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Pope Will Not Respond to Archbishop's Accusation; World Leaders Pay Tribute To McCain's Life Legacy; Shooter Killed Two People At Video Game Tournament; China's Didi Suspends Carpool Service after Woman Killed; Brexit Poverty Fears; Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Dies at 91. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 27, 2018 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:11] CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Strife within the Vatican. The pope refuses to address an Archbishop's calls for him to step down. Plus, remembering John McCain. Tributes pour in for the late Arizona Senator. And fearing Brexit, while leaving the E.U. might make the most vulnerable Britain's even horror.

Thank you for joining us, everyone. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta and CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

So, Pope Francis is back in Rome after his weekend visit to Ireland. But claims that he ignored allegations of abuse by church clergy for years or shadowing him. The pope says he will not say a single word for now. Concerning a letter by a former top Vatican official.

The official claims he told Pope Francis in 2013 about allegations of abuse against the cardinal. But he says the pontiff did nothing, and he is calling on the pope to resign. While he was in Ireland, the Pope Francis acknowledged that the church failed to provide abuse survivors with compassion or justice, and he asked for forgiveness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE (through translator): We asked for forgiveness for the times that as a Church, we did not show the survivors of whatever kind of abuse compassion, and the seeking of justice and truth, through a concrete actions. We ask for forgiveness.

None of us can fail to be moved by the stories of young people who suffered abuse or robbed their innocence. Separated from their mothers and left scared by painful memories. This open wound challenge us to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: CNN's Phil Black has more now on the pope's visit to Ireland and his message.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the second and final day of the pope's visit to Ireland, onto occasions, he begged for God's forgiveness for sexual abuse and other crimes committed by people within the church.

He did so most intensively here at Dublin's Phoenix Park, just before celebrating mass with a large crowd, and what was the set-piece event of his to Ireland. He asked forgiveness for sexual abuse, for those who knew of it and did not stop it, and for other cruelties committed within Catholic-run institutions in this country.

There are many people in this country notably victims who say they do appreciate the pope's thoughts and apologies on these issues, but what they want is more than that. And there are those here who also say the word is cheap.

What they all want they say are actions. Firm policies enforced by the Vatican to protect children and punish those who abuse, and those who shield abusers. The pope left Ireland a short time later, leaving behind an intensely Catholic country that for some years now has been turning away from the Church and its once absolute moral authority.

Ultimately, he was able to do little gear to reverse that Trent. I'm Phil Black, reporting from Dublin.

VANIER: The late U.S. Senator John McCain got a goodbye from the world of sports on Sunday. The 81-year-old died Saturday after battling brain cancer. And teams from his State of Arizona are paying tribute, including the Arizona Cardinals football team who held a moment of silence before their game with the Dallas Cowboys.

And Phoenix, the Arizona Diamondbacks, also remembered McCain. He was one of the baseball team's most dedicated fans. Americans will now have several opportunities to pay respect from McCain throughout the week. CNN's Kyung Lah, reports.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator John McCain remember for being such a prominent national figure, was Arizona's favorite son. And it is here in his home state that memorials will begin. They start on Wednesday.

The flags here at the state capital have already been lowered and it is here at a private ceremony in the Rotunda that the memorials will begin.

For six hours, he will lie and stay here at the Arizona State Capitol. The public will be able to come in to bid their farewells to their Senator.

On Thursday morning, there will be a public memorial service at a Phoenix Baptist Church. And then on -- and then, he departs for Washington. On Friday, the Senator will lie in State at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

On Saturday, a National Memorial Service at the National Cathedral. And then, on Sunday, Senator McCain will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

It is there where he began his military life, his public service, and where his body will find its final resting place. Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.

[01:05:03] VANIER: We are joined by CNN's Ivan Watson who's in Hong Kong trying to explore John McCain's legacy across the world. How he's remembered, what was his impact?

Ivan, John McCain was a major figure of U.S. foreign policy for decades. He left his mark on several regions of the world. So, let's -- let's explore that. And let's start with Vietnam.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, this is the country that helped define him as an international figure and a war hero because John McCain was famously shot down on a bombing mission. His 23rd over Hanoi in 1967, he was taken prisoner and held for more than five years.

Offered several times to be released early and declined because he did not want preferential treatment, even though his father was the U.S. commander in the Pacific Region. And what's remarkable about him, is after he says he adored horrific torture and went down to indoor horrific torture. And went down to a -- weight of just 105 pounds when he was eventually released in the decades after that.

He worked hard for a reconciliation with his former captors and made multiple trips back to Vietnam. So, there is a monument by Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi where he splashed down and was taken prisoner that has his name on it.

There were some American expats laying flowers there on Sunday as news of his passing came out. The U.S. embassy in Hanoi, in Vietnam, is hosting a book of condolences signing for several days there. And this has been top news there, and it's a testament to the fact that -- you know, this man who had once bombed Vietnam and the country itself was able to find common ground after that really bloody and deadly war.

VANIER: Now, he was also an enthusiastic proponent of America's wars in the Middle East, and he left his mark on that region.

WATSON: He certainly did. I mean, I remember in 2013, John McCain made a surprise visit across the border from Turkey into Syria, accompanied by Syrian rebels who he had been actively lobbying in favor of. He -- somewhat controversially was arguing in favor of arming Syrian rebels that were fighting against the Assad regime.

Arguing that, "Hey, Russia and Iran were helping support the Assad forces, why don't we also support the Syrian rebels?" He also was a very vocal proponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He was calling for regime change as early as 2002 and called for the surge there.

And actually, it was just last year or this year rather in his memoir that he came out and admitted that it was a mistake. Saying, "The Iraq War with its cost in lives, and treasure, and security cannot be judged as anything other than a mistake, a very serious one. And I have to accept my share of the blame for it."

So, he has had a controversial role in the past, being a foreign policy and military hawk of -- coming from the U.S. Congress.

VANIER: Another major thing to look at is Russia. He was a very, very vocal critic of Vladimir Putin.

WATSON: Absolutely. And coming from Russia these days, there is some criticism of John McCain with Russian state T.V. calling him the quote, "Main symbol of Russophobia." And a number of Russian lawmakers coming out saying that, "Well, he was honest in his hatred of Russia. He is the symbol of outspoken anti-Russian thinking," that's the Oleg Morozov, who's a Senator in the Russian Parliament.

He famously came out, after President Trump made a kind of moral equivalent. He was asked if Putin was a killer, and in an interview, President Trump said, "Hey, there are killers everywhere. You think the U.S. is so innocent? At that time, John McCain came out on the Senate floor and gave a speech speaking about Russian dissidents.

Some critics of the Kremlin who had either been murdered or suspected of being poisoned. One of them being -- Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has alleged that he was poisoned twice for his anti-Kremlin thoughts.

And McCain came out very strongly against the Kremlin in what was also clearly criticism of President Trump, himself. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: Putin is a killer, and his a killer. I repeat, there is no moral equivalence between that butcher and thug and KGB colonel in the United States of America. And to allege some kind of moral equivalence between the two is either terribly misinformed or incredibly biased. Neither, neither can be accurate in any way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:11] WATZON: In other words, McCain was not a popular figure in Moscow. And he also drove his criticism of the Kremlin to criticize the U.S. president, leader of his own party. Cyril.

VANIER: Ivan Watson, reporting from Hong Kong. Thank you very much. Historian and CNN Political Analyst Julian Zelizer joins me now. He is a professor at Princeton University. Julian, what is John McCain's most enduring legacy?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, I think when people think of John McCain, A, they will think of him as part of the Reagan revolution, he was the congressional wing of the conservative movement, the remade American politics.

They will remember certain moments in his career whether it was where -- when he push for campaign-finance reform in 2002, or when he opposed President Trump on healthcare, that he served as a maverick going against some of what his party wanted.

And finally, his biggest legacy will be also the election of 2008, where he ran against Barack Obama, had Sarah Palin as his running mate. And in some ways, helped to accelerate the transformation in the Republican Party that is playing out today.

VANIER: John McCain is a legend. There is no question about that. I mean, that is his status now, and he's being remembered as such a war hero, a straight talker, putting country above party, as you said. Often though, the actual legacy is more nuanced than the legend. What else do we need to remember about John McCain?

ZELIZER: Yes, I think going back to 2008, many of the things he doesn't like about American politics that he didn't like at the time of his death, the way extremists have become part of mainstream Republican politics.

The kind of tenor that you see in rallies and in some of the conservative media, a lot of that really got underway when he decided to pick Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate and legitimated this part of the Republican Party.

And he was also -- you know, part of a Republican establishment that was within a broken system of campaign finance, and money in politics. And even though he became a reformer, he did that in part because he was part of that very system.

VANIER: How do Republican voters -- I mean, current day Republican voters feel about him? Because one of the things that McCain is praise for is sometimes going against his party. But you would assume that's also earned him some enemies.

ZELIZER: Yes, it has. I mean, the irony is he has a pretty conservative voting record. The most conservative should actually be happy with his record. He rarely bucked the party line. But because he did that on some very high profile issues, particularly his relationship attacks with President Trump, I think there's a lot of Republicans that see him as anything but a Republican -- a rhino, as they are often called.

Even though that doesn't reflect his voting record, but I think, some of those maverick moments will earn him some enemies. Even after he has passed away, within the Republican Party.

VANIER: And he was also a traditional hawk when it comes to foreign policy. He believed in strength through military power. Tell us a little bit more -- for our international audience about his foreign policy legacy.

ZELIZER: Yes, this is a place where Senator McCain was really part of the Reagan revolution that takes off in the 1980s. He believes in high rate of military spending. He is very committed to the international alliances that formed during and after World War II to fight against communism. And he was pretty tough against Democrats who he said were not strong on defense.

So, he was part of the hawkish, often neoconservative part of the Republican Party that pushed for proactive wars, especially since 9/11, and that was not reluctant to use force.

VANIER: Julian Zelizer, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks. ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

VANIER: The toy in relations between North and South Korea continues to bring together families separated for decades by the war on the peninsula. Now, they were tears, smiles, and hugs all around this past weekend as more family members from South Korea cross the border to visit their relations in the North.

It was the second round of reunions in the past week organized by the Red Cross. For more on this, CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me live from Seoul, South Korea. Paula, tell us about what goes into making this happen? How are the family selected? What are the rules if any, what are the do's and don'ts?

[01:14:49] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Cyril, for this particular rounds of family reunion, there were 57,000 people here in South Korea that's not counting those in North Korea that were eligible to be chosen for this round.

And what we've been told by the unification ministry is that they look at the different people, their ages, they look at whether or not they are seeking to reconnect with siblings, with children. So, the closer the family member they're looking for, the more likelihood there is that they will be chosen.

But, of course, when you look at that, there's also an element of lottery about it, and there's also the element of whether or not your counterpart of the other side of the border are still alive. Many of this applicants and this participants are in the 80s and 90s.

So, what did the South Korean Red Cross and the North Korean Red Cross have to do is to (INAUDIBLE) it down to less than 100 from each side. And then, figure out if there -- if the family that they've been torn apart from back in the 1950s is even still alive.

So, it's a very painstaking process to go through. We heard from the Red Cross that they are hoping for another round of reunions this year. This was from the head of the Red Cross during these reunions. He had told the reporters who were going on the reunions that he wanted something as early as October.

Now, we had spoken to him before he went to North Korea. He said he was negotiating very hard with his North Korean counterparts to try and make sure there are more reunions, there are more people allowed to be part of these reunions, because it's such a tiny fraction of the number of people who actually want to be reconnected, who were lucky enough to be chosen. So, that was really what he had wanted to do.

VANIER: Well, it's very interesting to find out how those things get organized? Then, for the sake of the relatives who have not seen each other and more than half a century, we have to hope that there will be more. Paula Hancocks, reporting live from Seoul. Thank you very much.

Still to come, yet another mass shooting in the United States. Investigators are trying to learn why a young man opened fire during a video game tournament in Florida.

Plus, Brexit threatens to make getting along with all the more difficult in one Britain's forest areas. We'll explain who's at risk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE RILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley, with your CNN "WORLD SPORT" headlines. We start in the EPL where Chelsea where awaits Newcastle on the nail-biter, all the action coming in the 2nd half.

First, Michael Alonso, taking down on the box. And then, Hazard was able to convert the penalty kick for the games 1st goal. Newcastle equalized but it was an unfortunate own goal from Newcastle in the end which gave Chelsea the 2-1 win.

Over to another London Club now, Watford, have now made their best start in club history. They have a perfect start to the new EPL season after beating Crystal Palace on Sunday. And again, all the action happening in the 2nd half this time. Roberto Pereyra opening the scoring from a shot from distance.

And the goal of the game was Jose Holebas, who called in a ball into the back corner, Palace Portland back, but too little too late. Watford winning this one 2-1.

Funny ever in Formula One, where the back loft is on at the top of the driver's standing. On Sunday, Vettel passed Lewis Hamilton in the early laps and never look back. But, the drama coming from the star, Nico Hulkenberg ramp Fernando Alonso's car. Launching him up and over Charles Leclerc. Unfortunately, though, everyone is OK. Vettel's teammate, to Raikkonen, also tire on (INAUDIBLE).

But, in the -- in the end, it was Vettel here who topped Hamilton by a solid 10 seconds to cut Lewis's lead in the driver's race. And that's from the "WORLD SPORT" headline. I'm Kate Riley.

[01:20:55] VANIER: Once again, a mass shooting in the United States. This one was at a video game tournament in Florida. At least, two people were killed in Jacksonville when a young man who was competing in the tournament opened fire. And then, killed himself. We're starting to learn a bit more about him. Polo Sandoval has the latest on that.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, police in Jacksonville, Florida confirmed that the suspect behind the nation's latest mass shooting is a 24-year-old man from Baltimore, Maryland. Police confirming his identity. David Katz is among the three people dead at the scene.

Katz, allegedly opened fire at a video game competition, Sunday afternoon inside a Jacksonville restaurant. Police also believed that Katz was a participant at this video game tournament. Though they have not confirmed a motive. Only saying that he used a handgun in the shooting. Investigator says, Katz, shot and killed two people, nine others were also shot and now recovering from their injuries. Police now asking the community for any video. They already going over that footage that are already has been circulating online that shows the seconds before those shots rang up. Keep offering a picture inside that game bar.

Investigators also conducting a search of this suspect's vehicle, as they try to piece together a motive in this case. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

VANIER: Adam Coughran is the president of safe kids which seeks to educate children about how to survive active shootings. With your background, you've had to look and analyze a number of these situations. What strikes you most about these particular shooting?

ADAM COUGHRAN, PRESIDENT, SAFE KIDS INCORPORATED: The shooting is really close. You know, from what we can tell our viewers, it appears to be some sort of like a bankrupt room or something where it is close quarters, a lot of people playing. And they're not really paying attention. They're paying attention to their screens and not that surround us.

VANIER: Yes. It's a -- it's a bar where people play video games.

COUGHRAN: Correct. So, you have an area that people are focused not on the area around them, they're focused on their video game. And so, when we see this type of temper, presumably, some of early witnesses were talking about that he had lost a very intense game. And he had -- you know, kind of a blank stare in his eye.

He produces a handgun, and now you have a close quarter's area where it's very easy to hurt a lot of people very quickly.

VANIER: What do you tell the children that you work with about mass shootings?

COUGHRAN: So, we say you have to be aware. And we kind of coined a term that we call hide, scape, run, and overcome. That was the things that your body will watch do naturally fight, flight or freeze.

And then listen to your body. And to do something, not just stand there. And do something to get out to try to overcome, maybe physically this person if you have to. Do something to help increase your survivability as opposed to just standing by and not doing anything.

VANIER: So, what would you tell children or minors who are watching this right now? What do they need to know?

COUGHRAN: Pay attention. I mean, number one is pay attention to the surroundings. Once you see something is wrong, once said a shooting or stabbing or some sort of violence, try to find a way out. There is no reason to stay behind. Try to find the way out of that area quickly. If you are close enough to this person, or this person is hurting you directly, do something physically. Whether you have to throw something at them or run into them or push them, or so something. Try to get out of that area as quickly and safely as you can.

VANIER: Look, I have to tell you something. I mean, your title, the name of your organization, the whole thing, I just find a little bit shocking. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but -- you know, you seek to educate children about how to survive active shootings. The fact that this even exists to me is a bit of an indictment of what's going on. In fact, a huge indictment.

COUGHRAN: It is, and it's really the sign of the times. You know, it just find the surname of safe kids. You know, we have found things in life that have hurt kids all throughout. You know, whether you go back several years and you look at school fires. And you look at you're bullying.

You look at all the things, this is a sign of the times. It's a different time that these kids are growing up, and then, then, you or I grew up in. And it's just the next evolution of how to be keep ourselves safe from things in life that want to really hurt us.

VANIER: Invariably, these mass shootings restart the conversation about gun control in the U.S. Is there one common-sense measure that you wish were implemented in this country?

[01:25:12] COUGHRAN: You know, in looking at you know, both the rights that we have in this country. And now, the vast acts of violence, you know, one of the things that I say is treated almost like a driver's license. Treat it to where there is a process to learn about the firearm, how to handle it safely.

And there is steps to get a driver's license in every state. Let's take some steps to get a license for certain types of firearms, to at least, have a safety measure behind it. Make sure the people that are getting them are supposed to have them. And those that don't operate them safely, or doing something wrong, don't operate them anymore.

VANIER: Well, OK, hold on. I have to push back a little bit, or maybe perhaps I'm not fully understanding what you are saying. You're saying you would like people to be better trained in the use of firearms, but surely, this mass shootings problem is that is not the people aren't using the weapons properly. That's not the problem.

COUGHRAN: Correct. And so, when you look at the second half of that, so we are keep on that they can operate them safely and they know what they're doing. And not essentially train them how to bit, but I can handle a weapon safely.

Then, we look at the second half, who should not have a license, who should not have a firearm? What do the people and what's the screening process prevent certain people -- potentially there in person, if there were signs and symptoms ahead at time from even getting their hands in that firearm, to begin with. VANIER: All right, yes. Thank you very much. Adam Coughran, and I actually -- that brings to mind what the president said. It was a couple months ago now that -- perhaps we should even go with due process.

And we should take the hand, the weapons out of people who have mental health issues, but it stated that nothing was done after that. And I don't -- we have been seen any substantive policy come out of this administration on this particular issue. Adam, thank you very much.

COUGHRAN: Thank you, my pleasure.

VANIER: An Archbishop's scathing letter lays their deep divides in the Roman Catholic Church. He's calling on Pope Francis to resign. We'll have the details on that, next.

Was a popular carpooling service in China is suspended for the second time this year after another female passenger is murdered. We'll have the details, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:35] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Cyril Vanier. The top story this hour is -- another mass shooting in the United States. Two people were killed in Jacksonville, Florida when a man opened fire at a videogame tournament on Sunday. Nine other people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds.

The suspect identified as a 24-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland used a handgun and then killed himself. His motive is unclear.

The late U.S. Senator John McCain will be honored for five days this week in three locations. McCain died Saturday after a bout with brain cancer.

He will be honored in his home state of Arizona. Then at the U.S, Capitol in Washington, then laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.

There were tears, smiles and hugs all around this past weekend as more family members from South Korea crossed the border to visit their relatives in the North. It was the second round of reunions in the past week organized by the Red Cross.

And quiet within the Catholic Church -- Pope Francis says that for now he will not say a single word about a letter claiming he knew of sexual abuse allegations against a cardinal for years, and did nothing about it.

Archbishop Vigano made the accusation in an 11-page letter and is calling for the Pope to resign. On his way back to Rome from Ireland, where he asked for forgiveness of abuses by the church, Pope Francis told reporters the letter speaks for itself and people should make their own judgment.

Sister Joan Chittister joins me now. She is the author of "The Gifted Years". Sister, an archbishop is attacking the Pope directly, by name. It's an extraordinary situation. He is accusing Pope Francis of covering up accusations of sex abuse. What is your reaction?

SISTER JOAN CHITTISTER, AUTHOR (via telephone): Well, I'll tell you very directly, Cyril -- it is almost meaningless whether this is true or untrue. Even if it is untrue, it is damaging; could even be disastrous. If it is true, it is a demonstration, as far as I am concerned, of just how destructive and how infectious the culture of clericalism is.

(CROSSTALK)

VANIER: So Sister -- let's examine -- let's examine both scenarios. If it is true, if what the archbishop says is true and Pope Francis did indeed cover up and do nothing about accusations of sex abuse by a senior member of the clergy here in the U.S., do you think that the Pope should resign?

CHITTISTER: Well, I'm not going to go that far at this point about resignation. The fact of the matter is that the responsibility, no matter however this particular issue is resolved, the responsibility for this entire issue lies in Rome, in the Vatican.

You have a theology of church where 1 percent of the population is a patriarchy from top to bottom male, and the rest of the church is preserve. We call the church the people of God. But when only 1 percent of the church defines its ideas, determines its future, considers its obligations, requires accountability, what you are really moving into then is the country of the episcopacy.

Or to put it another way a theology of obedience that says when we talk, you believe us. We are the people. We have the insight and the vision. We have the ear of God. So blind obedience, which I would say, quite clearly, is a sin against conscience.

VANIER: I need you to also consider the alternative scenario where the accusations are not true. Why would the archbishop level those accusations against the Pope if it is not true? And what would you think of that?

CHITTISTER: Well, Cyril -- it would be done for the same reasons that any other human being would do it. In other words, there is a difference of opinion. He does not like what the Pope is doing.

[01:34:57] Or the Pope speaks of mercy. He believes that there is not enough justice going on in the church, or not enough law-giving or rule-keeping. So, he has a different philosophy of what church should be.

He might be doing it because he is not a well man. He may be carrying some of his own emotional, psychological baggage. Who knows? His motives can be the motives of any other human being.

VANIER: Sister Joan Chittister -- thank you so much for your insights and your reactions and your heartfelt words on this issue. Thank you.

CHITTISTER: Well, thank you -- Cyril for caring.

VANIER: Ok. I want to take you to China now because a very popular carpooling service there is facing outrage after a second female passenger has been killed in less than four months.

Didi Chuxing is suspending its hitch service for the second time this year after a 20-year-old woman was raped and killed by her driver. The company says it failed to act on a complaint about that driver filed the day before the woman was murdered. The company is also admitting the killing has exposed major flaws in its security features and that it has removed two senior executives.

The Chinese government is demanding the company take concrete steps to ensure passenger safety.

CNN senior producer Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing. Steven -- what do we know more precisely about the circumstances of the murder?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Cyril -- details are slowly emerging. And they are quite disturbing. This young woman apparently left her house on Friday afternoon with her mom actually watching her getting into the suspect's car, as she was supposed to be heading to another town to attend a friend's birthday party. And of course, she never made it there.

The suspect, according to police, actually first robbed the woman by forcing her to transfer about U.S. $1,300 into his bank account. And then he brutally raped and murdered her, dumping her body on the roadside.

Now, this suspect, a 27-year-old man from another province was caught and arrested on Saturday. But the story continues to attract a lot of attention and anger here because one, as you mentioned, Cyril -- because this is the second time this has happened to people using this service in less than four months.

And the company actually promised to rectify all these issues last time, when the first murder happened in May. But apparently nothing seemed to have change.

And secondly, this company, Didi is actually best known to push Uber out of the Chinese market. It has grown tremendously since it's now valued at $56 billion and continues to expand nationwide and worldwide. So for millions of Chinese this is a company they have to use on a daily basis.

I think this is the kind of story that will resonate with a lot of people around the world, because as these car-sharing, ride-hailing companies -- online companies are replacing and displacing traditional taxi and co-hire services -- this kind of security loopholes is really very concerning to many users -- Cyril.

VANIER: Yes. And it raises the question how are these drivers screened?

JIANG: You know, that's the irony because the company, Didi is actually -- has long been touting its high-tech security features including using artificial intelligence, facial recognition to login drivers and a very thorough background checks on its drivers.

But in this case, for example, the driver the company says has no prior criminal record which is why he was approved. But there have been, state media reports about a lot of these security features touted by this company can be easily bypassed.

And also this driver, as we mentioned, he had a complaint from another female driver just a day before but the company apparently didn't follow up quickly enough.

And also in the latest incident this young woman apparently sent out a distress signal not long after she got into the car. But it took hours before the customer service agents handed over the driver's information to the family and the police so in the minds of many people, wasted precious hours that could potentially have saved the victim's life -- Cyril.

VANIER: Absolutely. And I did not know that detail that the victim had actually sent out a distress signal that wasn't answered. Steven -- Steven Jiang, reporting live from Beijing. Thank you very much. We'll keep following this story.

Coming up, how Brexit might make life even worse for one of Britain's poorest communities -- we'll tell you about that after the break.

[01:39:37] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: A British-Iranian woman is back in prison after being released for only three days. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was briefly let out by Iranian officials last week. She was jailed back in 2016 on charges of spying, accusations her family and her supporters deny.

Her husband says she returned to jail willingly because she was worried about being taken back by force. He says she didn't want her daughter to see her quote, "dragged out of bed in the middle of the night".

Nearly one in four people in Wales lives below the poverty line and some there hope Brexit would make their lives better. But with the U.K.'s exit from the E.U. on the horizon things might actually get worse.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Summer in the Welsh countryside -- a serene scene that belies an ugly truth.

While Wales is a land of abundance, it is also the land of the hungry. Over 20 percent of people here live in poverty, according to a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, more than anywhere else in the U.K.

At the (INAUDIBLE) Food Bank, as Britain barrels towards Brexit, they are concerned the situation could get even worse. A progressive think tank and a private consultancy both published reports saying the cost of food as basic as this could go up -- unimaginable scenarios for these volunteers. They remember when food banks were unheard of in a country that prides itself on taking care of its own.

Arwell Jones runs the bank which in the last year alone saw a 10 percent increase in demand.

ARWELL JONES, MANAGER, ARWEL FOODBANK: The situation is already very, very serious. I mean let's be honest. You know, you think about things like food kitchens and stuff like that with the depression.

MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): Did you ever think you'd see a day in which you would be running a food bank in Wales.

JONES: Never. Never.

MCLAUGHLIN: We've been asked to turns the cameras off as soon as people start to arrive for this food. That moment when you can no longer feed yourself or your family for many is a point of shame.

[01:44:59] (voice over): That holds true for people like Paul. We meet him outside. Too embarrassed to show his face, his suitcase packed with food for his six-year-old son.

PAUL, FOODBANK USER: (INAUDIBLE). You'd probably ask me if (INAUDIBLE), you know because it's bad.

MCLAUGHLIN: You don't have it if you think you'd have to give your son up.

PAUL: Yes. Because I wouldn't want him to starve, you know.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Paul says he's struggling with sickness and changes to the U.K. benefits system. What happens with Brexit perhaps the furthest thing from his mind.

(on camera): What did you vote?

PAUL: Brexit.

MCLAUGHLIN: You voted to leave.

PAUL: Yes. I just don't think the E.U. should govern us. I just don't like a foreign country deciding what Britain does. It's just our identity, isn't it?

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Identity is something people cling to when poverty bites. In 2016 the majority of Wales voted to leave the European Union even though some argued Brexit could hit the poorest the hardest.

A 2018 study by the consultancy Oliver Wyman found that for all main Brexit scenarios prices will go up between 200 pounds to over 900 pounds per year. Extra money 19-year-old Llines (ph) says she doesn't have -- a single mom, too young to vote at the time of the referendum now sitting in an E.U. funded cafe created to help the poor. She barely has enough to feed her baby.

(on camera): Are you familiar with Brexit? The cost of things --

LLINES THOMAS: Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: -- that it all could go up --

THOMAS: Go up, yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: -- by hundreds of pounds a year, potentially.

THOMAS: Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: Are you worried about that.

THOMAS: Yes. That would be (INAUDIBLE). I'm only on -- I can just stock on food. It would go up on the day before -- (INAUDIBLE).

MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Nevertheless Llines (ph) says she has hope. Once her baby's in school she plans to get a job.

For Paul it's different.

(on camera): Do you see a way out for yourself.

PAUL: For me -- no.

MCLAUGHLIN: There's no way out because your life --

PAUL: Yes. It's sad.

MCLAUGHLIN: In Wales, there's worry -- worry that when it comes to Brexit, the highest price might ultimately be paid by those who can least afford it.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN -- northwestern Wales.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: Stay with us. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hope we're having a good start to your Monday. I'm meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri.

We're watching an interesting set up across portions of the western United States and for parts of even southern Canada as well.

How about some mountain snow introduced back into the forecast -- cool enough temperatures to support some high elevation snow, more on that momentarily. [01:50:00] But the 30s coming back into forecast in places like

Chicago and New York City, Atlanta climbs up to 32 degrees. And wait until you see how much warmer it still gets after a brief shot of cool air that was in place over the last few days.

In places like Chicago, it will stay to the 30s initially at least, in the forecast. In places like Boston, after dropping into the teens, back up to 36 degrees come Wednesday afternoon. So certainly, summer not over yet across some of these regions. And notice again, some rough weather to go around across the Great Lakes, Green Bay, on into Chicago there. We look for some afternoon storms to take place over that region.

But here we go, winter weather advisories -- haven't said that for quite some time. They're back in place across northwestern portions of Wyoming, northwestern areas of Montana where if you get up above 2000 meters, and we are talking 20 centimeters of fresh snow coming down.

So yes, the seasons begin to change. And you kind of feel the initial bout with it across the northwestern corner of the U.S. and that all gradually, of course, shifts off towards the east -- across this region.

But we'll watch the temps for now to begin to want to warm- up across the eastern U.S. while watching what is left of Lane, really not much but a rainmaker at this point.

VANIER: For the second straight weekend, this movie has topped the box office, "Crazy Rich Asians". It made an estimated $25 million. Now that is a drop off but only 6 percent from last weekend. That is a feat nearly unheard of in the movie business.

The film is already so popular that Warner Bros. is getting started on a sequel as we speak.

One of America's most successful playwrights has died. Tony Award winner Neil Simon was 91 years old. The playwright and screen writer will long be remembered for his popular comedies including "The Odd Couple", "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Sunshine Boys".

CNN's Sara Sidner has more on Simon's memorable contributions to the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It didn't really matter who the stars were if Neil Simon wrote it, people wanted to see it. "Time Magazine" once called him "the patron saint of laughter".

A native New Yorker, Simon learned his craft in the early days of television writing for comedian Sid Caesar.

NEIL SIMON, PLAYWRIGHT AND SCREENWRITER: Just string old jokes together until we finally learned how to create them.

SIDNER: Simon later wrote a play about TV comedy writers, "Laughter on the 23rd Floor".

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be a writer. I want to write comedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A comedy. Why not? I mean why? You really want to be like me, like Val, like Ira, like any of us?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than anything else in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Helen, you know us. We are disgusting.

SIDNER: Many of Simon's plays were part autobiography. His 1961 Broadway debut, "Come Blow Your Horn" was based on Simon's relationship with his older brother Danny.

Simon later remembered how worried he was when that first play opened.

SIMON: If that play failed, then I go to Hollywood and I write some sitcom for the rest of my life.

SIDNER: "Come Blow Your Horn" did not fail. It ran 677 performances and later became a movie starring none other than Frank Sinatra.

A few years later, Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" helped make Robert Redford a star. And in 1965, Simon won his first Tony for "The Odd Couple", the story of two mismatched roommates, Oscar and Felix.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything you do irritates me. And when you're not here, the things I know you're going to go do when you come in irritates me.

SIDNER: "The Odd Couple" was a huge hit that inspired a successful movie and a long-running television series. And it firmly established Simon as Broadway's most popular playwright.

Other hits followed -- "Plaza Suite, "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers", "The Sunshine Boys" -- just to name a few. No theater season seemed to be complete without another new play, sometimes a new musical featuring Simon's one liners.

There were screenplays, too for movies like "Murder by Death", and "The Goodbye Girl" for which Richard Dreyfus would win an academy award for best actor.

Critics often dismiss Simon as a mere joke writer.

SIMON: Because I wrote a play almost every year, 27 plays in 30 years is almost every year. So anyone who writes that many plays, it couldn't be very hard for him.

SIDNER: Simon never gave up comedy. But as he got older, his scripts became more serious and in 1991, three decades after his Broadway debut, Simon won the Pulitzer Prize for a coming-of-age play that mixed comedy with sadness, "Lost in Yonkers"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I forgot my key.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, how did you get in downstairs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used my spare key.

SIDNER: The named a New York theater after Neil Simon but: Simon's real monument is made of laughter. As new generations of actors continue to revive Simons plays, that laughter will continue for many years to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: And that is it from us. The news continues next with Rosemary Church and George Howell. Have a great day.

[01:55:02] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Memories of John McCain -- tributes from around the world for the late U.S. senator from Arizona. He's being remembered for his service, his integrity and even his wit.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus a gunman opens fire at a crowded video game tournament in the U.S. state of Florida. What we're learning about the shooter, what we're learning about the investigation.

CHURCH: And in Ireland, the Pope asks for forgiveness for the Church's handling of the sex abuse scandal but he's refusing to comment on one explosive allegation.

HOWELL: Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Many in the U.S. and around the world are mourning the man who exemplified the word "maverick". U.S. Senator John McCain died Saturday at the age of 81 after a battle with brain cancer.

[01:59:59] HOWELL: McCain will be honored three times this week -- first in his home state of Florida -- in Arizona, I should say; then at the U.S. Capitol in Washington and eventually laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.

CNN's Phil Mattingly has more.