, their lives end before they had really begun."

Clarissa Ward joins me now to discuss this letter. And Clarissa this is such a heartfelt letter, so hard to read. What do you think is the message

from these 15 doctors?

WARD: I think the message is really if you don't do something to help us, we're all going to die. I mean, it really is at this stage isn't that

simple. You have a handful of doctors trying to service 300,000 people who are living in this area of Eastern Aleppo, it's under the rebels' control,

up until very recently had been under a complete siege, now the rebels are fighting and they have managed to lift that siege in part. But there's

still, because of fighting is now intensive, there's still no real food, water, medical supplies going in and out of these areas. And you heard

from the doctors just some of things they need, oxygen, C.T. scanners, life support.

SOARES: Basic things.

WARD: Basic things, basic medicine, there isn't enough drinking water in Aleppo, there's a diesel shortage in Aleppo, diesel, of course, powers the

generators, they keep this hospitals running. And all of this is happening against the backdrop of relentless bombardment. Now we did hear the

Russians today say we're going to have a three-hour cessation of hostilities.

(OFF-MIC)

WARD: Well this is what the U.N. said, "Three hours is not nearly enough, we need 48 hours because by the way there's been significant damage to the

water infrastructure, to the electricity, not just affecting those 300,000 people but affecting people living in regime held areas too," Isa.

SOARES: So in this letter, they say we have seen no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the

parties to protect the civilians. What can Barack Obama do if really Russian is not prepared to come to the table?

WARD: Well, I think it's really difficult for the White House to exert any real influence in Syria now because they don't have much leverage when they

come to the negotiating table. Because the U.S. hasn't invested more in this conflict, essentially it doesn't really have any skin in the game.

But what you're seeing on the ground in Syria, in these rebel held areas, is deep-seated resentment against the international community and against

the U.S. because the perception on the ground is essentially inaction is a form of action, that by not doing anything to prevent this massacres your

somehow complicit in them as well.

SOARES: So really, the idea of this that it put pressure on U.S., it put pressure on Russia, other members of what we (ph) put pressure -- exert

some pressure on Russia to do something here.

WARD: Exactly. And I don't think it's optimistic, this letter, I don't think anybody's holding their breath, I don't think anyone expects the

White House to change its policies at the moment. But certainly, this is a desperate attempt to try to raise awareness about the plight of the people

living in this part of Aleppo.

SOARES: And it's very hard to read at times. We also, you know, hearing reports of suspected gas attacks, what are you hearing?

WARD: That's right. We're hearing about a chlorine gas attack, the medical doctors on the ground believe it was chlorine drop in a barrel

bombs, three people killed, among those three people who are killed, a mother and son. And, of course, one of the victories that the U.S. has

tried trumpet is that they have worked hard to negotiate and end to all use of chemical agents inside Syria and they've had some limited success and

not much in that.

But now we see using of these chlorine bombs again. It's not that they're so deadly, Isa, but psychologically they have a terrible impact because

it's absolutely terrifying as I'm sure you can imagine for people, when they land on the ground, people can't breathe and there's this sort strange

yellow-greenish tinge to the gas that comes out. So there is much psychological tool as they are tool to kill.

SOARES: Clarissa Ward, CNN international correspondent. Thanks very much, Clarissa.

Now, no apologies and no backing down from Donald Trump on the presidential campaign trail a day after he suggested gun rights advocates to do

something about Hillary Clinton presidency. Trump blasted the media, Clinton and with the current president with even more controversial

comments. Our Sara Murray has all the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump trying to shift the spotlight to Hillary Clinton's missing e-mails, after a newly uncovered batch of

messages raises questions about ties between the Clinton Foundation and the state department.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is called pay for play. And some of these were really, really bad and illegal, if it's true it's

illegal. You're paying and you're getting things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the fires from Trump ignited with his own words isn't going away.

TRUMP: Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick. If she got to pick her judges, nothing

you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know. But .

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump digging in and continuing to blame the press for twisting his remarks.

TRUMP: The biggest rigger of the system is the media. The media is rigged. It's rigged. It's broken as hell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bombastic billionaire insisting he wasn't advocating violence.

TRUMP: And what were talking about this political power. There's tremendous political power to save the Second Amendment, tremendous. And

you look at, you know, you look at the power they have in terms of votes and that's what I was referring to obviously that's what I was referring

to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A secret service official tells CNN, they had more than one conversation with Trump's campaign on the topic. But Trump

disputes this, tweeting no such meeting or conversation ever happened.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Words matter my friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All as Clinton fires back on the stump.

CLINTON: We witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that crossed the line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amid the uproar, Trump is ramping up his attacks.

TRUMP: ISIS is honoring President Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Labeling the president the founder of the terrorist group, not once, but three times.

TRUMP: He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the cofounder would be crooked

Hillary Clinton, cofounder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man who once demanded the President's birth certificate to prove his citizenship now emphasizing Obama's full name.

TRUMP: During the administration of Barack Hussein Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Staying behind Trump at the rally as it all happened, disgraced ex-Congressman Mark Foley, who resigned in 2006 amid allegations

he sent sexual e-mails and messages to teenage boys.

TRUMP: How many of you people know me? A lot of you people know me. When you get those seats, you sort of know the campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As Trump pounced on Clinton for having a terrorist father sitting behind her this week.

TRUMP: Wasn't it terrible when the father of the animal that killed the wonderful people in Orlando was sitting with a big smile on his face right

behind Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: And that was Sara Murray reporting.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, will focus on U.S. economy late at Thursday in a speech you can watch live here on CNN of course. It comes just days

after Donald Trump laid out his economic agenda. So how will they differ?

I want to bring in CNNMoney correspondent Maggie Lake in New York. And Maggie, we have heard Hillary Clinton talk about raising wages, creating

jobs throughout her campaign. So what should we expect to hear from her today?

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Much of the same, Isa. She really wants to paint herself as a champion of the average working American. She's

already slammed Donald Trump saying that he's policies are repackaged trickle down economics that benefit the wealthy and our wildly unrealistic.

And that she's really for the little guy, for the working person.

Take a look at some of the issues that she's going to highlight. We know that she's been concentrating on families, she has proposals about paid

family leave, which is not automatically guaranteed by companies here in the U.S. She's going to be talking about universal Pre-F, again, targeting

those families, debt-free college, that's a nod to Bernie Sanders supporters. That was such a popular part of his platform. Talk about

raising the minimum wage to $15. That's happening already city by city but a federal push to raise it to $15.

This is -- she's really hoping to build on the momentum coming out of the convention. She has seen a bomb and it's been holding, held in part to

Donald Trump's own self-inflicted damage with his rhetoric. Take a look at this poll of -- it was not the case early on, Hillary Clinton was

struggling with the -- on issues that the economy, her handling of the economy trailing Donald Trump in July.

You can see now, she's above him. But look at that margin, not by very much. So she want to try to build on that and really paint a different

picture of her looking to -- for working Americans, Isa.

SOARES: Yeah, and maybe on Friday, we saw some job figures, 4.9 percent unemployment. Is Clinton, do you think, benefiting from the fact that we

all seen these strong numbers on U.S. economy?

LAKE: I think she's going to, Isa, because she does have to strike a balance, but she's going to say, listen, that gloomy, depressing picture of

America in decline that Donald Trump isn't true. We are recovering, we need to do more of those, that's she's going to kind of embrace the Obama

legacy but that say more needs to be done and more needs to be done for the average person, not for the rich person, and that's where I'm focusing on.

So she can, again, make Donald Trump look out of touch, address the people who are Obama's supporters but also for those who feel disfranchised and

angry. Remember, this has been a very anti-established mid election. There are people who are not satisfied with the direction of the country.

We see that reflected in the polls, so she's going to build on that and say we're moving in the right direction but more need to be done. So it can

only help her to reset the stage and then she wants to sort of differentiate as well.

SOARES: Yeah, of course, and some say, Maggie, that Donald Trump is out of touch. Others say that his economic policy, perhaps, you know, it looks

quite realistic, his proposal to reduce tax rates, simplify the tax code, many say a credible option. Which of these policies do you think Hillary

Clinton will have to fight the hardest?

LAKE: You know, I think where her problem start is going to be trade. I mean, I think, listen, everybody thinks tax reform is a good idea to

certain (ph) in both party, it's just that they can't get it done. It's one of those very big complicated thing. You need Congress for a lot of

these policies, Isa, but trade just from a campaign standpoint might be where she's the weakest. She had always been in favor of free trade deal,

she is now against the TPP very much reflecting the fact that a lot of Americans are not sure about what this globalization means. So, if

anything's her weak spot, that is -- I'd expect not to hear that much about it today and see that focus remain on jobs and working Americans.

SOARES: Yeah, and we still a lot promoting (ph) and saying and under Clinton's economic plan, proposes 10.4 million jobs .

LAKE: That he's a Democratic, though.

SOARES: . where he create this.

LAKE: He's a Democratic operative, so that has a little skew to with that.

SOARES: There you go. Thanks for clarifying. Maggie Lake there for us to bring economic brains here. Thanks, Maggie.

Just ahead at the International Desk, more top hill between Russia and Ukraine as tensions over Crimea rise yet again. Plus, Michael Phelps and

Ryan Lochte face-off later today, we're live at Rio for the Olympics, after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: The war of words between Russia and the Ukraine is heating up here, this reporting. It's ordering all its troops in the east to be on

the highest combat readiness in Moscow. Well, it's considering tighter security in Crimea and conducting naval exercises in the Black Sea.

Matthew Chance has more for us, now from Moscow. And, Matthew, tensions brewing yet again between Ukraine and Russia, what has led this time to

arise in tensions between both?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, well this all stems from in instant that the Russians say took place over the

weekend. Two incursions they say of Ukrainian Special Forces or Ukrainian agents into Crimea with the intention of carrying out a tax against

infrastructure inside the Crimean Peninsula which of course annexed by Russia from Ukraine a couple of years ago.

Russian television has shown pictures of some equipment that was seized, the explosive devices, and even one of the Ukrainian nationals who was

arrested. Russia also says that two of its service personnel, a military officer and somebody belonging to the FSP, that some of the success that

organization to the KGB was killed as they tried to repel these incursions.

Vladimir Putin is convened, his security council, his close buddy and security advisers here in Moscow has promised to enact special measures, to

adopt special measures and to increase the security on the Crimean Peninsula.

As he just said, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called this insanity, he's called it preposterous to do any kind of incursions. And

he's, at the same time, said it's a pretext, the possible military action by Russia against Ukraine response for that.

He's put his military forces in the region on the highest state of alert. And so, there is a great deal of tension, it has raised the possibility

there could a new phase of conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

But, it can also be about something else as well. We have read -- it's so difficult to read what exactly is going on right now. Details are very

sketchy and it's not entirely clear what is happening. But, clearly, tensions are rising, it could be the precursor for a renewal of fighting.

But it could also be the Russians trying to raise the profile of these conflicts, to add more pressure in these conflicts, ahead of any potential

negotiated settlements. And so you know, it's a very, you know, opaque situation on the ground at the moment.

SOARES: Yeah, there like you're saying, Matthew, in many ways to read it, one of the ways is being read by some is that perhaps it's being used or is

being engineered, some may say, to scuffle the peace process in Ukraine. We've already seen more than 9,000 people reportedly killed in the past few

years, what -- and yet we've got no resolution. What can Europe and U.S. do here? What kind of pressure can they put here?

CHANCE: Well, it's difficult to say, of course Russia is already under sanctions from the United States and from the European Union because of its

involvement in Ukraine. It's fighting in Eastern Ukraine or it support the rebels there, and, of course, its annexation of Crimea.

I mean, the analysis that I've seen as well is not so much to scuffle all negotiations on the future of Eastern Ukraine and on that region, but more

to kind of change them so that the Russians can get better settlement. I mean, after all, what they really want is, first of all, to keep Crimea,

that's not going the change. There's no way a negotiations are going to negotiate that way. But there won't be sanctions lifted. That if they can

be pressured there on the international community to get those sanctions lifted then that's what they'll try do.

SOARES: Matthew Chance there, helping us read between the lines. Thanks very much, Matthew.

Now, hot dry windy conditions across much of Europe, fueling some of the worst wildfires the continent has seen over 20 years, in fact.

This is the scene in Southern France in fact, it's near Marseille. Since the fire broke out thousands of people are being forced from their homes.

One firefighter said the flames are advancing at phenomenal speed, covering up to 2,500 meters per hour, 17 major wild forests also burning, part of

Spain and Portugal and as reported here on the show yesterday in island of Madeira.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

At the Rio Olympics, it's a clash of the titans in the pool. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will face-off in a 200-meter individual medley. And

Phelps could be on course for his 22nd gold medal, 22nd. Amanda Davies has the latest for now.

I mean, who does Phelps, when he would just blow one, right, Amanda. And here he is fighting for his 22nd. Let's talk about full action dramatic

not just a man but also golden girl, Katie Ledecky.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great race to look forward to a little bit later on as you said. But last night,

Katie Ledecky shown, again, I tell you, Isa, if there's one person you want in your relay team in the pool it is Katie Ledecky. She helped USA from

not leading when she took over at the final leg of the 4x200 free stroke relay. She is basically powered through the water and helps her team to

that gold medal, her third of the game, fourth medal in total.

There was also a fantastic story from 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers, still in high school in Australia that came out of nowhere to take the gold in the

100-meter freestyle. Perhaps, he will be the star to look out for in the future.

But, two old timers really that we're focusing on later today, as you said, in the 200-meter the individual medley, two men who know each other, so, so

well, U.S. teammates Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps, they've been racing since 2004. It was Phelps who got the better of the yesterday's meeting.

He finished the fastest of the two. But afterwards, the pair, just to show you how well they get on, they did the interviews together afterwards.

Phelps was saying that they get the best out of each other.

It will be a fantastic story whichever way it goes. But you have to say, Michael Phelps already very much as the upper hand wins the medal when it

comes to that hard situation.

Ryan Lochte underwent this season at the photo, he decided to bleach his hair blonde for this Olympic games but had a bit of a shock there, didn't

realize that the chlorine turns it green. I'm sure his female teammates would have been able to give him better advice on that one.

SOARES: Maybe if he was in a pool, in a green pool, it wouldn't turn it green, Amanda, but that's another story. Let me ask you about the golden

moment for team G.B. and their diving the spot, the fact the water was in fact green.

DAVIES: Yeah, it was a fantastic performance for team G.B. In the men's three meter synchronized diving, two guys who very much were the underdogs

going into the event which China have dominated, they won 34 of 36 medals in recent times.

Chris Mears and Jack Laugher, they put on a superb performance despite that green water at the Maria Lenk diving center, which is still creating a lot

of the headlines here. It's now not just one swimming pool, Isa, but two that have been affected by this phenomenon that started people talking

about ghost busters or aliens invading.

We understand the organizers are saying that it's a problem with alkalinity, the pH of the water in the pool. They said there's not enough

chemicals in the water tanks. So apparently, that is a problem that is going to be solved pretty quickly from this point onwards. We understand

the athletes that the divers aren't going to be affected by it though it just doesn't look great and it makes quite difficult for us on television

to actually see what's going on.

SOARES: Oh, absolutely. Amanda Davies there for us in Copacabana region there. Thanks very much, Amanda.

Well, as Amanda was saying, everything is of Olympic proportions for Rio games including rodents crisscrossing the golf course, I kid you not.

Imagine seeing this when you're trying to hit your golf ball. It's a capybara, that's the world's largest rodent. This one was spotted near a

fair way during a practice round. And if you're thinking to chase it away with a clap, a capybara can weigh up 60 kilograms. We'll have much more

for this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back to the International Desk, I'm Isa Soares. Let me bring you up to date, the main news headlines we're following for you this

hour.

Four planes reportedly pounded the Syrian city of Aleppo despite a three- hour ceasefire. Russia declared a daily pause in the fighting to allow in food as well as other supplies. This figure you're looking at now is said

to show fighting earlier this week. Up to 300,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in Aleppo.

Ukraine is ordering its troops in the east to be in the highest level of combat readiness. The order comes as tensions escalate over Russia in the

next Crimea. Russian now says it will be increasing security in Crimea and holding naval exercises in the Black Sea.

Donald Trump is set to speak this hour in Florida, and we'll of course keep an eye on that what he says. We'll bring it to you live.

In a rally on Wednesday, Trump called President Barack Obama the founder of ISIS and Hillary Clinton the cofounder. That was a day after suggesting

gun rights activists produce something about at Clinton's presidency.

Now, Turkish media report President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had issued an ultimatum to Washington extradite and exile terror or risk damaging

relations.

Our Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon has more now from Istanbul. And Arwa, Turkey has until now made repeat to let you say,

diplomatic calls, for the U.S. extradites. Mr. Erdogan now that impatience seems to be running out. Tell us more what the Turkish president had to

say.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the relationship between Turkey and America and Turkey and Europe has really become fairly

icy, at least in the public sphere. We heard from President Erdogan who was addressing a massive rally in Ankara yesterday, telling the crowd that

the U.S. was going to have to eventually make a choice, either back the Fethullah Gulen terrorist coup movement or back a democratically-elected

government in Turkey.

From this country's perspective it's that simple. We have repeatedly heard from the President and other top Turkish officials likening the situation

to Turkey, for example, if for some reason Osama bin Laden had been within Turkish territory when the attacks on the Twin Towers had taken place. If

the U.S. had asked Turkey to extradite him, they would have done so immediately.

So, the government here really can't understand why it is that the U.S. is not fulfilling this request, especially when they say that they have

intelligence that Fethullah Gulen may be attempting to flee the United States and President Erdogan was also quick to emphasize during that speech

yesterday that they have sent over some 85 boxes packed with files of what they say is evidence of Fethullah Gulen, his movement, his supporters, past

activities in Turkey to try destabilize the government as well as some evidence pertaining to the most recent failed attempted coup. But this

most certainly has the potential to be very damaging when it comes to U.S.- Turkey relationship at a time when that would not only impact with countries but also the region, Isa.

SOARES: And in the meantime, what has the U.S. -- how has the U.S. responded to this ultimatum, Arwa?

DAMON: Well, they haven't come out and directly responded per se to this most recent ultimatum but they have been saying that they would be

reviewing the evidence that would have to go through the U.S. judicial procedures. It's not quite as simple as taking someone into custody and

then potentially extraditing them, but this is something that administration officials have been saying that they will be taking very

seriously. Most certainly, there is an awareness within the administration of how serious the repercussions of inactions and not eventually

extraditing Fethullah Gulen could possibly be.

When also one has to remember that the Turkish President and other senior officials have also been alluding to this notion that if the U.S. does not

comply with Turkey's request, well then, they're just as complicit in what took place as a perpetrators of the coup themselves. It's gotten so severe

that even top U.S. officials have had to come out and say look America had nothing to do with this attempted failed coup.

SOARES: Arwa Damon there for us in Istanbul. Thanks very much, Arwa.

I want to take you to Germany now where the government is proposing sweeping change to security laws in the wake of recent terror attacks.

But, in unveiling the proposals, the Interior Ministers seem to back away from a controversial ban on burqas, that's the head-to-toe covering worn by

some Muslim women.

Our Frederik Pleitgen covering that story for us and joins me now. And Fred, there was a long list of proposals, talks through them, and how

realistic some of those are, including the burqa ban?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, you're right, Isa. It certainly was a long list of proposals, and similar ones that would have been more radical like that so-

called burqa ban, that some conservative politicians are talking about here in Germany is not something but that was mentioned by the Interior

Minister.

He said, on the whole, what the German government wants to do is, it wants preserve the democratic freedom that this country has, it wants to preserve

its wealth and its culture towards especially the refugees that have come here over the past 18 months or so. But at the same time, it wants to

crack down hard on extremists and people who are plotting terrorism here in this country.

Some of the proposals are pretty straightforward and shouldn't really cause much of a stir here in this country. He was talking about more law

enforcement officials. He was talking about more power for law enforcement officials, a better equipment for law enforcement officials, not just for

cops on the streets, but also, for instance, technical measures to make sure that they could do better surveillance, for instance, on the internet.

Internet radicalization has been a very big topic here in Germany.

And then there's other measures that are probably set to stir some controversy. One of them is, for instance, the patient-doctor

confidentiality, which is a big topic generally here in Germany. But basically what the government wants to do is it wants to make it easier for

doctors to inform law enforcement authorities if they think one of their patients may be in danger of conducting radical activities or perhaps even

plotting some sort of terrorist attack.

Then there's measures like, for instance, they want people who have German citizenship but also citizenship of another country to lose their German

citizenship if they engage with a foreign terrorist organization. And the other thing, which is something that's been quite a discussion point here,

is they also wanted to make it easier to deport foreigners in this country who engage in radical activity.

So, really a broad array of topics that was brought forward against, some of them should be fairly easy for the German government to put in place,

but others will no doubt have a very controversial discussion. That's going to happen here, Isa.

SOARES: Fred Pleitgen there for us in Berlin at this hour. Thanks very much, Fred.

You are watching the International Desk. And just ahead, allegations that a tennis player was poisoned at Wimbledon, Scotland Yard, is investigating

we've been told, we'll have a live report with Alex Thomas. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Police here in the U.K. are looking into a claim that an 18-year- old tennis player was poisoned at Wimbledon. Gabriella Taylor was in the quarterfinals for the junior girls' competition when illness forced her to

withdraw. Now, her mother now says that she was poisoned.

World Sports, Alex Thomas joins me with the details. And Alex, these are very serious allegations, give us a bit of background to what happened to

Gabriella.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Actually the idea that an opponent could be forced out of the sporting events by one of her rivals does sounds like

something out a final. For the moment this is one of several options as to how Gabriella might have fallen ill put forward by her mother. In the

moment, there's nothing to back it up.

Gabriella Taylor is described as a promising teenage tennis player, rank 381 in the world. She had tried to qualify for the main draw Wimbledon but

was knocked out by experience by American Danya Taylor (ph). So, because he's only 18, she switched to the junior event, the girls' singles, and got

as far as the quarterfinals. But during her quarterfinal match, she fell ill, that's a withdraw.

And the first that go was just a virus but change it up in intensive care for several days because she contracts a rare form of bacteria what was

called leptospirosis and this is contracted by animals and it is very rare. And, particularly, the strain that she got, normally, you only have few

light symptoms with it but with her particular case, it could have cause organ failure and potentially death.

But her mother was quoted by the telegraph newspaper and they asked on Wednesday saying her daughter had come close to death and saying because

she so careful about what she eats and drinks, and the possible way she could have got this bacteria was if someone's handle with their drinks

bottles in her kit bags often left around the grounds at Wimbledon which have a tennis court that you're in.

SOARES: What's Wimbledon saying about this?

THOMAS: Wimbledon not really commenting. And I confirm that's as far as they're aware Gabriella didn't use any of occasion their services, so she

probably wouldn't have caught the bacteria off them. Scotland Yard metro police have opened an investigation although their duty bounds whenever

anyone complains. They have taken various things away for scientific sampling but haven't made the arrest yet.

SOARES: Let's go with what the mother is saying. The mother is saying allegations that she's been poisoned. What could someone gain by knocking

her out of competition with poison?

THOMAS: I think her mother's point is that because her daughter is playing particularly well and looking like she could, well, gone and win it,

although I thought there are other player in the draw that might have a burn of contention with that. But clearly, by knocking Gabriella Taylor

out, this seriously (ph) means that that would give her, who did it, more of a chance. But certainly, her mother wasn't -- made any names or making

any accusations about specific players.

SOARES: How competitive is it at that junior tennis level?

THOMAS: Oh, it's hugely competitive. I mean, that you hear a lot about pushy parent syndrome. And the rewards are very great when you get to the

top. So, there is a lot at stake but I certainly never heard of someone being poisoned deliberately on spot.

Speaking to some scientists, they say that particular form of bacteria were very hard to use as a poison. You can't build it in lab, for example.

SOARES: And very quickly, how is she doing?

THOMAS: She's better now, back in training, and hoping to climb up the rankings once more.

SOARES: Alex Thomas, thanks very much.

And before we go, they're lining up and storming in Czech Republic town for treat or sweet, as well as stinky, it's best described as stinky cheese ice

cream. It mixes a pungent local cheese called Tvaruzky with sugar to give customers call a superb salty-sweet dessert. The ice cream is proving so

popularly, in fact, its creator has applied to get the recipe patent.

Oh, I'm not sure about that, do on my cheese but I'm not sure if I can have as an ice cream.

And that does it here for us at the International Desk, I'm Isa Soares. I'll be back with over an hour there for more news but don't go anywhere.

World sport Amanda Davies is live from Rio, next.

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DAVIES: Hello, welcome along the World Sport live from Rio with me, Amanda Davies.

Normal service has been resumed here on day six. So, it's still a little bit windy but the sun is shining and the medals are being won. After

yesterday's cancellations at the Lagoa, the rowing medal races are well underway and big favors.

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond of New Zealand didn't disappoint. They successfully I defended their gold medal from London in the men pad.

They're regarded as one of the greatest rowing partnerships of all times. They haven't lost a race since they teamed up back in 2009.

Germany took gold in both the women's and men's quadruple skulls. The men crew finish their time for 6.7 minutes beating Australia to silver second.

Estonia took the bronze in that one. And women finish in just over 6.49 minutes ahead of the Netherlands.

So, this is how the medal favors (ph) return here on day six. The USA leading the way with 11 golds and 11 silvers, 32 in total. China in second

place with 10 golds, 23 medals overall. Australia now have 13 medals.

Well, that U.S. hopeful has been given a big boost by Katie Ledecky, the 19-year-old is celebrating gold once again of another busy night of -- at

the Aquatic Center. This time Ledecky helping the USA women's 4x200 free style relay team to victory. They were trailing Australia, when she took

over for anchor leg she powered through the water, making it look easy to claim gold number three for her for the game, medal number four in total.

Ledecky seriously impressed the full-time Olympic gold medalist former world record holding in the pool, Janet Evans

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET EVANS, 4-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I have no words for Katie Ledecky. She takes the 100 freestyle out and then she swam the 800

freestyle like it's 100 freestyle. She's incredible. So her swimming speaks for herself -- itself.

She's an amazing young woman. She understands her position. She understands the legacy she's creating. She carries herself very well.

She's such an ambassador for our sport and the entire movement. I am so proud of her and how she's swimming but importantly how she's carrying

herself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Some ways to go to match the whole of Michael Phelps. There he is preparing to go head-to-head with Ryan Lochte later. So, he's in the

finals of the 200-meter individual medley.

They've already had a taste of it, have been drawn in this strange heat, Phelps finishing ahead of his roommate and 12-time Olympic medalist Lochte

to remain on course for gold medal number 22. In the event he's won three straight games.

Now, the Aussies are welcoming a new hero from the pool and he's still at high school. 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers stunned the field in the men 100-

meter freestyle including his teammate, the world number one, Chalmers first Olympic gold in his first Olympic games. Chalmers becomes the first

Australian, hold on, the first, to win the event since 1968 and a comparison to Ian Thorpe have already started.

Incredible scenes to give you just some idea what that victory means to Australia or suddenly, to one little section in Australia. Check out the

faces of Immanuel College in Adelaide where Chalmers is still a student. Fabulous scene. You suspect there's going to be something of a big welcome

home party.

America's Lilly King fails in her quest to book her place in the final of a 200-meter breaststroke, finishing six out of seven in her semifinals. So

that means no final showdown against Yulia Efimova and what was being felt as the return of the cold war after king made it very clear she doesn't

think Efimova should be here after a previous drug suspension. Afterwards, King told CNN, "If I'm going to be a poster child for anything, I think

that's a good thing. For clean sport and being fair, for putting the work in and knowing that work wins. That is great for me."

Swimmers have been very vocal in the pool. It'll be interesting to see if that will continue into the athletic stadium this weekend. The Russian

athletes have enforced all being ban by one (ph) after decision body International Athletics Federation, all players to uphold their suspension.

I've been speaking to its president, Seb Coe about whether or not he still feels he made the right decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN COE, IAAP PRESIDENT: I've spent a lot of time talking to competitors in my sport, they feel very, very strongly about this, and that

is why in large part we have been so focused on doing what we did as an international federation. And it's not enough just to come back with warm

words and say well of course, we're not negotiable in this situation.

We need to be able to show them, through our actions, and not just simply our words. And that is what we will be judged on between the end of these

games and the sport forth will be judged between the end of these games, and the end of this year, and probably into the next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: The athletics, of course, gets underway tomorrow but lots underway here already today including the long-awaited return of golf.

Sergio Garcia tells us why he's getting into the Olympic spirit.

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DAVIES: Welcome back to another glorious day here in Rio. It's approaching lunch time, the sun is shining, definitely a day to be on the

beach. Otherwise, as they fix and there's plenty of gold medals up for grabs, 21 and 11 sports. Three of them have already gone as we've told

you.

And as you heard earlier, Michael Phelps in action in the 200 meters individual medley final a little bit later on. He can become the first

swimmer to win the same event of four straight game.

Katie Ledecky can also claim another gold.

Over at the gymnastics, Simone Biles next to become the first gymnast in two decades to win back to back world on Olympic all around gold. And the

first ever men's rugby sevens medals is in for Fiji very much a favorite to that one.

Big news, golf's first Olympic round in more than a century is underway as well. Well, but we know that with top players including Jason Day, Jordan

Spieth and Rory McIlroy haven't made the trip here to Rio for various reasons spicing calendar chaos also Zika.

For this year's British Open champion Henrik Stenson with masters, Danny Willett, Bubba Watson are here hoping to win the gold medal. And same

Sergio Garcia is also one of the contenders. He told Christina MacFarlane why he's thrilled to be part of the Olympic experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGIO GARCIA, GOLF OLYMPICS SPAIN REPRESENTATIVE: It's just an unbelievable experience. I'm so happy that I decided to come and, you

know, I can't wait for the tournament to start. And hopefully I have a good shot at the -- a medal.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE: Yeah, what's it like for you because you play on the Fiji for week and week out with the same guys. But here, in a complete

melting pot with totally different sports and different cultures, what's that experience been much?

GARCIA: It's just amazing. It is very unique. We never get to do something like this where, you know, we stay in the village with all the

sports athletes and get to know them and see how many of them are actually golf fans. And, yeah, it's unbelievable.

So, it's just a kind -- it's the kind of experience that you have to go through if you have a chance and, you know, I couldn't be happier to be

here.

MACFARLANE: Many of your colleague golfers, you know, pulled out to this golf Olympics event, having concerns with the Zika virus. Do you felt that

you weren't completely happy but it was important for you to be here? Now that you've been here for a few days, have those concerns over the Zika

virus eased at all?

GARCIA: Yes. I mean, I'm here, I'm not worried, I've no worry. I mean, I'm not worried about it. Whatever happens is going to happen. I'm

hopeful and hopefully that I don't get it, but if I do, I'll just get it treated and it's simple as that. But the most important thing for me is a

lot we talked about, to be here, to experience this whole Olympic experience, redundant, but it is what it is. And, you know, just enjoy as

much as possible, because I don't know if I'm going to have another chance of being an Olympian. And, you know, it's a dream come true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Well, I like golf, cycling is a sport where professionals take part in the Olympics. So while golf has had so many of its top players

turn down the opportunity, for cycling it does remain one of the highlights of the calendar.

And Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, seven-time Tour de France stage winner. He took gold in yesterday's time trial. Only earlier, this is how

proud he is claiming the second gold of his career in his final year of racing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FABIAN CANCELLARA, 2016 OLYMPIC MEN'S TIME TRIAL GOLD MEDALIST: I had, like a plan and the plan went and paid everything off. And, I mean, yeah,

just super happy because even, yeah, you win ahead of Chris Froomem the Tour de France champion and then Tom Dumoulin he won the big time trial

lately, and then, yeah. I mean, in the last Olympic Games coming home or getting home with the gold medal, that's pretty big.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Well the road race cycling is over for the games, but plenty more action to come in the Vala Drive (ph), that will kick off today. But that

is it for me and the team for this edition of World Sport. I'm Amanda Davis in Rio. Thanks for watching.

"CONNECT THE WORLD" with Jonathan Mann is next. Goodbye.

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