Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Republican Defections Endanger Health Care Bill; Colombian Tourist Boat Sinks; 60 U.K. Apartment Buildings Fail Fire Safety Checks; Trump Slams Obama over Russia Election Meddling; Fighting Resumes in Philippines After Eid Ceasefire; Takata Auto Parts Files for Bankruptcy Following Airbag Scandal. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 26, 2017 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's the grand old divide. Republican senators asking the party's leadership to delay the vote on the bill to replace ObamaCare.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In Colombia, at least six people have died after a packed ferry sank. We'll have a live report from that region.

HOWELL (voice-over): And ahead, a CNN exclusive, an interview with a former jihadi who fought for ISIS in Asia.

CHURCH (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

HOWELL (voice-over): And I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOWELL: Good day to you around the world.

Fair to say it is a crucial week for health care in the United States; on the line, insurance coverage for millions of Americans. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is hoping to make good on a major campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, dubbed ObamaCare.

Republican leaders are aiming to hold a vote on the new health care legislation this week. But the Senate bill in its current form does not appear to have enough votes to pass.

CHURCH: So President Trump is working the phones; he's trying to convince reluctant Republican senators to change their minds. Listen to how the Trump administration is defending the Senate plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plan that we have, would put in place, would not allow individuals to fall through the cracks. We would not pull the rug out from under anybody, we would not have individuals lose coverage that they want for themselves and for their family. We want to make certain that health care is available to all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: As early as Monday, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to give its analysis of how many people will lose coverage under the new plan. Our Athena Jones has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. It's shaping up to be another monumental week in the Republican effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell determined to hold a vote on the Senate's version of the repeal bill this week.

The problem is that, at least right now, there are enough Republican senators who have expressed opposition to this bill to effectively kill it. Several others have expressed concerns about the bill.

Conservatives fear that it does not go far enough to undo ObamaCare. Meanwhile, more moderate senators feel it might leave the most needy Americans behind.

Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, is particularly concerned about the cuts to Medicaid proposed in this bill. But the White House is arguing that the changes to that program should not be viewed as cuts.

Watch what Senator Collins and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway had to say about this on ABC's "This Week."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-MAINE), MEMBER, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It's certainly going to be very difficult. For my part, I'm very concerned about the cost of insurance for older people with serious chronic illnesses and the impact of the Medicaid cuts on our state governments, the most vulnerable people in our society, and health care providers, such as our rural hospitals and nursing home, most of whom are very dependent on the Medicaid program.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP COUNSELOR: These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars, because they're closest to the people in need. Medicaid imperative, its founding was meant to help the poor, the sick, the needy, the disabled, children, some elderly, women, particularly pregnant women. We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kelly -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard Conway arguing that stopping the expansion of Medicaid, which was allowed under ObamaCare, and then putting a cap on the amount of money states will get for the program in the future is not the same thing as cutting it.

Of course, Senator Collins and several other moderate GOP senators and governors disagree. I should mention that the Congressional Budget Office, which scored an earlier version of the bill, the House version, which had similar changes to Medicaid, found that it would amount to more than $800 billion in cuts.

Now we do expect we could get the CBO's score of this latest version of the bill as soon as tomorrow, as soon as Monday. And that will go a long way to letting senators know what the cost of the bill will be, what its impact will be on the deficit and, of course, how it will affect the American public, how many people stand to potentially lose insurance coverage.

President Trump himself has been hitting the phones. He has spoken with senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul to try to win them, to get this bill across the finish line.

[02:05:00]

JONES: But Senate whip John Cornyn has acknowledged that it's going to be close. So there's a lot to watch out for this week. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thanks so much for that.

Meantime, the president is trying to shift the focus of the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in last year's election.

HOWELL: Mr. Trump pointing the finger now at his former challenger in the U.S. election and the man who held the job before him, as CNN's Ryan Nobles reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump spent a lot of time during the campaign and after his election attempting to downplay Russia's role intervening in the 2016 election.

But now after this report in "The Washington Post" that details Obama administration's response to the intelligence community's assessment, he seems willing to admit Russia's efforts as long as he can blame President Obama for not doing enough.

But former Obama officials argue that the then president found out about the problem too late to stop the impact of Russia's efforts. He was also concerned that intervening too much would have had a dramatic political ramification, perhaps giving the impression that Obama was working to help Hillary Clinton's campaign.

But one former administration official concedes in "The Post" report that they could have done more. On "STATE OF THE UNION," Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and a Ranking Member on the Intelligence Committee, agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CALIF.), MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The American people needed to know and I didn't think it was enough to tell them after the election but rather, given the seriousness of this, I think the administration needed to call out Russia earlier and needed to act to deter and punish Russia earlier.

And I think that was a very serious mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Now Schiff did go on to say that even though Obama could have and maybe should have done more, that doesn't change the fact that candidate Trump was part of the problem, egging WikiLeaks and even Russia on, telling them in speeches to reveal more about hacked DNC e- mails and e-mails from Hillary Clinton's private server.

Well, now it appears that Trump is using Obama's inaction to deflect from the investigation into his campaign's possible collusion with Russia, which he has denied.

Now yesterday morning, Trump tweeting, quote, "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Democratic Party in order to beat crazy Bernie Sanders.

"Is she allowed to so collude?

"Unfair to Bernie."

Now during the campaign, Trump made this claim based on some of the hacked emails that were revealed in the WikiLeaks dump of the Democratic National Committee, which showed some officials favoring Clinton's campaign during the primary season.

This all comes at a time where special counsel Robert Mueller continues his investigation and at least three different congressional committees continue their probe into Russia's role in the 2016 election -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Ryan, thanks for the report.

An important meeting later ahead Monday for the president, set to meet with the prime minister of India for the very first time. Those talks could be strained over several issues. Here's why.

The president wants to reduce America's trade deficit and, currently, there's a $24 billion trade imbalance with India. CHURCH: Mr. Trump has also been critical of the popular H-1B work visa, about 71 percent of those visas go to tech workers from India. And now that the U.S. has withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, India is looking to take a leadership role on global warming issues.

HOWELL: A big meeting ahead Monday, a lot to talk about. Let's bring Nikhil Kumar from "Time" magazine, live this hour in Delhi.

It's good to have you with us. First, let's break these issues down --

NIKHIL KUMAR, "TIME": Thank you.

HOWELL: -- the first one, the work visa, specifically, the H-1B, which for Indians, are top beneficiaries in the United States in the tech industry.

But the U.S. president says the program replaces Americans with cheap foreign workers.

KUMAR: Absolutely. So there is this -- they're divided over this issue inasmuch as India wants -- for Indian tech companies, that program is very important because the U.S. market is very important for them.

President Trump, as you say, is reviewing the program and that makes Indian companies very nervous. It's really part of a larger issue, which I think, Mr. Modi, when he meets President Trump, is going to try and find some common ground, which is, how do you convince, from India's point of view how do you convince the new U.S. administration India's rise is in America's interest?

You've got President Trump articulating the America first mantra and you've got Prime Minister Modi, whose stated goal is to try and grow India's economy.

And then how do you make that work together?

So Mr. Modi is going to try and say things like, look, India's rise benefits the U.S. and when American companies invest in India, that strengthens then. Indian tech workers, when they come to the U.S., that benefits the U.S. economy.

So it's a very important issue. It's a very important issue.

HOWELL: But again, the question comes down to, can the slogan, "make America great again" and "make in India," can those two slogans be squared together?

[02:10:00]

KUMAR: Absolutely. Squaring them is really the purpose of this trip or trying to square them. As you said, they've spoken on the phone but Prime Minister Modi hasn't met President Trump yet. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two of them. And you'll notice that this is a much shorter trip than his previous

visit to the U.S. after he became prime minister. The first one in fact -- when he came to New York as well and he had this massive rally with the Indian community at Madison Square Garden. There was a joint address with a joint session of Congress.

On one of his subsequent trips, this one is just two days and that's because they're focusing very much on trying to work out what the Trump administration wants to do with what has become an increasingly important bilateral relationship over the last few decades and one in which India seeks continuity.

They want continuity from the Bush years, from the Obama years. They're not sure what they're going to get. They're going to try and get that continuity.

HOWELL: We appreciate your time today, Nikhil Kumar, live for us in Delhi. Thank you.

CHURCH: Back to the health care debate in the United States. While senators consider the Republican bill, coverage for millions of Americans is on the line.

Ethan is one of them. He was born with a rare genetic disorder in which some organs form on the wrong side of the body. His mother, Alison Chandra, tweeted her son's latest hospital bill and it went viral.

She wrote -- and I'm quoting here -- "It seems fitting that with the Trumpcare debate raging, I got this bill in the mail today from Ethan's most recent open heart surgery."

She says without insurance, they would owe about $231,000 for about two weeks in the hospital. The Senate bill could allow insurers to cover fewer services for people with preexisting conditions like Alison's son, who is now three years old. And she is begging lawmakers to consider the fate of children like Ethan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON CHANDRA, ETHAN'S MOTHER: Anyone can look a 2-year-old child in the face and say I think that you're not worth it. But what they're doing with these bills, what they're doing with a lifetime cap is saying you have -- you've used up enough resources. I'm sorry that you were born sick. I'm sorry that your mother chose life for you and you were born sick.

But now that life is not worth saving anymore. You can't be -- you can't call yourself pro-life if you're not willing to be part of a system that protects the most vulnerable, protects life from birth to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was Alison Chandra, speaking to CNN's "NEW DAY" earlier. One of the most talked about provisions in the Senate health bill, the defunding of Planned Parenthood for one year. That could be a sticking point for at least two senators, Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. They say they will introduce an amendment to take that out.

HOWELL: CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen looks at how the funding cut could impact one mother in the U.S. state of California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANA GONZALEZ, PLANNED PARENTHOOD PATIENT: Daddy's home.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After suffering infertility and three miscarriages, Ariana and Kevin Gonzalez were thrilled when Ariana became pregnant with daughter, Bailey. But they were worried, too.

GONZALEZ: We needed to make sure that this pregnancy was going to stick and it was going to be healthy. And in order to do that, off to Mexico we went.

COHEN (voice-over): That's right, off to Mexico. That's because the Gonzalezes live in El Centro, California, in a county federally designated as a medically underserved area. Ariana has health insurance through her job as a high school teacher.

But there simply aren't enough doctors to go around and so she was going to have to wait six weeks to see her obstetrician. That's why Ariana was relieved when a Planned Parenthood clinic opened in her town, filling the void.

But now she's worried all over again...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes are 217; the nays are 213.

COHEN (voice-over): -- because the American Health Care Act passed recently by the House of Representatives defunds Planned Parenthood. The new Senate proposal would do the same. That could force her clinic to close where she gets birth control and gynecological care. And if it closed, she'd be right back where she started.

COHEN: If your clinic closes down, you would leave your country to go get care?

GONZALEZ: Yes. And I know people might be thinking, you know, that's a little bit drastic. And it is.

COHEN (voice-over): She doesn't want to leave her country to see a doctor and face this long line at the border. But right here, on the border in Mexico, there are plenty of doctors ready and waiting to see Americans.

Republicans say Ariana shouldn't worry. She'll have ready access to care in the United States because while the health care bill takes money away from Planned Parenthood, it provides $422 million to beef up federal health centers, like this one in her town that don't provide abortions.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: For every Planned Parenthood, there are --

[02:15:00]

RYAN: -- 20 federal community health centers that are vastly bigger in network, there are so many more of them and they provide these kinds of services without all the controversy surrounding this issue.

COHEN (voice-over): But many experts say community health clinics can't fill the void that would be left by Planned Parenthood closures, that they simply don't have the capacity.

So now Ariana has a message to senators before they follow the House and vote to defund Planned Parenthood.

GONZALEZ: If their doors are shut, you'll be driving your own constituents to an entirely different country in search of health care. And that's not America.

COHEN (voice-over): She says she hopes and prays that senators won't send her away from her own country to see a doctor.

GONZALEZ: I think it's shameful and I think that they should be embarrassed.

COHEN (voice-over): Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, El Centro, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A huge issue in the United States and front and center.

HOWELL: Controversial indeed.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, six people have died and more than 30 others are missing after a packed tourist boat sank in a reservoir. We will have the latest from Colombia.

HOWELL: Plus, we want to tell you about these wildfires raging across Southern Spain, forcing hundreds of people out of their homes and now a popular national park is being threatened by the flames.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00] (MUSIC PLAYING)

HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. A story we've been following in Northwest Colombia, at least six people there have died after a tourist boat sank in a reservoir. More than 30 others are said to be missing.

The boat was carrying 150 people near a popular tourist town.

CHURCH: It tilted from side to side before the lower deck started taking on water. One survivor says there were no life vests on board. And journalist Rafael Poveda is in the Colombian capital, Bogota, and joins me now on the line.

Rafael, what more are you learning how this tragedy unfolded?

RAFAEL POVEDA, TELEVISIONRPTV: Rosemary and George, Colombian authorities fear that the death toll could rise since at least 28 people have been reported missing and the first two floors of the vessel packed with passengers were the first to sink.

According to witnesses, the boat carrying at least 150 tourists sank in about 10 minutes. (INAUDIBLE) several boats that were on the Guatape reservoir got quickly to the scene and helped in the rescue.

Guatape is a beautiful is a manmade lake that fills with tourists on long weekends like this one, since on Monday, today, is the Sacred Heart of Jesus holiday. Several passengers on the El Almirante or The Admiral, the name of the boat, have stated that they were not given life vests when they got into the vessel.

A few hours after the accident, President Juan Manuel Santos arrived in Guatape to personally assess the situation. Some people who witnessed the tragedy from the nearby shore say that the boat appeared to be overloaded. But President Santos that he was sailing well below capacity. Authorities do not know exactly how many passengers were in the vessel because they didn't have a passengers list.

There are some versions that the same boat that sunk today, three months ago was sunk when it tried -- it was tied in the dock and the owner fixed it and kept it working normally.

Now, Rosemary and George, here it's past 1 o'clock in the morning, so we still have four more hours to go before we get the sun and the sun comes up in Guatape.

CHURCH: Rafael Poveda, reporting there from Bogota -- and it is a shock to learn that apparently there were no life jackets on board. We will wait to hear more answers to all these questions in the hours and days ahead. Many thanks.

HOWELL: In Southern Spain, hundreds of people have been forced to leave their homes, to evacuate campsites and hotels all due to major wildfires that playing out in the region there. Strong winds making it hard for firefighters to get control of the fire, though some residents have been allowed to return to their homes. CHURCH: The fires are also threatening the Donana National Park, a wildlife reserve, that's home to many endangered species.

And a huge wildfire in the western U.S. has spread to more than 42,000 acres or 17,000 hectares. More than 1,000 firefighters are battling the fire in Utah, which is only about 10 percent contained right now.

HOWELL: Hundreds of people have been evacuated. Several major roads there are closed. At least 13 homes and several other buildings have been destroyed.

In China, journalists and rescue workers have been evacuated from the scene of Saturday's landslide. State media reports that there's the risk of another landslide at that site, where more than 90 people are missing.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[02:25:00]

CHURCH: The death toll from an oil tanker explosion In Eastern Pakistan has risen to 153 people. The blast happened Sunday morning in the town of Bahawalpur.

HOWELL: Dozens of people were injured when the tanker truck went off the road, veered off the road, and then it exploded. This after villagers had come together. They gathered to collect the spilled fuel. Pakistan's prime minister plans to visit the site of that explosion Monday.

CHURCH: All of the apartment buildings tested in the United Kingdom since the Grenfell Tower disaster have failed fire safety checks. Coming up next, we'll take you to a London tower where residents were forced to evacuate.

HOWELL: And a shift in the U.S. president's position on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Coming up, the view from Russia.

We are live on the air in the United States and around the world this hour. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:49] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rosemary Church.

We do want to update you on the main stories we've been following this hour.

(HEADLINES)

CHURCH: All 60 apartment buildings tested in the U.K. since the Grenfell Tower fire have failed fire safety checks. At least 4,000 people have been evacuated from tower blocks deemed unsafe. Authorities say those refusing to go must leave. 600 buildings have been tested across the country for potentially dangerous siding.

HOWELL: A great deal of concern over this issue.

Let's bring in CNN International correspondent, Ian Lee, live in London, from one of the buildings evacuated there.

This high-rise issue, Ian, high rises that railed the safety test seems to be growing and growing and the outrage growing as well, as people are being forced to leave their homes.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, George. There is 100 percent failure rate on buildings that have been tested with this cladding. 600 buildings that are going to be tested, so far, 60 that have been tested in Camden Council, here, where I'm at, there are five of these buildings, include thing one behind me. Four of them have been evacuated. One hasn't. Fire marshals believe it doesn't have a severe risk. They have a warden that's keeping an eye on it 24 hours a day. They also have emergency services close by.

People are angry, though, because they have been evacuated and this is going to cost the government millions of pounds to fix.

HOWELL: Ian, what about residents who don't want to leave? Certainly, are they given the opportunity to stay or just forced to leave no matter what?

LEE: Residents are told that they have to get out of their -- out of these buildings, because this potential fire risk is so high. But there's also other buildings, George. You have hospitals, schools, shopping centers with this kind of cladding on them.

The National Health Service, as well as the Department of Education, ordered administrators to take a look at these buildings, figure out if they have this cladding, and assess it.

But this is a problem that isn't just for these residents. It's systemic, it's across the country. They're just scratching the surface.

HOWELL: Schools and hospitals, that could also be an issue. Does it go beyond the country? This is certainly a big deal. Officials are looking into it.

Ian Lee, live for us in London. Thank you for the reporting there.

CHURCH: Well, as we mentioned earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump is blaming his predecessor for not doing anything to stop Russian meddling in the U.S. election. This, after the "Washington Post" quoted an Obama official saying they "choked" in response to Kremlin interference.

Over the weekend, President Trump tweeted, "Former President Barack Obama failed to act." And said this in an interview that aired Sunday on FOX News. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I just heard today for the first time that Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it. But nobody wants to talk about that. The CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before they even -- you know, before the election. And I hardly see it. It's an amazing thing to me. You know, in other words, the question is, if he had the information, why didn't he do something about it? He should have done something about it. But you don't read that. It's quite sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:22] CHURCH: For more on this, our contributor and former Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, joins us from Moscow.

So, Jill, Trump has acknowledged that Russia did interfere in the 2016 presidential election, but he's trying to blame Barack Obama for Kremlin interference. Is that likely to get any traction and change the focus of this story, do you think?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think among the people who support him, they probably would take his view. His view is rather simple. If you analyze it. What he's saying, Obama knew, he didn't do anything about it. But actually, the truth is much more complicated. Obama knew, but these things were incremental. In the beginning, the whole picture wasn't really clear, the scope of this operation. Then the information about the complicity of President Putin. And then what you do about it. So actually, Obama did do something. The debate is, did he do enough? He warned Vladimir Putin personally. He took steps by having sanctions. And then, also interestingly, in that "Washington Post" report, they talk about these cyber implants. In essence, kind of cyber weapons that were to be, according to a plan that Obama approved, inserted into the infrastructure, the network of Russia, to be used by a president, if they wanted to get back at Russia at some other time. I think that's an interesting point.

Now, shifting focus to right now, will President Trump decide to use that, to continue that program and potentially use it as a threat? That's really unknown. The drama of all of this, Rosemary, is you have both men, Putin and Trump, about to meet, we think, unless something happens, but about to meet at the G-20 in Germany in just a couple of weeks. It's July 7, 8. And we don't know whether they're going to meet or whether they'll talk about any of this.

CHURCH: Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens there. So how is all of this playing out across Russia right now?

DOUGHERTY: You know, when we talk with Russian officials, there's a certain sense of frustration. They feel that they've been inundated with questioning for months and months and months. They claim, as President Putin said many times, we didn't do anything. We did not interfere. Their view is, that the United States interferes in Russia. So what they're doing is they are not engaging in the substance of this debate or the reporting. What they're saying is, you know, you do it, and so -- we do not. That's essentially what they're doing.

Meanwhile, there's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. You do have preparation for this -- the G-20 meeting. You have issues of nuclear agreements that are now out there, like in the U.S. Congress, trying to -- or some people supporting pulling out of one agreement, the INF Treaty. There's a lot on the table, and a lot not being done quite honestly between the two countries that really needs to be done.

CHURCH: Jill Dougherty, bringing us perspective from Moscow. Many thanks to you.

HOWELL: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPODNENT (voice-over): ISIS fighters battling street to street.

(GUNFIRE)

WATSON: Not in the Middle East but, for the first time, in Southeast Asia.

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: That's right. Ahead, details on the terror group's new battle front, in the Philippines.

[02:39:14] CHURCH: Plus, the company behind a deadly airbag scandal files for bankruptcy. What lies in store for Takata? We'll take a look at that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: ISIS is losing territory in Iraq and Syria, but militants linked to the group are making a name for themselves in the Philippines. They've spent the last month battling troops on an assault in a major city.

Let's bring in CNN International correspondent, Ivan Watson, who is live in Hong Kong.

So, Ivan, we're seeing the militant group lose ground in the Middle East, but is in the Philippines becoming a magnet for extremism.

WATSON: That's right. This was an audacious move by a coalition of local Islamist groups, violent groups that had united within the last two years under the umbrella of ISIS and the ideology of ISIS. They carried out an operation on May 23rd that took the government and the security forces completely by surprise, capturing most of the city of Marawi. The battle to try to retake Marawi has gone on for more than a month. It's led to the loss of scores of military lives, as well as civilians. There was a brief respite on Sunday for the end of Ramadan, when the

military announced an eight-hour cease-fire. But, otherwise, the fighting has resumed.

What is clear that this ISIS in the Philippines militant group, they're trying to capture territory, George, to declare Sharia Law and become a province of ISIS inside Southeast Asia, essentially, to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

WATSON (voice-over): ISIS fighters battling street to street.

(GUNFIRE)

WATSON: Not in the Middle East but, for the first time, in Southeast Asia.

(GUNFIRE)

WATSON: On May 23rd, these extremists launched a sudden lightning assault on the city of Marawi in the Philippines. They captured the city and government weapons, burned a church, and murdered prisoners.

For months, the Philippine's military has struggled and failed to recapture the city, even though they bomb it daily from the sky.

(GUNFIRE)

WATSON: The government has also declared martial law here, setting up checkpoints across the island.

(on camera): The security forces are on the hunt. They're looking for dozens of suspected ISIS militants. And they're also searching for prisoners who escaped from a jail that ISIS broke open during the first days of their attack.

(GUNFIRE)

[02:45:09] WATSON (voice-over): The capture of Marawi, a deadly coming out party for ISIS in this part of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has changed the picture of extremism in Southeast Asia. We need to be more worried that people with combat experience and leadership skills will be developing close to home, not in Syria and Iraq.

(SINGING)

WATSON: ISIS in the Philippines is a coalition of many Islamist insurgent groups that have long plagued this country.

(SHOUTING)

WATSON: But they've united for the very first time under the leadership of this man, Ispilan Hapalan (ph).

(on camera): Tell me about him, what kind of a man is Hapalan (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hapalan (ph) is very bold fighter.

WATSON (voice-over): This man is a former Islamist militant. Before renouncing violence and joining witness protection, he spent years in the jungle fighting alongside the man now leading ISIS in the Philippines.

(on camera): Do you think he enjoy killing people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. When I spoke to him many years ago, he always think that killing non-Muslims satisfies Allah, makes Allah happy, and I was shocked.

WATSON (voice-over): In the month-long battle in Marawi, ISIS have killed scores of Philippine soldiers and wounded hundreds more.

(GUNFIRE)

WATSON: The fighting has also triggered a humanitarian crisis. More than 330,000 people have fled their homes and hundreds of civilians are believed to be trapped in the conflict zone.

Amid this suffering and destruction, ISIS have accomplished one clear goal, announcing their deadly presence in this part of the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Now, over the weekend, George, a number of Muslim religious leaders tried to negotiate with the militants to get an unspecified number of hostage civilians released. The military believes some of the key leaders of the movement may have slipped away in recent days -- George?

HOWELL: Fair to say this is a wakeup call for many other nations around, given what's happened there.

Our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, live for us in Hong Kong. Ivan, thank you for the reporting.

Moving along now, in Hong Kong, people there are staging protests in the days leading up to the 20th anniversary of its handover from British rule to Chinese rule. Demonstrators from three different groups covered the city's Golden Orchid Flower statue with a black cloth on Monday. The flower appears on the territory's flag.

CHURCH: Protesters say the cloth symbolizes Beijing's hardline rule. They also say China has not honored its promises. Police removed the cloth but did not arrest anyone.

Auto parts company, Takata, is filing for bankruptcy. The Japan-based firm never recovered from a deadly airbag scandal. Its inflaters were found to shoot shrapnel into drivers and passengers and were blamed for 11 deaths in the U.S. For more, Will Ripley joins me from Tokyo.

So, Will, given the history of the company, it's filing for bankruptcy comes as little surprise to most of us. But what will be the ramifications of this? And what happens to the company now?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What this deal accomplishes, Rosemary -- and you're right, it's not a surprise. This is a deal that's been in the works for more than a year now. Takata will sell its manufacturing operations, the bulk of its businesses for just over $1.5 billion to a rival based in Detroit in the United States. This will allow, in theory, most of Takata's employees to continue working. They will still have jobs. There are 60,000 people working for Takata in 23 countries. It will keep factories open so they can continue producing these replacement airbag inflaters. There is up to 100 million of these units that need to be replaced around the world. Only about a third have been replace so far. So they need to keep producing these replacement inflaters.

But it doesn't help the automakers who have had to take huge hits as a result of this. Honda, Toyota, BMW, to name a few, are still suing Takata for billions in losses. This bankruptcy deal makes it seem unlikely they'll get the bulk of that money back. But the key priority is just to get these units replaced. There are still tens of millions of dollars being driven around the world that are potentially at risk here.

CHURCH: That is the big part of this story.

Will Ripley joining us from Tokyo, where it's nearly 4:00 in the afternoon. Many thanks to you.

[02:50:02] HOWELL: Still ahead, Rosemary, this next story makes me jittery. A shaking plane shaking for almost two hours over the Indian Ocean. Passengers tell us about the scary flight that rattled more than nerves. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A story that will unnerve all travelers. Passengers got quite a scare on a flight from Australia to Malaysia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ENGINE NOISE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: This AirAsia jet had an apparent engine issue and began shaking violently about an hour into the flight to Malaysia. Passengers said it felt like a washing machine. And it continued like that for almost two hours. HOWELL: The pilot asked the passengers to say a prayer as he took the

plane back to Australia. My goodness. And despite the bumpy ride, the plane thankfully landed safely. One passenger says everyone broke into applause and the pilot shook everyone's hand on the way out.

CHURCH: A lot of relief there as they hit the ground.

[02:55:02] HOWELL: Couldn't imagine it.

A teenager in New York had a scary ride of her own, the time, though, at an amusement park.

CHURCH: She was somehow dangling from a gondola ride, about 25 feet, almost eight meters off the ground, when the crowd below jumped into action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: My goodness. The teenager hit a tree limb on the way down. But the crowd caught her. She wasn't seriously injured. The ride was later inspected. Everything was found to be in proper working order.

CHURCH: In essence, she actually fell on people. But they told her, "Jump, we will save you."

I am Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell.

The news continues here on CNN right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:06] CHURCH: Casting doubt. Some Republican Senators are calling for more time to debate the party's controversial bill to replace Obamacare.