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Scott Morrison Chosen To Be Australian Prime Minister; WSJ: Tabloid Boss Gets Immunity In Hush Money Probe; Sessions Hits Back At Trump's Public Criticism. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 24, 2018 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:16] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. Ahead this hour a chaotic weekends with Australian politicians seeking a new prime minister. He will be the country's sixth leader in just over a decade. What's going on? We will talk about it.

Turning on Trump, one of the U.S. presidents oldest friends becomes the latest to flip on him. And trouble in paradise, the biggest hurricane to threaten Hawaii in decades. Blood streaks and triggers landslides, and it hasn't quite gotten there yet. We'll have the latest from Hawaii on that.

It's all ahead here at this hour. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Thanks again for joining us. Our breaking news this hour, Australia's Liberal Party has sacked its leader. Malcolm Turnbull, and chosen a new prime minister. This has happened in the past hour.

That man is Treasurer Scott Morrison, you see walking right there. He was elected a short time ago as leader of the Liberal Party by a slim vote 45 to 40. Defeating another challenger, former Home Affairs Minister, this man, Peter Dutton.

The upheaval began Tuesday when Dutton launched a failed bid now to take over from Turnbull. A short time ago, the outgoing Prime Minister addressed the turmoil of the past week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM TURNBULL, OUTGOING PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Look, I think you all know what's happened. There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and defenders are backed by voices -- powerful voices in the media, really to bring -- if not bring down the government, certainly bring down my prime ministership.

It was -- it was extraordinary. It was described as madness by many and I think it's difficult to describe it in any other way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: That was Mr. Turnbull just a short time ago. Let's talk more about this stunning development with journalist Rachel Baxendale, she joins us from Canberra. Rachel, at first, Mr. Turnbull was acting just kind of subdued and talking about his accomplishments that then he turned on what happened this week. What do you make of him calling it a determined insurgency that was part extraordinary and part madness, was it?

RACHEL BAXENDALE, JOURNALIST, THE AUSTRALIAN (via telephone): Well, yes, I am quite clear he's quite angry about what happened and I suppose as well he might be. He's sitting Prime Minister, 40 of his colleagues out of 85 today actually voted for the leadership not to be contested of the awake of leadership ructions and destabilization from conservatives who wanted Peter Dutton, his main rival for the leadership to be instated.

And Malcolm Turnbull, I suppose noting that it's actually Scott Morrison who he described as his loyal treasurer who has ended up winning and I suppose obviously, a bittersweet moment for Malcolm Turnbull. But I suppose he thought to highlight that today that these people had fought to oust him as Prime Minister and they certainly succeeded in that.

But their man, Peter Dutton has not won. He didn't get enough votes. And it is -- it is Scott Morrison who as we speak to him on his way to the Governor-General's House Government, House to be sworn in as Australia's 30th Prime Minister.

ALLEN: What do Australian think about what's going on? It has been years since a prime minister there in Australia has carried out their complete term. And what -- how will this affect where this country goes next? And we're looking right now through your full screen there, are the prime ministers that did not fulfill their term.

BAXENDALE: Yes, I think Australians are extremely frustrated with where we've ended up. I think, even some Liberal MPs, quite a few local MPs have been putting a voice to that frustration this week. We've had a number of MPs who've spoken out both in parliament and on social media, who said that they empathize with the Australian people who are pretty fed up with all of this.

We had one backbencher this morning who sent a letter to his constituents describing what was happening in Canberra's bloody or awful, is that allowed to use that word on the television?

[01:05:07] ALLEN: It's OK.

BAXENDALE: And it really is its cast of more than 10 years of prime ministers who haven't gone full term. I think I said on CNN yesterday on a certain one, I'm yet to -- voting is compulsory in Australia, of course, and I'm yet to vote for Prime Minister or get the opportunity to vote for Prime Minister who has run to full term.

That's the situation we find ourselves in, and that comes after a period onto someone of my generation during my childhood of comparative stability. Before that, we had John Howard in power 10 years.

So, if it had spikes on both sides, really labor, we had the Rudd- Gillard-Rudd years with Labor. And now we've had Abbott-Turnbull- Morrison. So, the chaos continues really. And I think, it plays into a situation where I mean, I think globally a lot of people are pretty set up it with politics but in Australia, recently it's become such a fact but people are tuning out, and are about as the more alliances they've ever been.

ALLEN: Right. Well, we have seen a lot of see changes in various countries around the world due to that very thing. And the issues -- one of the issues, big issues in Australia is migration. We've seen other countries tackling that in the world.

What about Scott Morrison? What could he bring to the table to try and smooth this out?

BAXENDALE: Well, very interesting question, both Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, know it was main contenders today have previously served these immigration ministers they're provided over Australia's very hard-line immigration policy.

Run on platforms of stopping the boats because, during the Labor governments, we had 1,200 people that they are attempting to reach Australia's shores by boats, 1,200 illegal immigrants. And we had detention centers full of tens of thousands of people who had tried to come here by a boat.

And -- but, we have seen a bit of differentiation -- I mean, from Scott Morrison attempting to differentiate himself from some of the more hardline conservatives in his party. There has been a bit of a debate in recent months over numbers of immigrants, and Scott Morrison, essentially, I suppose taking the treasury line, but -- you know, the economy needs a certain number of immigrants for us to work for it to keep running along smoothly. And supporting, maintaining numbers of inference where they are.

He's been attacked by a number of conservatives for taking that position. And interestingly, because he would want to fit it quite conservative himself than in many ways, so he is the one of the notable voices that has taken -- has been quite frustrated with Scott Morrison's view is.

Tony Abbott, our own former prime minister who was a very strong Peter Dutton supporter this week. And it will be interesting to see what positions Scott Morrison as now as Prime Minister takes on immigration, on whether he can manage to appease the Conservatives in his party or whether those ructions continue. Because certainly, they weren't very happy with these party's position on the Malcolm Turnbull.

ALLEN: We'll wait and see if we hear from the new Prime Minister Scott Morrison to maybe reveal some of that. What we thank you for your comments so much, Rachel Baxendale with The Australian. Thank you.

Well, now we turn to go from chaos in Australian politics to what would say some was saying is a chaotic week this far in Washington politics, the trouble surrounding President Trump. Our next story reads like something straight out of the American tabloid, The National Enquirer. Publisher flips on president in the tale of the porn star and the playmate. And it could be filled with salacious and damning new details about Donald Trump. For more now, here's CNN's Brynn Gingras in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another compound like cooperating with investigators, and this one's gaining immunity for doing so. The Wall Street Journal reporting David Pecker who runs the National Enquirer and is a longtime friend of Trump's worked with federal prosecutors in the Michael Cohen investigation and discussed the deals the two men brokered to quash bad press about the president prior to the 2016 election.

Details of Pecker's immunity deal coming out just hours after Trump complained to Fox News about people slipping.

[01:10:05] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything is wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail, and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go. It almost sort of be outlawed, it's not fair.

If you say bad things about somebody, in other words, makeup stories if you don't know. Makeup. They just make up lies.

GINGRAS: Pecker was subpoenaed by the feds in April, shortly after the raid of Michael Cohen's Home Office and hotel room. And like Cohen, Pecker reportedly told investigators, the president knew about payments made to two women who alleged affairs with Trump.

Pecker and Cohen's alliance is laid out in great detail in documents from Tuesday's court proceedings. And Pecker's testimony to investigators is supported by documents and audio recordings that seized from the raid according to the journal.

Court paper show investigators found one conversation regarding the payout to porn star Stormy Daniels on an encrypted phone app. Pecker tells Cohen, "We have to coordinate something on the matter attorney one is calling you about or it could look awfully bad for everyone.

This isn't the first time we're hearing about the deals the two men made and the fact the president knew. It's referenced on the tape released by Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis, last month.

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER LAWYER TO DONALD TRUMP: I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David. And also that I didn't do that right away. I'd actually come up and I've spoken -- and I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding.

TRUMP: So what do you got to pay for this, 150?

COHEN: Yes, and it's all the stuff -- all the stuff.

TRUMP: I was thinking about that.

COHEN: Because here, you never know where that company -- you never know what he's going to be --

TRUMP: Maybe he gets hit by a truck.

COHEN: Correct.

GINGRAS: Of course, Cohen is facing sentencing for his crimes in December. Now, we reached out to AMI for comment, but didn't hear back. Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Joining me now to talk about this from Los Angeles, talk radio host to Ethan Bearman and Joe Messina. Thank you so much guys being with us. Ethan, I'll start with you.

Two of the president's close friends now talking with prosecutors, his fixer Michael Cohen, his friend from the National Enquirer, and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, now a convicted felon. How do you characterize these developments?

ETHAN, BEARMAN, RADIO HOST, KGO-AM, SAN FRANCISCO: Well, I think this is damning. The walls are closing in on President Trump. I was in diapers at the Watergate investigation time. I have to imagine this is what the last weeks of Nixon were beginning to feel.

Like Michael Cohen pleaded guilty, David Pecker has just been granted immunity. You only grant immunity if there's a bigger fish to fry. There's only one bigger fish to fry with David Pecker, and that would be Donald Trump. That is a felony charge that we're talking about when you violate the federal election campaign laws.

And if it's a conspiracy or also guilty of a felony, this happened before he was president and we can think Bill Clinton and Paula Jones for setting a precedent that well, a crime you committed that before you were president can be heard while you're a sitting president. And plus, that's the impeachment process itself should handle that.

ALLEN: Impeachment process, other issues that are being brought up. Joe, what are your thoughts?

JOE MESSINA, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: My thoughts we are weren't in diapers when Watergate first came about. So, but if -- but as far as what's going on here, look at I -- again. I go back to what I've been saying all along is the fact that you know, were you flippers? What is really a flipper here?

You're facing 50 years in prison, 60 years, 70 years in prison. You may or may not have information, you know. Look what they did to Cohen when he walked out of the courthouse. They served them with more subpoenas. And they're going to keep the pressure on until they get or get what they want, or get the verbiage or information they want. You know, I mean, impeachment. We've been trying to impeach this president before we actually took the oath. So this is not going to give up anytime soon as the man gets another four years. We'll be talking impeachment, we'll be looking at -- you know, a hookers and others that may have had relationships with him for the next six years.

ALLEN: But Joe, what is flipper? A flipper is something that the president's own lawyer Rudy Giuliani used as a prosecutor, and he granted immunity, so how can the president stand there and say -- you know, flipping should be illegal?

MESSINA: Well, OK. I think, that more comes from a point of frustration than anything else. If you're -- I tell you, here's what I would say to you. If you truly have real information and you're going to put it out there, and we can verify it. Then, yes -- you know, grant them immunity what-have-you.

But if they get immunity and they really don't have real information to give, they put him in jail, pull the immunity. We've seen this happen too many times. We've seen this happen to the investigation of the last 10 years.

(CROSSTALK)

BEARMAN: This is -- this is the Southern Districts of New York, Joe. They're not going to give him immunity unless he has something real. And by the way, that's how prosecutors handle it. They make sure that what this person has.

In this case, David Pecker has is real before they offer him immunity. Prosecutors are very careful especially, in a high-profile case like this. Especially, in a top-rated group of attorneys like the Southern District of New York.

This is very, very serious we have taken a whole new turn. Look up until now, it's been all speculation, it's not anymore. Michael Cohen is guilty of a felony just like Dinesh D'Souza was, by the way.

And now, David Pecker apparently was in their crosshairs. That's a felony when you violate the federal election laws, and it's a conspiracy felony if Donald Trump was participating in this, working with them toward illegal ends. This is very, very serious now.

[01:15:26] MESSINA: I listen. I love your comment if and it's true. If it is, if we could prove he gave them instructions to do that, or if we could prove that he actually told him this is the way he wanted business handled.

BEARMAN: We just heard the tape though, Joe. So, we have enough evidence already and we have this record, and President Trump himself on the Fox News interview yesterday morning said, "Yes, well, you know I told him to do it, but it's not illegal." He's not the arbiter of what is illegal or what isn't.

In the executive branch, he can pardon and he can direct his Attorney General, and he can fire him. But he doesn't decide what is legal or not. That is up to a jury that is up to a judge.

ALLEN: Joe, your final comment on this topic, then we're going to move on.

MESSINA: Oh, I mean -- I mean, we've heard from other attorneys to that. What is illegal, what part of that is illegal? If he tells his attorney to take care of it, you know, get the -- get the situation handled and the attorney decides to pull money out of an account or pay them in an illegal way, how was the President or Mr. Trump at the time, how was he responsible for that? How was that illegal on his part?

ALLEN: I will leave it there. Moved to general -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions who is fighting back after the president said this in a Fox News interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Never took control of the Justice Department, and it's a sort of an incredible thing when everybody sees what's going on in the Justice Department, I always put justice now with quotes, "It's a very, very sad day, Jeff Sessions recused himself which he shouldn't have done or he should have told me." Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself, and then, you wouldn't have put him in.

He took the job and then he said, "I'm going to recuse myself." I said, "What kind of a man is this?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Sessions has long been a target of the President. On Thursday, he put out a statement that reads in part, this is sessions firing back here. "I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the president's agenda.

While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards and where they are not met, I take action."

Back to our panel, and Ethan on this. What is it about Jeff Sessions recusing himself that so gets under the president's skin?

BEARMAN: Well, he, of course, exclusively wants loyalty. He's not interested in the law or law and order like he claimed during the campaign, he wants loyalty. Here we have an attorney general, and I am no fan of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but I will say, he did the right thing today saying it shouldn't be led by political persuasion here, it should be influenced by politics.

And what's so interesting in all of this is President Trump at any time can fire the Attorney General who serves at the president's pleasure. If the president is so unhappy with the Attorney General, it's absolutely his right to fire him at any time. There is no reason he should be going on T.V. undermining him like this. It's his own Justice Department, it's his Attorney General. He assigned Rod Rosenstein, these are his people. So why would he say, "I put it in quotes, justice, it's terrible for the American people it's terrible for our system."

ALLEN: Yes, Joe, why doesn't he just fire Sessions?

MESSINA: Now, Ethan you're a very smart man, and I know that. And you know that if he fires Jeff Session, simply fires him, you're going to be screaming from the left. And you know, it's obstruction of justice, it's just retaliation and all of that. It would be a bad political movement.

As far as the law goes, you know, I mean, think about this too. He got -- he got -- and I'm going to say stuck with. He got stuck with Rosenstein, he got stuck with the people below Rosenstein. You know, when you talk about we go back to the dossier again.

Here's a guy you're all happy about Sessions recusing himself because he was part of the-- he was part of the Trump campaign. And you have Rosenstein, he's the one who drove the dossier, he's the one who approved the dossier.

Now, you've got him investigating whether that dossier is true and real and if the people around it should be investigated. You've got the investigator deciding whether he should be investigated for doing something wrong. It just makes no sense.

BEARMAN: That is quite the red herring. And remember, Rod Rosenstein was an appointee of Donald Trump, President Trump.

MESSINA: OK.

BEARMAN: Rod Rosenstein is a Republican appointed by Trump. The dossier is something totally separate. Remember that was George Papadopoulos that triggered the whole investigation in the first place. It was the Washington Free Beacon who funded the beginning of the dossier.

Christopher Steele is -- he was a well-respected member of the intelligence community from our close ally, Britain. He was the MI6. He was head to the Moscow Bureau. He had given evidence significantly in the past that has helped the FBI.

So, suddenly, without any evidence that the dossier is fake, everybody on the right wants to say it's fake. That's going down of a totally different path. Jeff Session serves at the pleasure of the president, if the president doesn't like him, he can get rid of him at any time.

[01:20:16] ALLEN: Final quick word from you, Joe?

MESSINA: OK. So, when the president gets more Senate seats in November, and more House seats, Sessions will be gone shortly thereafter.

BEARMAN: That's not fair.

ALLEN: All righty then, we will wait and see. All eyes are on the midterms, right? Ethan Bearman, Joe Messina, thank you so much. We appreciate you coming on debating this with us.

BEARMAN: Thanks, Natalie.

MESSINA: Thank you. Appreciate it.

ALLEN: Well. If you are looking to escape all the politics of Washington, it wouldn't be a good idea to go to Hawaii to do that just now. Hawaii is dealing the impact of Hurricane Lane. We'll look at how bad things have gotten, and how bad they could get ahead here.

Plus, Dublin gets ready for a visit from Pope Francis. Why there is a dark cloud of controversy over the trip? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: I want to take you now to Hawaii. We've got live video. Normally big waves draw surfers from around the world and right now surf is way up. But this is not anything to play in. Over the next few days, surfers definitely need to stay away.

Hurricane Lane is barreling toward the islands. These images from Surfline show Diamond Head Beach on Oahu. Lane has been downgraded to a Category 3, but it's still packing wind of more than 200 kilometers an hour. It has already triggered flash floods and landslides.

For now the state is preparing people and getting ready for the storm, CNN's Natasha Chen joins us from Kona on the Big Island. And you better wonder Hawaii rarely see the storm of this magnitude, and hopefully, the tourists are taking it seriously.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie they may not get a lot of hurricanes here, but the locals tell me they definitely remember previous tsunamis including one just a few years ago when this area where we're standing flooded and the businesses along the coast here had to renovate.

Tonight, what we're seeing is many businesses still staying open, a lot of those tourists actually going to those restaurants. But then you thought others who are playing it more safely by boarding up the windows on the floor level.

So, many people have heated government warnings today which is good. That includes stocking up on 14 days' worth of food and water. And that is because even though the heavy winds and rain from this system may only last four or five days if a port is damaged and needs to close, remember this is an island and things -- it will become very difficult for things to be imported here if the port is closed. So, they won't easily restock those shelves.

Now, people are also heating official's warnings to try and limit their travel because many of the roads especially on the east side of the Big Island from where we are have dealt with landslides, fallen trees, flash flood warnings.

So, it is very important that if people don't need to go out, that they just stay home and hunker down, Natalie.

[01:25:52] ALLEN: All right. We, thank you, Natasha, for us there. Ivan Cabrera joins us now. Our meteorologist and Ivan, yes, Hawaii hasn't seen this in so long, and we've already seen that video of the landslides and the flooding, and here it comes the Category 3.

IVAN CABRERA, CNN INTERNATIONAL WEATHER ANCHOR: River streams overflowing their banks, and because of the topography -- we're talking about the mountains here, right? All that rain has to go somewhere and it is going to go down the mountainside, down the foothills where a lot of people live and it's going to be I think a huge problem.

And probably, will be remembered for the rainfall not so much the wind. So, Natalie, let's talk about what was a monster Category 5 or now, down to a Category 3, still pretty potent storm here. But it notice it's lost its buzz saw look, right? We like that, that means the storm, at least, the center of its core weakening.

So, we're down to 195. Still formidable storm but we're not talking about the 250 kilometer per hour winds that we once had and we were never expecting that certainly for the islands.

There is the eye of the storm. I mean, that we can still clearly see it on radar. But notice two things, there's the eye, 400 kilometers away. And look at all the rainfall that has developed well to the east of the center of circulation.

So, people have been asking, what is it going to make landfall? Is it going to make landfall? Really that doesn't matter because it is going to skirt the islands even if these -- the center doesn't make a direct landfall.

Look at all the weather that's being impacted across the region here. We'll already had reports of a numerous flooding. We have a flash flood warning on the Big Island right now. They've received in Hilo, upwards of 300 millimeters of rainfall, likely going to be the wettest August ever on record. So, you get the idea.

Look at that curve, look at how slow it is. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and this thing is still hugging the island chain. And because that moisture extends so far away from the center, we're going to continue to see problems up with flooding. Take a look at the additional accumulation we're expecting deal with this flood threat. 300 is 600 millimeters of rainfall. This just happening within the next three days.

So, this is going to be a huge deal, and this is not just going to be a flood threat. And I think from the rain that's coming from the sky, but from the moisture that's going to be tapped in from the ocean, as well.

What we have going on is we have air rising. When air rises, it tends to squeeze out a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. Because of the islands here in Hawaii, because of the mountains, that air is just going to go up, it's going to form into clouds, and to form into rainfall.

And then, its come -- kind of come right down the mountainside as a result of what's going to happen here I think in the next 24 to 48 hours. So, the big story will be flash flooding, landslides, damaging surf and power outages.

I do want to leave you with a quick check on Soulik. My goodness on the other side of the Pacific, right? This storm is now weakening here. Folks have been asking about this, as well. I think we're pretty much done it's no longer a typhoon just a weaker tropical storm. So, we can I think right off Soulik and Cimaron, as well.

ALLEN: All right. Focus on Lane.

CABRERA: Yes.

ALLEN: Ivan, thank you.

CABRERA: You bet.

ALLEN: All right. Another story. A big one, the Pope is heading to Ireland this weekend but he will be confronted with a tragic issue within the church and he'll sit down with victims of a predator priests. Some of their stories when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:21] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

Our top story this hour Australia's liberal party has picked treasurer, Scott Morrison as the new prime minister after party members pushed Malcolm Turnbull out. The turnover happened with blinding speed. Following the vote, Turnbull was clearly agitated by what he calls a disloyal insurgency within the Liberal Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM TURNBULL, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Australians will be just dumbstruck, and so appalled by the conduct of the last week. You know, to imagine that a government would be rocked by this sort of disloyalty and deliberate -- insurgency, is the best way to describe it -- deliberate destructive action, at a time when, there are differences on policy, but frankly all of them were sort of able to be resolved with a little bit of goodwill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: He was referring to this man -- former home affairs minister Peter Dutton. Earlier in the week, Dutton launched a field bid to unseat the prime minister. Even though that effort fell short it set the stage for Friday's ousting of Turnbull. Pope Francis travels to Ireland this weekend. He is attending the world meeting of families but he cannot escape the cloud of church sexual abuse and cover-ups. An investigation in the state of Pennsylvania in the U.S. uncovered allegations against hundreds of priests. Ireland has its own similar history, and the Pope will meet with some victims.

Our Phil Black reports from Dublin, but we want to warn you, some of the details in his report are very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There is no polite, easy way to explain what happened to Darren McGavin on the grounds of this church when he was a child.

DARREN MCGAVIN, VICTIM OF PRIEST ABUSE: And he took -- he put me over the table, and he had the vestments, the robes from the vestments. And he tied my hands to my legs over the table and began to rape me.

From the age of Seven, Darren was abused several times a week for more than four years by Tony Walsh, one of Ireland's most notorious pedophile priests.

MCGAVIN: On one occasion I was raped with a crucifix.

BLACK: Walsh destroyed Darren's life. The years since have been consumed by trauma and mental illness.

(on camera): How old are you now?

MCGAVIN: I'm 46 years of age and I have been medicated since I was 12. Twelve years of age -- so when is it going to stop? When is it going to stop? I do not know.

BLACK (voice over): this is just one victim's story in a country deeply wounded by the horrific legacy of priests of using vast numbers of children and often getting away with it. It will be the defining issue for Pope Francis when he visits the once proudly Catholic island --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do this in memory of me.

BLACK: -- where many churches are now largely empty where the institution is struggling for purpose and credibility.

MARIE COLLINS, VICTIM OF PRIEST ABUSE: I went to the hospital when I was 12, just turned 13. I was sexually assaulted by the Catholic chaplain.

[01:34:55] BLACK: After decades of recovery Marie Collins has become a powerful voice for reforming the Church's culture. Last year she walked away from a Vatican panel advising Pope Francis because nothing changed. And she was not satisfied with his recent written apology.

COLLINS: We have the Pope the other day in a strong letter -- a lot of it is good, but unfortunately he still says we are working on finding a way to hold people accountable. We are decades on. You can't still be working on it.

BLACK: Darren McGavin wanted to show us another painful location. In Phoenix Park, where Pope Francis will say mass, he takes us to a dark gulley (ph).

MCGAVIN: And then he lay me down on the mattress.

BLACK: Another place where he was raped by the priest he had once trusted.

MCGAVIN: I didn't even get a sorry. You did not even say sorry.

BLACK: Darren and other victims say apologies are important. But from the Pope, they also want firm policies to ensure no one suffers like this again.

Phil Black, CNN -- Dublin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: So very, very disturbing. Again we, of course, will be covering the Pope's visit.

Well, in just over seven months, the U.K. will leave the E.U. But what happens if agreements on things like trade aren't in place by then? We are now learning a so-called no deal Brexit could have major effects on daily life.

For our story Bianca Nobilo is in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.K. government has warned of wide-ranging impact resulting from the no deal Brexit in the first of its technical notices about a no-deal scenario released today by the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.

The warnings include the fact that Brits living in the E.U. may not be able to access their pensions or their bank accounts. There may also be additional credit card charges and the abolition of surcharges.

Pharmaceutical companies have also been told to stockpile their medicines and goods for an additional six weeks on top of their existing stockpiles, to account for any uncertainties which might arise from transport delays.

And there has been warnings about new levels of bureaucracy, so much so that the U.K. government suggested businesses employ a customs broker, solely employed to sort out the customs declarations and new forms that should be required by businesses in the event of a no deal.

Dominic Raab, the new Brexit secretary, was one of the leading Brexiteers in the 2016 referendum campaign. And he said that the papers released today were intended to set the records straight on no- deal planning.

DOMINIC RAAB, BREXIT SECRETARY: They were provided information and guidance. And after some of the misinformation that's been put about lately, some reassurance.

Take just one example of that the suggestion that a no-deal Brexit could spark a sandwich famine in the U.K. or that we have asked the army to deliver food supplies.

NOBILO: The Labor Party has won but a no deal would be catastrophic. Businesses today have also called for more clarity and said that these technical notices have come very late.

(on camera): We are reaching a critical point in the Brexit negotiations, with the E.U. Council meeting in October, which was initially earmarked as the time that a deal would be agreed between the U.K. and the E.U. fast approaching.

Bianca Nobilo, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well next here on CNN newsroom, real-life Nemos are in trouble. We will talk about efforts underway to save the world's clown fish.

[01:38:37] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Desperate Venezuelans are fleeing as a crumbling economy and political turmoil continue to plague their country. Inflation this year could actually hit 1 million percent. This created a migrant crisis that is spilling over into Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.

For more on the crisis, here's CNN's Patrick Oppmann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Walking, singing, carrying what possessions they have left, they make the treacherous hike through the mountains in freezing temperatures. This group of about 200 Venezuelan migrants had crossed into Ecuador illegally on a journey to a better life. These desperate Venezuelans are fleeing the economic and humanitarian crisis in their homeland.

Some Venezuelans sold things like their TVs, motorbikes, and washing machines to gather enough money to make the trip. This year alone, more than 423,000 Venezuelan migrants have crossed into Colombia and then Ecuador through the Rumichaca border.

For many, their final destination as Peru which has one of the fastest growing economies in the region. Peru is now the largest refugee- hosting country in Latin America according to the U.N. with about 127,000 asylum applications since 2014.

DAYSEE SANTANA (ph), VENEZUELAN MIGRANT (through translator): Well, the decision we made as a group, and among all the people who are here, is to withdraw from here, from the border, risking ourselves. And with the hand of God, go to Peru en masse, all of us.

OPPMANN: But it's a race against time. They must get to Peru before Saturday when new rules requiring they have a valid passport kick in. Many have only identity cards used for travel to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia under normal circumstances.

FRANK JACKSON, VENEZUELAN MIGRANT (through translator): Everything that can be done, if we have to do a large part of it on foot, we will do it. If we can catch a bus in a certain area, we will. If we have to stand in line we will do it, too. But united, of course.

OPPMANN: Venezuela's surrounding countries have been struggling to deal with the large influx of migrants in recent months.

The Ecuadorian government has provided free buses to the Peru border for hundreds of Venezuelans. These Venezuelans are the lucky ones. They made it into Peru, and now stand in line to get documentation that allows them to work and have access to healthcare and education.

Even though these migrants have to cross two other countries to get to Peru, they say going back to Venezuela is a death wish.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: It has been about one year since the Myanmar military began with aid groups, U.N. officials and government have denounced as a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people have been forced to escape to Bangladesh.

In addition to reports of murder and torture, aid organizations say there were widespread cases of women and girls raped by Myanmar security forces as they fled the country -- all claims Myanmar's military denies.

Some of these women are now talking publicly about their painful stories. And our Alexandra Field has them for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In these vast refugee camps in Bangladesh, many women and girls harbor a painful secret. They are survivors of what the U.N. calls widespread sexual violence against Rohingya, allegedly carried out by the military in Myanmar last year.

Rape was thought a calculated tool to force them from their homes -- claims the government denies. More than nine months on, a number of babies have been born as the result of rape.

Little Yazmin (ph) was delivered in June. Her mother Meher (ph) says she was raped by soldiers who set fire to her village in September.

MEHER, RAPE SURVIVOR (through translator): They demanded to rape me in exchange for sparing my children's life. I agreed to them. FIELD: Filled with shame, Meher tried to keep what happened from her

husband.

MEHER: I told my children not to tell their father about the incident. But they did anyway. Because of that my husband wanted a divorce. But he couldn't leave me, as I have no parents.

[01:45:04] FIELD: Women who survive rape in this community risk being shunned even by their families. For Meher, the baby would be a painful reminder of the horrors left behind.

MEHER: I tried a lot to abort this child, but abortion was not possible. I went to the nurse and took pills for abortion, but they did not work as they were supposed to.

FIELD: Around 60 babies are born to Rohingya women in refugee camps in Bangladesh each day according to UNICEF -- the number of pregnancies resulting from rape is unknown.

PRAMILA PATTEN, U.N. SPECIAL REP. ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT: Some I'm told are hiding their pregnancies but I'm also told that many are simply having deliveries in their home, in their camp unattended, or sometimes with local midwives.

FIELD: Meher gave birth alone in this small bamboo shack. She and her husband have now forged a bond with their new child in these most difficult circumstances

MEHER: Yes, I love her. My husband also loves her now though he couldn't accept her at first. He adores the baby when she smiles and plays.

FIELD: But the worry for some is the stigma these children could face when they grow up.

BEATRIZ OCHOA, SAVE THE CHILDREN: The greatest concern of the babies left behind is that they could grow up with a stigma or label attached to them which is a lasting wound, like disease (ph) for these babies.

FIELD: For Yazmin, this could be one of the many challenges she will face in the years ahead as she learns to call this refugee camp home.

Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: CNN asked Myanmar's government for a response to this story. Here's what a spokesman said. "There is no evidence that Myanmar soldiers committed any human rights violations in their response to the terrorist attacks of 2017. We have recently formed a new independent commission which will investigate alleged rights abuses in Rakhine State, including rape. We will treat any case in accordance with the rule of law."

Kerry Kennedy is the president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, which has been working in Myanmar for the past five years. Kerry is just back from the camps in Bangladesh.

And Kerry -- it's an honor to have you on the show. Thanks for being here.

KERRY KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, ROBERT F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Great to be with you.

ALLEN: Sure. I can't imagine the experience that you just had, but you conveyed it in a unique way. You wrote a letter to your two daughters about your experience at the camp. And you shared stories from many of the women you met that are utterly heartbreaking.

Here is one I want to read from it. You wrote, "F told us she was raped by multiple soldiers. She said she is always in pain and is still bleeding. Then she lifted her dress and showed us the fresh blood on her slip."

And Kerry -- sadly, that is but one sickening story and there are thousands of others, aren't there?

KENNEDY: There are. And you know, when we were in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, we spoke to over 30 refugees who had crossed the border, who have survived the genocide and the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the military in Myanmar against the Rohingya population. And they told us about their whole villages being burned down.

They told us about massive rape of women, slaughter of men, and little children who were running away. One talked about seeing a baby being thrown into a bonfire. Just very, very, very tough.

ALLEN: Let's talk about the trauma of that and what they are experiencing. They are still in a horrible place, and they just witnessed just unspeakable crimes, unspeakable things happening to their family members and their children right in front of them. Tell us about the trauma they continue to experience.

KENNEDY: Well, you know, this is a camp that is -- imagine the size of 18 golf courses -- 18-hole golf courses, pretty big space. Now imagine fitting the entire population of San Francisco on those golf courses on those 18 golf courses. That is Cox's Bazar. That's the size of it.

And a million people -- the schooling goes up to fifth grade. So you have this entire population of people, the Rohingya people who have fled these human rights violations. They are living in plastic tents, tents made of sticks, with plastic tarps on top of them.

[01:50:00] There is not one two-story building. So they are just, you know, living cheek to jowl across this area.

We were there during the height of the monsoon season.

ALLEN: Right.

KENNEDY: And monsoons in most places last 15 minutes. But these monsoons last an hour and a half so it is like standing under a shower. But you are outside and it is taking full swaths of the camp away.

ALLEN: Right. The questions is who will be held responsible? Last month your group issued a report that Myanmar's military systematically planned to rid the company of Rohingya Muslims, in other words genocidal plan.

Last week, Myanmar's military commanders were hit with U.S. sanctions. And here is the statement from the U.S. "The U.S. government is committed to ensuring that Burmese military units and leaders reckon with and put a stop to these brutal acts. We will continue to systematically expose and bring accountability to human rights abusers in this region and many others, and greatly appreciate the efforts of civil society who are doing the same."

So Kerry -- is there any evidence those sanctions will be enough to achieve the outcome of ending the brutality and holding those responsible accountable?

KENNEDY: Well, I think it is a good first step. There is only four -- the (INAUDIBLE) rights report names 22 members of the military and the police. There were over 900 police in the slaughter, and the 11,000 members of the military.

So for the U.S. government to only point to four, I don't think that is quite good enough. I think that you know, the Security Council needs to refer this to the International Criminal Court. The people of Myanmar, the military government there needs to hold the perpetrators responsible for these horrific crimes against humanity.

And the international community needs to invoke the International Magnitsky Act, which rules (ph) about this and stop the perpetrators from being allowed to do business with our countries, or travel to our countries. And I think that that is a good first step.

ALLEN: Well yes, we will celebrate that first step. And we certainly hope there is a second. Because through it all the Rohingya say they just want to go back home. And they deserve that.

Kerry Kennedy with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights -- thank you so much for your time and for your work.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

ALLEN: And you're watching CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Saving Nemo -- it is not just the name of a beloved film about the famous animated clown fish. It is also an effort to protect the creature from overfishing after movie stardom, and the effects of climate change.

Here with our story, CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Meet the humble clown fish. Though small in size, it is one of the most instantly recognizable inhabitants of the world's coral reefs. A fish made famous by the 2003 animated film, "Finding Nemo".

The movie told the story of a father searching for his son Nemo after he is captured from the wild. But "Finding Nemo's" box office success has had some unintended consequences.

[01:55:02] KAREN BURKE DA SILVA, SAVING NEMO PROJECT: After the film "Finding Nemo", there was a drastic spike in the number of fish that people wanted for their aquarium.

WATSON: Karen Burke Da Silva is a marine biologist and the cofounder of a program called Saving Nemo.

DA SILVA: And the places they were getting those fish actually was from the wild. And as the numbers kept coming out of the wild, they started getting very, very small in some places, and in fact in certain areas became locally extinct.

WATSON: Students at Belgian Gardens Primary School in the Australian city of Townsville are trying to change that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the top there is a little orange clown fish. It is really tiny. It is like a dot.

WATSON (on camera): Oh wow. It's really small, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

WATSON (voice over): As part of the Saving Nemo program, these children are helping breed baby clown fish.

IMOGEN EVERSON, SAVING NEMO VOLUNTEER: We breed them, so we can give fish that we breed to people who want clown fish so they don't have to take them out of the wild.

WATSON: The clown fish raised here are eventually traded away to pet shops in exchange for aquarium supplies.

(on camera): Where are the eggs?

EVERSON: There are little bubbles.

WATSON (voice over): Unfortunately the clown fish is now facing an even bigger challenge, climate change. Rising temperatures around the world are bleaching, in other words, killing off, coral and sea anemone, the habitats clown fish call home.

Marine biologist Jodi Rummer says it will take more drastic action to protect the clown fish.

JODI RUMMER, MARINE BIOLOGIST: The way to protect them is a really, really big solution, and it has to do with ending our reliance on fossil fuels that is directly related to the warming oceans, the omissions into the atmosphere.

WATSON: For newcomers, the story of the little star of "Finding Nemo" may have another surprising plot twist.

DA SILVA: I'm not sure if everybody knows that clown fish are hermaphrodites.

WATSON: All clown fish are born male and some eventually transform and grow into bigger females --

DA SILVA: Females are the largest and they are the tough fish in the anemone. Everybody wants to be with the female.

WATSON: -- which could make the next "Finding Nemo" sequel a very different movie.

Ivan Watson, CNN -- Townsville, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, join Ivan this weekend for his special report, "RACE TO SAVE THE REEF". It premieres Saturday at 8:30 in the evening in Hong Kong; that's 1:30 in the afternoon in London.

Thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.

More news next with my friend and colleague, George Howell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: After days of high-stakes political drama Australia has a new prime minister. We'll explain that story ahead.

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