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Seeking Common Ground; Cyber Security Threat Hangs over Meetings; North Korea Fires Three Ballistic Missiles into East Sea; Mother Teresa Declared a Catholic Saint; Storm Hermine could Regain Hurricane Strength; Giant Panda Reclassified as Vulnerable; Inside Dubai's New $330M Opera House. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 5, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Will Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin set aside their differences and work toward a common policy to end the civil war in Syria? We'll have a live report coming up here from China.

Plus, the giant panda makes its way back from the brink. We'll talk with a group that has championed the animal's rehabilitation.

And you may have met Miss Jones before, but this time around Bridget has a new responsibility. Renee Zellweger speaks with us about her long running role.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Atlanta.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

The G-20 summit in China will wrap up later Monday. U.S. President Obama set to hold a news conference after the closing ceremony in just a few hours. But before he does that, he is expected to have an informal meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. It's anticipated the two leaders will talk about ISIS and a possible deal to establish peace in Syria.

Our Matt Rivers has been following the summit in Hangzhou. He joins us now live. And Matt, that certainly would be a breakthrough because Russia and the U.S. have not been able to reach a conclusion.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The discussion of this new possible deal has really dominated all thought lines here at the G-20 summit here in Hangzhou. Despite this being a summit that is supposed to focus on the economy, this deal possibly being reached between the U.S. and Russia in terms of what is going on in Syria certainly top of mind.

All day yesterday we were hearing from both sides that they were furiously negotiating, trying to iron out the final details of a deal that could establish a new ceasefire and possibly pave the way for U.S. and Russian cooperation in the fight against ISIS to the point where we were expecting Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterparts Sergei Lavrov to actually address the media at several points during the day yesterday.

But as the hours dragged on, it became more apparent that a deal that seemed relatively close was not going to happen. And it was late in the day yesterday that Secretary of State Kerry came out and told reporters that the two sides were still relatively far out -- far apart, rather, on this deal, and that they would continue to work on the deal during the day today.

Now the wild card here of course is as you mentioned, President Obama and Vladimir Putin are expected to meet informally on the sidelines of this G-20 summit just like they did last year. And so any progress that perhaps wasn't made yesterday, if the two top leaders of both countries her were able to make some sort of progress then perhaps we could see a deal come together at the G-20.

But you heard from President Obama yesterday that there remain grave differences between the Russians and the United States on this issue. So whether a deal comes together here in Hangzhou while all these world leaders are here is still very much a question -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Ok. Let's talk about China, the host of this G-20 summit. It has traditionally had a closed door policy for much of the world. We saw that in the little bit of the tussle some of the Chinese officials had with U.S. officials over media access when the U.S. delegation arrived.

But based on his speech yesterday, it seems that President Xi may be open to new policies.

RIVERS: Well, you heard President Xi come out as the president here of this G-20 summit, China being the host country. He delivered the opening remarks after the summit formally opened yesterday. And what you heard was a speech where he talked about how countries needed to work together, how the global economy needed to be, quote, "innovated, invigorated, interconnected, and inclusive".

And in other words, that means that he is in favor of free trade deals. And it's very interesting that he makes these comments now. China over the years has been one of the countries that had benefitted most from free trade deals. And right now the Chinese economy is slowing down, not doing as well as it has in the past. So perhaps it's no surprise then he is promoting free trade deals.

But that said, the flip side of all of this, is that China has long been accused of manipulating the world economy and the industries that it protects here domestically through domestic policy like the steel industry for example. China has been criticized a lot lately of flooding global markets with excess steel. And that has driven other prices for steel and other markets around the world down. So that is one issue.

And then, of course he is talk about free trade while other countries around the world like the United States, and you saw what happened in Britain, people are perhaps a little bit more suspicious of free trade deals and what that has meant for them over the past 10 to 20 years.

So very, very interesting comments from President Xi talking about what China wants to do in a world environment where perhaps free trade deals are not looked at as promisingly as they once had been.

[00:05:02] ALLEN: Thank you. Matt Rivers for us live covering the G- 20 summit there in Hangzhou. Thanks -- Matt.

The summit has been the target of cyber attacks in recent years, and that threat has been a big concern at this year's meeting as well.

Our Clare Sebastian has that from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was September 2013, a crucial G-20 summit in St. Petersburg dominated by the conflict in Syria. The leaders at this point unaware some of their computers had been infiltrated.

But two months before that meeting, according to cyber research firm, FireEye, it seems e-mails had been sent to several European foreign ministries. They contained attachments which once opened downloaded malicious software allowing the hackers to spy on their targets. FireEye said it traced that hack to China. Beijing denied any involvement.

And it wasn't the first time the G-20 had been targeted. Two years earlier French government computers had been infected with malware before a G-20 finance ministers' summit in Paris. There was no conclusive evidence on who was behind it.

TONY COLE, FIREEYE: It's definitely a major target for hackers. And, you know, specifically nation state attackers, because they're trying to actually steal data that can actually help them understand a government's negotiating position.

SEBASTIAN: Spying at international gatherings is nothing new. The difference now, the Internet makes it easier.

COLE: In years past, if you think about espionage when it took place, it would cost any government an enormous amount of money. Today, you know, for a minimal amount of money, a couple of hundred thousand dollars, you could be very well-equipped.

SEBASTIAN: Experts say G-20 delegations need to equip themselves against potential threats. They advice using clean or burner phones to avoiding carrying personal data, avoiding hotel WIFI, and even adding cyber security experts to their physical security details.

We contacted several G-20 delegations to see what precautions they were taking for summit in China. None would comment, although a former U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told us President Obama and all his staff all use encrypted phone and satellite links when they travel.

The President even takes portable soundproof tents for secure communication. This is one from a 2011 trip to Brazil.

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, CROWDSTRIKE: There is no question that the landscape is changing.

SEBASTIAN: Dmitri Alperovitch's firm CrowdStrike uncovered evidence back in June that the Russian government was behind a hack on the U.S. Democratic National Committee.

ALPEROVITCH: Before nation states were primarily engaging in espionage where they would come in into your network, steal your documents. Nowadays you have to worry about the public leaking of that information -- information influence operations that would be conducted against you.

SEBASTIAN: So amid the public shows of unity at the G-20, there may be more complex political plays in cyber space.

Clare Sebastian -- CNN Money, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: A dismal day at the polls for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Exit polls show an anti-immigrant party and the center left social democrats beating the chancellor's party in her home state. This as Merkel's popularity has plunged with the arrival of one million refugees in Germany.

We turn to war-torn Aleppo, Syria now where government forces have launched a new offensive against rebels. State media reports Syrian troops recaptured a military academy in the southwestern part of the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Syrian forces backed by allies are trying to re-impose a siege on rebel-held areas in the east. And a rebel fighter tells CNN they have succeeded.

Farther north, Turkey says it's driven ISIS out of the towns along the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkish state media says the terror group has lost control of its last bit of territory in the border region. A Turkish military official tells CNN the area is now under the control of the Free Syrian Army. The FSA fighters backed by the Turkish military captured more than one dozen villages over the weekend.

Mother Teresa is now St. Teresa. We'll have reaction from the city where she dedicated much of her life to helping the poor -- when we come back here.

[00:09:20] Plus, there is reason to be optimistic for the future of the giant panda.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri on Weather Watch right now watching a couple of tropical storm warnings that have been in place across the portion of the United States off around the Eastern Seaboard there. And all associated with what is left of what was once Hurricane Hermine, now post-tropical storm or extra-tropical storm. That is essentially what it said is it's lost a lot of its tropical characteristics and it's just there and produces some strong waves and certainly storm surge potential. But notice the wet weather aspect of it all remains offshore.

So certainly worth noting if you're along these beaches, it is a bad idea to get into the water. It almost seems like it's not a bad day as the storm system remains offshore, but the waters have churned up enough to where it makes it a dangerous scenario there to be playing around in the waters on a holiday weekend, of course, around the United States.

But temperatures around New York City will go with 28 degrees. Atlanta warms back up into the 30s. San Francisco a blustery day -- 21 degree afternoon in store. Some showers streaming in around portions of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Watching a new tropical storm. This is Newton sitting there just of off Manzanillo, Mexico. The concern with this is the initial track estimations will take this forecast storm right towards Cabo San Lucas sometime toward the middle portion of this week. At this point, it doesn't look like it will get to hurricane strength, but still could produce some dangerous weather across portions of Mexico that not only are heavily populated but of course a lot of tourists make their way towards that region and thunderstorms again, going to move in later this week.

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ALLEN: Breaking news from North Korea we're following. South Korea says Pyongyang has fire lead ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, South Korea. She joins us now live with the latest -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, we really just have the one-liner at this point. As you say, three ballistic missiles have been fired from the western coast of North Korea, Hwangju County around that area. They flew, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff here in South Korea across the peninsula and into the Sea of Japan, which the Koreans call the East Sea.

Now it's unclear at this point what kind of missiles they were, what sort of range they had. Certainly we haven't seen any ballistic missiles in the past couple of weeks from North Korea since that submarine-launched ballistic missile which North Korea claimed as a huge success.

It flew about 500 kilometers. Experts say that it had a high altitude as well. So if it had flown straight, it could have flown a lot further. So certainly since that perceived success from North Korea, this is the most recent missile launch that we've seen.

Now we often try and figure out why the timing certainly we've just seen U.S. military drills with South Korea end the end of last week. That always annoys Pyongyang.

The G-20 in China, potentially also; you've got the foundation day later this week in North Korea. Or maybe quite simply North Korea is still trying to perfect some kind of technology. It's really very difficult to know exactly why they have chosen today to launch these missiles. At this point, no word from North Korea -- Natalie.

[00:15:02] ALLEN: All right, Paula Hancocks for us there in Seoul. Thank you.

The Catholic Church is celebrating its newest saint, Mother Teresa. And now she is St. Teresa of Calcutta. Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Vatican Sunday for her canonization. The Catholic nun devoted her life to helping India's poor. She is credited with two miracles after her death -- that's a requirement for sainthood by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis urged the crowd to use their new saint as a model of holiness.

CNN's Alexander Field joins us now from Calcutta, the center of Mother Teresa's life works. And certainly they have viewed her as a saint for many, many years but I guess now the Catholic Church has made it official.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Natalie because she came to be known because of her work right here in the city of Calcutta -- this place that the Albanian nun felt called to. She was known as the saint of the gutters and she became a very visible presence over the course of her lifetime here in Calcutta.

Behind me this is still the headquarters for her global organization, the Missionaries of Charity. So people here said for decades, Mother Teresa was acting as a living saint, doing her work in the streets tending to the poor, the destitute, the dying, the abandon children, even the lepers.

She was very intent on saying when she came to this city that her work cut across religious lines. That she wasn't only here to help the Catholic minority in the city but that she was here to help people of all faiths, regardless of their faith, really. She was just here to tend to people who needed help.

So there certainly was a sense of celebration here at the headquarters for the Missionaries of Charity, the place where Mother Teresa lived, the place where she worked, the place where she died, the place where her tomb is today. There was pride that demonstrated here today while that canonization was happening in the Vatican because of the association with Mother Teresa (inaudible).

There were certainly people who were out here who we spoke to and said that they had a certain amount of pride in knowing that there was a saint who came from their city. And truly, they did consider her to be one of them right here in Calcutta, Natalie.

ALLEN: Right. But, you know, as popular as she was, as renowned around the world, she did have some detractors. Not everyone was a fan. There was some controversy. Tell us about that.

FIELD: That's absolutely right, Natalie. And not only in her lifetime, but in the 19 years since her death, people have gone back and taken a look at her work. And they have examined it closely. They have raised questions, because this is an Albanian nun who came to India. Again, she lived a pretty simple life. She lived in that house in a bedroom that didn't even have a fan so she really positioned herself as this beacon of austerity who was there to serve and there to do good.

But there are critics here who we've spoken to who have said that her reputation was outsized compared to the work that she did. They have questioned the kind of conditions that were provided in her care facilities. They have questioned the hygiene in those facilities.

When we asked the people from Missionaries of Charity what they have to say about those allegations, they have staunchly defended Mother Teresa's work saying her mission was to provide basic care to the poorest of the poor. That this was not supposed to be a cutting edge hospital that she was running in any way, just basic care for the poorest of the poor. They continue to defend her work, even as you have detractors who have said that the level and quality of care could have been better. These are also people who have raised questions about the way that the funds maintained by this organization are spent.

Don't forget, Natalie, we're talking about a very large organization that continues to exist well after Mother Teresa's death, operating in more than 100 countries with more than 4,000 missionaries who are still carrying out work in what they say is her name.

ALLEN: All right. Alexandra Field for us there in Calcutta, India. Thank you -- Alexandra.

The storm system called Hermine lost some its punch after hitting Florida as a category 1 storm. But for millions in the northeast U.S., it still poses a significant threat while stalled in the Atlantic.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

ALLEN: And Pedram Javaheri joins us now with what we can expect perhaps.

JAVAHERI: We're talking about New York City, of course, being one of those big cities. It almost sounds like Calcutta there, right, with the honking going on -- a lot of activity out there.

But you know, when you think about this storm, it is going to be impacting one of the more densely populated corners of the U.S. And the good news is Natalie, the storm has now moved offshore quite a bit compared to what we thought it was going to do this time yesterday so the impact is now far less than initially possible with the storm.

There've been, of course, a lot of damage already done and we know multiple fatalities en route to getting off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. But the storm is now a post tropical storm. What this essentially means is losing a lot of its tropical characteristics, the energy source for tropical systems are over warm waters, no longer the case with Hermine. It's actually the jet stream that is supporting the energy for this storm system. And it's actually moved the storm well offshore -- about 300 kilometers farther offshore than initially estimated. The rainfall potential for parts of the northeastern United States, of course, densely populated as we said, a holiday weekend as well.

[00:20:00] The rainfall potentially stays off shore but a tropical storm warning has still been issued across this region for 22 million people. The reason for that is that the storm system sits offshore, still churning up tremendous amount of water.

So we have a storm surge threat that is as high as 150 centimeters for some of those favorable Atlantic Ocean facing beaches. And, of course, the storm kind of meanders offshore the next several days. And as it does it really makes it dangerous to be in the waters because of rip currents, because of storm surge and coastal beach erosion as well. That's something worth noting across that region of the United States.

But watching something in the works here, this is a tropical storm in the way of Namtheun. Namtheun, actually, a Laotian name for river -- this storm system now becomes the fifth storm in as many weeks to impact parts of Japan. Notice the other storms all favoring the eastern side, Namtheun now going in on the western side of Japan working its way towards some of the northern prefectures. At this point it doesn't look like anything in the way of a significant wind maker -- generally going to be a lot of rain associated with this as well.

And then the south (inaudible) area indicated in yellow, that area right there could potentially be the sixth tropical disturbance in about five weeks' time for Japan as the models want to take this in towards Okinawa this time round. So this pattern really is absolutely remarkable with having so much damage already in place across portions of Japan with all of these disturbances.

And of course, you take a look here at Hermine being an area that's impacting the U.S. as well, Natalie. So we go in from these tropical disturbances with the U.S. that could have been far worse. With Japan now we're putting on multiple storms in as many weeks across this region. It's an incredible pattern.

ALLEN: All right. Thanks -- Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

ALLEN: To the campaign trail we take you. One of Donald Trump's top supporters insists the Republican presidential candidate is backing away from one of his most controversial immigration proposals, mass deportations.

Former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani spoke on CNN Sunday about Trump's speech in Arizona last week while Trump rolled out proposals to crack down on illegal immigration. Giuliani says many people are missing the speech's key point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: What he said in the speech is after we secure the border and after we remove the criminal illegal immigrants to a large extent -- you're never going to get to 100 percent -- then and only then can we look at this in a very rational way in which we can look at all the options and be open to all the options.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And he doesn't want to separate families, as you say?

GIULIANI: Well, I would say that would be one of the things that would be pretty clear. There are other options too. I mean it's going to depend on the person. I mean some of these people could have been on welfare for the last 30 years or taking benefits or cheating. And maybe some of them have to be thrown out but not necessarily all of them. And that's the point that he was making in this speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence also tried to clarify the issue on NBC's "Meet the Press".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He has been completely consistent on this point.

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS HOST: No, he's not.

(CROSSTALK)

PENCE: Deportation is at the center of the national debate.

TODD: But he has not been consistent on this issue of what to do with the 11 million to 15 million.

PENCE: Well, but there are people in different circumstances in that category. There are people who are criminal aliens in this country. And I think everyone in this country understands the people who are here --

TODD: Violent crimes.

PENCE: Well, people who are here who their first act in this country whose first act was violation of the law but have gone on to criminal activity in America, we want them out. We want them out quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: A new CNN poll of polls shows Hillary Clinton's once double- digit lead over Donald Trump is now cut in half. The Democratic presidential candidate has 42 percent support to Trump's 37 percent in a four-way matchup.

Our John King breaks it down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump says as we reach this point the polls are closing in his direction. And to a degree, he is right. Let's take a look.

Back at the beginning of the month, just after the conventions, Hillary Clinton had a ten-point lead in the national polls. These are averaging out all the national polls. If you look at the most recent ones, Hillary Clinton's lead is down to five points over Donald Trump. So Donald Trump is right. In the national polls the race is tightening from the beginning of the month.

Here is Donald Trump's problem. When you go state by state through the key battlegrounds, Hillary Clinton is leading in all of them. Now some of the leads are relatively small. But Florida at the beginning of the month was one. Now it's four on average. Ohio at the beginning of the month was one. Now it's a three-point Clinton lead. North Carolina a very close race. Pennsylvania in single digits but still, that's a pretty comfortable lead -- seven points. Virginia has moved in Clinton's direction by even more. Her running mate helps there. Michigan, single digits, but a Clinton lead; Wisconsin, closer than a lot of people would think, but still a Clinton lead; Colorado, a big Clinton lead.

That's the problem when you look at the battleground states is that if the election were held today, by our projections, Hillary Clinton would already be over the top, 273 electoral votes. Donald Trump could win all of these yellow states, the toss-ups -- he could win them all and not clinch the presidency. To get there, he has to turn some of these that we lean blue -- he's got to turn some of the blue, red. Pennsylvania would be the biggest prize.

[00:25:08] Hillary Clinton, though, it's not over yet. One of her biggest weaknesses in this Rust Belt that Donald Trump is targeting -- blue collar voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: John King breaking it down for us.

A U.S. intelligence agency is a apologizing for a tweet that swiped at China at the G-20 summit. A personal tweet that was posted on the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency's account said quote, "Classy as always, China". The tweet carried a link to an article about U.S. and Chinese officials arguing over reporter access as President Obama landed in China. The DIA deleted it and then tweeted "Earlier today a tweet regarding a news article was mistakenly posted from this account and does not represent the views of DIA. We apologize."

Conservationists say the giant panda is no longer an endangered species in China. We'll hear from the director of the World Wildlife Fund about the optimistic news for the beautiful animals.

Plus, Bridget Jones is back, and this time she has a baby on board. We'll hear from the cast of the new romantic comedy.

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ALLEN: And welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

Here are our top stories.

U.S. President Obama is at his final G-20 summit, and he is set to have an informal meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin some time in the next few hours. Mr. Obama will then follow up the end of the summit with a news conference.

[00:30:02] Catholics around the world are celebrating Mother Teresa's canonization. Pope Francis declared her a saint before huge crowds at the Vatican, Sunday. The Catholic nun devoted her life to helping India's poor. She is credited with two miracles, a requirement for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

Syrian government forces are pushing back against rebels in Aleppo. State-run news says army unit and their allies have recaptured a military college. The sources say government troops fought to re- impose a siege on rebel-held areas of the city on Sunday.

Preliminary results from Hong Kong's election show a younger, more radical group of pro-democracy activists have polled better than expected. Nathan Law is one. He was a student leader of the Umbrella Movement two years ago. And he is on track now to win a seat on the legislative council.

Some good news and bad news to report about the world's endangered species. We'll start with the bad. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the eastern gorilla is now listed as critically endangered. Mainly because of illegal hunting in Africa and the proliferation of guns there. The population of eastern gorilla has declined more than 70 percent in the past 20 years.

But there are others in the animal kingdom who fared better. The giant panda, a long-time presence on the endangered list is being downgraded now to vulnerable. The giant panda population rose 17 percent from 2004 to 2014.

Joining me now from Honolulu, Hawaii is Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wildlife Fund International.

Thank you for joining us.

MARCO LAMBERTINI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INTERNATIONAL: My pleasure.

ALLEN: This is a good day for the giant panda. It's one step back in a good way, back from the brink. Help us understand where was the panda in its plight and where it is now.

LAMBERTINI: Yes. So the panda, first of all, is not just (INAUDIBLE), an icon for conservation globally. And it's a great day to be a panda today. The growth of the population has allowed the organization and the scientists to assess the fact that panda is now a further step away from the brink of distinction. And this is fantastic news. Not just for the millions of panda lovers, but everybody for all, everybody who loves nature and cares about the environment.

The population growth is really a success of the panda story so far, although, of course, you know, there is still a lot of work to do. But the success so far is due to a number of things.

First of all, a sheer determination of the Chinese government from the top down to the rangers on the panda reserves to actually save the species. In the last few years, the number of panda reserve have grown covering almost 2/3 of the habitat of wild pandas and would like also that to grow to 100 percent and perhaps restore more habitat that was lost in the past.

And so protection of the habitat and protection on the ground, committed rangers in particular the engagement of local communities together with the political will behind all of this and the support of the organization, I think have made really this possible.

And show us that with the mix of ingredients likes this, we can really save species and bring them back to a level which is not as dangerous, close to dangerous as extinction.

ALLEN: How many pandas are there now in the mountains of China?

LAMBERTINI: So we had an increase of 17 percent in the last ten years. And that's why we have now considered the population on the rise. We're now just below 2,000 pandas, 1,000 and hundred plus. And this is the highest number ever recorded since the population was discovered.

So this is good news. But, you know, it's also an important message of hope for many of the species that are now in this situation. We see declining.

In a week, there will be an important convention on the endangered species and the trade of endangered species in Johannesburg. I think this news are actually happening at the right time to inspire many others to put together the same strategy to save many more species.

Because let's remember, these aren't just because Pandas are cute and beautiful, and they have their right to live on this planet, but also because they live in an ecosystem which protection is actually providing a lot of service to communities, such as water, clean air, a lot of natural resources that they depend on. So, you know, protection of nature and protection of people is incredibly connected. And this is what we promote.

ALLEN: We thank you so much for joining us. This is such good news for the giant panda. Yes, panda is one of the most wonderful creatures just to look at.

Marco Lambertini, thank you.

LAMBERTINI: Thank you. ALLEN: It started with a spark in pudding lane. We'll show you what it looked like when the great fire of London was recreated 350 years later. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:00] ALLEN: "Bridget Jones" hopes to set the box office on fire with a third installment in her popular franchise. And this time she is having a baby. CNN's Neil Curry has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENEE ZELLWEGER, ACTRESS: Mr. Darcy.

NEIL CURRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 15 years after first appearing on the big screen, the romantic disaster area "Bridget Jones" is back.

ZELLWEGER: I'm pregnant?

CURRY: For "Bridget Jones," a character created in a series of newspaper diaries by Helen Fielding captured an army of female fans who empathized with her calamitous search for a soul mate.

HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: Oh, no, it's not possible.

CURRY: Colin Firth and Hugh Grant memorably battling for her favor.

PATRICK DEMPSEY, ACTOR: For better or worse, fate has brought us together.

CURRY: Today, Bridget is 43. A relationship with Firth, Mr. Darcy has ended.

ZELLWEGER: I'm Bridget.

CURRY: And "Grey's Anatomy" heartthrob Patrick Dempsey replaces Grant in her affections.

COLIN FIRTH, ACTOR: So you have no idea which of us is the father?

CURRY: With the stakes raised by the addition of a baby and two potential candidates for father, we invited the two male actors to make their character's case to be Bridget's perfect partner.

FIRTH: It's impossible because Mark doesn't make a case for himself. It's part of his drama. She is a lot better off with the other guy. I've been nothing but a disappointment all these years.

I brought you an iced tea.

DEMPSEY: I brought you a super juice.

ZELLWEGER: Oh.

DEMPSEY: Let me carry that for you. ZELLWEGER: Thank you.

FIRTH: Can I carry your phone?

DEMPSEY: I think going into the unknown with Jack is a good thing. It's a clean slate, which is good and bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give her a little kiss, you know, on the forehead there. We're talking about the baby.

FIRTH: I was never there for you. I never made you feel like you could depend on anybody. I'm always away. I'm always on the phone. I don't focus on you properly. So I think it's -- you'd be much better off with whoever else you find.

ZELLWEGER: That was brilliant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

ZELLWEGER: Did you see what he did? He played the empathy card. Oh, it will be all right.

DEMPSEY: I can't say anything. There is nothing I can say.

ZELLWEGER: Like a genius, right? Wicked genius.

FIRTH: Oh, come on. You can't go with him. The guy is a jerk.

God, Bridget, you're immense.

CURRY: The movie marks the return to film making for the Oscar- winning actress following a five-year hiatus. All the cast admitted to being both nervous and excited about reprising the franchise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). Cliff-hangers in your life.

ZELLWEGER: It's an interesting new dynamic. It's a more sophisticated sort of competition, I would say. Because they're both great guys, yes.

DEMPSEY: Why can't she have both and sort of work it out?

ZELLWEGER: Look at you.

DEMPSEY: Right? I think that's the progressive, modern --

FIRTH: A harem, a male harem by the next movie.

DEMPSEY: Yes.

ZELLWEGER: That's a great idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bridget, who do you want to be the father?

CURRY: While time has moved on for Bridget Jones and her suitors, the filmmakers are trusting their audience has moved with them. The original movie returns ten times its budget at the box office. The repeat of that kind of business could give birth to yet another sequel.

Neil Curry, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: "Bridget Jones's Baby," look for it at a theater near you.

Well, the doors to Dubai's newest state-of-the-art concert venue are officially open. The Dubai Opera House took more than three years to build to the tune of $330 million. Here is a look inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASPER HOPE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, DUBAI OPERA: This is a genuinely groundbreaking technological marvel.

It's a theater. It hosts productions and concerts, but it's much more than that.

What we can do here that almost no one else in the world can do is transform ourselves very, very quickly. Some buttons and a few strong arms, a couple of hours' work. And before you know it, we can be a completely different looking building.

For through the use of hydraulics, get rid of something like 950 seats here in the stalls, we can create a completely flat floor environment.

PLACIDO DOMINGO, OPERA TENOR AND CONDUCTOR: It is wonderful to be able to inaugurate an opera house. There is the modern conception. But having the old opera house feeling --

I was in the hall when they were doing the rehearsal of "The Barber of Seville." And that will tell me a lot of the acoustics and the possibilities of the theater, which I find it fantastic.

It has been done a lot for culture already in this country. The icing of the cake is to have an opera house.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, on the River Thames, London is burning. That is a model of London as it was in 1666. The 120-meter long replica of 17th century London was set alight Sunday on the Thames. It marked the 350th anniversary of the inferno known as the Great Fire of London.

The massive fire was reputed to have started in a bakery. For days, it razed huge portions of the city, destroyed more than 13,000 buildings, and left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. The museum of London commissioned this dramatic spectacle that we see here.

That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

"World Sport" is coming up next.

I'll see you back here at the top of the hour.

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(WORLD SPORT)