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Colombian Voters Narrowly Reject Agreement with FARC Rebels; Taliban Launch coordinated Attack on Kunduz; "NY Times" Releases Trump's 1995 Tax Return; "NY Times" Reporter Defends Work on Trump Tax Returns; Hurricane Matthews Barrels Towards Jamaica, Haiti. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 3, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


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[02:00:44] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers all across the globe. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.

A surprise outcome to Colombia's vote on a peace deal with FARC rebels has left the country's fate uncertain. The pack took years to come together and would have ended decades of conflict.

CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the impact of this vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The final result goes against all polls and expectations. The peace agreement between the government and revolutionary armed forces of Colombia, known as FARC, were rejected by Colombian voters by less than 1 percentage point.

The opposition to the deal led by the formal president was fierce and vocal. Why, the former president questioned, they choose to simplify 297-page peace agreement by turning it into one single question.

Colombian voters could only say yes or no to the peace agreement in the referendum despite controversy over specifics, like a lack of jail terms for rebels.

The vote was also seen as a referendum on this, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos the main proponent of the agreement.

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The bilateral and definitive cease fire and end of hostilities are still in effect. I have heard those who said no and I have heard those who said yes. Everybody, everybody, without exception, wants peace.

ROMO (on camera): These people behind me come from different parts of Colombia to come and say, no, to the peace agreement. Their point is that they're not willing to forgive a terrorist group, as they call the FARC, that has killed people and raped people.

(voice-over): There were multiple protests against the peace agreement leading up to the referendum. A few days ago, we ran up to the group demonstrating.

(SHOUTING)

ROMO: Protesters say a peace agreement without real justice will never last. With this result, they say the government has the mandate from the people to renegotiate with the rebels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're convinced that this peace agreement is not going to bring peace. We're convinced it's going to bring more war to Colombia, because unjustice brings more war. The only thing we want is justice that. It's all we're asking for is justice.

ROMO: No ones return to fights, after four years of negotiations what happens next is, again, an open question.

Rafael Como, CNN, Colombia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And earlier, we heard from CNN Espanol senior anchor, Patricia Janoit, about how people are reacting to the out come of this vote.

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PATRICIA JANIOT, CNN ESPANOL SENIOR ANCHOR: Many people are happy to embrace because they say this is going to allow to adjust what was wrong in the agreement that was signed this week. So everybody is agreeing they don't want any more war and they're celebrating the government and the gorillas are committed to being in a peace deal, in a cease fire, and that's going to be like that hopefully until they get together again in the negotiating table.

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CHURCH: Virginia M. Bouvier joins us now via Skype. She is a senior adviser for Latin-America programs for the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Of course, this was a surprise out come, wasn't it, Colombians voting no for a peace deal, why did they reject this deal.

VIRGINIA BOUVIER, SENIOR ADVISER, LATIN-AMERICA PROGRAMS, THE U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: Well, I think there were a number of things. I think they were rejecting, in fact the, peace deal not the peace. I think there is a strong consensus that Colombians do want peace, they were not happy with the deal that had been struck in Havana. I think a large part of it, it was a technical deal. It was 297-page document that had some very sophisticated new concepts of how to deal with the justice issue, in particular. People in the "no" vote really reduced the justice issue to a question of, will the FARC go to jail or not and will they end up in Congress after they had done all of these horrible things. That really went to the heart of the emotional quality of the discussions around peace versus justice. [02:05:31] CHURCH: But it was voted -- there was no vote. But the

reaction from Colombia FARC rebels, despite that no vote was regret, but they said they would maintain the will of peace and continue using words as weapon rather than violence. So where do they go from here? Is there a do-over, is there an opportunity for that? But, at least, the rebels are indicating, at this point, and they have said that they would follow this path of peace, so what is the next step here?

BOUVIER: I think that's what will happen. There is a path of peace. President Santos spoke to the public tonight and he said, speaking of president of all of the people who voted, those who voted for the yes and those who voted for the no, he recognized this went into the vote. This was a democratic process and the "no" vote won by a slight margin. He maintained that he would be convening all of the political sectors to have a dialogue to engage in a dialogue and he would be sending his negotiators back to Havana to discuss the results of that dialogue and see where they could go from that.

I think it's, you know, interesting because this is a rejection of the accord, but the accord is a piece of paper that needs to be implemented. And I think this is a really important point. Trying to implement something when you have more than half the population against it is difficult. It's difficult to implement in the best of conditions when you have political will on both sides. But you had some 37 percent of the eligible population voting, and of that half favored the project. So I think there really is -- there's been deep division, deep polarization, and I think this may be putting the best light on it. I think this gives an option to go back to the drawing board and see what can be tweaked to make this really work for the entire population.

CHURCH: Virginia, thank you so much for joining us. We do appreciate it.

BOUVIER: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: A battle is underway in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. The Taliban launched an attack from four different directions early Monday morning. Western officials said Afghan forces are mounting a counter offensive with the air force backing them.

Joining us now with the latest on the Taliban attack, is senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson.

Ivan, what more are you learning about this Taliban attack on Kunduz?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The heavy fighting is underway as we speak according to eye witnesses we've spoken to in Kunduz. Witnesses describe an assault that began before dawn this morning. Both the Afghan spokesman and Taliban have given similar accounts of how the Taliban launched a four-prong assault towards Kunduz before dawn on Monday. And Afghan government officials are saying the battle is being fought from the ground and from the air. We have reports that the Afghan air force is using some of the helicopters from their fleet in this battle.

An eyewitness on the ground, an aide worker, sent us these photos of he described as empty streets as the gunfire continues.

We have to note it was a little bit more than a year ago that the Taliban captured Kunduz in a lightning assault that sent Afghan security forces running, routed them. As a result, a lot of civilians fled that city. The eyewitness telling us many returned as the city was quiet over the last year, and this assault has triggered another exodus of people fleeing for the hills trying to escape the Taliban, but the southern and western approaches to the city were already blocked off by the Taliban in this morning's assault.

A police spokesman we have talked to has vowed the city will not fall again in this assault, a year after the city was briefly captured.

The U.S. military is insisting that this is just sporadic fighting and that there is not a serious threat of Kunduz falling again. But part of the reason that this is so important is that the brief loss of the city by the Afghan government forces a year ago was seem to be as a very serious blow to morale to the Afghan government and the assurances that it can project, particularly, the cities, from the Taliban military -- Rosemary?

[02:10:14] CHURCH: Ivan keeping a very close watch on the battle and watching it from his vantage point in Hong Kong. Thanks to you, Ivan.

Realty TV star Kim Kardashian West was held up at gun point in Paris on Sunday. She's been overseas for Paris fashion week. A spokesman says masked men dressed as police officers confronted West. She says the star is badly shaken but physically unharmed.

Her husband, Rapper Kanye West was playing a concert in New York at the time.

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KANYE WEST, RAPPER: I'm sorry. Family emergency. I have to stop the show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: He abruptly left that show telling the crowd it was a family emergency. And we'll have more on this story later this hour.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is facing renewed criticisms over his finances. "The New York Times" received some of the billionaire's tax records from 1995 showing losses of $916 million. The reporter said the documents were mailed to her anonymously. CNN cannot independently confirm its authenticity. Losses that large could have legally exempted Trump for 18 years of federal income taxes. Two of the top campaign surrogates appeared on FOX News Sunday to defend their candidate.

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CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: There's no one who is shown more genius in their way to maneuver around the tax code as he rightfully used the laws to do that. RUDY GIULIANI, (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: The reality is he's a

genius. What he did was he took advantage of something that could save his enterprise, and he did something we admire in America, he came back. So I would rather have a genius like Donald Trump running this country than someone like Hillary Clinton. And all she seems to do is produce jobs for the FBI.

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CHURCH: Clinton's campaign jumped on the tax report, calling it a bomb shell. They blasted Trump in a statement saying, "Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars, a billion. He stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hardworking communities. And how did it work out for him? He apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades while tens of millions of working families paid theirs.

Well, former Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, says it's people like Trump that make the working class so angry.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So Trump goes around and says, hey, I'm worth billions, I'm a successful businessman, but I don't pay any taxes. But you, you make 15 bucks an hour, you pay the taxes, not me. That's why people are angry and want real change in this country.

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CHURCH: Trump's camp says "The New York Times" report this is proof of left-leaning media bias and his self-described business acumen. But the reporter who brought the story defended her work as good neutral reporting.

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SUSANNE CRAIG, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tax returns are hard to verify. There are only a few people that can verify on them. The signatures on it were Marla Maples, Donald Trump and Jock Nitmick (ph), his former accountant, and David Barsco (ph), my colleague, one of the reporters I worked with on this story, went down to see Jock and had a long discussion with Jock about the taxes. And Jock Nitmick (ph) said they're legitimate.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: In other words, when you see a story that's on the front page of the "Times", weeks of work had to go into checking this out. FOX had some doubts about your sources but they also said you're trying to take down Donald Trump. Is that what you're doing?

CRAIG: I think there's this topic of his running for president and whether or not he's paid taxes or not, it's an incredibly important issue. There is pressure on him to release his tax returns. I think it's called reporting. I mean, it's as simple as that.

STELTER: Do you think FOX doesn't understand that?

CRAIG: I guess they have an opinion. We think we're doing our jobs, and part of that is to look for things like Donald Trump's taxes and find out indications of whether he's paid taxes or not. I mean, it's an important issue and I think that's sort of what we do.

STELTER: There was a legal threat from the Trump organization before you published the story. I've been asking the Trump campaign this morning, if they are going to follow through, they haven't replied to those questions. Are you expecting legal action?

CRAIG: I don't know. I don't think it's a crime to check your mailbox and that's what we did, and then we did some reporting. We definitely -- they told us that they may sue and we were comfortable with the story and went ahead with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:15:05] CHURCH: And you can visit CNN.com/politics to read our six big questions on the fallout from those tax records, and all things politics.

The Philippines president is apologizing for comparing himself to Adolf Hitler. Rodrigo Duterte said some of his critics actually compared him to Hitler Friday in response to his war on drugs. But the president responded, "All right, I'm Duterte. I am a killer." He now says he never meant to offend the Jewish community with the Hitler reference.

Hurricane Matthew is battling Jamaica with heavy rain and flooding. And several more countries may get hit. We'll have forecasts.

Plus, the U.S. sought to end a losing streak at golf's Ryder Cup on Sunday, and they did. We'll have interviews with the winning Team. That's coming your way. Stay with us.

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[02:19:51] CHURCH: Hurricane Matthew is bearing down on Jamaica and Haiti. The category 4 storm is expected to make landfall in the coming hours and has already caused flooding. U.S. forecasters say some areas could get as much as a meter of rain. People have been being urged to evacuate parts of Jamaica, but some are staying put.

Here is what they told CNN's Michael Holmes on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm from here. I feel safer here. So I'll die here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not afraid. I trust in God. MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you staying here as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

HOLMES: You're not going to evacuate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I'm staying here. I'm not going to leave.

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CHURCH: In Haiti, there are fears Matthew could pummel the already weak infrastructure there. The country is still recovering from the devastating earthquake in 2010.

I spoke earlier about the conditions there with the International Red Cross representative for Haiti, Ines Brill.

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INES BRILL, HAITI REPRESENTATIVE, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: Almost 326,00 people are in areas that are expected to be affected by this hurricane, so we, the government today, we had a press conference and the information to the people that will assure while focused on prevention, the government emphasized the nature of the areas (INAUDIBLE). Given the amount of rainfall and the consequences. Supplies have been deployed to provide for in terms of devastation to citizen regarding stopping the water and also on the class of the hurricane. And Red Cross has regional and localized have been put to make volunteers available to support Red Cross.

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CHURCH: Let's get the latest on the storms tract.

Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now.

Derek, talk to us about where the worst areas might be.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We've got Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. First, I want to show you this image from inside a C130 airplane. These are the evacuations of spouses and children of some of the U.S. Navy personnel that are based in and Cuba, which, of course, I just mentioned, still in the path of Hurricane Matthew. This is the latest from the 2:00 a.m. National Hurricane Center Update, still a category four, 215 kilometer per hour sustained winds.

Here is the latest. We have hurricane warnings for all of Haiti, all of Jamaica, eastern Cuba and much of the Bahamas islands as well as the Turks and Cacaos. Going forward, the concerns here will be the strong hurricane force winds impacting the extreme western sections of Haiti by over night Monday and into early Tuesday morning. Going forward from there, you can see on the eastern sections by Tuesday afternoon and evening experiencing the strong hurricane forced winds and then the storms the other concern here is storm surge, specifically across the south facing shores of Haiti. We could experience between 2 to 3.5 meters above the average tied across that region and the extremely heavy rain fall totaling in excess of 500 millimeters in some of the mountainous regions across the southern sections of Haiti and into portions of Cuba as well.

Here is the forecast path going forward over the next five days. As it reaches the Bahamas and further than that we have to monitor the situation very closely for threats to the east coast of the U.S. Still a little too early to say what certainty what will happen.

We have 1,500 kilometers that separate Hurricane Matthew from another major storm across the Western Pacific. And typhoon is currently threatening the islands in southern Japan. Take a look at this well- defined eye wall, 230 kilometers per hour. That's going to path just south of Okinawa, but do expect deteriorating conditions for that region as well as parts of Japan and South Korea going forward -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: Derek, thanks so much for keeping us abreast of all of that.

VAN DAM: Absolutely.

CHURCH: Appreciate it. And we'll talk again next hour.

VAN DAM: All right.

CHURCH: Hungarians have voted overwhelmingly to reject a European Union plan to resettle refugees. The voter turn out was too low to make Sunday's referendum legally binding. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban campaigned for voters to reject the plan. He says the E.U. should consider what he calls outstanding referendum results.

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VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): Brussels will have to make an important decision, now it is their turn to make an important decision, the E.U. is a Democratic community today and 92 percent of those taking part in the referendum have stated that they did not agree with the intentions of Brussels.

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[02:25:13] CHURCH: Orban says that the E.U. cannot force migration policy on the country.

In Germany, several hundred demonstrators marched through the city of Dresden Sunday. They were protesting a planned demonstration by an anti-Islam movement set for Monday, which is German Unity Day. The holiday marks 26 years since German unification. Social tensions have increased due to the influx of almost a million migrants last year. The city is tightening security for Unity Day celebrations.

Kanye West cut short a concert for a family emergency. We'll get a live report from Paris where new details are emerging about the robbery of Kim Kardashian West.

Plus, the U.K. has announced a timeline for leaving the European Union. Some details on how the British prime minister plans to untangle the country's 40-year relationship with the E.U. We're back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: A warm welcome back. I'm Rosemary Church.

I want to update you on the main stories we're following this hour.

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[02:30:32] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A spokeswoman for Kim Kardashian West says the reality TV star was held up at gun point in Paris Sunday.

CNN senior international correspondent, Jim Bittermann, joins us from Paris with the latest.

Jim, we know Kim Kardashian is shaken but not hurt. What more are you learning about what happened here?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not a lot of information, but some things are trickling out. According to the interior ministry, about five gunmen came to where Kardashian is staying, an apartment residence known for housing a lot of stars when they come to town. It has a concierge. Apparently, they threatened the concierge and went to her room, tied her up, according to reports, and, in fact, stole jewelry worth up to perhaps $10 million. She said that, according to the police reports, any way, among other things that were stolen, was a ring that alone was worth about $4 million and some other jewelry in her jewelry box. No one was hurt in this. She was tied up during the episode. And according to her spokesman, she's shaken but not injured.

So it was a close call, I think, as far as everyone was concerned but, apparently, it's over now. And police are investigating, trying to find out exactly who was responsible. Clearly, it was someone who was very clued in on her whereabouts.

CHURCH: And, Jim, earlier, we had heard reports that this was a hotel. And now, as you say, it's an apartment residence that's used to having stars of this stature stay there. There was only a concierge there. Was that all there was in terms of security? That seems extraordinary.

BITTERMANN: As far as we know, except that we also heard, according to reports, that she had her own personal body guards with her. This is not unusual in Paris. They have this confusion between hotel, because French use the term "hotel particular," which means a kind of freestanding house or a mansion of some sort. It doesn't necessarily mean a hotel as such. So, in fact, it was not one of the named hotels in town. But it is a place that's pretty well-known to Hollywood stars who come and want to stay in Paris.

CHURCH: Some might rethink that.

Jim Bittermann, reporting there from Paris. Thanks to you.

Britain's exit from the European Union could happen in 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May laid out a timeline for the process on Sunday for the first time since the Brexit vote in June.

Our London correspondent, Max Foster, has details.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Brexit means Brexit. That's all we've really understand about Theresa May's plan for getting Britain out of the European Union. We weren't sure how committed she was to the process at all. Today, we had some clarity on that. So Britain will be leaving the European Union, and the process to start that so-called Article 50 will be invoked at the end of March, which means Britain will leave the European Union by the end of the decade.

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THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It was right to wait before triggering Article 50. But it is also right that we should not let things drag on too long. Having voted to leave, I know that the public will soon expect to see on the horizon the point at which Britain does formally leave the European Union. So let me be absolutely clear. There will be no unnecessary delays in invoking Article 50. We will invoke it when we are ready, and we will be ready soon. We will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: When it comes to it, untangling Britain's relationship with the E.U. will be horribly complicated. Not least, all of those E.U. laws that currently apply in the U.K. Theresa May shed some light on how she sees that happening. And effectively, E.U. law applied to the U.K. will be enshrined in U.K. law. After that, the British parliament will have to decide for itself which bits it wants to get rid of and which bits to keep. That's complicated in itself. Before that, she's got all the negotiation as well with the European Union. It's going to be very tough, indeed. Effectively, she said she can't tell us much more because she wants a negotiating position and saying too much now will give that away. So there will be no running commentary on how she's going to handle these negotiations, but she has at least shed some light on how she plans to go into them.

Max Foster, CNN, Birmingham.

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[02:35:23] CHURCH: The U.S. has won the golf Ryder Cup. It's the first win since 2008. Ryan Moore clinched the victory on Sunday coming from a losing position. The final score 17-11. It was a sweet victory for U.S. Captain Davis Love III. He was at the help when and Europe fought back to win the Ryder Cup in 2012.

Here is the celebration after the U.S. victory. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's "World Sport's" Patrick Snell, caught up with Team USA after the victory.

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PATRICK REED, U.S. GOLFER: It's amazing. It's a dream come true. First Ryder Cup I went out and felt like I was amazing. I got three- and-a-half points for the team. It felt so empty because I didn't win the team. You know, premier play for them to put me out first to go and, you know, go in and, you know, get the point and get the momentum for the team and watch the team play it hard like that and it means everything. Can't wait to go back support and, you know, celebrate.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: How does the crowd energize you? How do you feed off of them?

REED: It's easy. Listen to them now. That's how it was all week. Whether they had a good shot or bad shop, they're trying to pick up your team. It's awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. GOLFER: It's very satisfying. Captain took advice and listened and asked all the questions to us and sort of good leader to us. Asked smart questions, gets all the information, and puts a plan together just like -- just like you're supposed to.

SNELL: It's been a fabulous year for you personally. What are you most proud of for this Ryder Cup win for the American team?

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. GOLFER: We had a lot of pressure on us and we came through when we need to. Hats off to the other guys, they put on a great show and we put on a good show. It was a great week.

RYAN MOORE, U.S. GOLFER: It's incredible. I have no words to describe it. I have not been able to digest what's happened in the last week. It's been incredible to go where it feels like a month at this point and it's only been seven days. I can't be more proud to play with these guys, to play for these guys. They're amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We'll take a short break. But still to come, Syrian rebels in Aleppo are fighting for the bombed out city of is intensifying. The message the army is now sending to the rebels. We're back with that.

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[02:41:31] CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. There's been another violent incident in the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Let's turn to New Delhi bureau chief, Ravi Agrawal, who has just

joined us live.

Ravi, let's talk about the situation there. It has been quiet for a while. What was the trigger here?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Rosemary. The trigger was, Sunday night into Monday morning, India time, a number of militants attacked an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir. It was a town called Baramula (ph). This is a town that's been relatively peaceful over the last few years according to India's border security force. The militants approached the camp, they shot they were firing. It does not know if the militants were killed or if they escaped. And on the Indian side, one soldier was killed and another seriously wounded. Now, India has not pointed a finger yet. It has also not pointed the finger yet at Pakistan.

And this all comes amidst a backdrop of heightened tensions just on Thursday when India launched what has called surgical strikes across the line of control, the border between Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. And India says that these surgical strikes targeted what it called terrorists bases on the other side of the border and that they killed a number of militants that day. Pakistan has completely denied this version of events saying, instead, there were no terrorist bases on its side, and two of its soldiers were killed.

So, Rosemary, a lot of "he said, she said" right now between India and Pakistan that has ratcheted up tensions. Remember, these are two countries that have been to war twice before over this land, over Kashmir. And once more, in 1999, they came close to war, and this was after they were both nuclear armed. So tensions very high right now.

CHURCH: They certainly are. We have learned that India has relocated 10,000 or so people until this settles down. How long might that take?

AGRAWAL: We don't know right now. This isn't the first time there have been tensions between the two countries in this part of Kashmir. And this isn't the first time India has launched surgical strikes. What is different this time, in the last 10 years, is that India is openly declaring that it has launched strikes on Pakistan and, hence, a clear ratcheting up of tensions. And also an assumption on both sides that the hostilities, whether between India and Pakistan or proxies for them both, that these hostilities may continue for a while.

We're likely to see more such skirmishes over the coming days. Perhaps that's the reason why India is trying to move as many people out of those portions as possible -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Ravi Agrawal joining us there live from New Delhi. 14 minutes passed noon there. Thanks to you for bringing us up to date on the situation.

Syrian government forces are gaining ground in their effort to retake Aleppo from rebel groups. More air strikes pounded the city, hitting a civilian hospital Sunday. As of now, there's only one fully functioning hospital in Aleppo. The health system is on the verge of total collapse. The Syrian army is urging the rebels to leave promising safe passage.

Our Nic Robertson joins us now with the latest.

Nic, what more are you learning about this and how will the rebels likely respond to the Syrian government's offer of passage if they lay down their arms and leave?

[02:45:24] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, certainly it's not clear at the moment what mechanism is being made available to them for them to leave. That hasn't been articulated publicly by the Syria government so it's hard to see how any armed group that has been fighting the Syrian government for five years, and completely mistrusts them, would begin a retreat. If that's going to happen, I don't think it's anywhere near this time, certainly, absolutely no indication of anyone taking up that offer.

What we're hearing from the U.N., as you were saying, 275,000 people living in that rebel controlled eastern part of Aleppo. The U.N. deeply alarmed. Not just the medical facilities are being targeted, but the water is cut off there, the water pumping station has been hit. Fuel is in short supply. Food is in short supply. So real concerns from the U.N. about the situation there.

The Syrian government has been making gains in the northern part of that area of rebel-controlled Aleppo. They're taking control of the hospital. And that has put the rebel forces at a more strategic weakness, if you will. They've used up arms and ammunition in fighting off the government forces. And the ground that the government forces has taken gives better control over the area that would have been used as one of the routes, previously one of the routes to resupply in and out of eastern Aleppo. So the situation there, according to the U.N., there is no clear indication at all how the Syrian government would administer this -- allow for a rebel withdrawal, and absolutely no indication this is going to be taken up any time in the future.

The real concern is that the medical facilities are being targeted. We've heard about another medical facility targeted over night, this one in region. It was an under ground medical facility built in a cave that had been proof or had been safe from heavy bombardment in the past. They perform, they say, about 40 to 50 surgeries there a week. And now they say that they believe the bunker bombs are being used to target that medical facility. And this really adds up with that picture that we hear from the U.N. as we've seen over the years that it is the medical facilities that coming in for some of the hardest and hardest attacks, of course, breaking international laws and norms on warfare -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yeah, exactly.

Nic Robertson joining us there from Istanbul in Turkey. It is 9:47 in the morning. Many thanks to you, Nic. Coming up, "Saturday Night Live" returns for a new season, with fresh

jabs at the U.S. presidential race, starring Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump. Do stay with us. We'll have more on this.

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[02:52:07] (SINGING)

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CHURCH: Pink Floyd star Roger Waters is slamming U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump. It happened at a free concert in Mexico City on Sunday. Waters took on Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto as well, saying his policies have failed his people. 200,000 people were reportedly there seeing him play many of his iconic band's old hits, including several from the 1979 album "The Wall."

The satirical sketch comedy show, "Saturday Night Live," lifted the curtain on its 42nd season as the U.S. presidential race gets into its home stretch.

Jessica Schneider shows us its take on the most-watched presidential debate in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR & COMEDIAN: My microphone's broke.

(LAUGHTER)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alec Baldwin posing with a pout and planting on a toupee to channel Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I'm picking up somebody sniffing here.

(LAUGHTER)

Picking up sniffs. She's been sniffing all night. Testing. Testing.

SCHNEIDER: The 16-time record-holding "SNL" host taking over Trump for the new season. Baldwin bringing up Trump's Twitter triad.

BALDWIN: I'm going to set my alarm for 3:20 a.m.

(LAUGHTER)

And go sit on my golden toilet bowl and tweet about it until completion. (LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: Off-color remarks from last week's debate.

BALDWIN: We should be talking about the important issues like Rosie O'Donnell --

(LAUGHTER)

-- and how she's a fat loser.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: The election cycle long providing "SNL" with plenty of fodder for its comedy, from Tina Fey's Sarah Palin --

TINA FEY, COMEDIAN: And I can see Russia from my house.

SCHNEIDER: -- to Will Farrell as George W. Bush.

WILL FARRELL, COMEDIAN: Strategery.

(LAUGHTER)

KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN: Hey, Bartender, keep them coming.

(CHEERING)

SCHNEIDER: This season, Kate McKinnon will return to her role as Hillary Clinton to battle Baldwin's Trump.

MCKINNON: He hasn't released his tax returns, which means he's not that rich --

BALDWIN: Wrong.

MCKINNON: -- not that charitable --

BALDWIN: Wrong.

MCKINNON: -- or he's never paid taxes in his life.

BALDWIN: Wronger.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Secretary Clinton, what do you think about that?

MCKINNON: I think I'm going to be president.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: But it wasn't just Baldwin bearing the brunt of the ridiculed. McKinnon mocked relentless debate prep and ruthless presidential ambitions.

MCKINNON: Listen, America, I get it. You hate me. (LAUGHTER)

You hate my voice and you hate my face.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, here is a tip. If you never want to see my face again elect me president, and I swear to god, I will lock myself in the Oval Office and not come out for four years.

(LAUGHTER)

But if you don't elect me, I will continue to run for president until the day I die.

(LAUGHTER)

And I will never die.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: And McKinnon showcased Clinton's now signature shimmy.

(LAUGHTER)

[02:55:10] MCKINNON: Not a response, more of a request, can America vote right now?

SCHNEIDER: It wasn't just the candidates lampooned.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: We're getting acquainted.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: Just about everyone in the political realm this season took a hit, including Trump's three oldest children.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: What interesting and wonderful question, Steve. May I ask my brothers for help?

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: They're not here.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Yes, we are.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Yes, we are.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Who is this?

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: I'm Donald, Jr, the brains.

I'm Ivanka, the beauty.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: And I'm Eric.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: An unprecedented election cycle --

BALDWIN: It is over. Good night.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: -- sure to continue providing plenty of comedy on Saturday night.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Very clever there. Worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.

I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back after this short break with more of the world's biggest stories, including the surprise rejection of Colombia's peace deal with FARC rebels.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:13] CHURCH: Rejected. Colombia voters --