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CNN NEWSROOM

Pope Gets Political in Washington Debut; What it Takes to Protect the Pope; Colombia Signs Peace Agreement with Rebels; Weather Report; Xi Inks Deal to Buy 300 Boeing Planes; 2016 Race for the White House; Pope Prepares for Address to U.S. Congress; Waves of Migrants Enter Croatia; Shakeup at Volkswagen Amid Scandal. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 24, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


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ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Weighing in: the pope begins his first tour of America by focusing on poverty, immigration and climate change at the White House. His next stop: Congress.

Breakthrough: the Colombian government and FARC rebels move closer to an historic peace deal.

And damage control: Volkswagen tries to move past a growing controversy involving fake emissions tests.

A big welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and those of you watching a little around the world. I appreciate you joining me. I'm Errol Barnett and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BARNETT: Our top story this hour: Pope Francis is wasting no time raising politically sensitive issues, including climate change, immigration and marriage, during his visit to the United States.

His views were made clear on Wednesday, his first full day in the U.S. when he met with President Obama at the White House. And it maybe a sign of what is to come when he addresses a joint meeting of Congress in a few hours from now. CNN's Jim Acosta has more from Washington.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His presence could be felt the moment he arrived as cheers erupted across the nation's capital, when the tiny Fiat carrying Pope Francis pulled up to the White House.

Before a sea of the faithful assembled on South Lawn, the pope joined President Obama to deliver a message that seemed so coordinated, it could have come from political running mates. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You remind us that the Lord's most powerful message is mercy.

ACOSTA (voice-over): On immigration, President Obama called for compassion.

OBAMA: That means welcoming the stranger with empathy and a truly open heart --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- from the refugee, who flees war-torn lands to the immigrant, who leaves home in search of a better life.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And so did the Pope, speaking in carefully practiced English. So Americans could hear from him directly.

POPE FRANCIS: As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Pope Francis pleaded with the world's leaders to protect the environment, describing the planet as our common home.

POPE FRANCIS: It seems to clear to me also that climate change is a problem we can no longer be left to our future generation.

ACOSTA (voice-over): It is as if they were reading the same speech.

OBAMA: We support your call to all world leaders to support the communities most vulnerable to changing climate and to come together to preserve our precious world for future generations.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The only hint of any disagreement came when the pope talked about marriage, a remainder the two leaders remain divided on gay rights.

OBAMA: All of you are much better behaved than usual.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Behind closed doors in the Oval Office, the president and pope held a rare one-on-one meeting, discussing other pressing global matters, from the Syrian refugee crisis to the battle against ISIS.

Minutes later the pontiff was paraded down Constitution Avenue, his Fiat switched out for the Popemobile, all the better for kissing babies along the way. Then he was off to an address the U.S. bishops, where he repeated his concerns on immigration.

So far, the pope's visit is everything the White House could have hoped for. No surprise in this White House video, even the president sounds like a fan.

Despite what sounded like a unified message from the White House and the Vatican, aides to the president claim they had no idea what Pope Francis was going to say until he said it. It is unclear how much help the pope's support will be for the

president's agenda. The world will get a sense of that when John Boehner hosts the pope's speech to Congress on Thursday -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: And there was an interesting moment. A 5-year-old girl was stopped by Secret Service Wednesday as she tried to get closer to the pope in Washington. Sofia Cruz got over a security barricade twice. Security surrounded the girl on her second attempt but the pope waved her on over.

He then gave her a kiss on the cheek and she handed him a picture and a note written in Spanish.

It read, "My friends and I love each other, no matter our skin color." Reports say the girl fears her parents will be deported --

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BARNETT: Sofia says she hopes the pope can bring changes to U.S. immigration laws.

Dozens of agencies are handling the pope's security detail while he's in the States. CNN's Deborah Feyerick got an inside look at what's being done to protect the pope.

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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened in a split second. Several people breaking from the crowd, one of them able to reach into the Popemobile in Havana.

The sudden security breach handled quickly by the pontiff's security detail underscores how high the stakes are and how much greater they will be when the pope arrives in New York City to address some 170 world leaders, all with security details of their own.

Security will be tight in the air, on the rooftops, the waterways, the city streets, all eyes zeroed in on Pope Francis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The implied threat is significant. Nobody wants to have a protect ego (ph) down on their watch.

FEYERICK (voice-over): The United States Secret Service is coordinating some 50 agencies in a massive security operation. For a two-day period, from Thursday night through early Saturday, Pope Francis will visit six locations, all of which will be swept, secured and locked down long before he arrives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost like a military operation. They will post this up with agents and officers. They're going to kick everybody out and then they're going to sweep it for security threats.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Bill Gage (ph) is a former Secret Service agent who protected Pope Benedict on his 2008 U.S. tour.

FEYERICK: You've still got balconies over here. You've got rooftops, you've got trees.

What's not to say that somebody couldn't simply hide in those areas and wait?

BILL GAGE (PH), FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Each one of these buildings, someone from the service will visit and they will do an assessment: do the windows open out? Do they open in? Do the windows even open? How do you get on the roof of this building? Who controls roof access?

There's also going to be plainclothes agents as well as NYPD officers patrolling some of the roofs.

FEYERICK (voice-over): The NYPD will provide manpower, protect the city, coordinate street closures and, as in this drill, respond to potential attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) IED explosion. We are getting reports of 48 DOA and 200 injured.

BILL BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: They are out there, trying to kill us, the terrorists, Al Qaeda, ISIS, Islamic radicals. And we need to be constantly mindful of that.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Only ticket holders will get close enough to St. Patrick's Cathedral to actually get a glimpse of pope. They will have to go through multiple security check points, including magnetometers. But because there are so many office buildings here, so many pedestrians, there will be a fence set up. And that's to ensure that nobody slips through any kind of contraband, like a weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fencing is used by the Secret Service routinely to identify those that have been screened versus those that haven't been screened.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Along with the Joint Operations Center, every agency will have its own command post, with teams monitoring intelligence, social media posts and the coming and goings of people on various target lists. Surveillance cameras are posted throughout Manhattan. And radiation detectors will be positioned at bridges and tunnels. The FBI's most recent bulletin said there's no known threat surrounding the event -- Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

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BARNETT: With so many papal events still to come, take a look at where the pope stands on some of the biggest issues facing the church. Just head to our website. The address: cnn.com.

Now to another big story we are following for you. Colombia's government is taking a major step toward ending its 50-year war with leftist rebels. The two sides signed a peace commitment Wednesday in Havana, Cuba, aimed at reaching a final deal within six months.

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BARNETT (voice-over): FARC rebels have been fighting the government since the 1960s in a conflict that's killed more 200,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have reached an agreement on the basis of a judicial plan which allows me to say with conviction that we will achieve maximum possible justice for the victims, the most satisfaction possible of their rights.

We have agreed to create special tribunals for peace that guarantee the crimes committed during the conflict, especially the most serious and significant, will have no impunity.

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BARNETT: Now Pope Francis may be at least partly responsible for the Colombian peace deal. CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez reports that the pope made an appeal to end the fighting while he was in Cuba this past weekend.

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JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Havana, he made a call for Colombians to advance in the peace process and he said this process would not accept another failure.

There were hopes by the Colombians and the FARC and the Cubans for this announcement to be made while the pope was here but that was impossible.

And why is it significant? Because both the FARC and the Colombian government have reached an agreement on the most --

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LOPEZ: -- contentious point and that's what's going to happen with the victims?

What's going to happen with those who committed crimes?

And what does that future hold?

There is an expectation that many would go to jail. And this contemplates the possibility but it spells it out in different ways. Now it is an agreement that would be signed in six months but now there is a concrete date. That is also significant and also the announcement by FARC that 60 days after they sign an agreement, which would March 23rd, 2016, that that would be the cutoff date, 60 days after that they would start disarming and become a political party.

There's a lot of work to be done. But for Colombians to see President Juan Manuel Santos, who belongs to one of the most traditional and politically involved families in the country, in the same stage with Timoleon Jimenez, the mochang (ph) or the leader of FARC, who has been fighting the government for 60 years, joined by Fidel and Raul Castro, this is a very significant issue.

A lot of people are happy. A lot of people are not. But it is a process that is ongoing.

And by the way, President Santos and the FARC leader reiterated Colombians have to go and vote and decide if they accept this agreement or not but it has been over five decades of war and, as you mentioned, over 200,000 victims.

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BARNETT: Juan Carlos Lopez speaking to us earlier from Havana, Cuba.

Still to come, some big headlines out of the U.S. China's president makes a promise to top U.S. business leaders. Foreign investors are wanted. We're going to get you a live report on this coming up.

Also, Donald Trump is kissing babies on the campaign trail in South Carolina. But the Republican presidential candidate isn't showing any love for FOX News.

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BARNETT: Welcome back.

China's president spent much of his second day in the U.S. vowing to ease restrictions on foreign investors. Questions about access would have been expected in the closed door meeting between Xi Jinping and some of the country's top tech execs.

But a Microsoft spokeswoman said Mr. Xi spoke for about six minutes and none of the business leaders responded. Earlier Mr. Xi announced a multibillion-dollar deal to buy 300 jets from Boeing and Boeing announced plans to build a finishing facility in China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): There is a Chinese saying, when the main river rises, all the tributaries would be filled. So when China-U.S. relations do fine, the American companies, including Boeing, will be even better place to cooperate with China.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: Obviously speaking through a translator there.

Let's bring in our Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, from Hong Kong to talk about this event.

Andrew, let's start with the tour of the Boeing facility and the announcement of the purchase of planes. There were protests outside, I understand organized by a machinist union. It highlights the fear they have that jobs will be outsourced.

Did Mr. Xi address those concerns at all?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned those protests playing into a political cycle as well, Errol. Mr. Xi didn't directly address them but Boeing said that there wouldn't be jobs lost in Seattle as a result of this deal.

The deal is for a completion factory to be set up in China; I don't know where, don't know when. What the factory would do is to paint the final product, put seats in and install in-flight communications and in-flight entertainment systems.

It follows Airbus, what they have been doing. Airbus looks like they will expand operations in China by putting in another finishing plant for its bigger planes. But certainly there is a fear in the States that Boeing doing this will mean fewer jobs at home. Boeing says at this stage that's not the case.

It is also sweetened, obviously, by the deal for 300 Boeing aircraft, which will secure quite a few jobs, Errol. We don't know the price of that; $38 billion is the sticker price; I'm sure there will be discounts involved, but, still, that's a big deal.

BARNETT: And there was also a meeting between Chinese and U.S. business leaders, many of them concerned with their intellectual property if they do go ahead and do business in China and set up shop there.

How did Mr. Xi deal with that?

STEVENS: Well, the China leader has gone to Seattle. He's gone to the business community in the U.S. This is a sign that he is concerned about the amount of foreign investment going into his country. He said he is going to ease restrictions on foreign business going into the U.S. into China.

Obviously the key here for many of the China companies and U.S. companies, if you look at who was invited, this was a very tech-heavy gathering. There was a big bases of tech in U.S. and China all getting together with Mr. Xi.

The real fear here, even though Xi said there is market access, is that there are huge penalties. There's sometimes this false transfer of technology involved, that market access is being denied.

And of course cyber hacking remains a huge problem, as does intellectual property rights, piracy in China. Now these are the issues that just keep on coming up and coming up that Mr. Xi is facing and the delegation is facing.

There's one report saying there's never been a more pessimistic outlook for U.S. business in China for the past 35 years, which gives you an idea of just how relations have soured between these two.

This is probably going to be a theme that carries through to the White House, as well, cyber crime. Xi addressed it directly. He said that China is not involved in cyber crime, that China is a victim, as well.

But certainly this is the overriding theme here. It will be addressed in Washington and certainly it's been talked about a lot in Seattle.

BARNETT: All right. Andrew Stevens, live for us in Hong Kong. Andrew, thanks.

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STEVENS: Thanks, Errol.

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BARNETT: The FBI has reportedly recovered work-related and personal e-mails said to have been deleted from Hillary Clinton's private server. Bloomberg News and "The New York Times" cite anonymous government officials.

Clinton gave the server to investigators last month after she turned over printed copies of all work-related e-mails. The FBI is looking in to how Clinton handled classified information during her tenure as secretary of state.

Donald Trump says he will unveil a detailed tax plan next week with tax cuts for the middle class and increases for hedge fund managers. On Wednesday, he was in attack mode on the campaign trail in South Carolina.

Sunlen Serfaty was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican front- runner Donald Trump back on offense, going after his Republican and Democratic rivals alike.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary, who's become very shrill -- you know the word shrill?

Marco Rubio as an example. He's got no money, zero. Now I think that's OK. It's fine. Maybe it's good politically to say you owe money because you over borrowed your credit cards.

SERFATY (voice-over): Mocking his opponents for their appearance at last week's debate.

TRUMP: In a room that was 100 degrees that room was hot, I mean, poor Chris Christie, he was --

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: -- no, it's true. It was an amazing thing.

I was like a piece of water.

Rubio, I've never seen a young guy sweat that much.

Huckabee, nice guy, he was seriously hot. He was soaking wet. I grabbed him around his back. I said, good job. And it was soaking wet. And I immediately -- he was drenched.

SERFATY (voice-over): Trump also going on a two-day Twitter tear against FOX News, declaring he is boycotting the network "for treating me very unfairly" and calling Megyn Kelly "a lightweight" and "highly overrated."

FOX News said that Trump announced his boycott after FOX cancelled his interview with host Bill O'Reilly scheduled for Thursday and directing fire at Senator Rubio, saying he has the worse voting record in the Senate.

But in an appearance with Stephen Colbert, still refusing to answer the question, whether he believes President Obama was born in the U.S.

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STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Hanging out there. Come on.

TRUMP: I don't talk about it anymore. And you want to know? I don't talk about it anymore.

SERFATY (voice-over): This, as Ben Carson can't change the subject away from his controversial comments that a U.S. president shouldn't be a Muslim.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody, and that includes any religion, who lives according to American values and principles and is willing to put our Constitution above their religious ideology, is acceptable to me.

SERFATY (voice-over): But claiming the fallout has led to a big boost in donations.

CARSON: The money has been coming in so fast it is hard to even keep up with it.

SERFATY (voice-over): Meanwhile, Carly Fiorina, now polling at second place, says she thinks Trump's rumblings are a sign he's getting nervous.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe I'm getting under his skin a bit.

SERFATY (voice-over): And riding the post-debate wave in South Carolina, Fiorina says she thinks that momentum is turning in to something tangible.

FIORINA: We are seeing a big uptick in our crowds, in our fund- raising, in interest and support and that is obviously really gratifying.

SERFATY: The Fiorina campaign would not divulge how much interest or how much money they are seeing in hard numbers, only saying that they are seeing a significant uptick across the board -- Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Rock Hills, South Carolina.

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BARNETT: Pope Francis has a big day ahead of him in Washington. Still to come, a preview of his historic speech to the United States Congress.

Plus, a star-studded event in New York City, all aimed at solving some of the world's biggest problems.

Who's hosting? Who's performing?

After the break.

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BARNETT: Welcome back to our viewers watching from all around the world and here in the States. I appreciate your staying with me. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett.

My headlines begin with a bit of good news. Colombia's government has signed a peace commitment with leftist rebels to end more than 50 years of fighting. The plan announced in Cuba aims for a final agreement within six months. More than 200,000 people have been killed in that conflict.

China's president Xi Jinping is promising to ease restrictions on foreign investors. He met with top tech executives at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on Wednesday. Earlier he announced a multibillion deal to buy 300 jets from Boeing.

Two Al Jazeera journalists, who have been in prison in Egypt for nearly two years, have been released. They are among 100 prisoners President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned. The third journalist was deported in February. They were accused of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood. All three journalists have always maintained their innocence.

Pope Francis will soon be the first pontiff in history to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress. It's a speech he'll deliver just hours from now as part of his six-day tour of the U.S. On Wednesday, the pope didn't hesitate to take sides on some

controversial issues, including immigration, same-sex marriage and climate change. As CNN's Jim Sciutto reports, it maybe a sign of what's to come when the pope meets with Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPE FRANCIS: Good morning.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An historic moment, Pope Francis making his first public address in the U.S. to the president and vice president and 11,000 invited guests gathered on the South Lawn of the White House.

And he waded right into issues sure to find a divided response when he addresses a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow.

POPE FRANCIS: When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Some say the pope's gentle manner belies a man who has come to admonish some in Congress for their view on climate change, capitalism and the plight of the poor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he also started that scolding with the encyclical and I think he is really listening and saying, we need to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Even some devout Catholic politicians, such as Chris Christie, find themselves at odds with a pope that they say sounds like a socialist.

[01:30:00] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the pope was wrong. So the fact is that his infallibility is on religious matters, not political ones.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): At least one Congressman, Republican Paul Gosar, a self-proclaimed proud Catholic, said he will boycott the pope's address, charging his views on climb change are, quote, "false science" and in attempt to, quote, "guilt people in to leftist policies."

UNIDENTIFIED PRIEST: To me, I don't know how you call yourself a good Catholic if you are not able to embrace a universal vision that the Holy Father of the church is trying to bring to you.

SCIUTTO: While the pope has shown moments of tolerance on issues such as homosexuality --

POPE FRANCIS (through translation): If a person is gay and accepts the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge them?

SCIUTTO: His tone alone does not mean any changes in church doctrine for Catholics eager to see such changes. Tomorrow's speech to Congress is expected to be equally tough on Democrats when he reaffirms the church's long-held positions on same-sex marriage and abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED PRIEST: Some on the right will like what he says. Some on the left will like other things that he says, but he is truly bipartisan if you want to use a political term because he will not appeal universally to either side.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: What is interesting here is lawmakers aren't the only ones divide over the pope. Look at this recent Gallup poll. It shows a drop in the pope's favorability ratings in the U.S. since last year. 27 percent among conservatives and 18 percent decline among Catholics.

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Father Thomas Reese is joining us to talk about what is happening this week. He's the senior analyst for the "National Catholic Reporter."

Father, thank you for joining us here on CNN.

I want to know what you think we should all make of the pope's U.S. visit so far, considering as warm as a welcome as he's received conservatives in this country they are less approving of him now than earlier this year.

FATHER THOMAS REESE, SENIOR ANALYST, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER: Well, it's interesting. Actually, most Catholics, most Americans love this pope. The people who don't like him are the conservative commentators on radio and television and the blogosphere. These are the people taking him on and attacking him. These are people that only want him to talk about abortion, gay marriage and birth control. And this pope has a much bigger agenda. He wants to talk about the poor, about immigrants and refugees, about globalization, and he wants to criticize capitalism. Of course, a big item on his agenda is concern about global warming and the environment.

BARNETT: Right. I'm wondering if because he's in D.C. at the moment, it's almost exposing a chasm between most in D.C. and the political conservatives who do point the narrative, the conversations in different direction. For example, he made a point at the White House to mention responsible care for our common home, effectively saying climate change and what to do about it is a moral issue. Is that the main sticking point for political conservatives?

REESE: This is a pope who actually as a young man studied as a scientist, studied chemistry and actually worked as a chemist. So he has a science background. He has listened to scientists all over the world and accepts the view that global change is happening. It is being caused by human activity and for them, for him, this is a moral issue because it will impact people all over the world.

BARNETT: He also appears to be unafraid to take on not just Catholics but political leaders. While he was in Cuba, he made a veiled critique of the leadership there, meeting with the Castro brothers. The pope will be the first to address a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday. Do you expect him to go further than he did on Wednesday in addressing immigration, climate change and abortion? Those are the most divisive issues in U.S. politics today?

REESE: I think he will talk about these issues. He will -- I mean, he is so concerned about the poor. This has been his issue from the first day of his papacy, to raise up the poor. He wants to be a voice for the poor. He walked through the slums of Buenos Aires and sat in people's homes and listened to their stories. And what did they want? They wanted jobs. He saw these were people who were left out of the growth of GDP. These were the people he wanted to be a voice for. Certainly, he has spoken out about the environment. He wrote a whole encyclical about the environment and knows the world leaders will meet in Paris to talk about the environment and climate change. He's inviting people of the world to put pressure on political leaders to take the crisis seriously.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:35:12] BARNETT: Now, speaking of faith, we have new pictures to show you from Saudi Arabia. First time we are getting a glance at this. This is the annual ritual known as the stoning of the devil.

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BARNETT: Millions of Muslims are in the holy city of Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage. They throw pebbles at one of three large walls. This essentially reenacts Abraham's pilgrimage to Mecca and throws stones at the devil to make him disappear. It coincides with the holy day.

E.U. leaders agreed to spend more than $1 billion to help Syrian migrants and refugees fleeing conflict. This announcement came during a summit on the humanitarian crisis. The money will go to the World Food Program and U.N. refugee agencies to help Jordan, Lebanon and other nations in the region. The U.N. says as of August, four million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries and North Africa.

As lawmakers talk in Brussels, waves of migrants are pouring into Europe seeking asylum. Croatia's interior ministry said 44,000 people entered their country. Many are passing through on the way to Germany or Austria.

Ben Wedeman has this report from the Croatian-Serbian border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a train full of migrants and refugees from Syria and Iraq. It is about to depart on the Serbian-Croatian border to the Hungarian-Croatian border. It is a five-hour journey. From there, they will be transferred to buses to the Hungarian side, another train. Their ultimate destination is probably Austria. Now, this is an indication of this constant flow of people in the direction of northern Europe. Of course, Europe is very divided at this point as to how to deal with the refugees. They have agreed to a quota system, but some countries, for instance Slovakia, said they will take the quota system to court because they don't want it. Fundamentally, the countries of Eastern Europe, like the Czech Republic, like Slovakia and Hungary, of course, have made it clear that they are not happy about this system, that they are in a position of being countries that don't want to take refugees, who in fact don't want to end up in those countries any way.

Nonetheless, what we have seen now for weeks is a steady flow of refugees and migrants toward northern Europe. No home in that flow. Croatia, for instance, has taken 40,000 migrants and refugees, many passing through the country, heading Hungary to Austria and points further north.

But as the train pulls out of this station, we can expect, unless there is a dramatic change in the situation, more such trains to head north.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, in Croatia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Boy, there's some damage control going on in Germany right now, let me tell you. Big changes at Volkswagen as the automaker deals with a global emissions cheating scandal. We will get you more on that after this.

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[01:42:15] BARNETT: Volkswagen's board is calling for a criminal investigation into the company's growing emissions cheating scandal. The world's largest automakers were making changes, starting at the top. Its long-time chief, Martin Winterkorn, has resigned.

And, as CNN's Atika Shubert is about to show us, there is likely to be much more fallout ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is a veteran and highly regarded engineer, an infamous stickler for detail. So many were shocked when Volkswagen was caught cheating on its emissions test.

Just one day after this videotaped apology from the CEO --

MARTIN WINTERKORN, CEO, VOLKSWAGEN: I'm deeply sorry that we have broken this trust.

SHUBERT: -- a Volkswagen announcement on his resignation. Winterkorn himself did not appear but provided a statement, "I'm shocked by the events of the past few days. But most of all, I'm stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen group. As CEO, I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and therefore requested the supervisory board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen group. I'm doing this in the interest of the company, even though I'm not aware of any wrongdoing on my part." He also said, quote, "Volkswagen has been, is and will always be my life."

Volkswagen headquarters in Germany have been shaken to the core. More than 60,000 employees work here. The massive factory, an area the size of Gibraltar, dominates the landscape.

(on camera): But this scandal affects much more than this area. One in seven jobs is either directly or indirectly tied to the automobile industry here in Germany. That industry makes up 20 percent of the country's GDP. So Volkswagen is a big chunk of that.

(voice-over): Winterkorn's resignation may be a start and Volkswagen are asking to launch a criminal investigation in to the cheating but more answers are needed to restore confidence to the "Made in Germany" brand.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Have any of you had a chance to use Uber yet, a taxi service you can order from your Smartphone? It is launching a new car pooling feature in China. That's the number-one market. Ride sharing app reported on Tuesday that commuters will be able to share a ride with other users heading to the same place and simply split the cost. This is their way of reducing congestion. The first time the company says it is rolling out new services outside of the U.S.

Now at this moment, a rapidly intensifying tropical storm is moving to eastern China and Taiwan.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is joining us from the Weather Center with details on this.

Pedram, how serious is it?

[01:45:10] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Errol, it has large potential to be very serious the next three days. The reason I say this is because quick intensification in the forecast for this storm system. It is 500 nautical miles east of Los Luzon. It is going over warm water and little wind shear to shred it apart. It rapidly intensifies over the next 48 to 72 hours. The areas of concern are these cities, these cities together about 21 million people. Shanghai, metro population 24 million people. Very close if not directly over these areas. Think of Taiwan, it has the highest density of the tallest mountain in the world on our planet. 300 mountains that are 3,000 meters or taller in the region. Certainly do a number when it comes to tremendous rainfall. We know the northern side of Taiwan, around Taipei protected by mountains them southwestern side isn't. Heavy rainfall coming in from the southwestern side and the wrap around flow of the storm system as it moves over the region. Look we have had storms, some of them with indirect access, we had direct impact a month ago. This will go north but it appears the cone covers much of Taiwan and eastern China as we head from Saturday in to Sunday. Look at the wind speeds. Category one equivalent. Three days from now a category four. Quick intensification. Densely populated area. Home to nearly 50 million people by Saturday in to Sunday. Could be a big story over the region and the rainfall plentiful. Northern Taiwan 150-plus millimeters. Localized amounts considerably higher than that. The air is forced to rise over the mountainous region and northward around Shanghai heavy rains also in the forecast. This time of the year climate logically it should quiet down. Typically in August is when we have peak season, five and a half storms a month it is the time of the year you see conditions improve and quiet down.

We will leave you with this. A NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly, tweeting a spectacular photo of California by night. Look at this. You have southern California from L.A. to San Diego. Here's the central valley of California, the San Francisco Bay. You can pick out Los Angeles, not too far away. Pretty impressive sight as seen from space while you were sleeping yesterday.

BARNETT: I love Scott Kelly's tweets and Instagrams, views from space.

JAVAHERI: Always fun to see.

BARNETT: Pedram, we'll see you later.

JAVAHERI: Thanks, Errol.

BARNETT: For folks watching outside of the U.S., you need to know high school football here is very competitive. Listen to this. Another teenage football player accused of intentionally hitting an official. Malcolm Easily (ph), who plays football in Nashville, Tennessee, will not be disciplined after the athletic association found no malicious intent in this. His father is the coach of the team. He told a local newspaper his son would write a letter to the official because the hit could have been avoided.

Meantime, two high school football players accused of intentionally hitting a referee in Texas may face a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday. The lawyer says they are good kids who made the wrong choice. Both players apologized last week and say they were following orders from an assistant coach. The coach is on paid leave while the district investigates. CNN reached out to him but has not heard back for comment just yet.

Coming together to tackle -- excuse the pun -- world poverty. The personalities, performers, activists heading to Central Park this weekend for the Global Citizen Festival. Stay with us for more on this.

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[01:50:35] PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Patrick Snell, with CNN "World Sport" headlines.

A dramatic night in European Football. Japan wins 2-1. And the reigning European and league champions since 2008. The coach's worse lost. To England, Arsenal victorious 2-1 both scored by the Frenchman.

After a break, the Rugby World Cup returning on Wednesday, but the fairy tale story couldn't lose with Japan. The Cherry Blossoms came back down to earth by a Scotland who trashed them 45-10. Scoring five tries in the process. One of the tournament favorites, Australia, making a stuttering start today. 28 point victory.

The PGA golf season coming to a head in Atlanta. Jason Day, whatever he is doing is preparing him to win tournaments, it is clearly working. Day joining Jordan Spieth for at least the first two rounds there.

Thank you so much for joining us. You are bang up to date. That's a look at your global sports headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.

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BARNETT: Breaking news just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. A bombing at a mosque in Yemen's capital has killed at least 29 people and officials are telling us the number could rise. Here's what we know. The attack happened as worshipers attended prayer. At this point, no one claimed responsibility but it is the sixth mosque attack in just three months. As soon as we get more information on this, we will of course bring it to you in the hours ahead.

Now big names are getting ready to share the stage in New York this weekend about poverty, climate change and inequality. The Global Citizens Festival is Saturday in Central Park.

Lynda Kinkade explains what it is all about.

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(CHEERING)

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forget the Grammys of the Oscars --

(SHOUTING)

KINKADE -- you would be hard pressed to find a better lineup of performers on one stage in one night anywhere in the world --

(MUSIC)

KINKADE: -- from Queen B to Jay-Z. This year you can add Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.

(SINGING)

KINKADE: This year the hosts include Hugh Jackman and Stephen Colbert. STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW: 2015 is a crucial year for

ending poverty everywhere because, this September, world leaders are gathering at the U.N. to announce their global goals for the next 15 years. Spoiler alert, if everything goes according to plan, in 15 years the nation of Greece will still exist. It's a long shot.

KINKADE: Earlier, I spoke to the festival co-founder, Hugh Evans.

(on camera): A bunch of celebrities and extreme poverty in a short period of time. What will it take?

HUGH EVANS, CO-FOUNDER, GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL: I believe extreme poverty will be ended by those who are living in extreme poverty but they need the environment to do so. We think it that about making sure girls have access to quality education for a full 12 years of school, about access to vaccines and immunization so children don't die before the age of 5 years old, basic water and sanitation, health care and food security so people aren't starving.

[01:55:13] KINKADE (voice-over): Leonardo DiCaprio, Katie Holmes there along with Ban Ki-moon.

It is the hottest event in town. The tickets are free but you have to earn them.

EVANS: For example, Stephen Colbert's action, global citizens tweeted the prime minister of Norway and sent tens of thousands of tweets and her Twitter account blew up, and she said I will respond and come to the Global Citizen Festival and make a commitment in support of girls' education.

(SINGING)

KINKADE (on camera): Last year, the surprise guest was Beyonce. Will there be a surprise guest this year?

EVANS: I can tell you there will be a lot of special guests this year. It will be by far the biggest year. We want everyone to tune in and be part of it.

KINKADE (voice-over): The Global Citizen Festival takes place this Saturday in New York's Central Park.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Everyone who has attended the event loves it.

I'm Errol Barnett. I'm back in one hour.

Rosemary Church is next with another edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

I guess I need a break. See you later.