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President Trump Slaps Harsh Sanctions on Iran; U.S. Plan for Palestinian Prosperity Faces Tough Test; Istanbul Election Results. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 25, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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


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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, thanks for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Ahead this hour Donald Trump levels what he calls hard-hitting sanctions against Iran, Tehran doesn't seem too impressed, plus the White House's deal of this century and the risk of becoming dead on arrival. Palestinians boycott the first major test of the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan.

Later a nuclear wasteland turned a tourist destination and what's behind the spike in visitors at Chernobyl.

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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

While the U.S. president is stepping up the financial pressure on Iran after attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a U.S. drone. But so far Iran shows no signs of giving in to Donald Trump's strategy to force Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear deal, Barbara Starr has information from the Pentagon.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The supreme leader of Iran is one who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump today imposed new sanctions on the office of Iran supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, aimed at denying access to financial markets.

TRUMP: These measures represent a strong and proportionate response to Iran's increasingly provocative actions.

STARR (voice-over): Actions like last week's downing of a U.S. drone by an Iranian missile. TRUMP: They've done many other things, aside from the individual drone, you saw the tankers and we know other things that were done also which were not good and not appropriate.

STARR (voice-over): The president insisting Iran must give up its nuclear weapons program and saying he is still willing to talk to Iran's leader.

TRUMP: My only message is this, he has the potential to have a great country and quickly, very quickly.

STARR (voice-over): The administration's strategy: lock up Iran's economy in hopes of forcing it to start negotiations. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin says foreign minister Javad Zarif is next.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The president has also designated -- instructed me that we will be designating Zarif later this week.

STARR (voice-over): New sanctions are also targeting senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that the U.S. says had been involved in recent attacks. Keeping shipping secure is now a top Pentagon priority where it was Mark Esper's first day as the new acting Secretary of Defense.

President Trump questioning decades of U.S. naval security operations to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, tweeting he wants the U.S. to be paid for providing security.

"All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey."

STARR: And in his own tweet back, Iran's foreign minister seemed to agree with the president, saying that the U.S. should not be in the Persian Gulf -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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CHURCH: And joining us now from Seattle, Washington, is Nada Bakos. She's a former CIA analyst and a senior fellow in national security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

She's also the author of "The Targeter: My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House."

Thank you so much for being with us.

NADA BAKOS, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Thank you.

CHURCH: So President Trump imposed these new sanctions on the office of supreme leader of Iran and likely soon on the foreign minister with the aim of forcing them back to the negotiating table, how likely is it that this strategy will work, do you think?

BAKOS: I think it will be very difficult to get Iran back to the table at this point but the United States and the Trump administration in particular has put Iran in the corner and what we have already applied, 85 percent of their economy under sanctions, these additional sanctions on top of it really seem to be more of a symbolic than anything, else I don't know if you will have a huge economic impact but at the same time it is signaling to Iran that the United States is not interested in negotiations. They just seem to want to weaken Iran as it is.

CHURCH: Interesting, so you don't think this will have much impact on the leader or, of course, the foreign minister and, of course, the big question with this strategy of maximum pressure, should we also see evidence of maximum deployment as France's U.N. ambassador has suggested?

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BAKOS: Yes, absolutely, the only way that sanctions will ever work is if they are coupled with diplomacy and at this point I don't see the Trump administration engaging in diplomatic efforts necessarily, they may be trying for allies to get to the Iranian regime but what they're doing publicly is making it very difficult for Iran to be coming to the table, we walked away from one agreement and now we are essentially asking them to replicate that but under the terms of the Trump administration.

CHURCH: And these new sanctions are in response to downing of a U.S. drone, attacks of the oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Sanctions are preferable to a military strike, of course, which the president called off for the last week.

What discussions could be underway right now in Iran about this strategy of maximum pressure as opposed to military strikes, what other alternatives are there here right now?

BAKOS: I think that is the ultimate question. Iran has also escalated from their end, every time, the Trump administration reacts Iran reacts. I'm not sure at this point what choices Iran has and I'm hoping that they will going through diplomatic channels in turn through some of our allies.

We all know that military strikes in this case will not necessarily lead to anything productive and external strikes from the United States will not lead to a regime change, that is a monumental effort that we try to engage in Iraq and it was hugely problematic and I don't think will work the same way in Iran.

CHURCH: Right and Iran's ambassador to the U.N. spoke to reporters at the start of the closed door meeting of the U.N. Security Council, he said that his country's airspace is violated by two U.S. spy drones but he was not permitted to present evidence about, that

Why was he not allowed to do, that and when might we know definitively if this U.S. drone wasn't international or Iranian airspace when it was shot down?

BAKOS: That's a very good question, right now the national security profits have been thrown out the window in the United States, so it is really hard to tell at this point when will we see this evidence around not only where the drone was flying but some of the rhetoric that John Bolton, the security adviser, has been stating about the escalations.

So I don't really know and I can't rely on this point of the processes of a Trump administration throwing together, it seems to be very ad hoc.

CHURCH: And Iran's U.N. ambassador said on the same day the U.S. drone was shot down, another international spy aircraft to which 35 people were on board, violated Iranian airspace with the Iranian armed forces exercise restraint, how significant is that, how does that play into all of this?

BAKOS: That is in obvious calculus on Iran's part, especially to release that information publicly if it is true and the only action that they took was actually against the United States. I think it is very clear that there are engaging in the same kind of rhetoric that the Trump administration has been at this point.

CHURCH: All right, Nada Bakos, thank you for joining us and sharing your perspective, appreciate it.

BAKOS: Thanks.

CHURCH: Well, in the coming hours President Trump senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner will present the U.S. plan for Palestinian prosperity. He is in Bahrain to lay out the $50 billion proposal to investors, business leaders and government officials but Kushner faces a tough test with Palestinians saying that this economic plan is pointless without a political plan first. Oren Liebermann has the details.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House's long promised deal of this century is about to get its first major test. After two years of work, the economic portion of the plan, dubbed peace to prosperity, will be put forward in Bahrain.

The plan calls for $50 billion of investment in the Middle East, more than half of that for the Palestinian territories.

It promises to cut poverty in half, lower unemployment from about 30 percent to single digits and build projects that will benefit all Palestinians even if the source of the funding is unclear.

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JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: People are tired of the way that this has been stuck in the mud for so long. And what we are hoping we can do is to get people to look at this a little bit differently, come together, share ideas and then hopefully we can create a framework on which to move forward economically.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIEBERMANN: But the Palestinians don't see it that way, they see the economic plan as an attempt to buy off their national aspirations. They've boycotted the Bahrain conference and the administration's --

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LIEBERMANN (voice-over): -- peace efforts.

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MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): We need the economy and we need the money, before everything there is a political solution, when there is a political solution when we see the vision of the State of Palestine along the 1967 borderline then we can say, dear world, come to assist, we are ready to receive assistance.

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LIEBERMANN: Touring the West Bank over the weekend, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised little more while attacking Palestinians for rejecting the plan outright.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We'll hear the American proposition, hear it fairly and with openness and I cannot understand how the Palestinians before they even heard the plan rejected outright. That's not the way to perceive it.

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LIEBERMANN: The Trump administration peace team has said the political plan will come later, then it will address all the final status issues in the conflict, such as the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman has suggested that the full plan may not be released if it hurts more than it helps. Those chances may be slim since the economic plan was supposed to be the easy part -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

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CHURCH: Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst and a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and she joins us now from Washington.

Good to have you.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: So President Trump's son-in-law and his team said to present their economic plan for the Middle East in Bahrain after two years in the making. But Palestinians say that they want to see a political plan first, Trump's team says that will come later.

Why put an economic plan forward before finalizing a political solution?

What would be the reason for doing that?

GLASSER: Well, that is a good question, on its face it seems like this is not destined to go down in the history of Middle East peacemaking as the moment when everything changed, it is very unlikely that you are going to make peace between Israel and Palestine when you don't have either Israelis or Palestinians at your economic peacemaking conference.

So that's one challenge on the front end but I think the other challenge, of course, is that the plan that they have laid out is essentially an aspirational document, it is filled with many proposals that have been made in different forms or another.

It is mostly entirely unclear where any actual funding to the tune of billions of dollars, would actually come from. So people who've looked at the plan find it to be an extraordinary document, the PowerPoint even has photographs of projects in the West Bank that have been canceled and its funding taken away by the Trump administration.

CHURCH: Interesting and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attacking the Palestinians for rejecting the plan outright, could this economic plan offer some sort of starting point or are the Palestinians right in saying that this is an effort to buy them and their aspirations off?

GLASSER: Well, if it is an effort to buy them and their aspirations, off I think the key problem is there is not any actual money behind it and in fact Jared Kushner has gone out of his way to say that the United States will not be providing this money but is seeking others to do so.

There have been other forms of Middle East donors, conferences before, this is called an economic workshop in Bahrain. But it fits squarely in the tradition of the U.S. and other conveners, bringing people to the table in the past and saying, how much will you pay?

How much would you provide for a peace plan like this?

So again it is not entirely without precedent. Obviously those efforts have not succeeded in the past and it is not clear where this funding would come from for this ambitious and aspirational set of goals.

CHURCH: Of course let's break down this economic plan called peace to prosperity, as you mentioned, $50 billion to be invested in the, Middle East, half of that to the Palestinian territories. But we don't know as you mentioned where that money is coming from.

No evidence of anyone interested in putting that money forward just yet and the plan aims to halve poverty, significantly reduce unemployment and build projects for all Palestinians.

But what impact would this have on the lives of Palestinians at this particular point, do you think? GLASSER: Well, I think most experts believe who've looked at it believe that essentially it is impossible to significantly revise the status of Palestinians through purely economic measures alone, when you are talking about the very unresolved political conditions; remember that life on the West Bank or Gaza means you don't even have --

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GLASSER: -- direct access to an airport, you don't have the ability to travel freely back and forth across Israel, without that, the conditions for the kind of economic growth, envisioned for this is not possible.

So, of course, there is the issue that the Trump administration has actually gotten in the opposite direction, unilaterally cutting all funding for the main U.N. Palestinian relief organization that has existed for years.

So that worsened the situation while leaving the political status ambiguous. I think the real concern I've heard in Washington right now is that the rejection of this plan and proposal by Kushner, by the Palestinians, could help to ease the way politically for Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, to go ahead and say, well, that's it, we have no choice and I'm going to move forward with the annexation of the West Bank as he promised to do on the eve of the last election.

CHURCH: Interesting, of course, Jared Kushner was given the task of bringing peace to the Middle East and it took him two years to come up with this economic plan that the Palestinians have rejected outright.

So what can we expect to come out of this peace plan workshop in Bahrain?

And how will Kushner convince investors, Palestinians in the world, that this vision of economic prosperity for Gaza in the West Bank will work without addressing the politics, the state of Jerusalem, borders, security, Israeli settlements and the return of Palestinian refugees?

All of those heavy tasks that they don't seem to want to deal with at this point.

GLASSER: I think that is exactly, right, the joke is that this plan is perpetually four to six weeks away from being released and in fact, with an election looming in Israel, the plan, the political part of the plan has been put off Once again.

I thought it was incredibly telling that while John Bolton, the national security adviser, was in Jerusalem today, meeting with prime minister Netanyahu, who, when they spoke to the press, didn't even mention the economic workshop in Bahrain or Jared Kushner's peace plan.

CHURCH: We will continue to watch and see where all this goes, Susan Glasser, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis and perspective on this matter.

GLASSER: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Well, Donald Trump says at the 16th woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct is totally lying and not his type. Author and renowned advice columnist E. Jean Carroll details the allegations in a new book. She says Mr. Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room more than 20 years ago. She says she did not report the incident at the time because a friend advised her against it, saying Trump has 200 lawyers, he will bury you.

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E. JEAN CARROLL, AUTHOR: It was a fight. It was a -- I want women to know that I didn't not stand there, I did not freeze. I was not paralyzed, which is a reaction that I could have had because it's so shocking. No, I fought.

And it was over very quickly. It was against my will, 100 percent. And I ran away.

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CHURCH: Well, Mr. Trump says he has never met Carroll but her article in "New York Magazine" features a picture of her and the future president and his wife at the time, Ivana Trump.

The results are official in the race for Istanbul's mayor, just ahead, why analysts say it may be a turning point for Turkey and President Erdogan's ruling party.

Plus this summer begins with a vengeance as Europe braces for an intense heat wave, we will explain what is calling causing it and how long it might last.

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CHURCH: Well, political parties in Turkey have just a few hours left to contest the results of the Israel mayors race. Official numbers show the opposition candidate winning by 10 points in a crushing defeat for prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.

CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People were celebrating until all hours of the morning on the streets of Istanbul on Sunday following Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition candidate's landslide victory over the ruling party by 800,000 votes. Those are now the official results and compare that to the slimmest of

margins between the two back in March that was just 13,000, people are saying that this vote was not just about who ended up being mayor but that it was a vote that was about Turkey's democracy.

Ekrem Imamoglu also praising people, saying no matter who you voted for, thanking them for coming out and casting their ballots, saying you defended our democratic tradition of over a century.

Turkey's president also tweeting, congratulating Ekrem Imamoglu, saying the national will won once again today. Pro government newspapers are also hailing this as a victory for Turkey's democracy and on a number of Turkish television stations there are debates that are trying to analyze and figure out where all of the votes may have come from.

Did Ekrem Imamoglu change that many people's minds?

What were the promises that he made that may have swayed voters at the ballot box or did it boil down to the fact that Turks tend to have a soft spot for the underdog and in pushing for this revote did the ruling party actually make a grave mistake?

Either way many are viewing this as a turning point in Turkish politics, one that may see the erosion of the power of the ruling party and perhaps the power of the president himself -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

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CHURCH: The front-runner to become Britain's next prime minister, Boris Johnson says he does not want a no deal Brexit but he is willing to face the consequences if that happens. Attention is still focused on Johnson's private life after police were called to an alleged altercation at his home last week.

The "Evening Standard" published a picture Monday of Johnson holding his hands with his partner, Carrie Simmons, but Johnson is refusing to address the issue.

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BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I made it a rule over many, many years, I don't talk about stuff involving my family and my loved ones and there is a very good reason for that and that is that, if you do, you drag them into things that really is fair --

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CHURCH: Rival conservative Jeremy Hunt says he does not care about Johnson's private life but in an article in "The Times," Hunt challenged Johnson to a policy debate, saying, quote, "Don't be a coward." An Italian drug kingpin is on the run after escaping from a prison in Uruguay. Mob boss Rocco Morabito was awaiting extradition to Italy when he and three others got away through a hole in the roof Sunday. Authorities say the group robbed a farmhouse after the breakout. Morabito was arrested in Uruguay --

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CHURCH: -- 2017 after being on the run for more than two decades.

Well, Europe is only a few days into summer but temperatures are climbing already. The continent is bracing for a potentially dangerous heat wave this week. A stalled storm over the Atlantic and a high pressure system are pulling very hot air from Africa, north into Europe. It could cause temperatures to soar as high as 38 degrees in some parts.

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CHURCH: Well, Italy will host the 2026 Winter Olympics, the announcement was made Monday.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The host is Milan-Cortina.

CHURCH (voice-over): This will wear mark the return of the Winter Games to Europe after an eight year absence, Stockholm was the runner- up in a process that has been criticized for the lack of competition, just two cities appeared on that ballot.

Well, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history is now a hot travel destination. Yes, you heard that right, why tourists are flocking to Chernobyl, we will explain when we come back.

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CHURCH: You're watching CNN Newsroom, I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check the headlines for you this hour. President Trump announced new sanctions on Iran Monday.

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They target Iran's supreme leader, military officials and the foreign minister denying them access to certain U.S. financial assets. The president said the sanctions follow weeks of aggressive behavior by Iran, including the downing of a U.S. drone.

The U.S. will unveil its Palestinian prosperity plan in Bahrain on Tuesday. Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner will pitch the proposal for $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian economy as a way toward peace in the region.

Palestinians have boycotted it saying without a political peace plan first, an economic deal is a nonstarter.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is congratulating the opposition party candidate on his landslide victory in the Istanbul mayor's race. But analysts say the win could actually reinvigorate the anti- Erdo?an movement. Thousands of people turned out to celebrate the results.

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Well, you wouldn't think the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history would be a big draw for tourists. And yet, they are flocking to see Chernobyl. CNN's Matthew Chance explains why.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It used to be a nursery school for the children of Chernobyl. Now it's one of the morbid attractions for the tourist hordes exploring this nuclear exclusion zone.

The beeping radiation alarms, part of the creepy experience. This entire area complete with a ferris wheel that was never used was evacuated back in 1986 after the then Soviet Union acknowledged the catastrophic release of radiation from Chernobyl reactor number four. You can still see it looming on the horizon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will need to move quickly and you will need to move carefully.

CHANCE: It's also the dramatic backdrop to the recent HBO drama which paints a terrifying picture of the Soviet regime in denial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of radiation, I'm told it's the equivalent of a chest x-ray.

CHANCE: Leaving its own citizens in harms way. Chernobyl, the many series has been viewed so widely it's credited with raising global awareness of the dangers of our nuclear age.

EDGARS BOITMANIS, TOURIST: What I liked about (inaudible) was how intense it was.

CHANCE: Yes.

BOITMANIS: So like it like kept in suspense and then you realize it's actually how it happened in real life. So, and then after the show I was watching a lot of documentaries--

CHANCE: Yes.

BOITMANIS: -- wanted to find out more about this.

CHANCE: Yes.

BOITMANIS: And I found out that there are tours there and then you can come over. CHANCE: You heard about the radiation, I mean you--

BOITMANIS: Yes. Well, the way I understand is the risk of being here one day is like same as smoking three cigarettes. And I'm a non- smoker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, that facility is the art school.

CHANCE: Tour operators say visitor numbers are expected to double this year as caution towards Chernobyl turns to curiosity. We're walking through this nuclear ghost town. You get a strong sense of the catastrophic dangers of nuclear power. I mean, how could you avoid it?

But there's something much broader too, an idea that Chernobyl is a warning from the past about what can happen when governments try to hide the truth and how even innocent people can be sacrificed to protect those in power.

For some Chernobyl visitors like Ed from Texas, it's a message still relevant today.

ED CHARLESWORTH, TOURIST: I think it symbolizes a very strong need for not prevaricating about information.

CHANCE: Not lying.

CHARLESWORTH: Not lying about information, but being forthright.

CHANCE: Yes.

CHARLESWORTH: And a lot could've happened differently had the line not taken place, although I mean its still-

CHANCE: Chernobyl is the ultimate consequence, isn't it? It's what happens when governments fail to acknowledge reality, the truth.

CHARLESWORTH: Exactly, exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're approaching the power plant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have they done?

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CHANCE: But there are concerns, the horrors portrayed so graphically in the HBO series, especially of the so-called liquidators sacrificed to clean up the radio active mess have been trivialized by Chernobyl's tourism boom.

One Instagramer recently posted these racy images of herself apparently near the reactor. She later apologized and said she wasn't really at Chernobyl at all. But perhaps a few tasteless selfies are a low price to pay for relearning the terrible lessons of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more time, say radiation. Yes, thank you.

CHANCE: Matthew Chance, CNN, inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

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CHURCH: The new age of selfies. Well the anti-vaccine movement is gaining ground in Italy and it could have deadly consequences for vulnerable children and those speaking out on behalf of science. CNN's Nina dos Santos explains.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: Seven year old Angela Pomaro loves to dance. But with each class comes the risk of contagion, because after her bona marrow transplant three years ago, Angela has little immunity. And she lives in a country that recently had one of the highest rates of measles in the world.

NICOLA POMARO, FATHER (through translator): Unfortunately here in Italy, there are many children who aren't vaccinated. So there is a lot she has to avoid. Trains, planes, restaurants and shopping malls, all of these are dangerous places for Angela.

SANTOS: At her weakest, Angela lived in seclusion for two years. When she could finally see her friends, it was through a mask or only from a far.

N. POMARO (through translator): She has suffered a lot from her isolation and began to fall behind. The doctors told us we had to start accepting and taking risks for her benefit.

SANTOS: Faced with lower coverage than developing nations like Ghana and Sudan, Italy made immunizations mandatory two years ago by excluding non-vaccinated children from school, giving Angela a chance to lead a normal life once more.

But that policy has since come under threat from a new populous government backed by a vocal anti-vaccine movement. But experts say now counts almost 1 percent of Italy's population. Parents like Loris Mazzorato, the former league party mayor of a town not far from Angela's.

Are you sure this isn't just a propaganda?

LORIS MAZZORATO, FATHER: No, no. This is what they are hiding from us.

SANTOS: He's turned his house in to a shrine to kids who he says were killed by botched inoculations. And he's willing to home school his daughters rather than see them injected.

MAZZORATO (through translator): It's like when you're at work, either you shoot first or you get shot. What do people expect me to do? I have to defend my daughters.

SANTOS: And is this weaponization of public health that has caused one million microbiologists to mount a major counteroffensive online. But speaking out in favor of vaccines in Italy today isn't always safe.

ROBERTO BURIONI, MICROBIOLOGIST: I realized how bad information was on the subject and how dangerous this could be.

So I decided that it was my duty as a doctor, as a father to try to fight this misinformation where it happened on social media. And I received death threats. My family received death threats. And that was very unpleasant.

SANTOS: Parents on both sides of Italy's increasingly heated vaccines debate may only be trying to protect their kids as best they think they can.

N. POMARO: She was particularly resilient and strong-willed.

SANTOS: But think about Angela, says her dad and thousands like her, they fought for their lives and survived only to suffer once more, he says for the sake of superstition.

ANGELA POMARO, DAUGHTER: Daddy push me.

N. POMARO: I'm coming.

SANTOS: Nina dos Santos, CNN, Padua in Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The importance of doing the scientific research. Let's take a break here, but till to come next on CNN Newsroom.

Want to see a new clip from "The Lion King?" We will show you what Beyonce shared on social media. Do stick around for that.

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CHURCH: So, what may be one of the best trailers in a while was reveled Monday by Beyonce. The singer shared a new clip on social media from the upcoming film "The Lion King." Take a look.

OK, so that is definitely a must see. And a different make-believe lion was caught on camera over the weekend. You got to see this to believe it.

This one was part of a drill conducted at a zoo in Japan while patrons were there. It was supposed to simulate a lion on the loose scenario. But something about it lacked that real life urgency.

It's more hello kitty than predator on the prowl, judge for yourself of course. But was this king of the jungle really supposed to scare anyone? And don't you love the reaction from the real life lions looking on. Just incredible. Great footage there

And thank you so much for watching CNN Newsroom this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport starts after the short break.

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