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Usain Bolt Wins Ninth Career Gold Medal; U.S. Issues Warning over Syria Situation; Ryan Lochte Apologizes for Behavior; More Changes in Trump Campaign; Zika Virus Warning to Pregnant Women in Florida. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired August 20, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:15] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think you know what that is. The reaction from Jamaica in Rio as their man, Usain Bolt, makes Olympic history earning his ninth gold medal to complete his triple- triple.

Plus, the U.S. issues a brave warning to war towards Syrian as the pentagon scrambles, fighter jets has spindled Syrian plane in the country's north..

And also, Zika, a blunt new directive for pregnant women as Zika spreads in the U.S.

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

We love this lead story, don't we? Usain Bolt has his triple-triple. Bolt and team Jamaica won the against 4 by 100 meter Olympic relay on Friday. These are Jamaica fans as we just showed you cheering for their man. That's nine gold in all for Bolt, three golds in three events, in three straight Olympics.

In addition to the relay, the lightning Bolt won this year's 100 and 200 meter races and says Rio will be his final Olympics. Say it ain't so. And also, he turns 3-0, since we're doing a three thing this weekend.

KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. A cluster of three. Yeah. What a fantastic night in track and field we've seen in the Olympic stadium in Rio, Natalie. We witnessed history and we are just so fortunate to be watching an athlete in this golden generation.

Yeah. He's gone for the triple-triple. What an amazing quest he's finally fulfilled. Now, not only is saying Bolt the fastest man on the planet, but he's the fastest man ever to be born. But on Friday, he needed a little help from his friends. Yeah. He needed help from his teammates who didn't let him down, did they? No. Although Japan gave Jamaica a huge run for their money. They were -- they ended up coming in second actually and it wasn't actually until Bolt took that final baton that he really made strides and pulled ahead of the rest of the field.

Now, what does this mean for the sport? Here is CNN's Don Riddell taking a look back at Bolt's amazing career. (BEGIN VIDEO LIP)

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the greatest stage in the world of sport, Usain Bolt has been the biggest star. The Olympic Games has never seen anything like it. Total domination and a man to his sprint events for three consecutive games. Some more modest athletes might play it down, but not the man himself.

USAIN BOLT, NINE-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Awesome. That's my word. That's my one word I always use. This thing was awesome.

RIDDELL: He's been rewriting the record books since sweeping the 100, 200, and sprint relay events in Beijing. Bolt repeated in London and again here in Rio, signing off his Olympic career with an unprecedented triple-triple. It's unlikely that we'll ever see his like again.

SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS, THREE-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Usain Bolt is the greatest track and field athlete of all time.

SEBASTIAN COE, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I can't think of another athlete since Mohammed Ali that has so captured the public imagination.

PELE, THREE-TIME WORLD CUP WINNER: (Speaking foreign language).

RIDDELL: It would also be hard to imagine anyone cementing a legacy in a shorter amount of time. For the nine gold medals, Bolt won in his last three Olympics, he was on the track for a total of less than two minutes, transcending his sport to become a global icon and a national hero in his beloved Jamaica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Truly humbling to be here and be present for this moment. It's a true honor to see him run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has really lifted the sport and has brought all these people here, all the world has seen that you can do it the right way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... especially since we know that this was his last Olympics. It was great to be here and see history made.

RIDDELL: In a troubled era for athletics, Usain Bolt has become its shining light, a smiling assassin, ruthlessly crushing his rivals, laughing all the way to the finish line and the bank too.

CHRISTIAN TAYLOR, TWO-TIME GOLD MEDALIST/TRIPLE JUMP: Absolute game changer, you know. We just talk about the attendance, you know, of coming to the track. He has brought faces, he's brought fans, he's truly, I mean, a legend in the making. But, you know, I'm so grateful for that and what he's doing for the sport. But just, you know, athletics as a whole.

RIDDELL: Tonight, we have seen Usain Bolt write another page of history in his remarkable Olympic career. But now, it's over. He says he'll retire after the world championships next year. He will celebrate his 30th birthday this Sunday knowing that he is the greatest. It is a title that will likely never be surpassed and make no mistake, he will be profoundly missed.

Don Riddell, CNN, Rio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RILEY: Yeah, he definitely will be missed. It begs the question, Natalie, who is going to be the next star and what is next now in track and field?

[02:05:05] Now, that race, the 4 by 100 meters was without controversy. We saw the U.S. team finish in third, but they were actually disqualified along with Trinidad and Tobago.

Now, the U.S. team have protested that disqualification. Watch the space for the latest what's going on that one.

ALLEN: All Right. (Inaudible) Usain could come back. Can you imagine, 30 -- what? How old would he be? Thirty-four-years-old.

RILEY: Thirty-four.

ALLEN: So, we turn now to the women. And who's racing?

RILEY: Yeah. And look, again, controversy in this one. We're going to talk about team USA. They qualified in controversial circumstances. Of course, they had to run on their own and then on Friday night, that meant that they ran in lane one, which, of course, is the unfashionable lane to run in. However, they really were in a field of their own when it came down to the finals. The USA team, yeah, they're unstoppable. They came away with gold. And Allyson Felix has become the first woman to win five gold medals in athletics in the history of the Olympics. It's just the true phenomenal night for team USA. And despite all the controversy and all the difficulty in getting there, yeah, it really is worth celebrating. They've done incredibly well. And well done to Allyson as well.

ALLEN: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Thank you so much. Bye, Kate.

Well, more Olympic news, not the cheerful kind. U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte is apologizing for his actions on the night he claims he and three teammates were robbed at gun point in Rio, but he isn't budging on his version of what happened. Police in Rio say a robbery did not happen, but Lochte maintains it did.

Our Brynn Gingras checks in on the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twelve-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte apologizing for his behavior in a bizarre incident that has cast a shadow over Rio's Olympic Games. I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend, for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events. But in his statement posted to Instagram, Lochte did not back down from the most dramatic part of his initial story. RYAN LOCHTE, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: They pulled out their gun, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground. They got down on the ground. I refused. I was like, we didn't do anything wrong. He took our money. He took my wallet.

GINGRAS: The 32-year-old sticking to his story that he and his teammates were robbed at gun point, writing, "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country with a language barrier and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave."

Lochte's teammates, Jack conger and Gunnar Bentz leaving Rio last night. Brazilian police say the two swimmers place most of the blame on Lochte, describing him as drunk and unruly and that it was Lochte's who vandalized the gas station including damaging the sign and the bathroom door and that Lochte later fabricated the robbery story.

Surveillance video shows the swimmers first trying to get into one taxi and then finding their cab. A witness told Brazilian media that the swimmers tried to escape and then security guards who pointed a gun at them ordered them out of the cab. The witness telling the newspapers that the swimmers pleaded with gas station employees not to call the police. Jimmy Feigen is the last of the four to return home.

At a court appearance, Feigen agreed to pay nearly $11,000 to a local charity for falsely reporting of crime. And Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time breaking his silence on the incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you spoken with Ryan Lochte and talk about what happened in Brazil?

MICHAEL PHELPS: I spoke to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it's going to work itself out?

(OFF-MIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

GINGRIS: The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA swimming are each independently investigating saying they don't condone this behavior and its possible disciplinary action will follow, not just for Lochte, but for all four men involved.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, Charlotte.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, we've got two more days of Olympic competition. Hopefully everyone will behave and it will be good weather for the Olympics. Here's Derek Van Dam with that for us.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hi. So far, Natalie, the weather has played along. I mean, there were a few delays, a few minor cancellations that have been made up for, as well. But things are about to get very interesting as we round out these last two days, Saturday and today across this part of the world.

Well, we do have the women's golf final taking place and that should go off without a problem in terms of the weather. But as we look towards Sunday and the closing ceremony and several other athletic events, including mountain biking that's taking place in a dirt track outdoors and the men's marathon, which is taking place on Sunday, well that could encounter some, well pretty nasty weather.

Take a look at this. We've got an area of low pressure that's slowly going to move along the east coast of Brazil and that will bring rain showers locally within the Rio de Janeiro region, Saturday night into Sunday morning. And that could get interesting because 7:00 p.m. local time or roughly that time, I believe, is the closing ceremony. And, again, we've got those outdoor activities throughout the day on Sunday.

[02:10:02] So, no problems today for, let's say the woman's golf finals. But Sunday, the man's marathon, that could certainly and most likely will be impacted by rain. That will impact the runners as they head outside and everyone heading to the finals at the Maracana -- rather the closing ceremonies at the Maracana Stadium.

And this is an interesting statistic. 21 or 26.1 trillion liters of water would fill Maracana Stadium over 22,000 times. Why do I bring up that number? Because that is the amount of rain that fell across South Central Louisiana just within the past week. That is why we have seen extensive flooding. Thousands still seeking refuge in some of the shelters set up across the Baton Rouge area. And there it is, unfortunately, more showers and thunderstorms in this forecast. This is a seven-day loop of the radar across the area, just inundating this region with historic rainfall. We've all seen the flooding images coming out of this region. Warm, humid in gulf air responsible for the heavy rainfalls. Fortunately there is a cold front that will sweep through by the middle of next week hopefully, hopefully, Natalie, clearing things out. But certainly a cleanup under way.

ALLEN: All right. Yeah. Derek, thank you.

Donald Trump used a visit to flood ravaged Louisiana just pointing out their problems to slam President Obama. He told crowds Friday that Mr. Obama needs to stop golfing in Martha's Vineyard and help the flood victims. The White House says the president will visit Louisiana Tuesday after his vacation conclude.

So far, flood waters have damaged more than 40,000 homes, have killed at least 13.

Trump is facing meantime another staff change at the top less than three months before Election Day. The Republican presidential candidate has accepted the resignation of his campaign chair, Paul Manafort. This comes just days after Manafort was effectively sidelined in a staff reshuffling. A source says Manafort felt he had become a distraction. Manafort is under investigation in Ukraine for allegedly receiving illegal payments, when worked for Ukraine's former pro Russian ruling party. Manafort denies any wrongdoing. Now we're learning U.S. Federal Authorities are investigating Manafort's firm as well as other U.S. companies linked to the government as else as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

The FBI and Justice Department are looking into possible U.S. ties to that government alleged corruption.

A warning yet again for pregnant women from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, stay away from south beach, Miami Beach, because the zika virus has now spread there. The CDC issued this travel warning Friday. The virus has already been identified in an area north of downtown Miami.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now to talk about the growing situation. And interesting, Sanjay, how quickly this was a threat in one area of one country. And now we have it, a threat and another and another and another in two places near Miami. A very popular place and a place you don't want to cover up.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. Right. I mean, you tell people to wear long sleeves when they're in south beach.

ALLEN: Yeah.

GUPTA: ... says, it's not going to happen probably. So it's one of these things and I think in many ways was expected. We've seen what's happened in Brazil, Salvador, you know, many places in the southern hemisphere in particular. And given the climate is the same, given that the mosquitoes, these mosquitoes known as Aedes aegypti already exist in South Florida and many other states. We knew that we were likely to have Zika.

What is interesting to me, Natalie, the really -- the pinpointing these areas literally block by block, saying, here's where you need to be to be concerned about. Take a look at the map just to sort of show you in the middle of the screen was that first area, that first sort of hot spot, the Wynwood community and that was an area where they said mosquitoes are spreading Zika.

Now, on the right side of the screen is the south part of Miami Beach known as South Beach. That's where they say mosquitoes are spreading Zika. But what's interesting, is the CDC director, Center for Disease Control director said, "Really, I'm kind of concerned about all of Miami Dade, the entire area because while we haven't confirmed it in other areas, there's enough reason for suspicion."

ALLEN: Right. South Beach. That is a destination for people in the world over, you know?

GUPTA: Yes. You reported on SARS quite a bit. Do you remember what SARS did to certain communities like Toronto, in terms of the economy, people not wanting to go travel there. It is a balance. You really got to balance saying, "Look, we are concerned enough to say, hey, pregnant women should not come to these areas," but we don't want to completely frighten people away from Miami altogether. ALLEN: Right. And, you know, people -- I heard some reports about some families are thinking of moving away for the pregnancy, but who could do that? I couldn't go live somewhere for nine months.

GUPTA: Yeah. It's a wonderful option if you have the resources to do that. But can you imagine, pregnant women are saying, "Don't go to this neighborhood." What if you are a pregnant woman living in that neighborhood? Can you imagine the emotional toll that must take on you saying, "I worry with a mosquito bite, possibly leading to this birth defect in my unborn child."

ALLEN: Yeah. And you can cover up everywhere and it lands right here, or what have you. Yeah. Absolutely. And doctors are being inundated with questions of course, this is also new, isn't it? For the most part, Zika, the research of what happens to people. I saw something where a woman wanted to know, if I get all the way to my two weeks before my due date and I get bitten, could that harm the baby? Do they know those type of answers yet?

[02:15:13] GUPTA: Well, what they seem to be say is that the earlier in pregnancy that an infection happens, the worse it is. So if it happens the first trimester, it's going to be worse than the last trimester.

But, you know, I was in recently in Brazil. I was Salvador, Brazil, and I was really struck by the fact that I met women who said look, the entire pregnancy I was fine and then it was the last trimester close to the end where I saw a rash and I was worried that maybe I got a Zika infection, sure enough. It did lead to their child being born with microcephaly, this birth defect. So, it can happen at any time, it seems.

ALLEN: Yeah. And I also quickly want to talk with you about Puerto Rico. It seems that we're having a serious defect there and I saw one report. I'm not sure if it's confirmed that a man actually got it, was paralyzed and died. What are the risks to other people?

GUPTA: It's great question. I'm glad you bring that up because, you know, when you look across the board, 80 percent of people roughly, they say if they get a Zika infection may not even know it because their symptoms will be that mild or no symptoms at all. Pregnant women, we've been talking about, you know, have the largest concern. But there's this other condition known as called Guillian-Barre. And people don't even remember the name. But basically what it is, it's sort of it affects all of the nerves in your body and including sometimes that nerves that lead to your diaphragm, the muscle that allows you to breath. So, it's rare and it doesn't just happen with Zika. It happens with other viruses as well. But sometimes with a bad infection, it can lead to this condition.

ALLEN: Hopefully, at some point, they'll get a handle on this. But thanks as always Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you. Thank you.

ALLEN: Tense moments of the skies of northern Syria. Why the U.S. is warning Syria it could lose a fighter jet. We'll have that in a moment.

Plus, later, we speak with one of the Olympics most decorated gymnasts, maybe of all time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Syrian fighter jets turned back Friday after U.S. pilots flew near by and encouraged them to leave the area. The encounter came over the northern city of Hasakah. Activist say clashes are continuing there between Kurdish forces and government loyalists and they say reinforcements have now arrived at a U.S. base near the city.

Here's Pentagon Correspondent, Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This video is said to show Kurdish fighters in a running gun battle with Syrian regime forces in the Northern Syrian City of Hasakah. Syrian fighter jets also bombing the area, alarming the Pentagon which secretly then ordered the hasty withdrawal of nearby American special operations forces.

SETH JONES, RAND CORP.: We've got aircraft flying in those areas. We've got forces on the ground, including the U.S. special operations forces, certainly may well be U.S. intelligence folks on the ground. So this increases the possibility of direct conflict.

[02:20:12] STARR: The building, smoldering from the air strikes. Hasakah is normally relatively calm and largely under Kurdish control.

U.S. forces are training Kurds and Arabs to fight ISIS. Until now, the Syrian regime had steered clear of where the Americans operate. The Pentagon is furious with Damascus and Moscow.

When the Syrian attack came, the U.S. military scrambled. Trying to contact the Syrian aircraft, there was no answer. Warning the Russians and the Syrians, the U.S. will take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and sending more U.S. air craft into the area to patrol the skies.

There is now the real possibility of the U.S. and Syria squaring off in the air. A senior U.S. military official telling CNN, "If the Syrians try this again, they are at great risk of losing an aircraft."

Dozens of additional U.S. special operations forces are still in other areas of northern Syria. To protect them, the tough U.S. line will continue.

JONES: If U.S. ends up leaving because things get hot, what it's meant is they were essentially coerced to pull back by a combination one would strongly suspect of Syrian, Iranian and Russian efforts.

STARR: But the Russians are stepping up their action. These cruise missiles launched at what Moscow said were Al Qaeda targets. And 5- year-old Omran Daqneesh wounded by air strikes in Aleppo, now recovering. Another tiny victim of yet another bombing. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Little Omron there. We have the latest on him as his family, an activist tells CNN the family has now been smuggle out of Aleppo and is staying with relatives. Look at that picture.

Three other Syrian children and three adults have yet again met a tragic ending trying to escape. They drowned in the Mediterranean when they tried to cross in a small boat to Europe. The bodies of two girls, eight months and five years old have been recovered, the body of a five year old has not been found. We'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Turning back to the Olympics, team USA is way ahead in the medal table in no small part due to this success of Simone Biles. The gymnast won five medals including four golds.

And she spoke with our Isa Soares.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONE BILES, U.S. GYMNASTS AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: But it feels amazing and it's very rewarding and we feel so accomplished. And I think it's just what we did in practice, so we're all very proud.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: What about on many people were expecting that gold medal, but on the beam that you got a bronze. Were you disappointed with that at all?

BILES: I can't say that I was disappointed in the bronze that I received because anyone in the world would love to have a bronze at the Olympic Games. But I was just only disappointed in the skill that I did. But the rest of the routine, I can't -- I can't be mad about because the rest of the routine was very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Simone doesn't have to wait until the next Olympics to make another dream come true, that dream, kissing American actor Zac Efron. The Hollywood star surprised her in Rio. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:25:10] JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just because she crushes the competition doesn't mean she can't have a crush.

ELLEN DEGENERES, THE ELLEN DEGENERS SHOW HOST: Is it just because he's gorgeous? Is that why you like him?

BILES: Yes.

DEGENERES: Yeah.

MOOS: A19-year-old Simone Biles fulfilled a lifetime dream, no, not the gold medals. We mean the kiss from actor Zac Efron. A kiss that inspired this floor performance. Simone had famously tweeted about her crush, Zac Efron gives me breathing problems. Ellen teased her months ago.

DEGENERES: So I got you something to wear at the Olympics.

MOOS: A leotard with Zac's face all over it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: And actually Simone has been kissing Zac on a regular basis since Christmas of 2014. That's when she received this life size cutout of Efron that she keeps in her bedroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILES: Sometimes I used to kiss him on the cheek.

DEGENERS: Really? You would come in and give him a little kiss?

BILES: Yeah.

DEGENERES: OK. You realize that's a little strange, right?

BILES: Yeah, mostly.

MOOS: Instead of her cutout, Simone got the real Zac when NBC flew him down to Rio, hit him as he watch Simone's performance, then had him surprise the gymnastics team. And Zac seemed honored to meet them.

ZAC EFRON, HOLLYWOOD STAR: Their story just blew my mind.

MOOS: He kissed Simone multiple times.

EFRON: I know what its going?

BILES: It's going, yeah.

EFRON: I'm going?

BILES: Yes, please.

MOOS: Simone kissed him, pronouncing herself on cloud nine. She may not have needed a lift, but she got one. Just call me Mrs. Efron already, tweeted Simone. Replied a fan, no, honey, we'll call him Mr. Biles.

Simone's gymnast boyfriend jokingly instagramed at Zac, I saw her first. Simone Biles won four gold medals and there was only one Zac Efron. Which would she rather kiss? Both.

Jeanie Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDOE CLIP)

ALLEN: Look how giddy she is there. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. Open court is next in our top stories. (COMMECIAL BREAK)