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NEWS STREAM

Kenya Mall Siege; Charles Taylor Appeal Dismissed; Pakistan Quake; U.N. on Syria; Navy Yard Rampage; Iran Seeks Nuclear Deal; Reactions in Iran; Philippines Standoff; Remains Found on Costa Concordia; Zimbabwe Elephants Killed; "Expedition: Sumatra"; America's Cup Comeback; Space Jam; Ticket to Space; Empty Fighter Plane Takes Off

Aired September 26, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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


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MONITA RAJPAL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As Kenyans mourn the victims of the bloody assault on the Westgate Mall, investigators are scouring what remains of the shopping mall, gathering information about the four-day siege and the attackers behind it.

Global police organization Interpol has been called in to help. This as the leader of the Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab apparently claims responsibility for the attack in a purported audio message from him released online. The speaker threatens more bloodshed if Kenyan troops do not withdraw from Somalia.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): (Inaudible) shock the Kenyan authorities who sent their forces into our homeland and it was a lesson to those Western groups who supported the Kenyan intervention in our country which loots natural resources like oil.

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RAJPAL: CNN has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the statement.

Meanwhile, Kenya is trying to come to terms with this horrific event of the past week. Today, funerals for many of the victims were held across the country.

Well, some families are still waiting for any news about their loved ones. Authorities say as many as 63 people remain unaccounted for since the siege. CNN's international correspondent Arwa Damon is in Nairobi, and she joins us now with more on that.

Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie, it's an incredibly difficult time, as you can only imagine. A lot of people also very concerned at this stage about what other -- what the future may hold.

Al-Shabaab has threatened more attacks. And so the Kenyan security forces, people here really want to see some sort of plan. They want to be reassured that this is not going to be repeated, because at this stage, so many in this country are really struggling to deal with their loss.

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DAMON (voice-over): Helped up by volunteers, this woman's soul- wrenching pain echoes through Nairobi's main city morgue.

She enters the counseling tent, but there is no end to her agony.

Some bodies had been brought in. But once the government announced that the siege had ended, dozens gathered here waiting for more to arrive. But the morgue did not receive any new corpses. Among the crowd, we saw Janet Mukadi (ph). We had met her two days earlier, as she cradled her granddaughter. Her husband, John (ph), was among the missing.

JANET MUKADI (PH), NAIROBI CITIZEN: Might I hope but I do pray.

DAMON (voice-over): Desperately believing he was still alive, she did not want to think. She did not want to imagine what he may have been through.

Video recently released appearing to be shot inside the mall's Makumat (ph) grocery store captured the sheer terror and confusion as the attack unfolded.

This is where Janet's (ph) husband worked.

MUKADI (PH): (Speaking foreign language).

DAMON (voice-over): She found his body in the morgue on Tuesday and was told to return on Wednesday. After waiting for hours for doctors to arrive and complete the post-mortem, she was still unable to take him home. The authorities told her it was because it was an open case.

DAMON: Janet (ph) had originally agreed to speak to us. But after that intense ordeal and everything else that she has been through, she simply asked to be left alone.

DAMON (voice-over): Like so many in this country, she's overwhelmed by the agony brought on by violence she cannot understand.

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DAMON: And Monita, people still waiting today to see if the authorities are able to uncover any more bodies from the rubble. As you were mentioning earlier, there are more than 60 people at this stage still missing or unaccounted for.

RAJPAL: And there still remains to be so many questions to be answered, I should say, the fact that while they're dealing with this incredible grief that no one can really imagine what they're going through, there's so many questions about what actually happened and how this could have actually happened and of people asking whether or not this was an intense intelligent security failure.

DAMON: Most certainly. And a lot of the answer to those questions the Kenyan authorities are saying lie underneath the rubble three stories of the Westgate Mall. It did collapse in the clashes and the attack that took place, possibly brought on by a fire that the authorities say was set by the attacks to create a smokescreen.

This was clearly a sophisticated, highly coordinated attack, possibly weeks or months in the planning. The key questions here are: did the attackers have access to the mall before the attack? Were they able to smuggle weapons and grenades into the mall itself? And if so, how were they able to do that? Because there is security at the key entrances to the mall.

People also are wondering about the numbers that the Kenyan authorities are talking about. The government has said that five of the attackers were killed. But originally they'd said that 10-15 people were involved in this attack, raising the question as to whether or not some of the attackers did, in fact, perhaps manage to flee in the initial moments of the siege in the chaos that took place.

On a broader scale, people also wanting to know the government is going to do in the future to prevent this from happening.

And this case that we're seeing here, this violence that we're seeing here in Kenya at the Westgate Mall and the scenario that could emerge from it are not just of interest to the Kenyans, but also as we have seen, to the global community as well, the Americans, the Brits and the Israelis all on the ground here, helping out the Kenyans, but also trying to do some intelligence gathering of their own, presumably, Monita.

RAJPAL: All right ,Arwa, thank you.

Arwa Damon there, live for us, from Nairobi.

And later in the show, David McKenzie shares his memories of Westgate Mall. He spent five years in Nairobi as CNN's correspondent there; now he is back to find out how Kenyans are coping.

To The Hague now, where an international court has upheld the conviction and sentence of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor. You will recall he was convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity last year for aiding rebels in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war.

The U.N.-backed court had sentenced Taylor to 50 years in prison. Today, the court rejected defense arguments that Taylor was not given a fair trial.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- case, the affirmed findings overwhelmingly establish that Mr. Taylor over a five-year period individually and knowingly and secretly and substantially assisted the perpetration of horrific crimes against countless civilians in return for diamonds and power while publicly pretending that he was working for peace.

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RAJPAL: While the defense wasn't the only one appealing Taylor's sentence, the prosecution said 50 years wasn't enough. But that appeal was also rejected.

In Pakistan, rescue workers are in a race against time. They are trying to reach remote areas structure by a powerful earthquake on Tuesday. Authorities now say 350 people were killed and there are fears many are still trapped in the rubble.

But the areas hardest hit in the southwest of the country are very difficult to access, as aid slowly reaches some victims. Officials say 21,000 homes -- 21,000 -- have been destroyed.

CNN's Saima Mohsin joins us now from Islamabad with more on that.

And, Saima, let's start first with the -- I guess the aid that's trying to get to the victims and those that are trapped in this area that is so remote and so rural.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Absolutely. It is the nature of the location and where the earthquake hit and was worse affected that is really hampering aid efforts. Aid efforts are being spearheaded by the military here because there are no road networks in Balochistan. It's a hugely impoverished part of Pakistan. So there are no road networks for aid agencies to get to people there easily.

Therefore, the military, the army, the air force, they're all deploying their helicopters to both get aid workers in and those injured out. And that's under the umbrella of the national disaster management authority.

But that's also -- is not without its dangers, Monita, because today, two rockets were fired at an army helicopter, just as the chairman of the national disaster management authority was surveying the area.

This is a militancy-hit area; Baloch (ph) separatists who want to break away from the rest of Pakistan operate there. They are not friends with the army and they're not happy they're there. So this only adds to the problems of trying to get to those hundreds of people who need that aid. And as you mentioned, thousands of homes are flattened.

The International Red Cross and the Red Crescent are working together on the ground, too, to try and get aid there.

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MIKE HIGGINSON, INTERNATIONAL FEDRN. OF THE RED CROSS: What we're hearing is about 80 percent of the houses in certain areas have actually collapse. The houses, as you say, are traditionally mud Khuzdar (ph) houses. And these have a tendency under stress to collapse.

So this would be one of the areas where we'll be focusing when we go in. It'll be very much to look at the shelter needs of the people who've been made homeless.

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MOHSIN: Monita, you said that there are 21,000 houses at least, 21,000 are completely obliterated. Now if you take, for example, on average in Pakistan, 7-10 people living in each of those houses, that's more than 200,000 people who are homeless as they head into a third night after this earthquake, Monita.

RAJPAL: So what's going to happen to them? We understand -- we heard there that they're going to be trying to find shelters or trying to build shelters for those in that area. But that's just the tip of the iceberg there.

MOHSIN: Yes, exactly. If you think about it, Awaran (ph), the worst affected area and town, if you like, didn't even have a hospital with a surgical unit or an emergency ward to be able to deal with casualties immediately, which is why medical staff are having to be flown in. And those seriously injured flown out to the nearest hospital, hundreds of miles away.

And then of course the aid effort that is being spearheaded by the Pakistan military and the Pakistan government saying it doesn't need external help, so far they've only managed to distribute 5,000 tents.

Now with 21,000 homes destroyed, that's clearly not enough. So there is a bit of controversy here as to whether the Pakistan government is not - - is trying to put on a brave face and say we can handle this when they can't. And they do need to allow other aid agencies who are waiting on standby to help and get there on the ground.

Monita?

RAJPAL: Saima, thank you for that.

Saima Mohsin there live for us from Islamabad.

You're watching NEWS STREAM on CNN. Still ahead, whisperings from the United Nations as some Security Council members say they're close to a draft resolution on Syria. Iran's new president speaks out about negotiations over Iran's nuclear program and now he's suggested a timeline for a deal that might surprise you.

Plus CNN's Freedom Project reports on a suspected slavery gang in the countryside of Wales. We'll explain what the digging is for. Stay with us for that.

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RAJPAL: You're watching NEWS STREAM and you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got on the show today, and we've already told you about the investigation into the Kenya terror attack and the toll it has taken on the country.

Later we'll show you surveillance video of the U.S. Navy Yard shooter before his murderous rampage.

But now we want to turn to the U.N. General Assembly world leaders will try and draft a resolution on Syria's chemical weapons disarmament. A U.N. diplomat tells CNN that Security Council members have agreed on three basic premises for a draft resolution, the same sources Syrian ally Russia basically approved the deal. But Russia publicly denies this.

At the same time, a new split among Syrian rebel factions risks complicating matters. More than a dozen of them have decided to break with the Western-backed national coalition. CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is following developments. He joins us now from the U.N., where he joins us live.

Nick, good to see you. We understand that the Russian -- or I think the spokesman for the Russian delegation is saying that any draft resolution is wishful thinking right now.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that often we see this kind of level of last-minute brinkmanship where a deal appears to be close, the Russians, in fact the deputy foreign minister had in media reports said he thought a deal was close, merely hours earlier.

The U.N. diplomat we've spoken to says there's still a bit of work to do, but at the end of the day, the three basic points have been decided. There will be accountability, not specifying how, but accountability for those behind the Damascus attacks the 21st of August.

Importantly, there will be binding and enforceable language in any resolution forthcoming, but not an automatic use of force if Syria's seen to be in violation. That's been the major sticking point. And this resolution won't be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which could potentially allow force to happen if Syria's considered to be in violation.

But it won't make references to Chapter 7 in the subsequent vote that would be needed when Syria's deemed to be in violation of disarming from its chemical weapon if that proves to be the case.

And the third thing, a more technical issue, but the Council will remain, quote, "seized of the matter," which allows an expedited process if Syria's seen to be in violation. They say some work still to go. And of course maybe that little extra bit is what the Russians seem to be holding out with the signals they've been sending.

But I feel there's a general feeling in the last 24 hours that (inaudible) an end game is really in sight here. They're still waiting to hear from The Hague, the U.N. monitoring group the OPCW has to rubber-stamp the Geneva framework and say it's possible to disarm Syria at that particular speed once we have that, the vote can happen here, potentially before the weekend, Monita.

RAJPAL: Speaking of an end game, we were looking at some high-level meetings taking place today with the top diplomats from the United States and Iran. This is a rare moment. This is a moment some 34 years in the making. The expectations are really high.

WALSH: They are, and I think they've been set higher by the tone we've heard from Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president. And you didn't have to do much, frankly, to beat the bile we've often heard spewed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his predecessor, in this building.

But he's been talking about peace, moderation telling "The Washington Post" he'd like to see a nuclear deal within 3-6 months even. That's going to require a lot of high-speed, heavyweight diplomatic lifting.

It will start today, 'round about 4 o'clock. The permanent five members of Security Council plus Germany meet then the Iranian foreign minister Zarif joins them. That will make the first meeting in 34 years between those two American high-level and Iranian high-level diplomats.

Colin Powell shook the hand with his counterpart in Iran in 2001, but nothing like this. In many ways, that meeting, when it happens, will be historic; but they've got a lot of stuff to plow through, Iran's enrichment, suspicions they're saying towards getting them ready to have a nuclear weapon, a quick turn if they make that decision, inspections.

And a bit of background, all Iran wants to see sanctions eased, one diplomat telling me he had expressed really how it's significantly damaging, particularly to their car industry, too.

But at the end of the day, pretty much a historic moment, given the turmoil in the Middle East right now that Washington and Tehran can come together like this.

Monita?

RAJPAL: Nick, thank you.

Nick Paton Walsh there live for us from the U.N.

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RAJPAL: Modern-day slavery comes in many forms and the CNN Freedom Project is exposing abuses around the world. You might not expect to find people working as slaves in the United Kingdom today, but that's just what police suspect was happening on a farm in the Wales -- in the Welch countryside. Erin McLaughlin reports now on this grisly story.

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ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a remote farm in South Wales, a morbid dig. Police search for a body in a pile of manure, part of an investigation into slavery that has so far yielded seven arrests and three potential victims from Britain and Eastern Europe.

CHIEF INSPECTOR HUW NICHOLAS, GWENT POLICE: We're talking here about people that have been living in very poor conditions, working for no money, for some considerable length of time.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Forty-three-year-old Darrel Semester (ph) says he was one of them, enslaved on the farm for 13 years by an itinerant group of people known as Irish travelers. According to media reports, he was lured away from his family while on holiday. He escaped last March, but it is only now that police are beginning to unravel what happened to him.

NICHOLAS: (Inaudible) sure that we understand fully their situation because (inaudible) what happened here. It isn't something that we can simply jump into.

MCLAUGHLIN: The British home office has said this case is an appalling reminder of the extent to which slavery has reappeared here in the United Kingdom, potential victims are working in restaurants, in factories and on farms like this one. And much of what goes on is underreported.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): In 2011, police rescued 24 men kept as virtual slaves at a caravan site in central England. A recent study counted more than 500 potential victims in the U.K. believed to have been trafficked for labor exploitation, mostly men from countries like Poland, Lithuania and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the dig continues on the farm in Wales. Police say it is very possible that more victims will be found -- Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Marshfield, Wales.

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RAJPAL: Coming up here on NEWS STREAM, chilling images of the U.S. Navy Yard gunman just moments before he went on a murderous rampage. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation.

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RAJPAL: Welcome back.

The FBI has released chilling surveillance video from the Washington Navy Yard on the day a gunman opened fire and methodically mowed down his victims. Aaron Alexis killed 12 people and wounded four others before he was killed by police.

Since last week's attack, the FBI is providing more information about Alexis and what officials believe drove him to kill. Crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns joins us now live from CNN Washington with more on that.

Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Monita, there's new video. There are photographs along with search warrant information. Much of the evidence pointing to signs of mental illness in the case of Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis. It tells the authorities he wasn't targeting anyone in particular, and now there are some real clues on what drove him to do it.

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JOHNS (voice-over): Ten days after the shooting, the FBI released the gripping silent surveillance video of Aaron Alexis carrying out his deadly attack. He drives into the Navy Yard in his rented Prius . The cameras pick him up as he enters the front door of Building 197, ready for a rampage that killed 12 before he was shot down.

VALERIE PARLAVE, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, WASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE: There are indicators that Alexis was prepared to die during the attack and that he accepted death as the inevitable consequence of his actions.

JOHNS (voice-over): You see him carrying his bag; hidden inside, a sawed-off Remington 870, which he removed in the bathroom. Photos also released show he left the bag behind. Twenty-two minutes after he drove in, surveillance picks him roaming the hall. He readies his weapon, hunting people.

You see him move downstairs and then make his way down another hall as people flee through a connecting hallway. In addition to seeing this chilling tape, we're also getting a sharper picture of what drove Alexis.

PARLAVE: There are multiple indicators that Alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency or ELF electromagnetic waves.

JOHNS (voice-over): The FBI released photos of his gun, an apparent reference to the magnetic waves carved in the handle, "My ELF weapon," on the barrel, the words, "end to the torment."

While the investigation into the mental illness that sowed the seeds for the attack continues, agents said they found writings by Alexis that explained in plain language why he said he did it.

PARLAVE: A document retrieved from the electronic media stated, quote, "Ultralow frequency is what I've been subject to for the last three months. And to be perfectly honest, that is what has driven me to this."

JOHNS (voice-over): Investigators don't believe he targeted specific people in his 60-minute killing spree.

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JOHNS: There's been some irritation expressed by a family member of one of the victims and by one Navy official that the public release of the video was insensitive. But a source said the FBI had more graphic pictures and decided not to release them, Monita.

RAJPAL: All right, Joe, thank you.

Joe Johns there, live for us from Washington.

Still to come here on NEWS STREAM, could there be a compromise coming on Iran's nuclear program? The country's new president says he's open to a deal.

We'll have more now on how Kenyans are coming to terms with the terror attack in Nairobi. Our correspondent David McKenzie shares his personal memories of the Westgate Mall, which was the scene of so much violence (inaudible).

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RAJPAL: I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. You are watching NEWS STREAM and these are the headlines.

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RAJPAL (voice-over): Kenya is mourning the victims of this week's terror attack on a Nairobi mall as Interpol assists the investigation into the attack. The mall's wreckage is being searched for clues and evidence. Meantime, a man who says he's the leader of the Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab is claiming responsibility in an audio message released online. CNN is not able to confirm its authenticity.

An international court has dismissed an appeal by Liberia's former president to have his conviction for war crimes overturned. The court in The Hague upheld Charles Taylor's 50-year prison sentence. He was found guilty last year of 11 separate courts, crimes against humanity. The court found that he supported rebels fighting in Sierra Leone's civil war in exchange for blood diamonds.

Rescue workers are struggling to reach the remote areas of southwest Pakistan where an earthquake struck two days ago. Officials say some 350 people were killed; 21,000 houses were destroyed.

And at least 18 people have been killed and 50 wounded in two separate bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital. The attacks targeted busy outdoor markets in Baghdad. Police say one was carried out by a suicide bomber; the other was a roadside explosion.

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RAJPAL: Iran's new president is calling for a quick resolution of his country's nuclear standoff with the West. Hassan Rouhani told "The Washington Post" he wants an agreement on the nuclear program within months, not years.

He says, quote, "The shorter it is the more beneficial it is to everyone. If it's three months that would be Iran's choice. If it's six months, that's still good."

Now the U.S. and Iran are about to hold one of their highest level meetings in more than 30 years. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif later today in New York as the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany discuss Iran's nuclear program.

So what do the people of Iran think about the nuclear standoff and the perception of their country in the West? CNN's Reza Sayah hit the streets of Tehran to find out.

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REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For much of three decades, America has called Iran a rogue and dangerous nation. Iran has called America the great Satan.

Caught in the middle of this conflict, Iranian people, some of the kindest and most educated people in the region, but rarely seen or heard in the media. That changes today with the first-ever open mike in Iran and a chance for Iranians to tell the U.S. how they really feel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American people are just people. We want the same thing as the Americans want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): America is a great country and we want to have good relations with American.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We Iranian people don't have any problem with America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Our problem is with American politicians, those who are after war and bloodshed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not fear. Be fair to the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Your behavior is not very good. Your politics is about war and it's terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): America has imperial plans and ideas. It wants to dominate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): You are not the boss of the world. You shouldn't think that you're in charge of how the world runs. You have to have equal respect for all countries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Why should we be controlled? Who is America to control us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all the sanctions they put on us, it's like putting a gun in someone's head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If you think you are powerful, power doesn't mean you dominate people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This talk that we're making a bomb is completely false.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as I'm concerned, I don't think they're making bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Don't you make one yourself? Why did you make a bomb?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are dangerous? We are dangerous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iranians are more civilized people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many? How many wars do we had -- did we have? Can you tell me? Can you tell me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People of Iran, they are friendly outside of the perception of the America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very peaceful people. We love each other and we never, ever started a war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You respect our civil rights and we respect yours. It's just humanity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Don't meddle in our business. Just let us live in peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the first steps are beginning to have the dialogue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I want things to include for everyone's benefit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America, live, let live. That's all. Thank you so much.

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SAYAH: So there you have it; Iranians clearly fond of American people, but they have a few problems with American foreign policy. But they're hopeful that after 34 years relations will improve -- Reza Sayah, CNN, Tehran.

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RAJPAL: State media in the Philippines say a standoff between soldiers and separatists rebels in the south of the country has now killed at least 158 people. Authorities say most of the dead are rebels; 13 are civilians. The latest violence began 2.5 weeks ago when Muslim militants from the Moro National Liberation Front came ashore and took hostage.

Officials believe five people are still being held. A curfew remains in effect.

Now let's return to the aftermath of the terror attack in Kenya. The nation is in the midst of three days of mourning for the victims, which include at least 61 civilians and six Kenyan security officers. It is feared the death toll will rise as crews retrieve bodies buried in the rubble of the partially collapsed mall.

David McKenzie was CNN's correspondent in Kenya for five years. He has a personal look at how Kenyans are coping the Nairobi terror attack that has touched so many lives so terribly.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In mortal danger, mother and her children playing dead, trying to survive Nairobi's deadly mall attack. A policeman carefully strides over to persuade the mother to leave, picks up one child and another, and they escape to safety. A heroic act that saved their life.

MCKENZIE: Westgate Mall is just at the end of that road. Security has blocked off this whole area. Authorities are inside, desperately trying to recover the bodies. This is a deeply personal story for me. I went to Westgate many times when I lived here, even took my newborn daughter there when we first took her out.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Now tragically different, images are seared into my mind, images of horror and death, of innocents targeted. Many of the most disturbing moments captured by photographer Goran Tomasevic. His own daughter almost went to Westgate that day. When he rushed there, he found a terrifying scene.

GORAN TOMASEVIC, PHOTOGRAPHER: It's terrible. It's just people lying in the blood and screaming (inaudible). I just couldn't believe (inaudible). I saw a lot of (inaudible) more than 20 years, but I never saw something like this.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Tomasevic has covered wars in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Syria, but now the war came to his home.

TOMASEVIC: (Inaudible) it was aim of killing people, not aim of killing soldiers. It was just aim of killing kids (inaudible).

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Many Kenyans are struggling to understand what happened and why. The Red Cross is deploying counselors to help.

DR. OSCAR GITHUA, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Any terrorism (ph) threat is not (inaudible) anyone is used to. And so we have physical wounds; we have losses; we have lost life and, more importantly, we have emotional scars.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Iva Kangai (ph) is healing by doing something, like thousands, giving blood even if the chance for survivors are now slim.

When the attack happened, she immediately called her friends who worked at Westgate. They sent her text messages, saying they were hiding and under attack. Then the messages stopped. One of her friends never made it out.

IVA KANGAI (PH), BLOOD DONOR: (Inaudible). It can never be recovered again. So it has (inaudible) that (inaudible).

MCKENZIE (voice-over): We don't know if the thriving community at Westgate will ever recover. It's devastated, shattered by terror. But the spirit here is unbroken -- David McKenzie, CNN, Nairobi.

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RAJPAL: We want to bring you this news that's just coming into CNN this hour. Italian authorities are saying that human remains have been found on the Costa Concordia. That's the cruiseliner that you remember that ran aground back in January 2012.

Apparently according to this news, divers are trying to recover the remains from deck four, and they'll do so Thursday afternoon local time. Two victims of this shipwreck were never found. So, again, once again, human remains have been found on the Costa Concordia and divers are aiming to retrieve them this afternoon local time in Italy.

We'll be right back here on NEWS STREAM. Stay with us.

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RAJPAL: Welcome back. We want to tell you now about a very disturbing incident in Zimbabwe. More than 80 elephants in Hwange National Park have been poisoned with cyanide. We want to warn you that the pictures you're about to look at are really hard to see. They are the latest victims of poachers and the growing demand for illegally trafficked ivory.

Authorities in Zimbabwe say the poachers used poisoned salt mix to kill the elephants. Zimbabwe's environment minister says he will push for tougher jail penalties to root out illegal hunting. Conservation groups say poachers kill about 30,000 African elephants each year.

Let's take you now deep into the Indonesian rain forest. On this week's edition of "Expedition Sumatra," Philippe Cousteau follows two young orangutans just released into the wild to see how they go about gathering food. Take a look.

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PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the rain tapers off, we make our way outside just in time to catch a glimpse of a rare visitor watching us through the trees.

COUSTEAU: We're all standing around in absolute awe at this, Barcelona, a female orangutan, that was an orphan here and trained and released out of here, still hangs around in the area.

COUSTEAU (voice-over): There are around 7,000 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild and their population is declining. They're listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN. The Sumatran orangutan could be the first great ape to become extinct in the wild.

But Peter and his team have dedicated their lives trying to make sure that doesn't happen.

As we watch Barcelona, enthralled by her every move, Peter informs us there's something else nearby that is even more remarkable.

COUSTEAU: Oh, my gosh.

This is a male and a female orangutan. They're still juveniles.

And they're very curious.

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RAJPAL: Find out what happened behind the scenes. Just log onto CNN.com/GoingGreen, and don't forget to tune in for "Expedition Sumatra." It airs Saturday at 11:30 am here in Hong Kong.

It is the peak of the rainy season in Thailand and in many areas rivers are overflowing. Some fear of a repeat of the devastating flood that paralyzed the country two years ago. Mari Ramos is at the World Weather Center with more on that.

Mari?

MARI RAMOS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I can see why people would be scared about (inaudible) caused devastating damages, as you said, paralyzed the country and much of the area took a very long time to recover.

Let's go ahead and roll the pictures and I want to show you what we're talking about here. This is some serious flooding happening. This is northeast of Bangkok. I'll show you the map in just a moment. This is an industrial park in Prachin Buri province. The problem is that the river they're having overflowing while the industrial park itself has not been flooded.

You can see how the homes and businesses around there, the people that live and work at those areas, have been affected by the widespread flooding. (Inaudible) big deal where there's more than 100 different companies that call that industrial park home. And this is just one of many that have been threatened by floodwaters in the past.

So people are very concerned that it could be yet another time where they have to completely stop working for a long time because of the water reaches these areas. They're saying so far that has not happened there. They're hoping that it won't, that they don't think the water levels will go that high this time around.

We're not expecting the water level to be as high either in Bangkok, which was an area that was mostly spared by the flooding, the center of Bangkok, anyway, because of the high walls that they have to protect the city. So there you see people kind of preparing. And there's the industrial park, as you can see the streets there do remain dry.

Come back over to the weather map. Let me show you on Google over here what I'm talking about. We're in Southeast Asia. There's Bangkok right there. The area that we were just showing you in those pictures is way over here. I want to come up, tilt this around just a little bit, and you can see how flat all of this is.

The water, these very large rivers, just meander around very slowly. The water is raised very, very slowly as well. There are other areas farther to the east. (Inaudible) for example, that suffered badly from the flooding back in 2011, and those areas were already seeing very high water levels as well.

But hopefully we'll start to see a little bit of an improvement from all of those things, because wet weather pattern will continue. We have these areas of low pressure kind of riding around here. And they have been bringing some very heavy rain. We're also watching another area of low pressure just to the east here in the South China Sea.

This one has been bringing some very heavy rain across the Philippines, again, areas like Manila getting some heavy rain from this weather system. And we're watching it for the possibility that it could become our next tropical cyclone in this region, whether it develops or not. It will continue to bring some heavy rain to the area.

And notice back over here across the rest of Southeast Asia there, no change either, because the rain is expected to continue. You can see that area of low pressure right there. Unfortunately, not moving very quickly and seems like this could be repeated, even though the rain not expected to be as heavy, it's so flooded already in Manila that we really could see some serious problems.

So from this part of the world, I want to take you to the other side of the Pacific. And actually over toward Mexico. And this woman's face really says it all. People are starting to return to their homes after those twin storms affected that area. This is (inaudible) in the west. And this is in the east in Vera Cruz, another state that was highly affected by these storms.

And you can see how much damage is still there, a little bit of good news, the drought, Monita, the drought could pretty much be over for many of these places because it rained so heavily. The last three years they have been in a drought particularly in the north and in the west.

And now they're looking at areas where they had so much rain that they're expected bumper crops in some regions because they had 50 -- 150- 300 millimeters of rain in some cases. Caused a lot of damage, but in the long term, I think this rain will be beneficial for these areas particularly in those states to the north. Back to you.

RAJPAL: Now that's some great news, really good news to report there, Mari. Thank you very much for that.

Well, other good news, it's being called one of the greatest comeback in sport. Oracle Team USA retains the America's Cup after beating New Zealand, but there was a moment when all looked lost. Patrick Snell tells us how they made yachting history.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, only New Zealand sailors will know how they didn't manage to close out the 2013 version of the America's Cup. But as far as the Kiwis are concerned, the unthinkable really did happen on the final day of competition, on San Francisco Bay.

The USA coming from nowhere to seal the most improbable of victories. The U.S. completing their epic comeback on Wednesday and this is now surely just in for the sporting history books. At one point, the Americans were trailing by eight races to one.

They leveled it at eight apiece before winning Wednesday's decider. The defending champion crossing the finish 44 seconds ahead of the challengers from down under to make it eight straight race wins and leave all who'd witnessed them close to speechless.

JIMMY SPITHILL, ORACLE TEAM USA CAPT.: To come back (inaudible) greatest comeback in sports history, says a lot about a team, a lot about their character, the heart and the thought that don't excite them.

Man, it was worth every single part of it. Man, I mean, this is the greatest moment of my life. I'm just loving every minute of it and I'm doing it with the team around me. It doesn't get any better than this.

SNELL: Now the New Zealanders understandably were left crestfallen after missing out on taking the title down under for what would have been a third time and they now know they'll have to face the music back home.

DEAN BAKER, EMIRATES TEAM NZ: We (inaudible) incredibly proud of our team and (inaudible) achieved. I gather that we didn't get the last win that we needed to take (inaudible) New Zealand and it's very hard to swallow.

SNELL: (Inaudible) New Zealand last won the America's Cup back in 2003. But they've now lost the last three they've been in -- Patrick Snell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: And here's something you just have to see to believe, an F-16 fighter jet takes to the skies with no one in the cockpit. How it happened -- that's after the break.

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RAJPAL: Welcome back. As you can see, new crew members have just arrived at the International Space Station. They launched from the Cosmodrome on Wednesday. It took just four orbits around the Earth for them to catch up to the ISS.

Meanwhile, the private cargo ship, Cygnus, is still trying to get there. It launched last week but its first attempt at berthing with the station was aborted. The Soyuz had further delayed Cygnus' next rendezvous to Saturday at the earliest.

Well, private spacecraft carry cargo vessels like this one are expected to open up a whole new frontier of space tourism. People are lining up to buy tickets on Virgin Galactic. But as Poppy Harlow reports, it's not for the faint of heart or the low on cash.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who would spend up to a quarter million dollars just for minutes in space?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seeing the spaceship here is just absolutely mind-blowing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You start by the destinations, about the journey.

HARLOW (voice-over): These people: more than 600 have signed on.

HARLOW: How much to charter one of these puppies?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $1.2 mil.

HARLOW: Wow. And I hear you're going to leave two seats empty? So it's just the family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, (inaudible). There's two angels coming with us.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: Passengers won't just check in and hop on board; the whole experience will mean three days in training and health checks. Then a few hours in the air and three minutes weightless in space.

HARLOW (voice-over): The mother ship will carry SpaceShip Two up, then release to glide back. Unlike NASA's rockets, it won't orbit the Earth. It's Sir Richard Branson who's determined to take them there.

HARLOW: Is this the new space race?

SIR RICHARD BRANSON, CEO, VIRGIN ATLANTIC: I think it's the start of a new space race. It's not been easy. It's taken us five years more than we thought it would take. But finally they've pulled it off.

HARLOW (voice-over): That is, if the FAA gives Galactic the green light. Virgin says commercial launch is just months away.

MICHAEL MOYER, SR. EDITOR, "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN": You're broaching out into a new field in the sky and we're going to have some mishaps that happen now. Hopefully they won't be catastrophic.

HARLOW: Do you ever fear that maybe you're putting too much at risk with this?

BRANSON: People risked a lot to get space off the ground in the first place. But unless you risk something, the world stays still.

HARLOW (voice-over): Branson is such a believer he plans to take the first flight with his own children. David McKay will be at the controls.

DAVID MACKAY, CHIEF PILOT, VIRGIN GALACTIC: We don't want to push too hard too quickly. It would be nice to be first to do it, but the most important thing is to do it right. Whoever is first has to do it right.

HARLOW: What is your ultimate dream for this?

BRANSON: We'll start with giving people a taste of space. Then we'll send people into orbital flights. We'll start building hotels in space and --

HARLOW: Really? In our lifetime?

BRANSON: In your lifetime, definitely. And hopefully in my lifetime.

HARLOW (voice-over): But will this ever be for the masses?

HARLOW: Is this a playground for the wealthiest, the 1 percent only?

BRANSON: Initially it's very much the wealthiest are going to use it. But through these wealthy people, you know, being willing to be pioneers, I think millions of people will one day have the chance to go to space.

HARLOW (voice-over): Like Mikey Oliveri (ph), who has a dream perhaps bigger than most.

MIKEY OLIVERI (PH), PROSPECTIVE ASTRONAUT: I want to be the first to (inaudible) in space.

I don't have 200 grand, but I have a dream.

HARLOW (voice-over): Hoping he may get his moment among the stars.

HARLOW: If you have the guts to boldly go is one thing; if you have the cash is another. Industry watchers warn don't expect this to become affordable for the masses any time soon. But again, this is a concept that knows no bounds -- Poppy Harlow, CNN, in the Mojave Desert.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: And before we go you have to check this out. It looks like a normal fighter jet, but there's no pilot on board. It's been retrofitted by Boeing to be flown from the ground. This plane and others like it could be used to train fighter pilots in the future.

But it won't be a joyride. The trainees will be able to shoot down the unmanned jets knowing there's no one inside.

And that is NEWS STREAM for this Thursday. But the news continues here at CNN. I'm Monita Rajpal. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.

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