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Doctors Call for Olympics to Be Moved or Delayed; Trump Supporters and Opponents Clash; Released Ukrainian Pilot Speaks to CNN; Kim's Aunt Works As Dry-Cleaner in U.S.; Real Madrid and Atletico Clash for UCL Title. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired May 28, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: Move them or postpone them? Why more than 100 top medical professionals say Brazil should not host the summer games.

New images appear to show us forces close to the front lines in the fight against ISIS in Syria, but the Pentagon is denying U.S. troops are on the forward line.

Plus, an all-Madrid final for the champion league's title. We'll look ahead to Saturday's crucial match.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Atlanta. Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

As we begin with the Olympics, doctors are calling for the Rio Olympics to be postponed or moved due to concerns about the Zika virus. Their call to action is a sign of growing disagreement in the medical community about the potential risks in Rio. Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has more for us.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A group of more than 100 doctors and researchers have issued a public warning about health risks to the Olympics that are scheduled to take place in Rio in just over two months' time. The doctors writing that they're very concerned about the threats of the Zika virus. It's a mosquito-borne disease that is still being investigated at in time.

These doctors writing to the World Health Organization saying that the Olympics should either be postponed or moved to another place, warning that the risks of having a half million tourists coming here and then potentially bringing the virus to other countries around the world, to perhaps third-world countries that don't have very good healthcare facilities, that that could be a major threat to global health.

Now, this is coming in direct contradiction to advisories that come from the World Health Organization and from the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC just on Thursday said, quote, "There's no public health reason to cancel or delay the Olympics." The advisory was for pregnant women not to travel here and for people to use mosquito repellent to protect them from mosquitoes.

The W.H.O. has also advised people not to go into poorer districts of Rio, where there is more open water and could be more exposure to mosquitos. The city officials say they're working hard to try to crack down on the mosquito population. And they say that here it is the winter months here in the Southern hemisphere, that there are usually fewer mosquitoes at this time, but the debate between doctors and health officials is likely to continue. Ivan Watson, CNN, Rio.

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ALLEN: Also in Rio, a horrific story to share. Brazilians are outraged over the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl. These women are demonstrating are demanding justice for the girl and an end to chauvinism. They say being born a woman means living in fear.

Police say the teen's rapist posted video of the attack on social media. And the number of men who allegedly raped her is staggering. It's unclear how many men were involved, but it could have been between 30 and 36, including her boyfriend, allegedly raping a 16- year-old girl.

On the campaign trail, chaotic scenes outside a Donald Trump rally yet again. This is in California. Police tried to keep pro and anti-Trump people separated. When the rally was over, they automatically mixed as people were coming out of the rally.

But this is what happened when they crossed paths outside the San Diego convention center. Police did arrest 35 people. They say no one was seriously injured.

The presumptive nominee Republican nominee, Donald Trump, had already left when the confrontation started. Our Paul Vercammen is in the middle of it. He's got more.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: San Diego police and sheriff's deputies and other departments had to respond in full riot gear after the Trump rally ended. What had happened is they had gone through great lengths to seal off the anti-Trump demonstrators from the people leaving the convention center, but eventually they did start to blend together as they were both walking back towards parking areas.

Shouting matches ensued. They were pushing. They were shoving. There were throwing things. There were punches thrown. There were arrests. And then they moved in in force.

Look behind me. You can see all of these officers in full riot gear, helmets on and visors down. They began moving everyone down Harbor Boulevard in San Diego not very far from the ocean at all.

And it was effective, because they took what was a rather large crowd at one point, and they thinned it out little by little. Not that there weren't confrontations or shouting or skirmishes along the way. But eventually, as it started to get darker, they got a handle on things and they were able to disburse the crowd on a rowdy day in San Diego. Now, back to you.

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ALLEN: And a couple of hours ago, Donald Trump tweeted his thanks to the police, saying, "Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well-attended rally. Greatly appreciated."

Trump has now backed off from his implied agreement to debate candidate Bernie Sanders. Earlier, he had said he would love to face off with the Democratic contender if the proceeds went to charity. Now, he says he will wait and debate the Democrat's actual nominee, either Sanders or Hillary Clinton.

Sanders responded, "I hope he changes his mind again. Mr. Trump is known to change his mind many times a day."

Donald Trump may be getting on Bernie Sanders' nerves, but he doesn't seem at all concerned about it. Instead, Trump is turning his attention to an admirer, Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Actually, Putin did call me a genius, and he said I'm the future of the Republican Party, so he's off to a good start. I will say -- I will say, he's off to a good start. Right, folks?

And by the way, I'm not afraid of Putin. I don't know Putin. I've never met Putin. I respect Putin. He's a strong leader. I can tell you that. Unlike what we have. We have a pathetic leader.

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ALLEN: In Greece, Russia's president gave his sharpest warning yet that Romania and Poland could face retaliation for hosting a U.S. missile shield. Vladimir Putin spoke a news conference in Athens with Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras.

Mr. Tsipras said E.U. sanctions against Russia are not in the best interest of European security. The U.S. insisted the missile shield is not a threat to Russia.

Later Saturday, Mr. Putin will visit a 1,000-year-old Russian monastery in Greece.

U.S. Vice president Joe Biden is congratulating Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko on the release of Nadya Savchenko. The Ukrainian pilot had been in Russian jail for two years before being pardoned and released on Wednesday. She spoke exclusively with CNN's Matthew Chance and talked of her political ambitions.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Her defiance seems undimmed by nearly two years behind Russian bars.

"I'm free," the former Ukrainian army pilot screamed at the cameras, "but also sorry," she added, "for the mothers whose kids will never return from the front lines." Nadya Savchenko has long been a symbol of Ukrainian national resistance. But in a CNN interview, one of her first after her release in a prisoner swap, she spoke of ambitions to be its national leader.

CHANCE (on-screen): You are, of course, now a national hero in Ukraine. You're also already a member of the Ukrainian parliament, "The Rider," but what are your political ambitions? Do you have your eye on the presidency of the country?

NADIYA SAVCHENKO, UKRANIAN SERVICEWOMAN (through translator): I see myself as military person, but if the people need me to be a president, I will be a president. In order to benefit Ukraine, I can do anything, both in battle and in politics.

CHANCE (voice-over): This was the fatal incident at the height of the battles in eastern Ukraine. Savchenko was found guilty in Russia of directing mortar fire against a group of pro-Russian rebels accompanied by a Russian television crew. The Russian reporter and his sound engineer were both killed.

In what critics described as the show trial that followed, Savechenko always pleaded innocent, the defense team arguing she'd already been captured when the attack took place. But the court still sentenced her to 22 years.

The Kremlin says the prisoner swap was only approved after President Putin heard of appeal for clemency from the widows of the dead journalists.

CHANCE (on-camera): Announcing your, President Putin of Russia said that he hoped the gesture would be a step towards easing tensions in the conflict zone. Do you think it is? Do you think it's a step in the right direction?

SAVECHENKO (through translator): If President Putin said this was a gesture, it is not going to help. It is a correct step. The rest of the steps will depend on them. Whether this will help to resolve the conflict, I hope it will. I hope this will help to reach a compromise by all parties.

CHANCE (voice-over): Back in Ukrain, the release of a war hero is a rare political victory for the country's president seen by many frustrate Ukrainians as unable to implement reforms and criticized by opponents for giving too much away in negotiations with Russia.

CHANCE (on-camera): Do you think you'd make a better president than the current president?

SAVECHENKO (through translator): It's a good question. Our people are not afraid to criticize the president unlike in Russia. Once I have done something and I'm able to tell someone that I have done better than you, then I will be able to criticize them. But now, I'm not going to say if I'm going to be better than someone. Time will tell.

CHANCE (voice-over): And time will tell also if this defiant Ukrainian will be as potent as a politician as she was a prisoner. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

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ALLEN: Egypt is finalizing a deal with the Mauritius-based company Deep Ocean Search to find EgyptAir Flight 804. The plane's flight data and cockpit voice records are still missing more than one week after the A-320 jet went down in the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people aboard.

The plane's manufacturer, Airbus, says it has detected signals sent by the aircraft's emergency locater transmitter. That could narrow the search area.

A Kurdish military official says civilians are fleeing small villages south of Mosul, Iraq. He says they've been relocated to refuge camps in the Kurdish region.

Mosul seal is about 420 kilometers north of Baghdad. It was captured by ISIS in June two years ago.

IraqI forces are planning an offensive to recapture it. No official date for when that's going to happen.

The U.S. Military is under fire after new video appears to show its special forces alongside Kurdish troops in Syria. The U.S. has denied its troops are on the forward line at the Syrian conflict, but the Kurds and these American commandos are in the middle of an assault, an ambitious mission to conquer Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital.

And at least one U.S. operator is seen wearing the insignia of the Kurdish YPG. That's angering American ally, Turkey, who's been struggling to put down a Kurdish insurgency. CNN's Jim Sciutto has more on what seems like clear evidence of American boots on the ground and on the front line in Syria.

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Special Forces on the ground just north of the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, alongside Kurdish and Arab forces fighting the terror group.

A French news agency captured these rare images of U.S. special operators in the area wearing the insignia of the Syrian Kurdish forces they are fighting alongside. NATO ally Turkey immediately protested as Ankara considers the YPG terrorists. U.S. military now says wearing the patches was wrong.

COL. STEVEN WARREN, ANTI-ISIS COALITION SPOKESMAN: Wearing those YPG patches was unauthorized and it was inappropriate, and corrective action has been taken.

SCIUTTO: The new images made clear that U.S. forces are now very close to the front lines of the fight against ISIS in Syria, though the Pentagon insists the role of U.S. forces has not changed.

PETER COOK, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: They are not on the forward line. They are providing advice and assistance. And, again, I'm not going to get into details but that mission has not changed. Their role has not changed. They are not leading this fight. They are supporting those forces that are at the leading edge.

SCIUTTO: There are currently more than 200 U.S. forces on the ground in Syria training and advising Syrian and Kurdish fighters.

CNN's Barbara Starr spoke exclusively last week with the spokesman for the Kurdish Arab coalition, who say they still need more American help.

TALIL ALI SILO, SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (through translator): We have requested a continuous supply of weapons at a level that is consistent with the size of the mission we face.

SCIUTTO: In Iraq, the U.S. continues air strikes and artillery barrages against ISIS fighters in support of Iraqi forces fighting to retake the town of Fallujah, which sits just 40 miles west of the capital Baghdad. One U.S. air strikes, says the Pentagon, killed the commander of ISIS forces in the city.

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ALLEN: Well, in addition to the death of the ISIS commander Jim Sciutto just mentioned, the Pentagon says U.S.-led strikes killed 70 ISIS fighters in Fallujah in recent days. Iraqi forces launched an operation earlier this week to recapture the city from ISIS. They scored their first significant victory on Thursday when they retook a town about 16 kilometers away.

The Iraqi military says hundreds of people have fled Fallujah for territory controlled by security forces. But the U.N. warns that tens of thousands more are stuck in the city at risk from bomb bombardment.

Many trying to escape the violence in place like Iraq and Syria, about 1,000 migrants, are arriving at the Sicilian port of Catania. This is live video we have for you here. Crews saved them at sea.

Authorities have rescued more than 14,000 migrants between Libya and Italy since Monday. More than 8,000 of those were within the past two days.

This comes after the Italian navy recovered 45 bodies Friday near a half-sunken boat in the Mediterranean. This was the third-straight day of deaths. Migrants have been taking advantage of warmer, calmer seas to try to reach Europe.

Well, it turns out North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has an aunt living outside of North Korea. She's living in the United States. We'll tell you why she's there and where you might run into her, coming up next.

Plus, a battle between two Madrid squads for the Champions League title. We'll have pre-game analysis for you from Milan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLEN: Well, here's one for you. Close relatives of one of the world's most feared dictators have surfaced in the United States. Turns out, they've been living quiet lives in New York for decades. Brian Todd shows us how they've been hiding in plain sight.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They look like any other couple walking in Central Park and through Times Square. But now Friday, "The Washington Post" says for nearly 20 years, the husband and wife have kept their true identities hidden. The quiet owners of a small dry-cleaning store say they are also the aunt and uncle of one of the world's most notorious dictators: North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

ANNA FIFIELD, REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: They live an entirely unremarkable American immigrant life.

Kim's aunt, who says her given name is Ko Yong Suk, says she is the sister of Kim's mother, Ko Yong Hui, one of Kim Jong Il's wives.

KEN GAUSE, NORTH KOREA LEADERSHIP EXPERT, CNA: She was someone that Ko Yong Hui would trust, you know, obviously with the lives of her children.

TODD: Ko Yong Suk told the Post that she traveled from North Korea to take care of Kim, his older brother and younger sister when they attended a boarding school in Switzerland.

FIFIELD: He was not a good student, that he did not enjoy studying.

TODD: "Post" reporter Fifield interviewed Ko and her husband Ri Gang after uncovering their existence through a lawsuit they filed in South Korea. They insisted their faces, the names they use in the U.S. and the location of their home and dry-cleaning business not be revealed.

Fifield says the couple tell a story of a young man who was privileged and from early childhood apparently knew he would inherit the leadership of North Korea. Kim's aunt said she took Kim and his siblings to Euro Disney, the French Riviera, took them skiing in the Alps.

She describes Kim as being obsessed with basketball, that he would sometimes sleep with a ball under his arm, an obsession that would lead to some surreal moments with former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

Ko Yong Suk told the "Post" there was one day when a clear signal was sent that the young Kim would succeed his father, his eighth birthday.

FIFIELD: There was a big party for him in Pyongyang and that he was presented with a general's army uniform on that day and that there were real generals who were at that party, who then, you know, bowed to this eight-year-old kid.

TODD: From that moment, Ko says, Kim's behavior changed. She describes Kim as intensely focused, but quote "short tempered, and had a lack of tolerance." FIFIELD: He was prone to having tantrums almost, that he would get in a huff about things. When his mother, for example, visited and told him that he shouldn't be spending so much time playing basketball, that he should be studying, he wasn't happy about that and would go on hunger strike is what his aunt said about it.

TODD: Ko told the "Post" in 1998 she and her husband sought asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland. Then they were taken to an American military base in Germany and questioned for months. When they got to America, she says they received money and, for a short time, housing from the CIA.

TODD (on-camera): The CIA would not comment on the aunt's interview with "The Washington Post".

Ko Yong Suk's husband, Ri Gong (ph), says he wants to go back to Pyongyang for a visit as a sort of goodwill ambassador between the U.S. and North Korea. One analyst says that would be a "suicidal act." Ko says she's trying to talk her husband out of it. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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ALLEN: Well, we turn now to the weather, and our top story from that department from Karen McGinnis is more flooding in the state of Texas. My goodness, Karen.

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ALLEN: Manchester United has named a new manager. Jose Mourinho signed a three-year contract. The Portuguese national has managed three other major European teams, including Real Madrid and most recently, London's Chelsea football club. Mourinho is considered one of the most charismatic figures in professional football and known by many as "the special one."

It is an all-Madrid final for the Champions League fight. Real and Atletico compete for European football's biggest crown on Saturday. It is the second time in three years the two teams are meeting in the final. CNN's Amanda Davis sets the scene ahead of the game for us.

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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's virtually impossible to look ahead to Saturday's final without looking back to Lisbon two years ago when Atletico in Madrid saw victory snatched from their grasp and time added on. But coach Diego Simeone has been desperate to play down talk of revenge. It's a new opportunity, he says. And as far Captain Gabi's concerned, it's a new improved Atletic.

GABI, ATLETICO MANDRID MIDFIELDER (through translator): The past doesn't count for anything now. Neither all the times we've beaten Real Madrid or what happened in the last Champion's League final in Lisbon. Neither matter. Everything is in the past. From now on, you'll only going to value us by what we do on Saturday.

We have the feeling and the experience that we can beat Real Madrid, and we are going to try to do that.

DIEGO SIMEONE, ALTLETICO MADRID MANAGER (through translator: The best thing this group has is to insist re-prepare, get up, return to work, reinvent ourselves, change footballers but not change the structure, not change the system, not change the identity, not change the commitment and when you repeat, repeat, repeat and are insistent in what you believe, you can do it.

DAVIES (on-camera): Real Madrid and their fans have been sweating on the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo after he limped out of training with thigh injury earlier this week. He insists he's fully fit, and you have to say he looks pretty lively. And Zinedine Zidane says he's not the only one raring to go.

ZINEDINE ZIDANE, REAL MADRID MANAGER (through translator): When the match begins, I will definitely feel much more intense, but that's the manager's job and I like it. I like the pressure. I have experience this as a player, but it's very different for us managers.

Carlo Ancelotti told me that before the final in Lisbon, he said to me hopefully, one day you'll experience it for yourself as a coach. And now, here we are. We're ready to play.

I can't tell what will tomorrow. When you start a game, especially a final, it's 50-50. There are certainly no favorites here.

DAVIES (voice-over): For all their geographical proximity, this is a final between two clubs that are worlds apart in European pedigree, style and ethos. It was Real Madrid's claiming European crown number 10 two years ago, but after leaving Lisbon as losers, Atletico are determined to make Milan their moment. Amanda Davies, CNN, Milan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: And here's one. Archaeologists, they have made an important discovery. The tomb of one of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece. It might be right here, what you're looking at.

The team has been excavating the ruins of Stagira, which was Aristotle's birthplace near Thessaloniki. They say there is strong evidence that a 2,400-year-old tomb there belongs to the renowned sage. Aristotle died in 322 B.C. We'll keep you posted on developments on that one for sure.

I'm Natalie Allen. Next on CNN, "Political Mann" and our top stories right after this.

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