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Kobe Bryant's Epic Final Game; Clinton, Sanders Hold Competing Rallies Ahead of Tonight's Debate; Video Proof of Chibok Girls Surfaces; Earthquake Strikes Southern Japanese Island of Kyushu; Arab Nations Meet in Turkey. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET
Aired April 14, 2016 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:13] JONATHAN MANN, HOST: Proof of life: two years on this video is breaking the hearts but renewing the hopes of the families of the
kidnapped girls of Chibok. Exclusive reporting by our Nima Elbagir is next.
Also ahead, with the help of a chip in his brain, this paralyzed man has his
hand for the first time in years. More on a remarkable medical breakthrough later this hour.
And an NBA legend leaves the court. Kobe Bryant topped off his career with 60 points and a festive unforgettable last appearance.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.
MANN: Thanks for joining us. Amid their grief and despair, there is now a glimmer of hope for families of the hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls
in Nigeria.
(inaudible) in tears, it's the first sign that some of the girls may still be alive, maybe her child, too. They were kidnapped by Boko Haram
exactly two years ago.
The anguish of the families quickly translating into fresh calls for the government to find the girls and bring them home.
CNN's Nima Elbagir, producer Stephanie Bacari (ph) and videographer Sebastian Kanooks (ph) bring us this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lined up against a yellow wall, 15 girls, only their faces showing. An off-camera voice asks
each girl what's your name.
Is that the name your parents recognize?
Where were you taken from, the voice asks?
Chibok school, and the date, they say, is the 25th of December, 2015.
This video was obtained by CNN from a person close to the negotiations to get these girls released. For the parents it's finally a glimmer of hope
these girls are still alive.
Two years ago we met Mary Ashia (ph), Rifkatu Ayubsa, and Yala Galang (ph) on our visit to Chibok after the abduction of their daughters and more
than 200 other girls. We asked them if they recognize any of the girls in the video. They lean closer. Another girl is identified, Howa (ph). One by
one they name all 15 girls. But one mother, Yala (ph), realizes her daughter isn't there.
The off-camera voice asking the questions is familiar to CNN as that of Boko Haram spokesman, Abu Zinnira. A source close to negotiations
between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government said the video was provided by the terror group as an ask for show of good faith. Nigeria's information
minister told CNN they have received the video but are still reviewing it.
LAI MOHAMMED, NIGERIAN INFORMATION MINISTER: You study the video. You follow the questions who are asked in a rather very controlled environment.
That we are a bit concerned, too, that after two years in captivity the girls in the video were under no stress whatsoever. There has been little
transformation to their physical appearance.
ELBAGIR: Is your government negotiating with Boko Haram for the release of these girls?
MOHAMMED: There are ongoing talks. We cannot ignore leads. But, of course, many of these investigations are, you know -- cannot be disclosed
openly because it would also endanger the negotiations.
ELBAGIR: We took the video to a classmate of the Chibok girls. She'd been at home with family the day the other girls were kidnapped. For her
safety we're not showing her face and not using her name. She told us there's no doubt these are some of her kidnapped classmates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): These two were prefects. Watching the video I'm reminded of how we used to play together, how we
used to do chores, do our homework.
ELBAGIR: She says seeing her friends again will likely give her nightmares.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Sometimes still, if I hear news about them I have bad dreams and I wake up crying.
ELBAGIR: The video ends with a girl addressing the camera with a message to the Nigerian government. We are all well, she says pointedly,
perhaps suggesting girls not seen in this video. She then delivers what sounds like a scripted plea urging the Nigerian government to fulfill
unspecified promises.
For the mothers of these girls rapidly becoming women far from home the video is overwhelming. They say they just want someone to bring their
daughters home.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Nigeria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:05:33] MANN: And Nima Elbagir joins us now from the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Nima, this video does it answer or help answer the really big heartbreaking mystery at the center of all this: where the girls are?
ELBAGIR: It goes some way to answering concerns that the girls had been possibly split off, that they'd been spirited out of the country, the
worries about the extent of the mistreatment. You saw in the video, and this is something the mothers echoed to us as well, the girls appeared
healthy. They appeared well fed. Clearly, Boko Haram are aware that this is perhaps their only remaining bargaining chip.
In terms of answering the question about where the girls are, the heartbreak really is, Jonathan, that there has always been a sense of where
the girls quite possibly are being held. And as Boko Haram's territorial footprint has been increasingly eroded by the Nigerian military campaign
against it, that likelihood grows ever more possible. And that is that the girls are being held inside Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest fortress. That
definitely seems to be the working theory that the Nigerian military are using, because they're centering so much of their military campaign, so
much of their effort on that Sambisa fortress.
But the reality is -- and this is going to be very difficult for a lot of the families to think about, let alone hear, is that the Nigerian
government are so worried about the potential for the girls to be harmed in some way if they are caught attempting to rescue these girls. And that's
the huge dilemma at the heart of this tragedy, Jonathan.
MANN: Nima Elbagir, remarkable by you, Stephanie Busari (ph) and Sebastian Kanookas (ph). Thanks so much for this.
CNN will continue to ask the tough questions about what's being done to bring the girls home. Head to our website for in depth reporting,
including more on the families' reaction to the proof of life video. That's at CNN.com.
And also in just under three hours from now, Nima will be live on Facebook to answer your questions about her exclusive reporting. That's
only at Facebook.com/CNN. 7:00 p.m. if you're in London, 8:00 if you're in Berlin.
Now to Russia where President Vladimir Putin is sharing his thoughts once again on everything from the Panama Papers leak to the war in Syria
and the doping scandal in the sports world. Fielding questions from ordinary Russians during a highly choreographed live television show, a
marathon event he holds once a year.
Among the highlights, Mr. Putin blaming the Panama Papers controversy on the U.S., but also later calling President Barack Obama a good man.
Let's get more now from senior international correspondent Matthew Chance in Moscow.
Matthew, it's a remarkable spectacle. It's something to see every year if you have the endurance for it. Tell us about it this year.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, it's - - it goes on for hour after hour. In fact, I think it was something like three hours, 40 minutes, just under. dozens of questions are being asked
to Vladimir Putin directly. It's called the direct line. It's one of the set piece events that Vladimir Putin has now done on five occasions. And
it shows that he's still very confident. His popularity is still high. And he's not afraid of at least addressing some of the issues that many
Russians are thinking about. Talking about the economy, that was the main point I think that he was talking about, the economic situation in the
country. There's a crisis underway here.
He acknowledged that not everything was good. There's been a shrinkage in the amount people earn. Unemployment has risen. But he said
it was a generally positive outlook for the economy moving forward.
And he also spoke about foreign affairs and about his personal life to a certain extent as well.
So, it was a whole range of issues that he was asked about and he gave his sometimes circumspect answers to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We know that there are
American establishments involved. I spoke to the press secretary about this yesterday. This is part of the holding, and as many holding as an
American corporation Goldman Sachs, and yet they are not even ashamed. And so we should not be surprised by such revelations from them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, that was Vladimir Putin then of course speaking about after he was asked about the Panama Papers.
These millions of documents leaked by the German newspaper initially (inaudible) which Vladimir Putin was saying was basically an attempt to
discredit him and discredit the Russian government ahead of the parliamentary elections coming up in September, something he said before.
But an allegation he repeated again today in this direct line media event, Jonathan.
[11:10:30] MANN: I'm just curious about what sense you have watching them for hour after hour, year after year. He's such an enigmatic figure.
He's so controlled in his public appearances. Do you get any hint of the man from this?
CHANCE: You get a sense that he's very confident in his position. He feels like, quite rightly I expect, at the top of his game politically.
He's also always had quite a mastery of the facts and figures, you know, we're talking about such a broad range of subjects that he's being
questioned on.
On this occasion, it was noted by some people watching this closely that he had some notes with him on pieces of paper. In previous years, he
appears to have done everything off the top of his head on the bat, as it were -- off the bat.
And so there was some notes he took him with him this time, perhaps that's sort of a reflection of the extent of the questions that were being
asked.
At the same time, I mean, this isn't a bunch of random questions being thrown at him. It certainly put across as if it's a spontaneous event
where anyone can call up and ask the president whatever they want. But you get the sense that these are highly vetted questions. They have been
looked at carefully first. The audience has been obviously hand picked and the questions they ask have also been carefully vetted as well. And so
for the most part, it's a theatrical event.
But there have been some instances over the past couple hours where he's seemed a little uncomfortable. For instance, he was asked at one
point about his private life. When are you going to introduce us to a new first lady? Was the question. It was a reference to a report in the
Russian media recently that Vladimir Putin's ex-wife has got remarried to somebody much younger than him. And he made a joke and sort of subtly
side-stepped the whole issue, Jonathan.
MANN: Matthew Chance, live in Moscow. Thanks very much.
Now other stories on our radar today. Saudi Arabia says its religious police will no longer be allowed to make arrests, one of several new rules
curbing the power of the country religious force.
The Saudi state news agency released a statement from the cabinet detailing the changes. The force has been accused of overstepping its
bounds in its enforcement of strict Islamic morality.
Amid ongoing violence in Israel, the country's police force has appointed the first Muslim ever as its deputy commissioner. Gamal Hakroosh
is charged with improving relations with Arab communities. It's no secret that Israeli police have tense relations with Palestinians and even Arab-
Israelis.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they are now certain the Zika virus causes birth defects, including
microcephaly. Doctors had already suspected the link, but had no confirmed it. They still don't know how high the risk is, because not all babies
born to mothers with Zika have the defects.
The International Monetary Fund opens its annual meeting with the World Bank in Washington. And while the weather outside is spring-like,
the economic outlook from IMF chief Christine Lagarde decidedly frosty.
Lagarde says the world economy isn't in a crisis state, but she warns that recovery in some parts of the globe is moving far too slowly.
CNN Money correspondent Maggie Lake has more on Lagarde's remarks from our New York studios. Thanks so much for being with us. Was there any
good news?
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Not really, Jonathan.
If you wanted to be bit depressed, you just need to sit through this. I mean, Christine Lagarde really laying out a number of reasons to be
concerned. She talks about the continuing fallout from the decline in commodity prices that we have seen reverberating, especially in emerging
markets. She talks about the slowing Chinese economy and also a world that's dealing with shocks to the system including what she says conflicts,
terrorism, refugee flows and a potential exit of the UK from Europe.
I mean, you put all these together and you can understand why we're calling this a gloomy forecast. B ottom line, Christine Lagarde says the
world economy has been too slow for too long.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LAGARDE, HEAD OF THE INTERNATINAL MONETARY FUND: We expect global growth this year to be up to 3.2 percent and 3.5 percent next year.
This makes it harder to spread economic warmth to the citizens of the globe. And it is not enough to lift living standards, reduce debt and
create sufficient opportunities for the nearly 200 million people around the world who are officially unemployed and looking for a job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:15:06] LAKE: And a lot of those people, Jonathan, are young. And it's hard for them to see a way forward.
The remedies to this, a lot more coming from the fiscal side, from governments getting involved. There's a feeling the central banks have
done what they can.
Interestingly, though, among all this gloom, it's not really spilling over to the markets. Investors are very well aware of some of these
problems. They priced a lot of them in. So, you're not seeing an impact in the broader global market but it's certainly a lot of food for thought
and a reason to worry if you're in line with Christine Lagarde's thinking.
MANN: Now, we're used to hearing her talk about economic data, about markets, about economies around the world. Some unusual remarks about
migrants. Tell us about that.
LAKE: Yeah, you know, and it's not unusual, Jonathan. What they are doing is pointing out that while we understand, especially if you watch the
footage that we play every day here on CNN, that the migrant crisis in Europe flowing from Africa, from the middle East, is a humanitarian crisis.
The IMF pointing out, as it has done in the past, that it's an economic crisis as well. There's a lot of concern about what this is doing to local
economies and what the sort of reaction can mean and the damper it can put on economies when you talk about the risks of things like closing borders.
So the IMF very much calling for governments to take much more bold and comprehensive action, for the world to work together to solve this
problem. She understands that it's a drain when you're talking in the short-term in terms of accepting this flow of migrants and integrating them
and training them into economy.
She really holds out Germany as an example of the political courage that other nations should follow that lead.
They said, listen, even though there's a short-term cost, medium term there's a benefit of
taking this approach in that refugees into a country can actually help grow economies by as much a
as .2 percent. And we just laid out how badly, especially countries in Europe, need that growth.
So the IMF very keen for world leaders to step up and do a lot more on this issue, Jonathan.
MANN: Maggie Lake in New York, thanks very much.
Still to come tonight, leaders of Islamic nations come together in Istanbul, including rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. We'll look at that,
next.
Plus game over for basketball great Kobe Bryant, but not before a stung performance closing out a spectacular NBA career.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back, you're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. I'm Jonathan Mann.
Leaders in the Muslim world are gathered in Istanbul right now for the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation summit. It comes at a time when major powers in the region are at odds over conflicts in places like Yemen and Syria.
Those two wars top the agenda, but there's more. In his opening speech, the host, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, also addressed the
battle against terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:20:08] TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): Once again, I'm calling on the international community to revise their
stance on terrorist organizations. We need to combat terrorism by blocking financial support and stopping more people from joining the terrorist
organizations as well as by carrying operations on the field against them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are both in attendance. That's worth noting because tensions
between the regional rivals escalated in January when Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after its embassy there was ransacked.
The violence was sparked by the execution of a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia.
Well, for more on all of this, we're joined Fawaz Gerges in London, international relations professor at the London School of Economics and his
most recent book "ISIS: A History."
Thanks so much for being with us.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation isn't a particularly accomplished group. What do you make of this meeting?
FAWAZ GERGES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I mean, they meet quite every three years or so to basically take stock of where the Islamic
world is. And today actually the Turkish president defined the most really pressing questions facing the Muslim world as facing terrorism and the
question of refugees. And President Erdogan has made it very clear that the Islamic
world must stand up and basically tackle the question of terrorism from within because he says the western nations only care about their own
interests and also he says it's a shame that the Muslim world, the Islamic world cannot take care of the refugees.
You have between 5 and 6 million Iraqi and Syrian refugees these days, Jonathan. I doubt it very much whether anything concrete would come out of
this particular meeting because both, as you said, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the two most important Islamic states are part of the American-led
coalition against ISIS.
So -- but this is a very symbolic, very powerful political meeting. As you said, the Saudi king, King Salman is there. And the Iranian
President Rouhani are there. I doubt it very much whether they had a private meeting. That would have been really a great move...
MANN: Let me go back to the first point you raised, because there are millions of lives at stake, as you rightfully point out.
Have Muslims nations really done enough? Is the president of Turkey right? His country has taken in more refugees than any other country in
the world, but are other Muslims nations letting the Muslims of Syria down?
GERGES: I think so. And I think if you really read carefully, listen carefully, to what the President Erdogan said today he said, well, look, we
should be ashamed that basically we have not taken care of basically the question of refugees. They are mostly Muslims, Arabs. In fact, with the
exception of Turkey -- as you said, Jonathan, Turkey has taken about 2.2 million refugees. Lebanon has taken about 1.5 million refugees, and Jordan
about 600,000 or 700,000 refugee. But the fact is -- I mean, the question of refugees it's not been tackled systemically by the Arab and the Islamic
world.
I would argue that the Arab and the Islamic world could have easily managed to absorb and basically take care of the 4 or 5 million Syrian
refugees if the political will exists. There is no political will. There is fragmentation. There is division and you have mentioned earlier I mean,
the Cold War that's taken place between Iran and Saudi Arabia. There is a fierce cold war taking place between the two countries. So, the Islamic
World is not as united as you think.
MANN: OK, that's one enormous challenge the Turkish president has pointed out. The other is terrorism. And the same question, the Saudis
announced back in December that they were forming an international alliance with more than 30 nations to fight terrorism. Here
we have the Turkish president months later calling for another international alliance of Muslim nations to fight terrorism.
More talk than action so far?
GERGES: Well, I mean, the Islamic nations, Jonathan, would say they're doing their best. President Erdogan today, he said the most of the
victims are Muslims, which is a very correct empircal statement. The overwhelming majority of victims are Muslims.
Muslim countries face I mean revolts from within.
Let's keep in mind, Jonathan, that the strategic target of ISIS is not the United States and Europe, the strategic target of ISIS, Syria, Iraq,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and most of the attacks, the terrorist attacks, have taken place in Muslim countries as opposed to Europe and the
United States.
But the reality is there is no unified Islamic position. There are no concrete strategic view basically to deal with terrorism. I mean, again,
to come back to the question of Saudi Arabia and Iran, they don't see eye to eye on how to confront basically ISIS.
So ISIS, Jonathan, the reason why ISIS has done as well as it has, it has been able to exploit the
differences and the cleavages in the Islamic world.
MANN: Creating terror and creating a flood of refugees. Fawaz Gerges of the London School, thanks so much for talking with us.
Kobe Bryant's days in the NBA are over, but he went out like the champion he was. The star pouring in 60 points while leading his Los
Angeles Lakers to victory against the Utah Jazz Wednesday night thrilling a crowd that included -- I think you can see them -- Jay-Z, that's Jack
Nicholson we jus saw there.
It was the finale of a glittering career that spanned 20 seasons with one team and it ends with Bryant scoring more points than any NBA player
managed in a single game this season.
With us now is World Sport's Andy Scholes. What a night it was for basketball.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable, Jonathan. You know, the only thing that was going to outshine the Warriors record setting
night was going to be Kobe Bryant. What an epic performance he had in his in his final game of his NBA career, scoring 60 points. And as you can
imagine, the atmosphere at Staples Cener, like we just saw, well it was electric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: For the final time, number 24 on the floor, five-time world champion Kobe Bryant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Kobe had had his eyes set on going out in style from the get go. He took a career high 50 shots. He took 50 shots in the game, but it
was vintage Kobe late in the fourth. He hit that 3 right there. Pulled the Lakers within one. All the celebrities going nuts in the stands. And
Kobe wasn't down yet. They were down one late, pulled up right here, knocked down one last game-winning jumper. He secured the Lakers victory.
And Kobe would wave to all the fans. He would actually share an embrace with Shaquille O'Neal, which is a cool moment for Laker fans after
what Shaq and Kobe went through over the years.
But what a way to go out for Kobe, 60 points, and did it for the sixth time in his career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOBE BRYANT, LAST SEASON WITH THE LAKERS: No words can describe how I feel about you guys. And thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I love you guys. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
And what can I say? Mamba out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: And, Jonathan, the atmosphere there at Staples Cener was just incredible.
And you know what, the get in ticket price a couple hours before the game, it got up all the way up to $1,000, people were paying $1,000 for
nosebleed seats.
But, hey, at least it was worth it. They got to see Kobe's score 60 points.
MANN: And 30 grand on the floor, right.
SCHOLES: Absolutely.
MANN: It was a night for those of us who couldn't be in L.A. to either have a DVR or at least a remote control because there was the Golden
State Warrior, and another monumental thing for American basketball.
SCHOLES: And it was a pretty unbelievable. You know, Kobe took 50 shots in that game right there against the Jazz. If Steph Curry would have
taken 50 shots against the Grizzlies on Wednesday night, he might have scored 100. He was incredible in this game here against Memphis as the
Warriors beat the Grizzlies 125-104 to break Michael Jordan's Bull's all- time record for wins in a season. And Curry, I mean he was just unbelievable. He had ten three pointers and 46 points and he didn't even
play in the fourth quarter of the game.
Curry, the first player in NBA history to hit 400 three pointers in a season. And of course the Warriors now on top of the NBA mountain alone
with the best record ever of 73-9.
And of course President Obama, big Chicago Bulls fan, especially those teams in the 90s, he tweeted congrats to the Warriors, a great group of
guys on and off the court. If somebody had to break the Bulls record, I'm glad it was them.
So, just -- this is probably, Jonathan the best finale of an NBA season we have ever seen. And I'm not sure it can be topped.
MANN: Great season and great career and -- Andy Scholes, thanks very much.
The latest world news headlines just ahead. Plus a new report giving a glimmer of hope to oil investors. We'll look at the factors that could
drive prices up when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[11:32:57] MANN: The International Energy Agency says there might be some relief coming soon for oil investors. Crude prices have been crushed
by oversupply for the better part of the last two years.
Now the IAEA says oil supply and demand should move closer to balance in the next few months. This as a minister from the cartel of oil
producing countries, OPEC, are preparing to meet non-member exporters in Qatar Sunday.
John Defterios shows us what we can expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN MONEY: Traders are bracing for what could be a manic Monday on global oil markets as investors search for an end to the
crisis in crude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever information comes out of Doha will have significant impact on short-term oil prices. And there's a lot of people
that will trade the news coming out of this meeting.
DEFTERIOS: Markets want proof that producers are serious about cutting the over supply in crude that helped trigger last year's collapse
in prices.
TAMAR ESSNER, SENIOR DIRECTOR, NASDAW CORPORATE SOLUTIONS: It could reinforce this idea that the worst of this oil crisis has already been
priced in, so the path of resistance is higher.
DEFTERIOS: On the surface, not much will change if oil ministers agree to freeze production at current levels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OPEC is effectively has -- already has a freeze in that it's already producing at maximum capacity.
DEFTERIOS: What is changing is a turn in the U.S. oil market. Output has been falling steadily this year, fewer rigs are operating and word on
the street is banks are cutting billions in credit to the industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think U.S. oil production is going to be 800,000 barrels lower by the end of the year than it was at the beginning
of the year.
So, that's a a pretty significant decline in U.S. production. So, OPEC, if that's what they wanted to accomplish, they've accomplished that.
DEFTERIOS: But it's hardly mission accomplished yet. Iran remains a sticking point. As oil minister Bijan Zangeneh told me six months ago,
Iran will not freeze production after years of sanctions. That could scuttle a deal, but there could be some wiggle room.
MATTHEW SMITH, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, CLIPERDATA: The best case scenario for the bulls is that Iran comes to the table and says, okay, we will
freeze production once we get to x level, whether is 400,000 barrels higher than where they are now or 800,000 barrels, they're ultimate target.
[11:35:05] DEFTERIOS: The plunge in prices has even caused a great deal of economic dislocation right here in the oil rich Gulf states so
everyone attending the meeting in Doha would like to see oil move higher. And ministers are well aware if there is no agreement, it could scuttle the
recent partial rally.
John Defterios, CNN Money, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: And returning to a story we brought you just moments ago, we now have the first video from Japan of a 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocking
the southern island of Kyushu.
Look at this, it's been followed by several aftershocks. But here clearly you can see fire and damage to the buildings.
Intriguingly, they are reporting damage caused by the quake, a quake of that size that would be expected. So far, no one is reported hurt.
We're working the stories and we hope to have more details as soon as we can.
All five Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. presidency are making high profile appearances in New York today. As time runs out
for them to win votes ahead of the primary on Tuesday.
Sparks could fly when Hillary Clinton faces off with Bernie Sanders in a CNN debate now just hours away. As Joe Johns reports, policy differences
have given away to personal attacks as the Democratic race drags on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am so glad to be back in the Bronx.
JOHNS (voice-over): Rivals Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders both hosting dueling New York rallies ahead of tonight's CNN Democratic
presidential debate.
CROWD: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!
JOHNS: Sanders revving up a massive crowd estimated by organizers to be above 27,000 in Washington Square Park. Sanders receiving a rock star
welcome with celebrities before he aggressively went after Secretary Clinton.
SANDERS: Our differences with Secretary Clinton go beyond how we raise money. It goes to an issue which the media doesn't cover. That is our
disastrous trade policies, which are costing us millions of jobs.
JOHNS: Clinton making the case to voters in the Bronx, urging them to back her over Sanders.
CLINTON: I was honored to be your senator for eight years, and if you will give me the honor of your vote on Tuesday, we will continue to make
life better.
JOHNS: And keeping her attacks on the Republican hopefuls.
CLINTON: One of them denigrates New York values. Mr. Trump wants to set Americans against each other. He wants to build walls. I want us to
build bridges.
JOHNS: Tonight's high-stakes debate comes as the heated war of words between Sanders and Clinton intensifies.
SANDERS: I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make.
JOHNS: And accusations from the Sanders campaign that the primary process is weighted in favor of Clinton.
JANE SANDERS, BERNIE SANDERS'S WIFE: It's not a democratic way to carry out an election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: Joe Johns reporting there. And a reminder, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are about to go head-to-head in the Democratic presidential
debate, that's coming up in Brooklyn, that's at 9:00 p.m. if you're watching from the United States, 2:00 a.m. if you're watching from London.
Wherever you are, that's right here on CNN.
And reminding you of a story we are continuing to work a story in Japan that 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocking the southern island of Kyushu.
It has been followed by several aftershocks.
This is the first video we have coming in. But we don't learn a lot except that you can see, obviously, the result of one of the shocks, one of
the earthquakes. That fire damage is reported to buildings. So far no casualties.
Chad Myers is following this with us. What are you learning?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What we're really worried about now is the fact that it keeps shaking. There are just more and more shakes. And
once you crack a building and you put another 6.0, 6.2 on top of that already 6.4, then all of a sudden you can get significantly more damage.
These are the aftershocks. That wasn't a fore shock. These are getting smaller and smaller and there will be many, many more aftershocks
in the 6 range and then double that into the 5 range and then 4 and so on. This is going to take a long time for this Earth to stop shaking.
Once you crack the concrete, once you crack the buildings, the next shake makes more damage. And the people are in the way. They are trying
to pick things up, all of a sudden it shakes, need to be back away from the buildings, out of the buildings if you certainly can be. And the
buildings, the facades are going to start to come down every successive 6.0, 6.2, whatever it may be.
These are deep earthquakes, at least the first one was. They are kind of going up and down anywhere between maybe 12 kilometers down to about 40
kilometers, but it's the same rock that's breaking, it's the sheer, it's the breaking, it's the force of one rock, one plate going one way and the
other plate going the other way, all part of that tectonic system known as the Ring of Fire there in the west. It goes all the way from South America
all the way down to Australia, and of course Christchurch where we saw such a big earthquake just a couple of years ago.
MANN: And once again, this is the first video we're seeing. And you can literally see the ground shaking, the impact on the streets there as
people take stock of what's happened.
The latest word we have is now that at least 12 injuries are reported, that according to the National Police Agency. But you can see things
falling. We have seen these pictures before from Japan.
This is, of course, a country on the Ring of Fire with a long experience with quakes, isn't it Chad?
MYERS: It is. What concerned me the most, and I have been -- I watched the video of the big
Haiti earthquake and of course the Fukushima earthquake. What I saw on the video here was the dust that was created in the initial shock. It's the
dust that comes off of concrete. You know the concrete is shearing. It's falling apart. It's becoming what it first was, it's sand and it's
gravel and that's where you know that things are actually breaking.
Of course, the fires are dangerous. We have fires going on across the city. They are getting put out as they come up. But every time it shakes,
another pipe, another main, another gas -- something else begins to crack and the infrastructure continues to crumble.
We hope that there are no more aftershocks. Of course, there will be. We hope that this is not a foreshock, a foreshock would indicate that there
could be a bigger quake later.
I know we always think about, wow, how can the Fukushima earthquake still be rumbling, how can it still be rumbling three years later? Well,
three years in geologic terms is nothing when we're talking about a billions of year old Earth. So, I know we think three years is a long
time, but of course geologically it's not.
[11:41:48] MANN: And once again, if you're just joining us, what we know is that an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 has struck southern
Japan. The best indication I have is that it's new Oeki (ph), at least 19 houses are said to have collapsed, at least 12 people are reported injured.
And you're looking at the first video we have.
And Chad, maybe this is familiar to you, but not so much I think to most of us. Earthquakes and aftershocks sound like they are two different
species, two different kinds of things. But when we say aftershocks, we just mean more earthquakes. This is more of the same that's still striking
that area.
MYERS: That's exactly right. An aftershock just means it's another earthquake, typically a smaller magnitude, but another earthquake along the
same fault line, along the same front where two tectonic plates are colliding.
Sometimes the first earthquake goes too far and it slides past where it really should be. And then the second aftershock or the second quake
slides it back or sometimes you talk about like a seam. Think about if you have a zipper and you can't get it open and you tear the zipper, you tear
it half way and then you want to get your coat off and you tear it the rest of the way. It's the second tear along the
same seam or along the same zipper, which is where the fault is.
MANN: Now, the report we're getting from the Reuters News Agency, once again these are initial magnitude estimates, it's describing the
magnitude as 6.4 magnitude. And it says that a magnitude 6 quake hit the same area on Thursday, same point, more than one event. They are all tied,
but they come in a series and we don't know when the series ends.
MYERS: Oh, the series probably at a 6.4 the series won't end for a year. Now, I'm not saying there's going to be a year's worth of 6.0s,
there won't. There will be some 5s and there will be 4s and there be 3s and then there will some that you can' feel.
But at this point in time the Fukushima, that over 9, that thing shook for years and years. And there was 6s and 7s that we called earthquakes
that were only aftershocks because they were along the same fault, the same tear, the same zipper was tearing.
But still a 7.2, 7.0, a 6.4, still a strong shake, especially under a city like this was.
MANN: Still waiting to hear more. Houses have been damaged, buildings have been damaged, 12 people are reported injured. Chad Myers,
watching this quake with us, thanks very much.
We'll be back with more news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:46:14] MANN: You're looking at the latest video we have from japan, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked a southern island of Kyushu, and
it's been followed by several aftershocks. Local media are reporting damage to buildings. So far the initial word we have is that 12 people
have been injured but these reports are very preliminary. We're still seeing different estimates, for example, of the magnitude.
Chad Myers is watching this along with us. And what are you seeing, Chad?
MYERS: Well, talk about the topography here. The prefecture that we're talking about way down to the south and the southwest. So, Tokyo up
here, Nagasaki over here. And there's where the earthquakes are. And they are very close.
All these earthquakes, all these little dots you see are the earthquake and then the initial earthquake is the yellow, and then all of a
sudden the orange and the red are the newer earthquakes. Those are the aftershocks that we've been seeing all under the city here.
And this is the problem, if we're five or six kilometers deep under the city, there's a violent shaking going on.
And Earlier we had something called the pager. It's the United States Geological Survey pager data. I don't really know what it means, but all
it is is there are three colors. There's green, yellow and red. Green means not much going on. We're going to be OK. Yellow means there's some
damage, maybe $100 million, maybe even some fatalities. Well, now this earthquake has changed to the red pager, in (inaudible) especially in
damage, which could be more than $100 million U.S. in damage and possibly some fatalities. And we may just have not found those fatalities yet.
So now we know that buildings are crumbling. Thigns are -- every time it shakes, the Earth shakes harder and the buildings get shook harder. And
the ones that are broken already start to come down, especially the facades need to be in the middle of the buildings in the middle of the building
itself or just get out of it altogether and in the middle of the street in case the facades begin to come off.
We've seen that shaking off for two or three hours. So this isn't probably going to stop. There are going to be more aftershocks. This area
likely will shake for the overnight hours and probably even into tomorrow and for that matter on and off for the next year
And we do know from the chief cabinet secretary who spoke to reporters that some people are already being reported trapped in or under collapsed
buildings.
And so now in addition to the fear of the residents of tat area, there's going to be an enormous search to see who is missing and where they
might be.
MYERS: And I think that's why the pager, Mr. Mann, went to red, because when you do have
collapsed buildings and you have people in those buildings trying to be rescued, there's no way to know
how many, how long or how long that structure is going to stand for what it's standing now until another earthquake shakes it.
All of a sudden you have first responders trying to get those people out. And then the earth shakes again and they are in danger as well.
So this is kind of the magnitude two friends, two friends, two friends trying to help those people
that are already trapped.
MANN: Now, I'm curious about something. The indication we have, once again, from the chief cabinet secretary's news conference is that hundreds
of emergency calls have been put in reporting fires. The first video we saw was of a fire.
Is fire a particular threat in the first moments after an earthquake?
MYERS: There can be two reasons for fires to happen. One gas main breaks, whether you're cooking propane or nat gas or whatever it might be,
or just the tug of the power lines pulling and sparking and that tug can spark enough to get the wood of the home on fire.
So there are -- yes, there's always a danger of -- and really the biggest earthquake, the
biggest problem of the earthquake would be the fire later on in the period, not the initial shake, but these fires can take two or three minutes to
ignite. And in some spots if the sparking is going on in the walls, these sparks may go on before the building exists and starts to get on fire. It
can take two or three hours for these fires to start. So, yeah Jonathan, that's a big problem.
MANN: So right now as these shocks continue, the obvious thing for people to do is get out of their buildings, turn off the gas, turn off the
power and get out. And beyond that, does everyone just wait and hope this stops?
[11:50:12] MYERS: That's exactly what you do. And ask the people of Haiti how long they waited for the Earth to stop shaking in Port au Prince
after that very large earthquake killed 250,000 people.
This is not of that magnitude, but you do not want to go back into a building that has already been shaken. So, yes, there will be shelters set
up. They will be going to city parks. There will be tent cities set up for the people that are afraid to go back either into their apartment
building or into their work space.
Now there are different qualities of building here depending on the time the building was constructed. You know, from the teens to the 20s and
30s and 40s and all of sudden we had the big earthquakes, especially the later on in the 50s and 60s, that's when we started to get better codes.
So, the buildings were allowed to shake and not crumble, especially wood buildings.
Wood buildings can flex a little bit, but these concrete structures, these hard concrete structures, or solid brick structures, those are the
ones that can crack especially if they are not rebar reinforced to stop the cracking from crumbling.
MANN: Chad Myers, I want to ask you to stay with us, but we're going to turn to John Bellini of the U.S. Geological Survey on the line with us
from Colorado.
What more can you tell us about what's happened?
JOHN BELLINI, USGS: Right now -- so far we have recorded roughly six aftershocks over magnitude 4.8 and above since the main shock.
This is something that's common with earthquakes of this size and something we would expect to go on for a few days, a few weeks.
So, the people there can expect more aftershocks and should be prepared for it.
MANN: Now, it's not just the magnitude, it is the depth that matters. We're looking at video while we're talking of things, which have fallen off
store shelves. We saw some of the original rocking, but how dangerous is an earthquake are the aftershocks of this magnitude at the depth that you
have seen them?
BELLINI: Well, as we've seen when you have a shallow earthquake, such as this one is, you have the potential for more damage because the shaking
is closer to the surface And once the buildings are damaged, the series of aftershocks that occur afterward can cause additional damage to buildings
weakened by the main shock.
MANN: How much do you know about this particular area and its experience? Obviously, Japan has had more than its share of tragedy,
because of earthquakes, but this particular area?
BELLINI: Well, Japan in general is a very seismically active area. So you can have large damaging earthquakes just about anywhere in Japan.
It's not surprising to see one of this size here. Haven't seen one in the recent last couple years, but overall it's very active area, so it's not a
surprising thing.
MYERS: Mr. Bellini, this is Chad Myers here. I want to address the difference between the Japan numbers that we have seen and the USGS
numbers. Can you compare them? Can you give us an idea of how they contrast, where the top limit is, where the bottom limit is because I think
all of a sudden you see the ticker go off 7.2, and then that's Japan and then we see USGS and that's 6.4. How does that equate?
BELLINI: Well, you have different data sets. We're using a global data set where we have seismometers all over the world and we're using our
moment magnitude.
So, the differences in data sets are going to be the main contributor to the differences in the
magnitude. When you have a local data set for the magnitude, sometimes it can be on the high side.
MYERS: But essentially, it's the same scale, right, because we have lost the Richter scale a long time ago. I hear people talk about the
Richter scale all the time, that is long gone.
BELLINI: In essence it is because that was developed for specifically for earthquakes in California. But in general all the magnitudes that we
currently utilize are related back to it.
So they are all in some way or another corrected back to it and based on the Richter scale.
MANN: Now, I'm going to jump in here, it's Jonathan Mann once again, how dangerous is this
earthquake going to be to other parts of Japan beyond the immediate areas that we have been talking about? How many people would have felt it? How
many different buildings or communities would have to be concerned?
BELLINI: Well, an earthquake of this size in Japan is going to be felt a fairly good distance. We do know it was felt as far away as
Hiroshima and other parts the southern part of Honshu.
But as far as damage goes, it's generally going to be concentrated in the epicentral area maybe up to 100 kilometers or so from there.
MANN: Once again, if you're just joining us, we're looking at the first imagines we have received, an earthquake that came in darkness in
Japan, in southern Japan being measured with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, though estimates we're seeing seem to vary.
There are reports of people trapped beneath buildings. There are reports of fires and we're seeing them, hundreds of calls went into the
emergency center, according to the first information we had from the chief cabinet secretary.
And so they are responding even as these aftershocks continue. We have been talking to an
expert from the U.S. Geological Survey and meteorologist Chad Myers who is with us as well -- Chad.
[11:55:10] MYERS: What I'm seeing here in the pictures, I think they are very striking. You can really see the amount of devastation that we
did not see earlier. I see buildings almost like on their knees where you have lost two feet of the building. It's still standing,
but you have lost two feet of the lower part, and the top part of the building has kind of collapsed on to itself.
Now, there's still room for people inside there to survive that kind of collapse, but the more and more I see these pictures -- and this is
typical -- the first pictures out of the area are not always the worst pictures, and it takes awhile for the news crews to get there where you see
that, that would be the facade falling off the building.
If you were on the sidewalk when that was coming down, you would be in danger. Here not so much. You have bowls of rice falling off the shelves,
no problem there.
But it's being outside where there's so much damage, but these facades coming down that
I'm seeing here -- Jonathan.
MANN: Just to remind people, the original quake had a magnitude that's being measured at 6.2. But Chad, you have been telling us they can
expect tremors and dangerous tremors for some time.
MYERS: Yeah, even Mr. Bellini there from the USGS said weeks, no question at all,l that this is still going to be shaking.
Once the earthquake slides -- understand there's always tension under the Earth. The entire Ring of Fire from Christchurch all the way up
through Alaska and back down south through Chile, there is tension. There's some things going to break at some time, we just don't know when.
Our life on earth is 100 years or probably less, but the life of the Earth and the life of the shaking has gone on for millions or billions of
years. The shaking will continue as long as the plates are moving and they still are because we were Pangea all clumped together, and now we're
spreading apart and the Pacific Ocean is getting smaller, the Atlantic Ocean getting bigger. And every time that stress happens, you get all of
the sudden, it's like the breaking point. You can make it, you can make it, and then all of sudden it won't take it anymore and it slips. And when
it finally slips, that's when the earth shakes and that's what we saw here.
And this can, and I'm not saying it will, but an earthquake of this size can trigger other earthquakes around the area simply because now some
stress has moved a rock, that rock has either created less or more stress on the surrounding plate and so there can be sympathy earthquakes almost in
(inaudible). We saw that with Banda Aceh quake, we saw that with the Fukushima earthquake. But those were larger than what we are seeing here.
MANN: Chad Myers with us. We're watching closely. A 6.2 magnitude quake, aftershocks continue in Japan. At least a dozen people reported
injured. Houses are said to have collapsed. Some people are reported trapped in the rubble.
Our coverage will continue. You're watching CNN.
END
