Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Syria's War Takes a New Turn; Pence Defends Trump on Immigration; Clinton Faces Pay-to-Play Accusations; Dilma Rousseff Prepares to Defend Herself; Hangzhou Prepares to Host First G-20 in China, Love Among the Ruins; One Couple's Wedding Joy Despite the Earthquake; Mock Mars Crew Returns to Civilization After One Year. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 29, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: New complexities to the war in Syria -- how the increased involvement is complicating alliances and drastically changing the dynamic of this five-year war.

Brazil suspended president preparing to take the hot seat -- Dilma Rousseff gets ready to defend herself against impeachment.

Plus, a bond that not even an earthquake can break. Two Italians tie the knot in a village damaged by last week's disaster.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for joining us to our viewers around the world. I'm Natalie Allen live in Atlanta.

Our top story. The Turkish military is conducting air strikes in Syria and for the first time, admitting ISIS is not their only target. State media report that one strike near Jarablus killed 25 members of a Kurdish militia, the YPG. Turkey considers them a terror group.

In the same area, Turkish-backed units of the Free Syrian Army are trying to clear villages of Kurdish forces. State media says that 13 such villages were quote, "cleansed".

Our Nick Peyton Walsh has more from the border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PEYTON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Erdogan clear in his speech in this fight for a border city of Gaziantep that they will fight both ISIS and the Syrian Kurds that his military are now in confrontation openly with, with quote, "the same determination".

Saying too they hunt out ISIS cells in this city, but really, it appears the focus of his speech was to mourn those lives lost in a recent wedding bombing here that killed over 50. ISIS took responsibility for that and at the same time, he thanked the city for the support it gave him during the recent failed coup attempt. The question really now is the where the Turkish military and those Syrian rebels working alongside it, moving inside of northern Syria. Fast movements today -- we've heard from the deputy prime minister the desire for them to move along the border town called. That could potentially have a lot of the border in control of Turkey, and those Syrian rebels are getting backing from them.

At the same time too, they appear to be moving southeast towards the city called Manbij. That's important because Syrian Kurds moved in to it recently to flash out ISIS with American support. And now claimed to have mostly left, yet those near appear to be in clashes with this advancing Syrian rebel force and Turkish military too.

Those clashes claimed one Turkish life the previous night and also today, we are hearing from Turkish state media that an air strike may have killed 25 militants in that particular area although activists are saying those people were in fact civilians. It's unclear really what happened there. What is clear is that the Turkish military and those rebels working alongside them purport to be taking more and more villages hour by hour. They are clearly in confrontation with those Syrian Kurds, but also receive American backing.

And this puts U.S. policy in a great dilemma here. They'd been backing the Syrian Kurds for quite some time in their fight against ISIS. But at the same time, they've also been supportive of the same Syrian rebels that the Turkish are now backing as well.

It's a very confusing dilemma of this war and it does suggest that this potential Turkish convention (ph) is not over in a matter of weeks, but months. They're seeming to be wanting to staking out a large amount of territory here. They have two adversaries and many hoped they would focus on ISIS, but at the same time, it does look like the border threat that they see are the Syrian Kurds who they consider terrorists may take up a lot of their manpower.

Complicated and potentially dangerous times ahead here for Turkey and President Erdogan's trip here, very much a sign, I think, of how important this military action is.

Nick Peyton Walsh -- CNN, Gaziantep.

ALLEN: CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer joins us now. And Bob -- thank you for joining us.

First let's start with Turkey's incursion across the border. It illustrates another microcosm of this war, the complexities -- getting rid of ISIS, supporting the Free Syrian Army, the rebels but making sure the Kurds don't take the land ISIS is abandoning. That is what Turkey's focus is as it goes beyond its borders to get in this mix.

What do you make of this part of this story?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well Natalie, it comes down to the United States doesn't have good allies. Turkey when they went into Syria (inaudible) over the -- over the Islamic -- to get the Islamic state. But now what they're doing is they pivoted east and gone after the Kurds right now our allies. I mean they are protecting Special Forces in eastern Syrian and they're telling the Kurds to back up all the way across the Euphrates, which they're not going to do.

And I think Turkey is being drawn into the quagmire without any clear plan. And they look at the Syrian Kurds as terrorists, we don't. They look at the PKK, the Turkish Kurds as terrorists.

So we are -- and another thing that's happening is that Erdogan is allying with Russia on there. So they're supporting Damascus and we are really in a bind because it's hard to find good allies in the Middle East.

[00:05:06] ALLEN: Right, this follows, of course, many months after Turkey shot down a Russian war plane. So the bigger pick of foreign intervention, Bob, you have the foreign secretaries of the U.S. and Russia meeting in Geneva this weekend talking about a ceasefire. But that is mainly about Russia and U.S. involvement. There are many other parties at play here.

BAER: Yes, exactly. Now that we've got Iran who's got a different agenda and Iraq has a different agenda in Damascus -- and that's to support Hezbollah -- and we consider Hezbollah a terrorist group.

So, without the Iranians at the table, you're not going to come to any clear settlement. And frankly the Russians, you don't know which way they're going. If they're going to go and ally with Turkey, with Erdogan, fighting in Syria, that's a whole new, you know, part of this war -- this war on terror as it's called.

ALLEN: Right, because the bottom line is this is not a two-sided war, not two, not three, not four, and foreign intervention really it has not done much, except make it more complex and yes, diminish ISIS -- take ground back from ISIS which is a good thing, of course.

BAER: Well, I mean look at "The New York Times". It's called Saudi Arabia both the arsonist and the fireman, and it's true. Saudi Arabia's fighting on both sides. The Iranians have different agenda, the Turks do. And it's a mess.

You could look -- you could look at the State Department and say why don't you come up with a coherent policy and the reason they can't is because there is none to be had.

ALLEN: Right, because I was going to say, "The New York Times", as you mentioned did a story about the fact that it's still going on five and a half years later. There is still support for war, war is continuing, and it makes you think, what is going to bring it to an end even after ISIS is shoved out of this region?

BAER: Oh, I think ISIS will fall. Mosul will fall. The question is what do you do with the Syrian Sunnis and the Iraqi Sunnis? Are they going to be driven to Turkey? Are they going to be driven in Kurdistan? We have no control over the policy in Baghdad.

A lot of this fighting in Iraq is being done by Shia militias just as it is in Syria. And we're not dealing with those militias. So we can't control it in any sense, but even reach a compromise and that's what disturbs me.

ALLEN: And what can the U.S. at this point control? You just illustrated how Turkey is doing its own thing and if anything aligning with Russia in this latest incursion into Syria to shore up its border.

BAER: The whole Middle East is a quagmire, you know. And if I had a solution, I would tell you, but I don't see any clear one. I have never seen the Middle East such a mess since -- it's even worse than 1967 war. And, you know, there is no clear predominant side, and again, I'll stay, we have nobody to deal with that can -- has authority in the battlefield because there's too many groups. Even the Kurds are divided into multiple groups. And we have a very hard time keeping track of them as are the Sunnis in Syria.

So we can bomb Islamic state all we want. They will disappear one day. They are too violent to exist for long. But what do you replace it with? And that's what the State Department right now is scrambling for.

ALLEN: That is the question, CNN intelligence and security analyst, Bob Baer. Always appreciate your insight. Thank you -- Bob.

BAER: Thanks, Natalie.

ALLEN: Elsewhere, rebel fighters from the Damascus suburb of Daraya are settling down with their families in temporary homes in Idlib. Buses packed with people arrived in Idlib Saturday. An evacuation agreement between the Syrian government and rebels gave thousands of civilians and hundreds of fighters safe passage out of Damascus. The town of Daraya is now under the control of the Syrian army.

Libyan forces say they are close to recapturing the coastal city of Sirte from ISIS.

The militants have been pushed back into a small residential area. At least 34 Libyan fighters were killed Sunday, more than 150 wounded. ISIS used multiple suicide bombs to try to stop Libyan troops from advancing.

There is little hope of finding any more survivors of last week's powerful earthquake in central Italy. Recovery teams are now trying to clear rubble before continuing aftershocks cause any more damage.

Frederick Pleitgen reports after the debris is cleared, some of the affected villages are deciding whether to rebuild at all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The grueling work continues for Italian search crews still pulling bodies from the rubble. Whole communities have been shattered by the loss of life and infrastructure.

Massimo Parazzi (ph) was in the hardest hit town of Amatrice when the earth began to shake.

"It was my daughter's birthday, the day of the quake," he says. "We'd organized a party. Five of the girls who were invited were killed in the quake. She had played with some of them the night before the disaster.

[00:10:09] More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone. Italy's prime minister has vowed to rebuild this ancient town, but some of the smaller villages in this mountainous area may not be so lucky.

This is Capricia (ph) -- just down the road from Amatrice.

Like so many villages in this area, this one's been evacuated after the earthquake. But the residents here face a much more fundamental question, and that is, whether they'll ever be able to return to their homes, whether this village will be viable in the future.

Rosella Santorelli (ph) is one of only 12 residents of Capricia. She's been staying in this camper van since the quake struck afraid to enter any building because of frequent aftershocks.

"I don't think there will be a future," she says, "our village is poor. There are no people and no jobs. Amatrice is five miles away, but there's nothing left of that."

As Rosella and the others survey the damage to their houses, Italy has some tough discussions to make. Should villages like this one with a tiny population in an area prone to earthquakes be fixed or is it better and safer to abandon them?

"There are villages that were already empty before the quake," Rosella says. "There are almost no young people anywhere. The towns are old. I think now they will really depopulate."

For many tourists, villages like Capricia epitomized the beauty of the Italian countryside. On top of the horrible human toll this earthquake has caused, in the long run, it may have accelerated the demise of a piece of this country's rich ancient heritage as well.

Fred Pleitgen -- CNN, Capricia, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: It is a beautiful area there in Italy. Thanks to Fred Pleitgen for that story.

Hillary Clinton faces a new e-mail scandal about her time as U.S. Secretary of State. We'll tell you what the messages are revealing -- ahead here.

Plus, what will Brazil's suspended president say as she prepares to testify in her own defense in her impeachment trial?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pedram Javaheri, weather watch time right now.

The last couple of weeks of summer, right? Take a look, some summer variety storms scattered about across the eastern half of the United States. The Western U.S. remains rather calm.

Look at this area of disturbance, tropical depression 9, watching it carefully across western areas of Cuba that produced a lot of rainfall in the last couple of days as it moves over a Gulf of Mexico that is just absolutely teeming with tremendous heat here.

The forecast typically would want the storm strengthen, fortunately we have winds aloft or above the storm that are beginning to really sheer it and shred it apart. So that'll limit how strong it gets, but a lot of rainfall headed towards the big bend of Florida. Even eastern Florida gets some enhancement in the moisture coming off across this region that'll produce a lot of thunderstorms as well. So flooding concern really the main threat at this point across that region.

[00:15:11] There is another storm we're watching. This is tropical depression 8; this particular one, not very impressive on satellite imagery. We do think this particular storm will also want to kind of veer away from the eastern U.S. coastline. The Carolina coastline there could get some heavy rainfall out of this and certainly some damaging winds on the immediate coast. The main threat there the next couple of days.

Temperatures, look, over the 30s around the coast of New York, Oxford and (inaudible); Denver at 28 degrees, San Francisco, not a bad day at 20 or so degrees. But the heat eventually will spread into the central U.S. and the heat wave will be in the works across that area.

ALLEN: We turn to the election process. Donald Trump will schedule events in front of African American crowds, that's according to the campaign manager for the U.S. Republican presidential candidate. She also acknowledged to "Fox News Sunday" that Trump has not held a rally for a largely black audience. Trump claims he has many African- American backers, he's also under fire for tweeting about the shooting death of an NBA star's cousin as an example of why African-Americans should support him.

Trump's vice presidential running mate is defending the candidate's recent language on immigration. Mike Pence told CNN's Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday that Trump's position has been consistent, despite Trump's apparent shifting tone on the subject this past week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump will articulate a policy about how we deal with that population. But I promise you, he is going to remain completely focused on American citizens and people who are here legally and how we get this --

(CROSSTALK)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I don't understand why -- I don't understand why it's the fault of the media for focusing on an issue that you're crediting Donald Trump for bringing to the floor. The idea is Mr. Trump won the primaries in no small way because he had this very forceful position, saying all 11 million or 12 million undocumented immigrants will be forced to leave the country.

Now, you, right this minute, are not saying that that's the policy. You're saying he's going to be unveiling it in the next few weeks. It's 72 days until the election.

PENCE: The way you characterize his position is one thing. I think he's been --

TAPPER: We just ran the clip.

PENCE: Jake, he's been completely consistent in the principles that he's articulated. Nobody was talking about illegal immigration when he Donald Trump entered this campaign. He was attacked from day one for putting the whole issue of the violence that is derived from certain individuals that come into this country illegally on the table. He's made it clear that we're going to secure our borders, we're going to build a wall, we're going to enforce the laws of this country, stand up and uphold the constitution of the United States of America.

But what you see going on right now -- and I think at a certain level it's very refreshing because it's the Donald Trump that I see every day. You see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people. He's hearing from all sides.

But I promise you, he is a decisive leader. He will stand on the principles that have underpinned his commitment to end illegal immigration in this country. And that's what people will learn more about the days ahead.

But let's be clear, Hillary Clinton supports open borders, amnesty, and even wants to increase Syrian refugees to this country by 550 percent You couldn't have a more clear choice --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: On Wednesday, Trump suggested to Fox News he would allow some undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States, but he walked back those comments speaking with our Anderson Cooper on Thursday.

On the Democrat side of the race, Hillary Clinton faces new criticism over e-mails. Newly released messages have renewed allegations she gave access to top officials as secretary of state in return for donations to her husband's foundation.

CNN's Diane Gallagher is following this development.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Conservatives are calling this latest batch of e-mails yet another example of the blurred lines between the State Department under Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. One particular exchange between Clinton's top aide Huma Abedin and then Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band included a list of names that Band seemed to suggest is invitees to a State Department lunch with Chinese Hu Jintao back in January 2011. Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek whose representative says never got an invite, then UBS CEO of wealth management Bob McCann, and Rockefeller Foundation president, Judith Rodin.

[00:20:03] Now each of those headed up companies that have made large donations to the Clinton Foundation. Band asked Abedin in a subsequent e-mail about Rodin quote, "Can we get her at Biden's table?" To which Abedin responded, "I'll ask".

Now State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau tells CNN quote, "The State Department does not believe it is inappropriate for the administration to consider individuals suggested by outside organizations when deciding who to invite to an official function." Still close contact like this has remained a point of criticism from Clinton's opponent Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins.

GALLAGHER: Clinton has said the foundation donors had no influence on her decisions at the State Department.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I know there's a lot of smoke and there's no fire.

GALLAGHER: In Washington, Diane Gallagher.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Brazil's embattled president, Dilma Rousseff takes the floor Monday to present her defense to the country's senate. Miss Rousseff was suspended in May on allegations of corruption and mismanagement of Brazil's finances but she says she's done nothing wrong.

A barrier has been constructed outside Congress to prevent clashes between pro and anti impeachment protesters. CNN's Shasta Darlington has the latest from Brazil.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suspended president, Dilma Rousseff about to take her last stand in the country's long-running impeachment battle. On Monday morning she'll appear right here in the senate to defend herself against accusations she doctored the budget to hide a short fall. Now Rousseff says she didn't do anything illegal and she points out that some of the lawmakers spearheading the impeachment effort are actually being investigated for corruption.

The impeachment proceedings have been dragging on for months. In fact, Rousseff was suspended in May, temporarily replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer, one of the people she accuses of trying to orchestrate her ouster.

Final vote is expected to begin on Tuesday, two-thirds of the 81 senators would have to vote in favor of an impeachment for Rousseff to be permanently removed from office. That is expected to happen.

Now remember, Rousseff was reelected by a narrow margin back in 2014. But after that, her popularity plummeted as the country went into a deep recession and a corruption investigation engulfed several politicians in her own party as well as allied parties.

If the senate now confirms this impeachment, Michel Temer will take over on a permanent basis until the term ends in 2018 inhering a economy in tatters and a country divided.

Shasta Darlington -- CNN, Brasilia.

ALLEN: Colombia's FARC rebels have announced a permanent ceasefire in their 52-year conflict with the country's government. The rebels agreed to a peace deal with Colombian officials in Havana last week. It still must be approved by majority of Colombians in a referendum that takes place October 2nd.

Latin American music icon Juan Gabriel has died. The Mexican singer and songwriter sold more than 100 million records during his career. According to his Web site, he performed at The Forum in Los Angeles just Friday night. The Los Angeles County coroner's office says he died Sunday from natural causes in California. Juan Gabriel was 66.

World leaders gathered in Hangzhou, China a week from now for the G-20 summit. They will spend two days in a historic city that showcases the country's new economic model.

But as Andrew Stevens shows us, China is keeping tight control on what the world does and does not see when the G-20 comes to town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hangzhou, one of the seven ancient capitals of China. It's historic west lake, a source of inspiration for poets and painters for centuries now the center piece of the G-20 Summit hosted for the first time by China.

World leaders perhaps looking for their own inspiration in an uncertain economic landscape will be cocooned here on the shores of the lake. But Beijing also wants to show Hangzhou as the face of the new China, a China that's home to giant online companies like Alibaba founded here in the city 17 years ago by Jack Ma.

The success of Ali has led to an explosion of online service companies which is providing a powerful new economic growth model. Young entrepreneurial Chinese across the country have been attracted to this fast-growing city to join companies like Ali and other online operators that cluster here and fuel China's vision of services-led economic growth. This city of nine million is booming. GDP growth is more than 10 percent in the first half of the year; the national average, less than 7 percent.

[00:25:01] But showcasing Hangzhou has a flip side. A city in virtual lockdown and being emptied out. Factories have fallen silent, an attempt at clearing the air. Construction projects around the city are now at a standstill and shops are closing. Security is tight and getting tighter.

Our CNN crew was frequently questioned by police and security, stopped from filming, and constantly asked for credentials. But the real target of security it seems is migrant labor. This migrant neighborhood is now virtually deserted. Many left as the factories closed ahead of the G-20, but those who remain say they're being pushed to leave as well.

This man tells me he and about 30 other families had their cooking gas confiscated after being told it was unsafe. The two rooms he shares with his wife and two children is now just one room. Police declared their second room an illegal structure.

"I don't know why it's illegal," he tells me. "It has something to do with the roof. But we've been here for ten years, and nothing like this has ever happened before."

For those who stay, getting supplies is also becoming difficult. The city's central wholesale market usually a teeming mess of shops catering mainly to the migrant population is now virtually emptied. For the residents who want to stay in their city, a visit to the West Lake now involves long delays and heavy security screening -- police taking no chances ahead of the summit. A summit that China hopes will reveal its old world charm and new world economic prospects to its most important guests.

Andrew Stevens -- Hangzhou, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: We turn back to Italy in a moment. Surrounded by destruction and grief one couple looks forward to a life together. Ahead -- taking their vows in the earthquake zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:30] ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers around the world.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta, I'm Natalie Allen.

Our top stories this hour. Turkish state media say the military helped units of the free Syrian army clear terrorists out of the 13 villages in the border region. Turkish forces have been conducting air strikes around Jarabulus. They helped retake that city from ISIS in the past few days.

At least 34 Libyan fighters were killed in Sirte, Sunday, as they try to recapture the coastal city from ISIS. The terror group used multiple suicide bombs to try to stop Libyan troops from advancing. Libyan forces say they have now backed ISIS militants into a small residential area.

Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus. Most of the cases were discovered in a southeast district among foreign construction workers. Government officials say none of those with the disease had recently travelled to Zika-infected areas. Rescuers in Central Italy are losing hope of finding anymore survivors of last week's powerful earthquake. They are continuing to search for more bodies trapped in the rubble. Workers also are moving toward knocking down damaged buildings before anymore aftershocks hit and cause more injuries.

In state funerals earlier in the weekend, family members said goodbye to the loved ones they lost in the earthquake. But in another part of the quake zone, Atika Shubert reports one couple took a major step towards their future together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ramon Adazza is nervous. He's getting married today and his wedding suit has just ripped.

He's trying on a back up, but he's not happy. And he's also worried about aftershocks.

RAMON ADAZZA, GROOM: You can know an earthquake, just only if you feel it. And there is no word to describe. You can know. I remember that when the earthquake -- it does, that I call my friends, and she was at her house.

SHUBERT: Ramon was supposed to get married here in the village church of Acquasanta Terme right in the heart of Italy's quake zone.

But Father Giovanni told no, absolutely not. The altar is covered in rubble. There are cracks running up the wall. And its 16th century fresco now torn up and crumbling.

ADAZZA: When Don Giovanni told me that this church is unsafe, I talked with my wife, and I say, I want to celebrate my wedding over there because they to need -- a moment, you know, do the other thing.

SHUBERT: Instead, the wedding will happen here in the open area of the village piazza with the mountains standing witness. All good and well, but Martina, his bride, was not so sure getting married in a village damaged by the earthquake was such a good idea, especially with heavy aftershocks continuing to this day.

MARTINA ADAZZA, BRIDE (through translator): At first I was shocked, she said. We've been organizing this for more than a year. Of course I was worried and nervous and I didn't want to create even more problems for the village, but everyone has been so wonderful and welcoming, she says.

SHUBERT: Soon, it's time. Martina's father carefully escorts her to the village, where Ramon is waiting, beaming, his wedding suit freshly repaired.

The band begins to play the wedding march, and the bride walks down the aisle. And the village cheers.

ADAZZA: I love the people. I know the people -- everybody -- beautiful people. Everybody love me, so why I take my wedding in another city.

SHUBERT: The sun shines and the earth stands still. Today at least, this mountain village scarred by disaster can enjoy a quiet moment of peace and joy.

(APPLAUSE)

Atika Shubert, CNN, Aquasanta Terme, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Certainly one of our favorite stories following the earthquake in the devastated town of Amatrice. In offering of hope and comfort in the form of a meal, a team of volunteers prepared the town's famous signature pasta dish for people and homeless by the massive quake. Lunch was served during what would have been the town's annual pasta festival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:35:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These have to remind us of the past, but hopefully it will also lead us forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a great opportunity to try and defeat people's sadness against the earthquake. We will eat and we will drink, and only later will we start to rebuild.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: As people make plans to recover and rebuild, recovery crews are still going through the rubble. And look what they found -- an animal rescue squad was able to save a tortoise from a damage house and hand it over to the pet's owner.

Let's hear it for the shell.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh yes. Do it every single time.

ALLEN: Hid under, yes.

Pedram is here because he's had his eye on a typhoon that is threatening Japan. It's called Lionrock.

(WEATHER SPORT)

ALLEN: A crew of scientists have returned to civilization after learning what it's like to live on Mars.

Oh, they didn't live on Mars, but something kind of like that. We'll tell you what they discovered coming next here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Six scientists have returned to civilization after living in a Mars simulation habitat for one year on a Hawaiian volcano. How about that one? Volunteers from France, Germany, and the U.S. lived in an isolated dome set in a Mars-like environment about 2500 meters above sea level. They only ventured out for simulated space walks draft in mock space suits. The research is meant to help create guidelines for future missions to Mars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE HEINICKE, GERMAN HI-SEAS CREW MEMBER: Showing that it works, you can actually get water from the ground that is seemingly dry. It would work on mars and the implication is that you would be able to get water on mars from this little greenhouse construction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can give you my personal impression, which is that a mission from Mars (INAUDIBLE) is realistic. I think technological and psychological cycles can be overcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The mission was the fourth and longest in the Hawaii space exploration analog and simulation project also known as High-Seas.

The biggest names in music descended on New York City Sunday night for the 2016 MTV VMAs, the Video Music Awards, and as always the show was all about the performances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE SINGING

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Beyonce stole the show with a jaw-dropping 16-minute performance. The pop superstar also took home the award for best female video of the year.

Britney Spears made a successful comeback hitting the stage for the first time since 2007. She was criticized back then for a lackluster performance.

And taking home the moon man for the biggest award of the night, video of the year was none other than the star of the evening, Bey, Beyonce, Bee, whatever you want to call her. She's a superstar.

And that is CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Natalie Allen.

"World Sport" is next. And I'll be back with another hour of news in about 20 minutes. See you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)