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Firefighters in Canada Aided by Cooler Temps, Rain; Big Election in the Philippines; North Korea's Congress Adopts Resolution Pushing for Reunification; Bangladesh Journalist Gunned Down; Donald Trump to Meet with Speaker Ryan Later This Week. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 9, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles; ahead this hour --

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Turning point, better weather has firefighters in Alberta feeling cautiously optimistic, hoping to get a handle on a blaze that has scorched nearly 1600 square kilometers.

VAUSE: Voters in the Philippines electing their new president, an outspoken mayor dubbed "Duterte Harry," hoping they'll make his day.

SESAY: And in the U.S., Republican civil war ramps up as Donald Trump says maybe the party doesn't have to be united after all.

VAUSE: Hello everybody, great to have you with us; I'm John Vause.

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

VAUSE: Firefighters in Canada say they may be getting the upper hand on a massive blaze which has been burning out of control for a week. Officials had expected the Ft. McMurray fire to double in size by late Saturday, but it grew much less than expected because of cooler temperatures, and some rain has also helped firefighters.

SESAY: More than 160,000 hectares have been scorched so far and thousands forced to evacuate. Officials warn the fires may still burn for months. Here's Paul Vercammen with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Isha, I'm in front of a center here in Edmonton where many of the fire refugees are getting supplies and/or spending the night. They've been through a harrowing ordeal. That fire right now, you can hear the wind, is blowing toward the East, and firefighters are hoping it continues to slow down just a little. By blowing East, that means away from Ft. McMurray, that's the city that was absolutely ravaged by fire last week. You can imagine a difficult ordeal for anybody, but imagine this through the eyes of a child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CHILD: I saw the flames and they were very bad. and, like, the fire, it was made like very big. We saw the smoke downtown, and we thought my school was burned down, but it wasn't. It's like very bad.

VERCAMMEN: Families grateful for the 1500 firefighters battling blazes across Alberta, some 40 in all. Firefighters are beginning to feel the effects of this; many of them have been working nonstop, relief going to come later in the week from both New Brunswick and Quebec. Ontario firefighters already here. It's been a long and arduous assault, and an ominous note here, officials saying this could be the start of a long and dastardly fire season.

Back to you now, Isha and John.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Our thanks to Paul Vercammen for that. We're joined now on the phone by the Wild Fire Manager of the Alberta Fire, Chad Morrison. Mr. Morrison, thank you so much for joining us. You've been closer to saying you've reached a turning point with this fire. Can you describe the situation now?

CHAD MORRISON, WILD FIRE MANAGER, ALBERT FIRE, via telephone: Yes, well we've had very good news on the fire front today. It still isn't over; we had a little bit of help here. Unexpected help, but a little bit of help from Mother Nature and the weather. We're really here - a lot of the hard work, a lot of the credit goes to the hard work of the firefighters that were able to hold the line here most of the day. Most areas of the fire, especially around in the city itself, the fire still is now still only about 161,000 hectares or 320 acres. we continue to hold it, but we're still challenged throughout the day today, and yesterday, in extreme fire conditions in the surrounding communities and in Ft. McMurray City itself.

SESAY: With that being said, there's Ft. McMurray, is that still off limits?

MORRISON: Yes; right now it's only first responders working in the city, obviously, there's a lot of hot spots in and around the community as firefighters continue to work to extinguish them. It's completely evacuated, still, at this time, yes.

SESAY: There has been talk of moving into Phase Two of the Ft. McMurray Response Plan. What exactly does that mean and when might that be activated?

MORRISON: You know, it's too early to tell at this point. Right now we've got some favorable weather and conditions just to let firefighters get a chance and a handle on things, but still too early to tell there. Phase One, we're really response phase still. We're still trying to make sure that we get the city secured from the fire. Even though the fire is spreading out to the East, away from the community and the forested areas, we still have a long ways to go and a lot of work ahead of us.

Phase Two has already begun and under way which is the beginning of the response, I'm sorry, the recovery components and so that's planning and all that work starts well in advance; but you know, we're way, -- the recovery and recovery components are still quite a ways away before we have any foreseeable changes there.

SESAY: Mr. Morrison, some of our viewers may be wondering why it might take [00:05:01] months before the situation is fully brought under control. Can you explain that for us?

MORRISON: Yes; so on the wildfires side, we expect these large scale wildfires to burn through many months in the summer in the forested areas. We also, though, expect -- we expect to contain many of the fire around and within the city, sooner rather than later, in the coming weeks, but again, still a little too early to say how we'll progress there.

Again, we've had significant damage reports of over 1,600 homes damaged. We hope though that with the efforts of folks that we can contain that area and make it safe so that we can start looking at getting a better assessment of all the damage.

SESAY: Chad Morrison, our thoughts and prayers with you all. This is an extremely challenging time for you and all those responding. Thank you so much for taking a moment to speak with us here at CNN. Thank you.

All right; well, let's get the latest on the weather conditions in the fire zone. Our Meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri joins us now with that. Pedram, bring us up to speed with what you're seeing in the days ahead.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's fantastic news for the first time in about two weeks' time, when it comes to just the sheer weather pattern across this region, Isha. You take a look at this, here's Ft. McMurray in the corner of your screen, right there, in eastern portions of Alberta. We have showers coming in out of the West. We have more showers across the southern portion of Alberta. We've already tapped into several millimeters in this region, but and even if we don't get additional rainfall, the cooler temperatures really help the scene across the region.

Here's the scene across the area on Sunday, shows you the extreme fire threat. Look what happens as we transition into Monday: the red goes out of the picture. We talk about generally being a very high threat. Beyond that we drop into the high concern, and then potentially a moderate concern by later through the week. So the fire threat diminishes quickly when it comes to, at least, helping out the firefighters across this region.

Now, you take a look at just what occurred on Sunday alone; remarkable because over 1,600 square kilometers of land were consumed on Sunday alone. That is larger than the entire city of London in just one day. So it shows you how quickly these fires can burn out of control, with the winds when they are as erratic as they have been.

How about this: temperatures on Monday only expected to make it to ten degrees, 16 is what is normal for this time of year. We get about a 40-percent chance of rain showers there. It does to want warm up dramatically towards the latter portion of the week, but multiple days of below average return across this region. The winds also expected to calm down over the next several days, especially late Monday into Tuesday; that's wonderful news.

You take a look at the perspective from space, fascinating images from the international Space Station. Tim Peaks shared this with us, across this area, showing the smoke and the way the winds are interacting with the smoke and the fires and moving them downstream. In fact, this area, not just confined towards portions of Alberta. You look at the broader perspective, Isha, look at this. This is the smoke plume, right here, exiting Canada dropping out towards southern portions of the United States, traveling several thousand kilometers because of the steering currents in the atmosphere bringing the smoke this far south.

So again, an incredible pattern here taking place across the southern U.S. as well.

SESAY: Yes, it sure it. Pedram, appreciate the insight; thanks so much.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

VAUSE: And for more information on how you can help the evacuees from the Ft. McMurray wildfires, please go to our website, CNN.com/impact.

SESAY: Now in the Philippines, nearly 55 million voters are heading to the polls to cast ballots for their next president and parliament. The latest polls show a controversial mayor leading the presidential race. He's being called the Philippines answer to Donald Trump. Michael Holmes has more now on the campaign and the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campaign ads line quiet streets in the Philippines. Philippine law prohibits active campaigning by the

candidates in the 24 hours leading up to an election, but the mood as voting gets under way is anything but quiet.

MARY GRACE LUZ, FRUIT VENDOR: I'm weighing up who is the best candidate that will make the country even better, a place where there is peace and order.

JINKY DESTAJO, HOMELESS MOTHER, via translator: I hope whoever becomes the president, they will help the homeless, provide work for our husbands and run the Philippines well.

GEORGE MAYOR, SHOP OWNER, via translator: Someone who can make the prices of goods go down so that for us who are poor, we can make a better living.

HOLMES: The five candidates for the Philippines top seat made one last pitch to voters on Saturday, as the 90-day campaign period came to a close. Recent polls show long-time devout mayor, Rodrigo Duterte with a solid lead. Nicknamed "The Punisher" for his tough stance on crime, he's vowed to execute 100,000 criminals and, "dump them into Manila Bay" if elected.

Senator Grace Poe is Duterte's closest rival. According to Filipino's pollster's social webber systems, she has campaigned for what she calls a, "caring" government, emphasizing public service and infrastructure. Poe has been challenged over her citizenship after being a U.S. citizen for several [00:10:02] years, but ultimately was declared eligible by the supreme court to continue her campaign.

Interior Minister Mar Roxas, current Vice President Jejomar Binay, and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago are also in the running.

It's a big election for the Philippines. In addition to the next president and vice president, voters will elect half of the country's senate, the entire house of representatives, and tens of thousands of local posts.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And we will have more on the Philippines in just a moment, but we have a significant development coming to us from Pyongyang, an announcement from North Korea's Workers Party Congress. Delegates there have adopted a resolution to push for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

SESAY: That's right. This is something that Pyongyang has said before. The high level meeting could lend this latest assertion some more weight.

VAUSE: Will Ripley joins us now from Pyongyang with more on this story; and Will, it really seems carrots and sticks now coming from Pyongyang. Reunification with Seoul, but also warning that it could be military action as well.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via telephone: That's right; I mean, and you always have to kind of read between the lines whenever you're looking at any sort of statement like this that comes out of North Korea.

We are actually in a very unique situation here right now because all day yesterday we were pushing for some type of access to officials, either within the North Korean government or the Workers Party of Korea which are holding the seventh Congress, the first in 36 years. We've been taken to a room in the third floor of the (Inaudible) Hotel in Pyongyang. This is a conference room, a small conference room, there's more than 100 media outlets here in North Korea right now, but only a handful of us are here for what we believe is going to be a press conference. We don't know who we're speaking to or what we're talking about. But, John, it's actually beginning right now. Listen in if you can.

[Inaudible]

VAUSE: There's significant announcement coming out of the Workers Conference there, that, in fact, the North Koreans would like a peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula, but of course warning that should Seoul opt for the military option and the North Koreans will, in fact, fire back with their military might. Also pledges coming from the North Koreans that they will continue to expand and improve their nuclear arsenals.

So clearly, Will Ripley is there on the ground at a news conference; we don't get those very often out of Pyongyang. So as soon as he has some news, hopefully Will will check in with us and we'll bring it to you.

We want to go back now to the presidential elections in the Philippines. CNN Philippines reporter J.C. Gotinga joins us now live from Manila.

So, J.C., just gone midday there. First results still a few hours away. Is it still expected that Rodrigo Duterte could win this in a landslide?

JC GOTINGA, via satellite: Well that is definitely the perception right now. In recent surveys Duterte has had a wide margin of a lead over his rivals and these were both surveys carried out very close to the day of the election. So that's something that we are expecting, although critics say that at this point, statistically, it is still possible that three of his other rivals might have a come from behind win just yet. John?

VAUSE: So JC, the current president there has warned if Duterte wins, Filipino's will be electing their next dictator. Why didn't that warning, which seems very dramatic, have much of an impact on voters?

GOTINGA: Well, for one thing, that warning has come very close to the day of the elections; it was just over the weekend. Also there is a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction with the current government, the Aquino government. Poverty has remained practically unchanged since his government began in 2010. Poverty incidence is still at about a third, between a quarter to a third of the country.

Duterte, meanwhile, has presented himself as an anti-establishment candidate who has basically promised people that he would rid the country of criminality and crime and dangerous drugs in six months. He basically says what people want to hear, that's why he has a very huge amount of down swell of support from the masses here in the Philippines. John?

VAUSE: It does sound very similar to what's happening in the United States some people might say. Just logistics here though, there's been a huge show of force by police because of fears of violence. What's the latest on the security there today?

GOTINGA: Well so far, what we've heard from the police, is that there are at least nine people who've already died in violence, incidence around the country; some say these are very close to the capital. We are expecting we might hear more reports of such incidents throughout the day. definitely getting reports of violence in Mindanao, that's a part of the country that's 1,500 kilometers south of the capital. John. [00:15:01] VAUSE: JC Gotinga there with the very latest from Manila. Thanks for checking in; we appreciate it.

SESAY: A situation to be watching very, very closely.

VAUSE: The parallels that the U.S. election are astounding, in so many ways.

SESAY: The comments made by Duterte, they are quite astounding in many ways. All right, time for a quick break.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for an ambush of police in Cairo. Why this attack is particularly unsettling for Egypt, when we come back.

VAUSE: And, in Pakistan, an outrage over the killing of a teenage girl whose death was allegedly ordered and carried out by her own people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:19:04] SESAY: Welcome back; in Iraq, at least six people are dead and 11 people wounded after suicide bomber attacked a funeral in Iraq.

VAUSE: ISIS has claimed responsibility for the blast in Abu Ghraib, West of Baghdad. The funeral was for a member of a Sunni tribe that has formed against al-Qaeda, and now fighting ISIS.

Egypt is reeling from an ISIS attack on its police force.

SESAY: Yes, but while officials look for the gunman, the militant group says more attacks are on the horizon. Our Ian Lee has this report from Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:20:01] IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was the deadliest attack in Cairo by insurgents since the 2011 revolution. Late last night, gunman ambushed a minivan carrying eight policemen, who were conducting regular security checks. All the policemen were killed. We're hearing over 100 spent bullet casings were found at the scene. That gives you an idea of the fire power used. The insurgents then stole the policeman's guns and melted back into the night.

ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement saying its revenge for women health in Egyptian prisons.

The area of where these attack took place, Helwan, is known for being sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and militant Islamists. Egyptian security forces have locked down the scene, with the Interior Ministry saying they will hunt down the gunmen and continue the fight against terror.

But what makes this attack particularly notable is that there had been a lull in the violence here in the capital. In 2014 and 2015, there were small bombs going off almost on a weekly basis. We haven't had an attack like this for months. This is a sharp contrast, though, to the ongoing and very deadly battle raging between security forces and militants in the northern Sinai, where you have soldiers dying almost on a daily basis.

ISIS recently released a video showcasing their attacks on the Peninsula and called for more people to join them. They also warned that more attacks like we saw last night are to come.

Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well officials in Afghanistan say the death toll soared to 73 in a fiery highway crash.

VAUSE: 52 people were injured when, authorities say, two passenger buses ran into an oil truck on a remote stretch of road. Many of the victims had been badly burned.

SESAY: It happened on the main highway linking Kabul and Kandahar. Roads in Afghanistan are often poorly maintained leading to many traffic accidents.

Well, a Pakistani journalist and human rights activist who denounced extremists has been killed. A colleague says Khurram Zaki was gunned down Saturday at a restaurant in Karachi. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

Zaki was known for condemning radical elements, including the Taliban. A post on a blog he edited called the Zaki's death a "grim reminder that whoever raised his voices against the Taliban in Pakistan will not be spared."

SESAY: Now, the murder of a 15-year-old Pakistani girl is sparking worldwide outrage.

VAUSE: The young victim was poisoned, strangled and killed as punishment for helping a friend elope. Clarissa Ward has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A horrific crime, committed in some warped idea of honor. A 15-year-old girl murdered, her charred skeleton found in a village in northern Pakistan last week. Authorities say the girl, whose name was Ambreene, helped a female friend elope with her boyfriend. The couple escaped. Police say a local triable council, or Jirga, ordered Ambreene's execution.

SAEED WAZIR, DISTRICT POLICE CHIEF, via translator: This was not a Jirga elders, this was a Jirga of local hoodlums and ruffians wanting to take revenge of the dishonor of the family.

WARD: Authorities say many of those council members carried out the killing, sedating and suffocating the girl, then tying her body to a van and setting it on fire. More than a dozen people are now under arrest, including the victim's mother, who investigators say knew about the orders to kill her daughter but did nothing to stop it or call police.

Pakistan's Prime Minister condemned the brutal crime in a statement saying, "Such a barbaric act is not only un-Islamic, but inhuman. It is not honor killing, it's just plain murder."

FARZANA BARI, DIRECTOR, CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN GENDER STUDIES, QUAID E-AZAM UNIVERSITY: I think this is the tip of the iceberg because a lot of these numbers are coming out of the reported cases. So I think if you look at the scale of the problem, actually we don't know.

WARD: But hundreds of girls are killed by relatives every year in Pakistan, according to the country's Independent Human Rights Commission, and experts believe many of these murders go unreported.

The suspects under arrest for Ambreene's murder now face trial, but human rights advocates caution few of these kind of cases go to court. For many, justice remains elusive.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., another victim has been hacked to death in Bangladesh, details on this latest brutal attack, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:27:57] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching "CNN NEWSROOM," live from Los Angeles; I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay; the headlines this hour: cooler temperatures in Western Canada have slowed the progress of the mammoth wild fire in Alberta but officials fear the blaze may not be out for months. More than 160,000 hectares have burned so far and nearly 90,000 people remain out of their homes.

VAUSE: Voting is under way in the Philippines presidential elections. Devout city mayor, Rodrigo Duterte has been leading four other candidates. He's stirred controversy with his tough, tough stance on crime and vowed to execute 100,000 criminals in elected.

SESAY: British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is set to make a speech in the coming hours, outlining his case for the U.K. staying in the EU. For the (inaudible) speculate wants Cameron's job, ex-London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is expected to speak later in the day. He favors Britain leaving the economic block.

VAUSE: Greek lawmakers have bowed to the demands of international creditors, approving tax heights and pension cuts. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails in the streets of Athens. Police responded with tear gas. The country's largest labor union calls the reform the last nails in the coffin for workers.

SESAY: The crisis in Syria will be at the center of a meeting in Paris Monday of the so-called "Friends of Syria Nation." The meetings requested last week by the head of the "Syrian Opposition High Negotiations Committee." U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, will also be in Paris for separate talks on Syria with his French counterparts.

VAUSE: Rescuers in China are searching for signs of life after a landslide in the country's southeast. Heavy rains triggered a torrent of mud and rocks that buried construction site Sunday morning. State media reporting injured working are being treated at local hospitals. 41 workers remain unaccounted for.

A Sufi Muslim spiritual leader is the latest victim of a hacking attack in Bangladesh. The 65-year-old was found hacked to death Saturday in a mango orchard in the country's west. Police say he had just left a meeting with his disciples.

[00:30:02] SESAY: Well, the murder is the latest in a series of similar brutal hackings. It's unclear why the Sufi leader was targeted and by whom. Radical Islamist groups have claimed responsibility for the many of the previous murders.

VAUSE: CNN's Alexandra Field was just in Bangladesh and she joins us now live from Hong Kong; and Alex, we're now hearing from the family of this latest victim.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: And, John, they are saying they do not know or understand why this man was targeted, why he would have been killed. This is the son of Mohammad Shahidullah, who has been speaking with CNN. He said his father was a simple man, an ordinary man; that he was a grocer and that he also a Sufi spiritual leader. He had just, in fact, left a meeting with some of his disciples when he was hacked to death.

The pattern does follow the spate of killings that we've seen in Bangladesh over the last 14 or 15 months, and the targets seem to be widening at this point. It started with a campaign against secular bloggers who had been accused of insulting Islam and promoting atheism. Then there were attacks on LGBT activists, religious minorities, and even a university professor.

In some of these most recent cases, the death of the university professor, the death of this man, a Sufi Muslim and a grocer, families are asking why their family members would become targets. There was no evidence in the death of the professor that this was somebody who had ever openly criticized Islam.

Then, of course, when you have this Sufi leader, his family saying that this was a devoted man, a spiritual man. It isn't clear to them why anyone would have gone after him, and it isn't clear to the police either because they have not made any arrests in this case. What is different about this hacking death versus so many of the others that we have seen is that there has not been a public claim of responsibility by an extremist group, by a terrorist group. So police are also investigating the possibility there was some personal enmity involved; John?

VAUSE: Okay, Alexandra; thank you. Alexandra Field there, live with those details, in Hong Kong.

SESAY: All right, we to want go straight now to North Korea where our correspondent Will Ripley is. He's been attending, or at least witnessing, bearing witness to the Workers Party Congress that has been going on for some days. Will joins us on the line.

Will, if you can hear me, I know a short time ago when you phoned in, you were talking about being at a press conference. I understand there is some news from that gathering. What can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via telephone: Hi, Isha. That press conference wrapped up just a short time ago. North Korean official came in and read from a statement, refusing to answer any questions. It turns out that one of the journalists who has been here in North Korea over the last week, a BBC Correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, was detained at the airport a short time ago as he was attempting to board a flight to leave the country.

Now, Rupert, I actually spoke with him here at the Lingotto (ps) Hotel yesterday. He did a series of reports -- he was invited into the country with a group of Nobel laureates. He accompanied this group, and in some of his reporting, when he was talking about the country, talking about specifically the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un, he used words to describe him, such as corpulent; he talked about his physical appearance; he -- some of his reports implied that the leader hasn't really earned the title of "marshal," which is one of the titles that was in this country. North Koreans take insults of their Supreme Leader more seriously than just about anything else.

So, as he was attempting to leave the country today, officials detained him. According to a BBC correspondent who was in the briefing room, and there were a handful of us in the briefing room, the BBC correspondent said that he was interrogated, and currently in a car, we're told. So, he's been released by the North Koreans. They have expelled him. He is not allowed to return back into the country.

At this point, they're trying to figure out how to get him on a flight to get him out of North Korea and back to either Tokyo where he's based. He's a Tokyo correspondent. I've worked with Rupert before over the past couple of years that I've been based there. Or, if he's heading somewhere else, we don't know. The BBC refraining from commenting too much right now, other than to say they're just trying to get him out of North Korea as they try -- and then they said they'll be able to address the situation and share their side.

But from the North Korean's perspective, insulting their Supreme Leader. They also said that he was disrespectful to customs officers at the airport and is disrespecting local customs in general during his time here. So very serious charges for a BBC journalist that could have potentially gotten him detained for a longer period of time but it sounds as if this was something that occurred earlier in the day today. He is now back with the BBC, in a car, trying to find a way out of the country.

SESAY: All right; Will Ripley joining us there on the line from Pyongyang with the very latest on that temporary detainment of Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, from the BBC, by North Korean officials. Will, we appreciate, thank you. Do check in when you get more details. Thank you.

VAUSE: A temporary detainment which will be a permanent ban from the country.

[00:35:02] SESAY: Permanent ban; but as you made a point early when Will called in that, you know, press conferences are rare in North Korea. So to have one to share this information, it's all --

VAUSE: It's all show; they're making an example. Rupert Wingfield- Hayes is a veteran of -

SESAY: Indeed.

VAUSE: -- reporting for Asia for the BBC. Very solid reporter. Clearly he has upset the authorities there in Pyongyang, which is why he's being expelled.

SESAY: All right, a situation we'll continue to follow for you. Time for a quick break; in the race to the White House, Republicans are divided over Donald Trump's likely the nomination. Coming up, how one supporter says Trump can still prevail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Less than six months now until election day in the United States and President Barack Obama has issued a new executive order; it's pretty standard. It's called the Facilitation of a Presidential Transition and part of it reads, "it's policy of the United States to undertake all reasonable efforts to ensure that presidential transitions are well coordinated and effective without regard for party affiliation."

So after what seems to be an almost unbelievable primary season. This is a reminder that come November, there will be a new president-elect. On the Republican side, now that he's the presumptive nominee, it could very well be Donald Trump. But right now there is a civil war within the Republican Party and later this week, Mr. Trump will meet with the most senior elected republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has said he's not ready, yet, to endorse Donald Trump.

Jeffrey Lord, a CNN Political Commentator, was also Political Director in the Reagan White House. He's a Trump supporter. He joins us now from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is good to speak with you, Jeffrey.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITRICAL COMMENTATOR AND TRUMP SUPPORTER: Hello John; how are you?

CAUSE: I'm well; thank you. You know, it seems this civil war went up a notch over the weekend. Donald Trump said maybe unity within the party isn't all it's cracked up to be; listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So we want to bring the party together. Does the party have to be together? Does it have to be unified? I'm very different than everybody else, perhaps, that's ever run for office. I actually I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, in the past it was a simple fact, divided parties lose elections. Will it be different this time?

LORD: Yes, I do think it will be different. This does remind me to some degree of 1980. One of Ronald Reagan's republican opponents in the primary was Illinois Congressman John Anderson. He was doing, so he thought, fairly well; caught on in the media. He lost to Ronald Reagan and decided to run as an independent. So he got himself on the ballot as a third party candidate in the fall.

Ronald Reagan beat Anderson and, of course, Jimmy Carter pretty handedly. So, there is precedent for this kind of thing. It's not the best situation. It's not optimal, but yes, it can be done.

VAUSE: Well there clearly is tension between Donald Trump and Speaker Ryan right now. Speaker Ryan is also chairman of the party convention and on [00:40:01] Sunday, Donald Trump, he kind of seemed to stop short, just, of calling on Ryan to step down as convention chairman; listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": If he can't endorse you, do you think he should be chair of the convention?

TRUMP: I don't want to mention now; I'll see after. I will give you a very solid answers if that happens -

TODD: Okay.

TRUMP: -- about one minute after that happens. okay.

TODD: Okay.

TRUMP: There is no reason to give it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It did seem like a bit of a threat there and I guess the question is, can Paul Ryan actually be convention chairman if he doesn't endorse the party standard bearer?

LORD: Well, I mean, my answer would be no. I like Paul Ryan. We've both worked with Jack Kemp, at different stages of Jack Kemp's career. I think he's terrific, but I think he made a major mistake. Donald Trump is going to be the nominee. So if you're the Speaker of the House, you step up. I mean, as Newt Gingrich, who was the former Speaker, said that if he back in 1992 when he was Republican Minority Leader, had said, well, he wasn't quite sure whether he'd support George H.W. Bush, there'd have been hell to pay. This was a mistake on Speaker Ryan's part. I hope he rectifies this quickly.

VAUSE: It seems that Donald Trump is holding back a little. Sarah Palin, a high profile supporter of Donald Trump, she's not holding back when it comes to Speaker Ryan.

LORD: Right.

VAUSE: Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR, ALASKA AND DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: His political career is over, but for a miracle, because he's so disrespected of the will of the people. Yes, as the, the leader of the GOP, the convention certainly, he is to remain neutral and for him to already come out and say who he will not support was not a wise decision of his.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LORD: Exactly.

VAUSE: This doesn't seem like the Party coming together. There's a list of high profile Republicans who aren't going to the convention, it's a Who's Who of the party; and I guess, is it up to Donald Trump to be the uniter here or is it up to the Party establishment to be the uniter?

LORD: Well it's up to all of them in truth. The presidential standard bearer does have some of that responsibility, there's no question; but so do the rest of these folks.

I might add, this isn't about Donald Trump. This is about the will of the republican voters. These voters had their choices of 17 candidates; this is the one they picked. They picked him fairly overwhelmingly, case closed; that's it. You rally to the winner. Folks that at this point don't seem to get a grasp of this are going to have a problem.

VAUSE: One of the arguments I heard the other day was, in the past the republicans have had elections with a candidate not supported by the base. This could be the first election they have where, you know, the candidate isn't supported by the establishment.

LORD: Yes; very interesting, isn't it? I mean, this kind much thing has semi happened before. The establishment went crazy over the election of Barry Goldwater, the nomination of Barry Goldwater. Mitt Romney's father, who was then George Romney was then the governor of Michigan vowed to fight Goldwater at the convention. He did; he lost. He said he'd never vote for him. When Goldwater showed up to campaign in Michigan, he wouldn't stand there on the platform with him, which is sort of the courteous tradition. So this kind of thing runs in the Romney family with a lot of these establishment folks. Curiously, when the shoe was on the other foot, when they get nominated, they demand party allegiance here or they get pretty upset. It's very curious.

VAUSE: A lot more curious days to come no doubt. Jeffrey, good to speak with you; thank you.

LORD: Thanks, John.

SESAY: A lot more curiouser.

VAUSE: Curiouser and curiouser.

SESAY: Curiouser by the day. All right; well thank you for watching "CNN NEWSROOM" live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next and we'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. You're watching CNN.

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