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Bill Cosby Escorted Out In Handcuffs After Sentence; Iran's Ballistic Missiles Program is Advancing; John Bolton Threatens Iran; Trump Impatient About Kavanaughs Nomination; Rod Rosenstein May Not Be Out of His Job. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 26, 2018 - 3:00   ET

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


[03:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And brags about how great his presidency is so far. Justice is served 14 years later, American comedian Bill Cosby is escorted out of court in handcuffs after his sentence for sexual assault.

And Japan's Shinzo Abe says he hopes to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as he gets ready meet President Trump in just a few hours from now. Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, and this is CNN Newsroom.

Well, Donald Trump is reminding world leaders, it's America first and they are not the priority. He spoke Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, delivering harsh criticism for Iran and defense of his trade war with China. There was also laughter when the U.S. president boasted about his accomplishments. CNN's Richard Roth reports.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last year, it was North Korea in President Trump's sights, this year, Iran.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The corrupt dictatorship in Iran. Iran's leaders sew chaos, death, and destruction.

ROTH: A couple of hours later, President Rouhani of Iran wasted no time in firing back.

HASSAN ROUHANI, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have assembled here today as the world is suffering from restlessness and disregard of some states, for international values and institutions.

ROTH: On the eve of a Special Security Council meeting on Iran and nuclear weapons, President Trump built up momentum for his point of view on Tehran's actions.

TRUMP: The Iranian people are, rightly, outraged. That their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran's treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy and looted the people's religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war. Not good. ROUHANI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): However, it is unfortunate that we are witnessing rulers in the world who think they can secure their interests better, or at least in the short-term, write public sentiments and gain popular support through the fermenting (ph) of extremists, nationalism, and racism, and through xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition.

ROTH: If the world didn't get the message on how the U.S. feels about Iran, several hours later, John Bolton, of the Trump administration sounded off with alarming language.

JOHN BOLTON, UNITED STATED NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Make no mistake, Iran's ballistic missile program is ongoing and advancing. Iran spreads the dangerous missiles and other weapons across the Middle East and around the world, including into Syria where they can be used to threaten our ally and friend, Israel.

I might imagine they would take me seriously that I - I - when I assure them, today, that if you cross us, our allies, or our partners, you harm our citizens, if you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will, indeed, be hell to pay.

ROTH: The French president in his remarks, probably, took the temperature of the large majority of the U.N. membership in saying that there should be the multilateral approach still to solve the world's problems.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I shall never stop upholding the principle of sovereignty, even in the face of certain nationalism, which we're seeing today, brandishing sovereignty as a way of attacking others.

ROTH: President Macron told delegates, he doesn't think countries should sign trade agreements with any nation that has pulled out of the Paris Climate accords. Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

CHURCH: All right. So, let's head to Abu Dhabi and CNN Senior International Correspondent, Sam Kiley. Good to see you, Sam. So, of course, at the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump praised North Korea's Kim Jong-un for his courage to disarm, even though there's no proof of that, while saving his sharpest criticism, as we saw, for Iran, accusing it of financing terrorism in the Middle East. How is Iran responding to all of this?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we saw from Richard, Rosemary, Iran's whole attitude at the United Nations General Assembly is to offset - to look like the polar opposite in terms of personal conduct to, none other than, the United States President when he is intemperate, they are polite.

In an interview, for example, with our own Christiane Amanpour, Rouhani, the President of Iran, was very careful in his choice of words, very careful to suggest that Iran, in a sense, was a voice of reason.

[03:05:00] And that is because, today especially, and tomorrow, but particularly today, the Untied Nation Security Council is going to be shared by Donald Trump. And he, personally, wanted to focus all of his energies on further criticism of Iran. But he's out of step with his principle allies in Europe, and also his international rivals in China and Russia. All three of them have been discussing plans to somehow come up with a program that would allow continued trade.

And if you like (ph), economic reward to Iran for continuing to uphold its side of the nuclear treaty even if the United States has withdrawn from it. So, in that context, that Iranians are trying to play a very temperate mode rather than the rather more theatrical approach taken by Donald Trump, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Sam, we saw the National Security Advisor, John Bolton threatening Iran. What more are you learning about that? What he means he says we'll come after you.

KILEY: Well, I think that's very interesting and very difficult to unpick exactly what he means there. He talked about the allies and partners coming under threat from Iran. Now, there is one ally from the United States perspective that is absolutely vital in the Middle East. That is Israel, a country that its supports, militarily and culturally and, indeed, with foreign aid, more than any other country on Earth.

It is very - very (INAUDIBLE) by a growing power of Hezbollah which is the Shia militia in South Lebanon that gets its support of Tehran. Now, that support includes some very sophisticated missiles developed in Iran. Some of which made it into South Lebanon. Many of which the Israelis have destroyed as we've seen over the last year or two in airstrikes inside Syria, in particular.

And then, you have another threat coming from Iran on another U.S. ally and that's, particularly, Saudi Arabia coming out of the north of Yemen in the Houthi controlled area.

So, there may be a reinforcement there coming from Bolton. They're saying, if you escalate in those regions, we may hit back, I think, some kind of military attack on Iran is extremely unlikely.

And the other thing that I think that's very difficult for experts to process is that Hezbollah, for all its anti-American redirect, has attacked Americans outside of the United States, but doesn't have a record for attacking them inside the United States.

But they have promised to hit back at those. They said that we're behind the murder of 29 people last weekend at a military parade in the south of the country, excuse me, Rosemary. And among those supporters, or the supporters, allegedly, of this terrorist group, they claim, also Saudi Arabia and the United States.

But I think, for now, the Iranians want to deescalate just as people like John Bolton, a long-term critic of Tehran, are clearly escalating in terms of redirect, if not anything else, Rosemary. CHURCH: Yes, indeed. All right, Sam Kiley reporting via live from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks. Well, now to the battle over - now to the battle over Donald Trump's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans say they will vote Friday on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. Just one day after the Judiciary Committee hears from Christine Blasey Ford. She accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her 36 years ago when they were in high school. CNN's Jessica Schneider has the latest.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump unleashing over what he says are unsubstantiated allegations against his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

TRUMP: Thirty-six years ago. Nobody ever knew about it, nobody ever heard about it. And now, a new charge comes up and she said, well, it might not be him, and there were gaps. And she said she was totally inebriated, and she was all messed up. And she doesn't know it was him, but it might have been him. Oh gee, let's not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that? This is a con game being played by the Democrats.

SCHNEIDER: Sources telling CNN, the President has grown impatient with the slow pace of Kavanaugh's confirmation, and pushed to Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, over the weekend to quickly call a vote. And that he also sees Republicans as being too accommodating to Christine Blasey Ford, the first accuser who came forward against Kavanaugh. Ford, along with Kavanaugh, will testify Thursday.

MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I'm glad we'll be able to hear testimony from both. And then, I look forward to an up or down vote on this nomination right here on the Senate floor.

SCHNEIDER: But at least one swing vote senator has expressed reservations about what some view as a rush, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski seeming to side with Democrats who have called for an FBI investigation first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shouldn't there be a full FBI investigation into these allegations from Kavanaugh's past?

[03:10:00]

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, (R) ALASKA: Well, it would sure clear up all the questions wouldn't it.

SCHNEIDER: Several other Republican senators are also uncertainties, including Susan Collins and Jeff Flake. Meanwhile, the White House has expressed willingness to let Kavanaugh's second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a Yale dorm room party in the early 1980s, testify too.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly we would be open to that and that process could take place on Thursday. Again, the president's been clear, let them speak, but let's also let Brett Kavanaugh speak and let's let him tell his side of the story before we allow allegations to determine his entire future. SCHNEIDER: While Kavanaugh continues to prepare for Thursday's hearing, he's also going on the offensive, repeatedly defending his character in an unprecedented television interview. B

BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I am not perfect, I know that. None of us is perfect. I'm not perfect, but I've never, never done anything like this.

SCHNEIDER: Republicans are defending their decision to hire an outside council to question Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday. And aid is telling CNN, this is a woman with an expertise in sex crimes prosecution, but Senator Grassley is not disclosing her name for safety reasons and Democrats are criticizing that.

Meanwhile, Ford's attorneys fired back in a letter saying, there is no precedent for the Judiciary Committee to bring in outside council and it shields senators from performing their duties.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: There is, yet, another controversy swirling around the Trump administration this week, involving the man who oversees the Russia investigation. The Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, is feeling the wrath of Congressional Republicans. CNN's Laura Jarrett explains.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The future of Russia probe leader, Rod Rosenstein, may still be in peril.

UNKNOWN MALE: Mr. Rosenstein, has anyone asked you to resign?

JARRETT: With lawmakers now pressing for the Justice Department's number two to testify on Capitol Hill. The president, in New York today, trying to redirect attention to the work at the U.N.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm meeting with Rod Rosenstein on Thursday. Today, I'm doing other things.

JARRETT: White House officials' caution, Rosenstein may not be out of the job, as White House Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders, added to the ambiguity.

SANDERS: Obviously, the president has been disappointed by a number of actions that have taken place at the Department of Justice and he wants some answers to some of the questions that he has.

UNKNOWN MALE: Sure.

SANDERS: Some of them have to do with Rod Rosenstein, some of them have nothing to do with him.

JARRETT: The Justice Department prepared a statement Monday, ahead of what they thought was Rosenstein's last day, according to sources.

The statement, obtained by Axios, read in part, quote, "Rod Rosenstein has served the Department of Justice with dedication and skill for 28 years. His contributions are many and significant. We all appreciate his service and sincerely wish him well."

Officials were also ready to name Matt Whitaker, Attorney General Jeff Sessions current Chief of Staff, as Rosenstein's replacement.

Whitaker, a former CNN legal contributor, urged Rosenstein, last year, to order Special Counsel Robert Mueller to limit the scope of his investigation. But if Rosenstein leaves, Whitaker won't oversee the Russia probe. That will fall to Solicitor General, Noel Francisco.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republican's are calling for the Deputy A.G. to be subpoenaed over that story that started it all, reports that Rosenstein discussed secretly taping the president and evoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Once source in the room dismissed it to CNN as sarcasm, but Republican Congressman, Mark Meadows isn't laughing. Tweeting, you can't have the number two official at the Department of Justice making comments about wiring the president and not address it. Rod Rosenstein must come before Congress this week, under oath, and tell the truth about his alleged statements.

And Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz saying the story could be career ending.

REP. MATT GAETZ, (R) FLORIDA: I don't think it's appropriate to joke about taking an action against the Institution of the Presidency while you're overseeing an investigation.

UNKNOWN MALE: Fireable?

GAETZ: Probably.

JARRETT: But, other Republicans on Capitol Hill have very different concerns. Republican from Maine, Susan Collins, telling reporters that if the president was to force out or try to fire Rod Rosenstein, that that would be quote, very problematic and a red line for her, given his role in overseeing the Russia investigation.

Laura Jarrett, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here, but still to come, a milestone for the Me Too movement. America's dad, Bill Cosby, is led away in handcuffs after being sentenced to prison for sexual assault.

And the latest report on Myanmar's Rohingya refugees, why the U.S. conclusion doesn't go as far as a U.N. report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00]

CHURCH: Well, over the past few years more than 60 women have come forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Now, the American comedian is behind bars. He will serve three to 10 years for assaulting a woman who once considered a mentor. The 81-year-old is now classified as a sexually violent predator.

Cosby's sentence represents a symbolic victory for all the other accusers who never had their day in court. Our Jean Casarez reports.

UNKNOWN MALE: Mr. Cosby, any comments, sir?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a dramatic scene, Bill Cosby leaves a Pennsylvania courtroom in handcuffs.

Once America's dad, now prisoner. Judge Steven O'Neill sentencing the disgraced comedian three to 10 years in state prison.

KEVIN STEELE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT COURT: For decades the defendant has been able to hide his true self and hide his crimes using his fame and fortune. His hidden behind a character created, Dr. Cliff Huxtable. It was a seminal character on TV and so was the family, but it was fiction.

CASAREZ: Cosby has been under house arrest since April, after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand back in 2004.

Today, Constand and her family, watching from the first row of a packed courtroom. In her victim impact statement, she saying, quote, "Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature and my trust in myself and others."

Judge Steven O'Neill telling her, "The jury heard your words. I heard your words." Then speaking directly at Cosby, "Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come, the time has come." He also said, no one is above the law.

Other women who say Cosby also attacked them, watching from the gallery. Embracing Constand after the sentence was read. Tamara Green was one the first women to come forward after Constand.

TAMARA GREEN, COSBY ACCUSER: But today's the day that we've been waiting for. Today's the day when we got to -- I got to witness the fact that Bill Cosby was rendered helpless by being taken out of the courtroom by policemen.

CASAREZ: Cosby declining to address the court, but after court, his publicist defending him and likening him to Jesus.

[03:20:00]

ANDREW WYATT, COSBY PUBLICIST: Cosby's doing great, and Mr. Cosby know that God is watching over him. He knows that he's alive. They persecuted Jesus and look what happened. Not the end of the Cosby as Jesus, but we know what this country has done to black men for centuries. This has been the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States.

Cosby's lawyers saying they will appeal, but tonight he is spending his first night in prison. Jean Casarez, CNN, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's get more now on all of this with CNN Legal Analyst, Mark Geragos. He is a defense attorney and co-host of the Reasonable Doubt podcast. Thank you so much for being with us.

MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Well, of course, the country watched in amazement as the man once known as America's dad was sentenced to three to 10 years in a state prison and led away in handcuffs. Did Bill Cosby's sentence fit the crime of drugging and sexual assaulting Andrea Constand 14 years ago and how much of the sentence will he realistically serve?

GERAGOS: The last part first, he's going to do a minimum of three years unless the case gets revered by the appeal because under Pennsylvania law, which is the state he was convicted in, the - it requires the - so three to 10 years means you do three years and then you're eligible for parole and it's up to a board - a parole board to decide whether to release you.

And you can keep coming up for parole up until 10 years, at which point generally you get automatically released. Although in this case there was a finding of what's called a sexually violent predator and that can sometimes complicate his release.

CHURCH: And as you mentioned, Cosby's attorney has filed for an appeal. What will likely come of that do you think?

GERAGOS: Well, he's got a couple of good issues, one of which is the admission of what's called bad axe evidence. They put in other women who he was not charged with that particular crime that they were talking about. Supposedly in the law the reason you do that is so they'll help jurors understand that there's kind of a motive or kind of a signature identification to the crime.

I've always thought as a criminal defense lawyer that what that really does is it's kind of character assassination and it usually will bolster a case that otherwise is not the strongest case by throwing up other accusations and things of that even if you haven't been accused of them formally in a court room.

CHURCH: So what do you think would be the outcome then?

GERAGOS: Well, it's an interesting issue and in most of the other jurisdictions, California, New York, this has been decided that that's fine and you can do that as long as the judge acts as a gate keeper and is very careful to not only limit what the accusations - the other accusations say, but also instruct the jury very specifically that they can only consider these things as to the defendant or the accused motive or his operating methodology.

CHURCH: And Mark, how much impact do you thing the #metoo movement had on the outcome of this case? Would it have been any different if this had gone to trial say a few years ago? GERAGOS: I don't think it ever would have gone to trial a couple years ago. I think it's clear that but for the #metoo movement, but for what has happened over, say, the last five years, I don't think this case would have even been brought.

Remember, originally this was a civil case, which means they were fighting over money, not over jail time. When it was a civil case, Cosby decided to pay her. He had given a deposition, which is a sworn testimony under oath. That was sealed and the district attorney at the time, the prosecutor at the time in that county had signed off on the fact that they weren't going to bring criminal charges, which was the only reason he claims that he testified.

So I think it goes without saying that but for the #metoo movement this case never would have been brought initially and he never would have been convicted.

CHURCH: Well, that's significant, isn't it?

GERAGOS: It sure is.

CHRUCH: So you feel there is a new awakening perhaps when it comes to particularly sexual assault on women as a result of the #metoo movement?

GERAGOS: Well, there's a whole - there's a sea change frankly, and it's not just culturally. It's politically as well in America. You find it's not - it's almost ironic in the true sense of the word, but less than 48 hours before we're going to have a Supreme Court nominee here in the U.S. testify right after an accuser testifies about something that happened 35 years ago that we've got somebody else who was convicted and remanded into custody, remanded meaning immediately into jail.

[03:25:00]

These things are - it's a sea change. You have Republicans now talking about the presumption of innocence and whether or not there should be a statute of limitations. That was traditionally when I started practicing 35 years ago the exclusive province of Democrats. So you've seen a complete role reversal if you will on the left and the right on these issues.

CHURCH: While I've got you on that topic and with us, I'd be interested on your take legally in what is going on with the confirmation hearing that we're watching on Brett Kavanaugh.

GERAGOS: Well, I think what you've seen is, you know, there was almost a - building on what I was just saying, this role reversal was it used to be kind of the exclusive province of the Democrats to talk about due process, to talk about the justices, to talk about airing people's accusations, facing your accusers, things like that.

That now has become the province of the Republicans. It's - there is no small irony in the fact that Judge Kavanaugh was originally 20 years ago on the Whitewater investigation as part of Ken Starr's Independent Council who led the Monica Lewinsky investigation of Bill Clinton.

And now look what happens, fast forward 20 years later. So the number of ironies and cross curves and political gafas (ph) I hear that I've been joyed over this are too numerous to really plum.

CHRUCH: What would you expect the outcome to be of these confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh?

GERAGOS: My feeling is that if she - if the accuser comes off credibly that there's going to be a very tight vote and that you may end up seeing that he does not get a committee vote because first he's got to be voted on in committee. I think Jeff Flake may flip. Jeff Flake is notoriously kind of standing apart from his party and from Trump and if he flips and one other Republican, there may not be a confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh.

CHURCH: All right, Mark Geragos, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

GERAGOS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. Still to come Donald Trump and his national security advisor are delivering a harsh warning to Iran. We will look at the issues complicating the intense relationship. That is next.

Plus a diplomatic step forward, Japan's Prime Minister says he is ready for a face-to-face meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong- un. We'll have a live report on that when we come back.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on the main stories we're following this hour.

Pope Francis say's the cover up of past sexual abuse by priests should not be judged by today's standards. He says covering up abuse was common in the last century. At the same time Pope Francis acknowledges that young Catholics are scandalized by the hypocrisy of older people, church corruption, and the sexual abuse of children.

The Mexican military and federal authorities have taken over the city of Acapulco's police department. Investigators say they suspect criminal gangs have infiltrated the force. Two commanders are wanted for homicide. The popular beach town has been hit by a surge of drug related violence.

Peru has joined four other Latin American countries to call for the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity in Venezuela. Under President Nicolas Maduro inflation has skyrocketed and there are reports of executions. Shortages of food and medicine have pushed 100's of thousands of people to leave the country.

Well Donald Trump will share the U.N. Security Council in the coming hours. And he's expected to continue his harsh criticism of Iran. Administration officials are warming Iran (ph) over its support for terror groups. And they say they are planning for every contingency, even war. CNN's Barbra Starr is at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump getting tough on Iran at the U.N.

DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: Iran's leaders sow chaos, death, and destruction.

STARR: While his National Security Advisor got even tougher issuing a downright threat to Iran (ph).

JOHN BOLTON, US NATIONAL SECUIRTY ADVISOR: If you cross us, our allies, or our partners, you harm our citizens. If you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes there indeed will be hell to pay.

STARR: For now the U.S. focus, cripple Iran with sanctions to pressure it to give up its nuclear program and stop supporting Syria.

BOLTON: The Murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behavior. Let my message today be very clear. We are watching and we will come after you.

STARR: But U.S. Military options for a non nuclear strike against Iran are limited. Baring weeks of building up ships, fighters, bombers and missals for an all out attack, defense officials tell CNN. These new F-35 fighter jets in the North Arabian Sea could be called into action.

But there's been no aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf since this winter. Right now there are only two nearby warships that could shoot Tomahawk cruise missals. And anti mine Navy ships are still in the Gulf, ready if Iran threatened world oil markets by shutting down commercial shipping in the Gulf.

JOHN (ph), ADMIRAL: The conventional thinking that they could temporarily shut it down by either mines, or by sinking ships across the Strait of Hormuz.

STARR: Iran's advantage? It's inventory of thousands of ballistic and cruise missals that could attack not just Israel but U.S. Gulf allies, and potentially even Europe. And Iran's (ph) use of militia's and proxies though out the Middle East could also lead to a military response. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a CNN interview.

MIKE POMPEO, US SECRETARY OF STATE: They're going to be held accountable. If they're responsible for the arming and training of these militias we're going to go to the source.

STARR: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggesting the dialog with the United States could resume. But that the threats must end. Barbara Starr, CNN the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Later Wednesday President Trump will hold a sideline meeting with Japan's Prime Minister. They are expected to discuss trade and North Korea. President Trump wants to reduce the trade deficit with Japan and establish a free trade agreement. As leverage he has threatened a 25 percent tariff on Japanese vehicles. On North Korea Shinzo Abe (ph) said he is prepared to get involved in the denuclearization talks.

SHINZO ABE, JAPAN PRIME MINISTER, THRU TRANSLATOR: I am also ready to break the shell of mutual distrust with North Korea. Get off to a new start and meet face to face with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So let's talk about this. Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul in South Korea. Paula good to see you again.

[03:35:00]

CHURCH: So let's talk about this. Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul in South Korea. Paula good to see you again. We saw there Japans Prime Minister ready to meet face to face with Kim Jong-un. How significant is this? And how will it potentially move the issue of denuclearization forward?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary this isn't the first time that the Japanese Prime Minister has said that he is willing to meet with Kim Jong-un. But certainly saying it in such a venue as the United Nations is significant. It's notable. Remember just about nine months ago Kim Jong-un was a pariah, nobody wanted to meet him. And now everybody is trying to meet him.

Japan does have a very strong vested interest in denuclearization. For example some of the missal launches that were coming from North Korea last year, came very close to Japan's coast within the economic zone, so within about 200 miles of the coast. Some of them flew over Japan.

So certainly it is a great concern that this was happing. And also Japan has the issue of abductees. They say that North Korea has abducted a certain number of Japanese over the decades. And they really want those Japanese citizens back. This has been a long bone of contention for many in Japan.

So certainly from Shinzo Abe's point of view when he sees that this is a process now that is being dealt with between North Korea, South Korea and the United States. They will have some kind of a feeling that they're left on the sidelines. And Shinzo Abe will want to be part of the process going forward, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And of course at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday President Trump praised Kim Jong-un for his courage to disarm his words. But what proof is there that Kim is doing any such disarming? And yet we are seeing these plans for a second summit going forward. So how's this all being received? HANCOCKS: Well it really depends on who you speak to. If you speak to the South Korean President Moon Jae-in he say's North Korea is keeping its word. That it is denuclearizing. Pointing to things like destroying the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. Now this was done in front of a handful of journalists.

It was not done in front of international experts who could verify that, that was completely destroyed. So that's not something that the U.S. accepts as a done deal at this point. But - and if you speak to the U.S. President Donald Trump he is very positive about what is happening at this point. U.S. intelligence agencies don't believe that there are any tangible steps. There have been many reports around the world that intelligence agencies and annalists saying that there are no exact steps.

That there are - there is a continuing move towards building up a nuclear arsenal within North Korea. So certainly it depends on who you are speaking to. But when you talk of that second summit according to one U.S. official speaking to CNN Donald Trump has already said where he wants it to be. He wants it to be within the U.S.

They're trying to figure out if that is even practical for Kim Jong- un. Would he be willing or able to go to the U.S.? There was talk after the Singapore summit in June that Donald Trump would be happy for it to be at the White House. But there are many within the Trump administration that don't believe in Oval Office meeting is appropriate at a time when intelligence agencies are saying that there are no steps towards denuclearization.

In fact we're also being told that they're toying with the idea of Mar-a-Lago in Florida, it's Trumps property. We don't know whether that's a serious consideration. Kim Jong-un doesn't play golf for example, so at this point though we're getting to the point of the second summit that Trump is even deciding on the location and the date. So it seems as tough he has agreed it will happen.

CHURCH: Yes, still a lot of questions surrounding it though, and many analisits not happy at all with all of this. So Paula Hancocks bringing us the very latest, live from Seoul in South Korea where it is just after 4:30 in the afternoon. Many thanks.

Well a new report from the U.S. State Department accuses Myanmar military of atrocities against the Rohingya minority. The report says the campaign was well planned an coordinated. But it stopped short of the conclusion a U.N. study reached calling it an act of genocide. CNN's Matt Rivers has more now, from Yangon in Myanmar.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well these allegations of human rights atrocities from the U.S. State Department really follow a trend of the reporting of these violent incidents that began in August of 2017. And that people have been talking about in the year or so since. And yet they deserve to be talked about as much as possible. Because the allegations are truly horrifying. So what the State Department did here was go to southern Bangladesh to the refugee camps that have been set up there. And they spoke to more than 1,000 people who have had to flee Rakhine state, the area where all of this violence happened. And the stories that these people tell to the State Department really are just horrendous.

So, the allegations include locking the Burmese military and others locking people in houses and burning them alive, fencing off entire villages before shooting amongst the crowd and even sinking boats full of fleeing people. The list goes on and what the United States calls that is ethnic cleansing on a very wide scale. So, they are obviously not happy about it and they're reporting this report out there.

But where the United States report differs really is one key word and that's genocide, which is the word that we heard and read in a report released by the United Nations about a month ago. The full report was released in the last several weeks and the U.N. went so far to call this genocide. They say what happened to the Rohingya people in Rakhine state was genocide. The U.S. would not go that far.

On the one hand these activists we spoke to are happy that the United States documented these alleged abuses but on the other hand they are unhappy that the U.S. wouldn't go so far as to call it genocide because they want the United States to at least be a part of if not lead an effort to get what happened in Rekhine state referred to the international criminal court to get people who committed these atrocities to be tried by the international criminal court.

The Trump administration has shown zero inclination to do that so far but this is going to be an ongoing conversation, especially at the U.N. General Assembly currently going on in New York City, the Rohingya crisis is absolutely a topic of conversation there. You can expect this conversation to continue, especially when the representative from Yanmar speaks later this week. Matt Rivers, CNN, Yangon, Myanmar.?

CHURCH: And after the short break, Super Typhoon Trami takes a turn and now it seems to be heading straight for Southern Japan. The latest forecast for this fierce storm, that's still to come. Plus watch out for cars, bicycles and now also mind the scooters. The new ride share phenomenon is popular and convenient but is it safe. We'll take a look at that.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. All eyes on Southern Japan are on Typhoon Trami, the dangerous storm heading their way. Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera joins us now from the International Weather Center. He is keeping a very close eye on this himself so Ivan what are you seeing?

[03:45:00]

IVAN CABRERA, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Rosemary, good to see you. This is no longer a Super Typhoon, right so it's weakened and we like that but I still think there are some big impacts especially with rain, gusty winds, and still in the cards for the Ryukyu Islands and then mainly Japan. As we get into the next several days we'll fine tune the timing here as far as what we're talking about here but this started - I must tell you this is the fastest I've seen a super typhoon diminish in intensity. When we get the next advisory, this is going to be I think well below 205 kilometers per hour which is where we are right now. I think partly it's because it hasn't moved all that much over the last 40 - or 24 to 48 hours.

So what happens is when these things continue to churn, basically it acts like a big washing machine. You get all that cold air from below the ocean surface pulling up. Tropical cyclones don't like that and I think that's partly why you see that erosion of the very at one point well-defined buzz saw eye.

All right, so let's put this into motion and show you what's been going on as we head over the next several days we'll be able to see this track and as it moves north and west eventually it does get picked up by the upper level winds and that is going to push it towards Japan so we're going to get that classic hook that we typically see with these storms. Yes, sometimes they go in but this one is not and it will do more of a traditional track to the north and east.

Here's the tropical moisture coming in and it is going to be very heavy as far as the rainfall so let's time this out here. Wednesday, put this into motion because I think by Saturday morning that's when we're impacting with Okinawa here. So this is local time Saturday morning the strongest winds and the heaviest rains for the Southern Ryukyu Islands and then it continues to move at a much faster pace I must say heading into Sunday morning and into Sunday afternoon, that's when Kabashima will be seeing the heaviest rain and the strongest winds.

I think thereafter the winds won't be as much of an issue; it will be a huge rain event here for the entire country so we're talking heavy amounts of rain in the next five days. This is our newest model here updated to show some areas potentially picking up a quarter meter rainfall. Specifically, let's talk about the numbers here. There you see down to the South 256 millimeters of rainfall, that's going to be a huge deal and they're now picking up north of 300. So a big rain event underway for Japan and this continues Rosemary heading not just Sunday but then through the early part of next week and again as we transition out of the wind situation into big rain event.

But again the latest is it's no longer a super cyclone, we're talking about Typhoon Trami making headway towards Ryukyu Islands the next 24 - 48 hours.

CHURCH: All right, thanks so much for keeping track of all of that. We appreciate it Ivan.

CABRERA: You're welcome.

CHURCH: Well crowds in Kathmandu recently got a rare chance to see a living goddess, the young deity made her first public appearance in Nepal. The living goddesses are young girls who are chosen from the local community and live most of the time in temples. They're rarely seen except on special occasions when one reaches puberty, she must relinquish her position and go back to living with us mere mortals. Well, the largest and finest pink diamond ever to go up for auction by Christies could be yours. The 19 karat diamond is known fittingly as the "Pink Legacy". It is expected to sell for a record price of $30 to $50 million if you have some spare cash. The diamond is rated "vivid;" that is the highest rating for stone's color. If you're interested in catching a glimpse of the "Pink Legacy" it will be on tour in Hong Kong, London, and New York before it goes up for auction at Christies in November.

Well motorized scooters for rent have become increasingly popular in cities across the United States. They are convenient and accessible and relatively cheap to use but there have been some serious accidents as Samuel Burke reports on a growing backlash to the e-scooter craze.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The alarm is starting to sound on the e-scooter invasion, a two-wheel collision at top speeds. Another scene, paramedics tending to the injured downed by an e-scooter. Victor San Andres was riding last June in New York when he said his e- scooter brakes locked up.

VICTOR SAN ANDRES, E-SCOOTER OWNER: So basically I went face first.

BURKE: And where did you land?

SAN ANDRES: On the ground with my face on the ground. It was terrible. I had like really bad lacerations on my face.

BURKE: He says a bystander found him unconscious and helped him the few blocks to his house. Were you wearing a helmet?

SAN ANDRES: I was not wearing a helmet.

BURKE: Why not?

SAN ANDRES: Because I didn't think I was - I was never going too fast.

BURKE: Doctors and lawyers are seeing crashes like his every day. Some are pushing back accusing these scooter start ups of putting profits over rider safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing all sorts of particularly egregious accidents occurring due to these devices themselves simply not holding up, brakes not working, wheels falling off; just very basic stuff.

[03:50:00]

BURKE: And eScoooter riders can be hard to spot on the road. Last month in Cleveland a driver struck and killed a 21-year-old woman. The driver was under the influence and charged with homicide.

VOX: I've already had one patient who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.

BURKE: While no official stats exist, some E.R.s say they're seeing an influx of eScooter related injuries. Cedar-Sinai Hospital in California told us, patients are regularly coming now, requiring urgent surgery and because the devices are so new, insurance policies may not cover any resulting medical bills.

In the past year California based Bird, has launched sharable eScooters rented via smartphone apps in more than 40 cities worldwide and is now valued at an eye popping $2 billion.

TRAVIS VANDERZANDEN, CEO OF BIRD: The goal of Bird is to reduce car traffic and trips. People have been trying to find ways to get American's out of cars for a long time and we think Bird can have a big impact.

BURKE: Bird says users should be 18 or older, follow local traffic laws and should wear a helmet. Critics say, riders routinely break those rules.

In a statement, Bird told CNN, safety is our top priority. For those involved in any incidents with Bird scooters, we strongly recommend reporting these to Bird so we can take necessary action on our platform.

CHURCH: Sammy Burke with that report.

Well, Donald Trump takes to the world stage at the United Nations and is greeted, not with applause, but with laughter. How the U.S. President responded to that, when we come back.

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CHURCH: You've heard the expression, laugh and the world laughs with you. In Donald Trump's case, Tuesday, it was speak and the world laughs at you. Brian Todd has more on the president's not so funny day at the United Nations.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president's swagger was expected. The laughter in response to it wasn't.

TRUMP: In less than two years my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. America's so true.

(LAUGHTER)

Didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay.

MARC FISHER, AUTHOR: One of the phrases to watch for when you're looking at Donald Trump is, that's okay. When he says, that's okay, he's burning up inside.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, AUTHOR: You can assume that underneath this effort to get along with folks and be a good sport, his is already setting down in his mind an agenda for revenge. This is a man who never forgets a slight.

TODD: Those who chronicle his life say Trump is obsessed with the idea of being laughed at. A line he often repeats. TRUMP: The world is laughing at us, the world is laughing at the stupidity of what we have done with immigration.

We're the laughing stock of the world.

The world is laughing at us.

TODD: At some moments in the U.N. General Assembly, the world was laughing, or at least smirking at President Trump as these German diplomats did. Biographers say, for Donald Trump, being laughed at strikes at certain insecurities which go back a long way.

D'ANTONIO: For his entire life, Donald Trump has been worried about being humiliated himself. He's a person who's motivated by the desire to escape being shamed. He's always worried that people are laughing at him.

TODD: Never was that more stark than on April 30, 2011, at the White House correspondence dinner, President Obama was relentless in roasting Trump.

[03:55:00]

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald.

(LAUGHTER)

And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing?

(LAUGHTER)

What really happened is Roswell?

(LAUGHTER)

And where are Biggie and Tupac?

TODD: The audience roared Trump sieved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Trump, this was a decisive moment. This was the exact moment when I think he decided, I'm going to run for president and I'm going to beat that guy.

TODD: In the ensuing years, Trump would invoke the laughing stock strategy when slamming Obama in tweets. And it's since become a political rallying cry for the President.

TRUMP: The world is laughing at us.

TODD: Because it plays to his most loyal supporters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the very beginning of his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump had a keen visceral understanding that the people he was appealing to felt ridiculed, felt that they were being looked down upon, condescended to by the elites in America. And so, he latched on to that theme which happen to jive with things he'd been saying all of his life about being laughed at.

TODD: Trump biographers say we can expect the President to continue his laughing stock strategy well passed the 2018 midterm election cycle, and into 2020. They say it might backfire with some of his moderate supporters who might get tired of the self-victimization. But they say for Trump's hardcore base, they'll always get fired up when he talks about being laughed at. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: And finally, something you certainly don't see everyday, a beluga whale in the River Thames. The, apparently, healthy mammal was spotted between London and the English Channel. A spokeswoman for the Marine Lab for Excuses (ph), the last beluga whale sighting in British waters was three years ago.

How this whale got to the Thames, well that isn't known. Hopefully it has found its way back to deeper water by now. And thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter at RosemaryCNN. We'd love to hear from you. And the news continues next with Max Foster in London. You're watching CNN. Have a great day.

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