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CNN NEWSROOM

Proof of Life Video of Kidnapped Girls; British Royals Visit Bhutan; Golden State Warriors Make NBA History; Accusations Fly Between Trump and Cruz; Kobe Bryant Ends Career with 60 Points in Final Game; Scorn, Disapproval for Trump Outside U.S.; Obama: ISIS Being Squeezed Out of Iraq, Syria; Lost Masterpiece Found in Attic in France. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 14, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:22] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, it's the video the world has waited two years to see. New hope that some of the kidnapped Nigerian school girls may still be alive.

VAUSE: Also Republican rivals in the race for the U.S. presidency is staying at each other's throat. Ted Cruz accuses Donald Trump supporters of acting like union thugs.

SESAY: And a big night of basketball here in California as one team tries to make NBA history and another says goodbye to a legend.

VAUSE: Hello, everybody. I'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

VAUSE: And we'll start with that very important development on the missing Nigerian school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram two years ago.

SESAY: CNN has obtained video that suggests some of the girls may still be alive. CNN's Nima Elbagir and producer Stephanie Busari, and videographer Sebastiaan Knoops bring us this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lined up against a yellow wall, 15 girls, only their faces showing. An off-camera voice asked each girl, what's your name?

"Is that the name your parents recognize? Where were you taken from," the voice asks. "Chibok school." And the date, they say, is the 25th of December, 2015.

This video was obtained by CNN from a person close to the negotiations to get these girls released. For the parents, it's finally a glimmer of hope these girls are still alive. Two years ago, we met Mary Ishaya, Rifkatu Ayuba, Yana Galang on our

visit to Chibok after the abduction of their daughters and more than 200 other girls. We asked them if they recognized any of the girls in the video.

They lean closer. Another girl is identified, Hawa (PH). One by one, they name all 15 girls. But one mother, Yala (PH), realizes her daughter isn't there.

The off-camera voice asking the questions is familiar to CNN as that of Boko Haram spokesperson, Abu Zinara. A source close to the negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government said the video was provided by the terror group as an asked for show of good faith. Nigeria's information minister told CNN they have received the video but are still reviewing it.

LAI MOHAMMED, NIGERIAN INFORMATION MINISTER: If you study the video you find out the questions were asked in a very controlled environment. I'm a bit concerned, too, that after two years in captivity, the girls in the video were under no stress whatsoever. There's been little transformation to their physical appearance.

ELBAGIR (on camera): Is your government negotiating with Boko Haram for the release of these girls?

MOHAMMED: There are ongoing talks. We cannot ignore offers. We can't ignore leads. Of course, many of these investigations are, you know, are not -- cannot be disclosed at all because they could also endanger, you know, the negotiation.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): We took the video to a classmate of the Chibok girls. She'd been at home with family the day the other girls were kidnapped. For her safety, we're not showing her face, and not using her name. She told us there's no doubt these are some of her kidnapped classmates.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): These two were prefects. Watching the video, I'm reminded of how we used to play together, how we used to do chores, do our homework.

ELBAGIR: She says seeing her friends again will likely give her nightmares.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): Sometimes still, if I hear news about them, I have bad dreams and I wake up crying.

ELBAGIR: The video ends with a girl addressing the camera with a message to the Nigerian government.

[01:05:03] "We are all well," she says pointedly, perhaps suggesting girls not seen in this video. She then delivers what sounds like a scripted plea, urging the Nigerian to fulfill unspecified promises.

For the mothers of these girls rapidly becoming women far from home, the video is overwhelming. They say they just want someone to bring their daughters home. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Pardis Sabeti is a Harvard University professor who felt compelled to lend her voice to efforts to keep the story of the missing Nigerian schoolgirls alive. She joins us now from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pardi, thank you so much for joining us. You wrote the song about the plight of the missing girls before the world heard about the proof of life video uncovered by my colleague Nima Elbagir and her team. Let me start by getting your reaction to this development.

PARDI SABETI, PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I think it's -- I mean, it's an extraordinary video clip. It's heart-wrenching. It's sort of mixed emotions. There is the joy to know that at least 15 of them are alive and that they believe that -- you know, and that they say that the others are well, but also, heart-wrenching that this was in December of 2015. That time has passed. That we don't know where they are still and, fundamentally, they're just not back yet.

SESAY: The song you wrote about the girls is inspired by a speech given by Obi Ezekwesili, who is the co-founder of "Bring Back Our Girls." What was it she said that moved you so much, it moved you to the point of doing this?

SABETI: Well, her speech was extraordinary. It was at the gala for "Time's" 100 Most Influential, and it was this really special evening where you have individuals from around the world who have, you know, influenced in so many different ways, from teachers to celebrities to politicians and we're having a moment of celebration for a lot of good that's happening in the world; but Obi stood up and said, you know, where these girls are out there and they're crying to be rescued and we have to rescue them.

And it was really amazingly moving to me. And it had this feeling that as long as there are women and children and men and women out there that -- you know, that are enslaved and that are taken from us, that there is no moment that is pure. That -- one of the lines of the song I wrote is, you know, "If we let them fall, one day they'll take us all." And in a way they take us every day; they take that joy, because we recognize that anything good that we have in this world is compromised by the fact that there is a lot out there that needs to be saved and solved.

SESAY: Let's listen to a little bit of the song:

(MUSIC)

SESAY: What do you want people to take away from the song? What do you hope it will achieve?

SABETI: To me actually it is a -- you know, it's my opportunity to say what I feel, which is that, you know, we have to stand up and we have to take back these girls and we have to have a sense of empowerment. And if others can -- if that can resonate with other individuals and they can participate and connect with me on that, then I'll be extraordinarily happy. But I think more broadly, this song just one piece. I think that it's about this idea that we need to be empowered, we need to be strong and it's on us to take back these girls and to take back our world from terror.

SESAY: I couldn't agree more.

Pardi Sabeti, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you so much for being moved to the point of actually doing something and writing the song. I know how much Obi loves it because she told me that personally. So, you know, thank you.

VAUSE: And there has been a lot of reaction on social media to our report about the missing girls. This man tweeted, "Now it's about two years. Please bring back our girls."

SESAY: Andrea H tweeted, "Boko Haram has constantly been ignored. This is an issue just as horrible as ISIS." (INAUDIBLE) wrote, "Everyone say a prayer tonight for the mental and physical recovery, continued health of all the girls abducted."

And CNN is going to stick with this story, as we have the past two years, asking the tough questions about what happened to the Chibok girls and efforts to rescue them. Join us for full coverage on Thursday, the two-year anniversary of their abduction here and on CNN.com. There are also a number of special features on our Web site.

VAUSE: And you can ask Nima and her producer Stephanie about the story driving -- during their live Facebook chat. Please go to Facebook.com/CNN Friday 7:00 p.m. in the UK and Nigeria. That will be 2:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.

SESAY: Time for a quick break now. And less than a week out from the New York primary, Ted Cruz says the battle for delegates is taking a nasty turn. The latest on the U.S. presidential race just ahead.

[01:10:09] VAUSE: Also after a visit to India, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have touched down in Bhutan. A live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have just arrived at Paro International Airport in Bhutan.

VAUSE: The British royals are visiting the tiny Himalayan kingdom after a busy few days in India.

SESAY: So let's bring in CNN's Sumnima Udas for more on the royal visit. She joins us now from New Delhi.

Sumnima, I can't help but wonder why they are going to Bhutan. You know, this remote secluded country in the Himalayas. What do we know about the motivations for the trip and what they plan to do there?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the main motivation, Isha, is to really develop a relationship with the royals or another royal family in Asia. And of course the Bhutanese royals are one of the only remaining ones in South Asia. There are a lot of similarities of course as well between the two. They are both very young couples. Of course in Bhutan, the king and queen are already ruling the country.

[01:15:03] They did bring in democracy only very recently but still it is a constitutional monarchy for the most part, so the couple there are still very much in charge of that country. But as you mentioned, it's a very remote part of the world. They only introduced television in 1999, the last country in the world to introduce television and the Internet. It's a country that's very difficult to get to for the most part because of the Himalayas but also because they have a very expensive visa fees.

But $250 per day for foreigners to go there. Of course the includes two things like accommodation but still for the most part it's difficult. And that's -- they've done this to control how many people come into their country to preserve the culture and nature of that country.

I've been there many times. This is one of the most pristine places on earth where you can literally still drink from the main river there, the air is so clean. People say that your lungs hurt. That's how serene it still is. And of course they've got the GNH, the gross national happiness index. They value happiness over any other social or economic factor and they even have a formula in place to calculate how happy the people of that country are. So very different country and the royals are there to understand more about the happiness index and to get to know another royal family in Asia -- Isha.

VAUSE: Well, we heard they have a happy time.

Sumnima, thank you. Sumnima Udas.

SESAY: Sumnima, thank you.

VAUSE: Their lives --

SESAY: Are you being sincere?

VAUSE: Of course I'm being sincere. We wish them the best.

SESAY: No, no, we hope they have a great time.

VAUSE: OK. We know that there is a very happy team right now in the National Basketball Association. How is that for a segue?

The Golden State Warriors, they've got a new record for regular season win. They beat Memphis Grizzly just a few minutes ago. The victory number 73.

SESAY: The 1995-'96 Chicago Bulls held the previous record of 72. No other team in NBA history has ever won more than 17 regular season games.

VAUSE: Right here in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 60 points in his final NBA game. The Lakers legend is ending his 20 yearlong career as the league's third leading scorer of all time.

SESAY: Bryant won five championships with the Lakers. He's an 18- time all-star league MVP in 2008 and won two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. Men's Basketball team.

VAUSE: OK. CNN's Dan Simon is at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

So, Dan, the Warriors were a favorites to win. And boy, they made no mistake about it.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, I think we can safely say it was an amazing night for sports. It was incredible night at Oracle Arena here in Oakland. You can see fans still streaming out after witnessing history, even if you're not a sports fan, you have to appreciate what the Golden State warriors have done getting that 73rd victory and on top of that, they have vested what is arguably the best team in NBA history. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

Now if they can just win the championship for a second straight year, they now can claim the mantel of possibly being the best team of all time. Steph Curry, the reigning MVP an amazing night setting another personal milestone of 400 3-pointers in a single season. He actually would up with 402. Of course now it's on to the playoffs which began this weekend but for the moment as you can imagine, the players and the fans are savoring this victory -- John.

VAUSE: And Dan, inside that arena, what was it like because I imagine that everybody must have been going for the Warriors even the Grizzly fans.

SIMON: Yes. It was one of those moments where when the game was over, the confetti was raining down and people just stayed in their seats for several minutes just to take in the moment. Everybody was recording it with their cell phones. It was just one of those things that you really had to see. And just now -- I mean, the games have been over for a while, and you can still see fans streaming out of here and everybody is just excited and I guess we'll see what happens when the playoffs begin on Saturday, John.

VAUSE: Yes. It looks like Charles Barkley had to get out on his knees and congratulate them. He said he'd do it if they want. He was the only one who thought they wouldn't win, I think.

Dan, thanks a lot. Appreciate you being live.

SESAY: Well, Ted Cruz says Donald Trump's campaign is bullying potential delegates ahead of the Republican convention.

VAUSE: The U.S. presidential candidate and his wife Heidi attended a family town hall here on CNN with less than a week to go before New York's primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So literally in the last few weeks, Donald's team, Roger Stone, his chief political adviser, was threatening to out the hotel rooms of delegates who dared to cross Trump so they could be intimidated. They're acting like union boss thugs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:04] SESAY: Well, Trump has been complaining that the nomination process is corrupt and is stacked against him. He says he suspects the Republican Party doesn't want him to win the nomination and is conspiring against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The bosses and the establishment and the people that shouldn't have this power took all of the power away from the voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Joining us now from San Diego is Mike Slater. He's a conservative radio host and political analyst.

Mike, always good to have you with us. Before we get to what was said, let me just start by asking you, how did Ted Cruz and family do tonight? I mean, the issue of likability is one that he struggled with somewhat. So how did he do in the setting with his family by his side?

MIKE SLATER, POLITICAL ANALYST AND CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Yes, really good question. Fine. So I had the privilege of interviewing Ted Cruz two days ago on my radio show, and I was very taken aback by how different he was on the radio versus on TV and at a debate and when he gives big speeches. When he gives big speeches, he goes into this, like, Harvard debate club mode. Right? It's very serious and very dramatic and everyone -- and I think that creates a disconnect between him and everyone watching.

But when he was on the radio, very casual, very relaxed, very calm, very relatable. A very different Ted Cruz than we normally see. I think the CNN interview was great, but again, it was very -- you know, I don't want to say rehearsed, but it didn't connect like I know he is capable of connecting.

VAUSE: Yes, it makes you wonder if he talks like that at home, doesn't it? You know, could you pass the maple syrup? It is very dramatic and I think --

SLATER: Yes. He says stuff like, and I would also like to observe, like, no one talks like that, but again that is Harvard debate club.

VAUSE: Exactly.

SLATER: Now let me say one thing on this because this is important, and I'm not saying this as a sycophant of Ted Cruz. Alan Dershowitz, so Alan Dershowitz, super far left professor at Harvard Law School, called Ted Cruz the most brilliant student he's had in 50 years at Harvard Law.

VAUSE: Yes.

SLATER: Think about that, and that's coming from Alan Dershowitz. So Ted Cruz is brilliant, but sometimes he's just got to come down here and talk to the people.

VAUSE: No one doubts that Ted Cruz is a smart guy, okay.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: But this is the first town hall -- well, this town hall, rather, was Ted Cruz's first appearance in New York in almost a week.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: The primary is about a week or so away. He is going to lose there. There's no doubt about that. He is behind in Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Indiana, that's looking OK, but that's almost a month away. And this is going to be a long time in between primary wins for Ted Cruz, right?

SLATER: Yes. So -- so a couple things. Let's talk about New York first. So he is probably going to get third place in New York, but the main goal is to prevent Trump from getting 50 percent. If Trump gets 50 percent, he gets all the delegates.

Now here's the deal. In New York for the first time in recent history, the parties, the county parties, pick the delegates. So Trump may win a lot of the delegates and on the first ballot in Cleveland, at the convention, they may have to begrudgingly vote for Trump. But on the second ballot, it's game on. They can vote for whoever they want if Trump doesn't reach the 1237.

So Cruz might have a lot of great connections in the rest of the state of New York, and may have, in the end, at least on the second ballot, a majority of the delegates. Cruz can still come away, even getting third place, with getting most of the delegates in New York on the second ballot. So the main goal for Cruz is to prevent Trump from getting 1237. And that's why -- I live in California, Cruz was here a couple of days ago. He is putting a lot of effort here in California to prevent Trump from getting the magic number.

VAUSE: It's all about the second ballot?

SESAY: It is all about the second ballot. And Mike, as you well know, I mean, much of the conversation now between the two campaigns, the Cruz and the Trump campaign, is about the tactics being used to secure delegates -- excuse me. And this rhetoric is getting ugly and uglier. And we heard much of that again tonight from Ted Cruz.

SLATER: I mean, so this delegate thing is nothing new. All right? A couple of things. I think both their talking points are pretty lame. Right? So Trump's talking point is that Cruz is stealing delegates. No, he's not. Like this has been the process for a very long time. He is not doing anything shady. This is how it works. I think Cruz's talking point that Trump is, you know, like a mobster, that's pretty lame, too. Right? So I think both those guys got to cool it on that one.

But this whole thing with trying to earn the delegates and at the convention giving offers for rides on Air Force One and White House visits, that's nothing new. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Donald Trump say, hey, why don't -- if you vote for me, you can spend a week at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. So these offers and negotiating tactics is nothing new and you're going to see a lot of it in Cleveland, too.

VAUSE: OK. We've got a short time left. So very quickly, the issue is Marco Rubio.

[01:25:02] He's petitioned 21 states to keep his delegates bound to him, to deny them from going to Donald Trump. Cruz is very complimentary about Marco Rubio tonight. Are we seeing the emergence of a Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz, rather, Marco Rubio ticket?

SLATER: Perhaps, yes. They're definitely teaming up in all these states. In the end, Marco, I believe, will give his delegates to Cruz. Whether that means a VP slot or something else, I don't know. But those guys are staying pretty close and definitely leaving the option open.

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: Interesting.

VAUSE: All right. Mike Slater there in San Diego.

SESAY: Always a pleasure, Mike.

VAUSE: Good to speak with you. Thanks.

SLATER: Thanks, guys.

SESAY: Thanks, Mike.

Well, the Democratic candidates are rallying their supporters on the eve of their last CNN debate before next Tuesday's primary in New York. Bernie Sanders reminded an energetic crowd in Manhattan how far they've come since the start of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think that there is any doubt that our campaign today has the momentum. We have won seven out of the last eight caucuses and primaries. And when I look at an unbelievable crowd like this I believe we're going to win here in New York next Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meanwhile, at a rally in the Bronx, Hillary Clinton attacked the Republican frontrunner's anti-immigrant stance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unlike Donald Trump, we're not saying some people don't belong. We're not saying some people are not wanted. This is a borough of immigrants, in a city of immigrants, in a state of immigrants, in a nation of immigration and I am proud of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, be sure to join us as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off in their latest debate live from New York City. Starts at 9:00 Friday morning in Hong Kong. Only on CNN.

VAUSE: Interesting tidbit. Bernie Sanders has, what, about 27,000 people turning out in New York.

SESAY: In New York tonight.

VAUSE: Barack Obama held a rally there in 2008, similar number of people, and lost the primary in New York to Hillary Clinton. We'll see if history repeats itself.

SESAY: We shall see.

VAUSE: OK. A short break. U.S. president Barack Obama is promising to wipe the vile ISIS off the face of the earth. Why he says the terror group is now on the defensive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:00] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: And right here in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 60 points in his final NBA game. The Lakers legend is ending his 20- year career as the league's third-leading scorer of all time.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is at the Staples Center here in L.A.

Paul, he went out in a blaze of glory. I can only imagine the atmosphere.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Electric, energetic, shot through with so much enthusiasm as I stand on the floor. We're waiting for Kobe Bryant to address the media. There's a hail of yellow confetti came down with purple circles and the number 24 on it. The fans were chanting "Kobe, Kobe." They were also screaming "MVP." After the game, "Kobe Bryant." And they got just what they asked for. Kobe Bryant with an absolute finish that will probably get you thrown out of any Hollywood mogul's office. It you walked in and said I've got this aging superstar that scored 60 points in the final game, they'd say get out of here. But it happened. I think people were in utter disbelief as shot after shot began to rain in late in the game. Then the Lakers came from behind and won. So as if the fairy tale came true, sheer euphoria inside Staples Center as they watched their beloved Kobe Bryant. He addressed the crowd afterwards. Many of his former teammates on the floor. The beloved fans got what they wanted. In return, Kobe said he loved them and he dropped the mic and said, "Mama, out." So we're waiting to hear what else he will say.

We heard his coach, Byron Scott, talking to the media a few moments ago, and he said I have never ever seen anything like it. This man gave everything he had. Many people talk about that grit.

For 20 years, two decades, Kobe Bryant ends it all with 60 points in Los Angeles -- Isha?

SESAY: It is an incredible finish to a 20-year playing career at the same club. What does his departure mean for the Lakers itself? They've struggled as a team in recent years.

VERCAMMEN: Absolutely. One of the reasons they might have struggled, according to many of the experts, is he did not have a lot of flexibility in the NBA's stringent salary cap. They couldn't get other players because they couldn't get them. Now begins the rebuilding. They have a core of four you players who are pretty good. They'll try to develop them. They might go to the free agent market. If the Lakers lure a big-name star, they will have an extremely high draft pick. There's a couple of college players they have their eye on. It remains to be seen. They're not going screaming, "Wait until next year," some of them downright emotional saying, "I can't believe what we just saw."

SESAY: Paul Vercammen, appreciate the reporting from an historic night at the Staples Center. Thanks very much.

[01:35:14] VAUSE: Sounds like a great game. Might take the sting out of it for the Lakers fans because the team didn't make the playoffs for the third time in a row.

SESAY: They have struggled. That's an understatement.

VAUSE: More news in a moment. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Donald Trump may be a divisive figure in American politics but, outside the U.S., there seems to be mostly scorn and disapproval. Almost two million people worldwide have signed an open letter to Donald Trump, written by the activist group Avaaz, which reads in part, "We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans and millions of others who don't look like you, talk like you or pray to the same god as you. As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division."

By contrast, the Facebook International Support for Donald Trump so far has 10 likes.

Ricken Patel is the executive director of Avaaz. He joins us now from New York.

Ricken, thanks for coming in.

RICKEN PATEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AVAAZ: My pleasure.

VAUSE: Have you ever had any kind of international response like this before to a petition or to an open letter? What do you think is driving it?

PATEL: We've had levels of response on things like climate change. This is the high end of engagement. The world's been listening to Donald Trump blare out the politics of demonization and division for months now and I think there's a great desire to just answer back. But it's more than just one person. There's a Donald Trump in every country on -- in every town, and that politics of demonization and division is dangerous to the world right now. I think that's where the energy behind this letter is coming from. We want to stand up to it and counter it. That's the drive of it.

[01:40:02] VAUSE: Some people would say, isn't this just sort of feel good click-tivism? Sign a petition, click a button, feel good, move on.

PATEL: Every campaign we run has a specific campaign objective. This is more subtle. I can see how, on the face of it, it can look like click-tivism. But it's broader than that. You've got millions of people engaging with us online. It covered by major media. We've got lots of interesting celebrities and people reaching out and signing it. What that is, is a cultural moment. These are battles for hearts and minds between fear and hope, between demonization, division and connection. They're being fought all across the world, in Greece, in Germany. Our ability to speak in this cultural moment and say, no, we're standing up to Trumpism. This man has become an ism now. We're standing up to it. And we're bringing fear to compassion. We're bringing understanding to ignorance. That's what this is about. It's fuzzy in terms of its impact but I think these debates really matter culturally.

VAUSE: Are you concerned that maybe something like this could simply be a red rag to aggravate Trump supporters? They don't have a lot of love for people from other countries. Also it may be encouraging some other Republican voters who are on the fence to go towards Donald Trump.

PATEL: Yeah. I think it's more than just one election, really. It's about this broad cultural tension happening in the world right now. Climate change, Ebola, our world is so interdependent and so fragile, and if we give in to the Trumps in this world, it's a threat to our survival. This is being named as one of the big global threats right now by think tanks, by risk-analysis firms. This kind of politics is incredibly dangerous. That's what I think this is about. I'm not sure how it might or might not impact the U.S. election. It's not really designed to do that. It's much a broader canvas that this is happening on.

VAUSE: What about an open letter to other leaders, you know, like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, or Bashar al Assad of Syria, or Omar Bashir (ph) of Sudan? All are considered dictators. They would be considered to be far worst than Donald Trump.

PATEL: Oh, yes. And we've done so many campaigns to Omar Bashir (ph) in Sudan where he's had in ads and we've criticized him directly. Our community is 43 million people all over the planet, who about -- what all of us really care about, about the future of our children. This is where this is coming from. We're standing up to these threats, whether it's ISIS of or Donald Trump, who are trying to demonize and divide us everywhere. That's the purpose of this kind of campaigning.

VAUSE: Ricken, so good to speak with you. Thank you.

PATEL: Thank you so much. John.

SESAY: U.S. President Barack Obama says coalition efforts to defeat ISIS are working. In a rare visit to CIA headquarters, Mr. Obama said it's been a bad few months for ISIS leaders.

VAUSE: He says the terror group is being squeezed out of Iraq and Syria.

Jim Sciutto reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(GUNFIRE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): Iraqi security forces fight house to house --

(GUNFIRE)

SCIUTTO: -- to retake a city northwest of Ramadi from ISIS control.

As thousands of residents flee the violence, Iraqi forces expect to rid the city of the terror group within days.

(GUNFIRE)

SCIUTTO: One victory against ISIS, among many, the U.S.-led coalition is now complaining.

Speaking tonight at the CIA, President Obama said that more and more ISIS fighters are realizing their cause is lost.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, on the ground in Syria and in Iraq, ISIL is on the defensive. Our 66-member coalition, including Arab partners, is on the offensive. We have momentum and we intend to keep that momentum.

(GUNFIRE) SCIUTTO: ISIS, say the U.S. military, has lost more than 40 percent of its territory in Iraq and Syria and millions of dollars in money blown up by coalition air strikes.

(GUNFIRE)

SCIUTTO: The Pentagon also claims more than 26,000 fighters, including several senior leaders, have been killed.

(GUNFIRE)

SCIUTTO: U.S. officials say that ISIS's fighting force is now at its smallest since monitoring began in 2014.

(GUNFIRE)

SCIUTTO: Still, the terror group remains active. In Syria, Tuesday, ISIS fighters claimed control of a Palestinian refugee camp. And there are growing fears that if ISIS is pushed back in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the group will launch even more terror attacks abroad following their recent strikes in Brussels and Paris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must work to prevent the threat of terrorism in the first place, to stop the recruitment, the radicalization, the mobilization of people, especially young people.

(SHOUTING)

SCIUTTO: Attempting to rally supporters, ISIS's propaganda magazine praising the cell responsible for the Paris and Brussels attacks. Mohamed Belkaid, the alleged European ringleader, is showcased in combat gear, holding a bloody knife. The magazine says Najim Laachraoui, who blew himself up at the Brussels airport, built the bombs for both attacks, and gives credit to the el Bakraoui brothers for gather the weapons and explosives.

(SIRENS)

SCIUTTO: Claims consistent with what investigators have told CNN.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:45:24] VAUSE: The families of victims from last year's Germanwings plane crash are suing a U.S. flight school. They say the Arizona-based flight school should not have accepted Andreas Lubitz as a student because of his mental health history.

SESAY: Investigators say the 27 year old had a history of severe depression and suicidal thoughts. Lubitz was the co pilot of the Germanwings flight. Investigators say he intentionally crashed into the French Alps last March, killing all 150 people on board.

VAUSE: Police in Germany have arrested a train dispatcher in connection to a deadly crash earlier this year. They say he was playing a video on his cell phone moments before two trains crashed in Bavaria.

SESAY: The crash killed 12 people and injured dozens more. Investigators say they arrested the 39-year-old on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence.

VAUSE: In the U.S. state of Texas, the so-called affluenza teen could spend more time in jail. A judge sentenced Ethan Couch to an additional two years. It's part of a 10-year sentence for a 2013 deadly drunk-driving crash. Couch initially avoided prison because of his affluenza defense.

SESAY: His lawyers claimed he was too rich and spoiled to understand the consequences of his actions. Couch and his mother fled to Mexico in December. He's been in jail since he was caught and sent back to Texas in January. Defense attorneys will have a chance to argue against the two-year sentence that was handed down Wednesday.

VAUSE: For the record, it's 180 days for each victim.

SESAY: Still to come on NEWSROOM L.A., is this the long, lost work of an Italian renaissance master? The painting, probably worth more than $100 million, has been found in someone's attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

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[01:50:58] SESAY: U.S. health officials say the Zika Virus causes birth defects, including Microcephaly. For months doctors debate the connection between Zika and babies born with brain damage and abnormally small heads.

VAUSE: The head of the CDC says the link is now clear. The World Health Organization came to a similar conclusion last week. This is the first time a mosquito has been found to spread congenital birth defects.

SESAY: A paralyzed man in the U.S. has regained control of his right hand thanks to a breakthrough technology. He's been paralyzed from the chest down. Two years ago, doctors at Ohio State University implanted a chip in his brain which sends signals to a sleeve on his arm.

VAUSE: He can move his hand on command and he can do every day tasks like swipe a credit card and brush his teeth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PARALYZED MAN: Now it's something that's so fluid, it's kind of like it was before I had the injury, where I think about what I want to do and now I can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Doctors say the chip is not a cure for paralysis but it can help quadriplegics gain mobility for the first time.

Caravaggio is considered one of the greatest Renaissance painters. He was also famous for brawling and killed a man in a bar fight, but he never considered prolific, with just a few dozen known paintings.

SESAY: Some 400 years after Caravaggio's mysterious death, what may be a lost painting has surfaced in an attic in France that could be worth well over $100 million.

Jim Bittermann has the details from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's probably every homeowners dream to be rummaging around in the attic and find a priceless work of art. That's essentially what a still-unidentified couple claim happened at their house near the French city of Toulouse. Their discovery, what some believe to be a lost work by the Italian Renaissance master, Caravaggio. It depicts a graphic scene in which Biblical heroin, Judith, beheads an Assyria general, and is similar to subject matter and style to a Caravaggio already handing in a Roman palazzo.

The art expert hired by the homeowners is convinced the painting is genuine.

ERIC TURQUIN, ART EXPERT: I trust we know that the composition is Caravaggio. We know this was seen a great picture in its time which was of this subject, which was seen by other painters. And third, the execution, the masterly execution. And some -- you know, a painter has ticks, this is correct. A painter is like that. He has ticks and you have all the ticks for him. Not all, but many of them, enough to be sure that this is the hand, this is the writing of this great artist.

BITTERMANN: Some experts are not so ready to say the masterpiece is real. But The French government is playing it cautious by declaring the painting a national treasure and slapping an export ban on the canvas for the next 30 months while it's examined further.

If it is genuine Caravaggio, it could be worth upwards of $130 million, which makes for some strong arguments about its authenticity.

(on camera): While the painting could turn out to be real, there's no public accounting of exactly how it found its way to France, nor why it remained undiscovered for a period that its owner says went on for 150 years. Still, few question the quality of the workmanship involved, just the identity of who did the work.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Who gets the money if it is actually worth $130 million?

SESAY: I don't know. Why don't I have a Caravaggio in my attic? VAUSE: I'll get you one.

(LAUGHTER)

Now to a daring escape performed by an octopus. Apparently, it just wanted to be free. Inky, the National Museum of New Zealand says, he must have seen the opportunity to make a getaway, so he took it.

SESAY: Yes, he did, with no witnesses. Inky squeezed out from a gap at the top of his tank, made his way down and across the floor, and then he apparently shimmied down a tiny drain, and is presumably happily roaming the sea floor.

VAUSE: Or he's calamari somewhere.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, we hope he's near the sea floor.

Before we go, Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 60 points in his final NBA game here in Los Angeles.

SESAY: Bryant is retiring after 20 seasons in the league. He spoke to the media at Staples Center a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:55:18] KOBE BRYANT, LAKERS BASKETBALL PLAYER: I'm just try to go out and play hard and try to put on a show as much as I possibly could and good to do that one last time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Kobe Bryant and Inky --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Exactly. We'll never see that again.

SESAY: Shimmying away.

VAUSE: We're done.

And so are we. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay.

The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett right after this.

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[01:59:47] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: It's the mass kidnapping that exposed the horrors of Boko Haram to the world. New CNN exclusive reporting on the fate of some of the missing girls. (HEADLINES)