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Former Teacher: Car Attack Suspect "Infatuated with Nazis"; India & Pakistan Mark 70 Years of Independence; The Impact of Smartphones on Kids; North Korea Threat; Charlottesville Violence; Massive Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Sierra Leone. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 15, 2017 - 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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ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead this hour, the U.S. and North Korea are taking the wait-and-see approach. Kim Jong-un says he's watching the Yankees while the U.S. Defense Secretary says it's game on if Pyongyang attacks.

SESAY (voice-over): And the U.S. president denounces hate groups two days after the deadly violence in Charlottesville. Critics say it's too little and too late.

VAUSE (voice-over): Also ahead, smartphones producing dumbed-down kids.

Is the device meant to connect people actually driving them apart?

We'll take a look.

SESAY (voice-over): And welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE (voice-over): And I'm John Vause. The third hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

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VAUSE: America's top general is meeting with his Chinese counterpart this hour. That could be crucial in trying to diffuse an increasingly tense situation on the Korean Peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un essential threw the ball into the U.S. court on Tuesday. He expected plans to fire missiles into the waters of the U.S. territory of Guam.

SESAY: But according to state media, Kim said he's going to see what the, quote, "stupid and foolish Yankees" do before making a decision to launch those missiles.

(INAUDIBLE) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke with the U.S. president Donald Trump by phone Monday on the crisis and South Korea's president is vowing to do everything possible to prevent war on the peninsula.

Even as U.S. deputy secretary Jim Mattis warns it's game on if North Korea attacks.

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) coverage across this region. We have Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, South Korea; Ivan Watson is in Guam.

SESAY: Also joining us, Erin McLaughlin in Tokyo and David McKenzie in Hong Kong.

VAUSE: And we will start with Paula in Seoul.

It is fair to say, Paula, that the North Korean leader, did he blink first here?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, what he had said previously, was that he was to make sure that there was a plan to fire these four missiles into the waters off Guam and he had that plan. According to KCNA's statement media, pored over it for a long time with senior officials within North Korea.

And so what we're seeing now is him saying he is going to wait and see what the Americans do next. And it is somewhat a pullback from the tensions. We're seeing exactly the same from the U.S. side on well. On Monday, we had that op-ed form the secretary of state, the Secretary of Defense, saying that diplomacy and economic measures are the priority and that war is the last resort.

And on Monday evening you had the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Dunford here in Seoul, saying no one is looking for war.

And that's the crux here. Neither side wants to go to war. So no matter how harsh the rhetoric becomes, both side is very aware that there is a huge amount to lose if it does deteriorate in a security sense.

So what we're seeing really is what is going to happen next week, the North Koreans clearly pointing toward those U.S.-South Korean military drills that are planned for August 21st-31st, they're annual. The U.S. says they're defensive in nature. But North Korea quite simply does not see them that way.

Now the U.S. has said they will go ahead. So that is a potential of flare-up, option for tensions as well. But we have heard from the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, and he has said on this Liberation Day, the day where the North and South Koreans were liberated from Japanese occupation, a day that they both are united in celebrating, he said he will do everything he can to make sure there isn't a Second Korean War.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through translator): We urge North Korea to stop worsening the situation and immediately stop provocations and threatening behavior. There must be no more war on the Korean Peninsula. Whatever ups and downs we face, the North Korean nuclear situation

must be resolved peacefully. I am certain that the United States will respond to the current situation calmly and responsibly in a stance that is equal to ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So there is a sense of somewhat of a breather on the Korean Peninsula at this point, although tensions still very high. President Moon still insisting that he wants dialogue with North Korea and insisting that he believes that South Korea and the United States are still on the same page -- John.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you, Paula Hancocks live in Seoul -- Isha.

SESAY: Ivan Watson now, to you there in Guam.

What's the reaction among island residents to this more measured tone coming from the North Koreans and from the U.S.?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the lieutenant governor here, Isha, has interpreted this at a press conference he just gave, that the statements from the North Korean government that Paula was just talking about, he interpreted it as --

[02:05:00]

WATSON: -- an improvement in the atmosphere.

The government here, since the beginning of this war of words between Pyongyang and Washington a week ago, has not changed the threat level to this island and we have not heard of any changes coming from the military here, that the permanent military bases here as well.

For example, a spokesperson at Andersen Air Force Base says there has been no move to evacuate any of the family members of the more than 5,000 service men and women who are stationed here.

As for the general population, there are no signs of panic whatsoever but there is anxiety; after all these, people have heard their island singled out as a potential target by the North Koreans and their arsenal of ballistic missiles.

And one sign of that anxiety came overnight because there was an emergency message that went out over local television shortly after midnight that triggered some alarm among some residents. Since there was not immediately an explanation that this was a test.

Local authorities have since said that that was basically a human error. It was an unauthorized text message that has gone out and they're since are making sure that that kind of mistake does not happen again, that it does not alarm people without an explanation there.

So that gives you a sense of the concern among some people here. That does not seem to be affecting the tourists, though, who still seem to be arriving in droves from particularly two countries, Japan and South Korea, both also mentioned in the threatening statements in the most recent statement coming up from the North Korean (INAUDIBLE) targets the Japanese and South Korean tourists keep coming here in such numbers that all of the resort hotels that you see behind me that I am staying in are booked completely solid -- Isha.

SESAY: Ivan Watson, there with the update from Guam, appreciate it. Thank you.

VAUSE: A full house in Guam?

OK, we'll to Tokyo and now our Erin McLaughlin is there.

And Erin, Japan's government keeping close contact with the U.S., both sides agreeing that North Korea remains their number one security issue.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John, North Korea is certainly the main security threat facing Japan, at least that's the way Japanese officials see it. It was the top topic of conversation between President Trump as well as Japanese Shinzo Abe in a phone call that took place earlier today. Prime Minister Abe briefing reporters out on that call, saying that they both agreed that the most important thing right now it is preventing North Korean missile launch on Guam.

Take a listen to what else Prime Minister Abe had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINZO ABE, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN (through translator): The North Korean announcement that it will send ballistic missiles toward Guam has raised tensions in the region to levels unseen before.

Amid all this, I highly value President Trump's commitment to the security of its allies. Through our firm partnership between Japan and the U.S., and with cooperation from China, Russia and the international community, we agreed that our priority was to work to ensure North Korea doesn't launch more missiles.

We will also do our utmost to protect the lives of the people, whatever the situation, based on our strong U.S.-Japanese alliance, and with a high-level alert monitoring and missile defense system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: And while today marks a day liberation for the South Koreans, it's marks a day of defeat for Japan; 72 years since the end of World War II. Prime Minister Abe speaking at a ceremony here in Tokyo, saying that vowing not to repeat, quote, "the devastations of war and to, quote, "humbly face history," he pretty much says this kind of sentiment, John, every year to mark the end of World War II.

But it seem especially poignant today given the tensions in the region.

VAUSE: OK, Erin, thank you, Erin McLaughlin live in Tokyo -- Isha.

SESAY: To David McKenzie now in Beijing and, David, there's been the standard America's top general is meeting with his Chinese counterpart shortly.

What are the expectations of that meeting, especially in light of President Trump opening the door to a possible investigation into Chinese trade practices?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Isha, the Chinese, though they are saying they're expressing grave concern, the commerce ministry on the news that President Trump has launched this probe through his trade representative to possibly see whether they will investigate issues here in China with the intellectual property rights of U.S. companies and other issues, it certainly seems as a climbdown by many economists.

They believed there would be harsher measures brought the U.S. --

[02:10:00]

MCKENZIE: -- toward China. So there will be a sigh of relief in China and, as you say, that top general, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is heading to Beijing, in Beijing, in fact, at the moment, will be having meetings with his Chinese counterpart.

You know, these meetings generally that are not necessarily release a great deal of information about them but, of course, when the world's superpower, the U.S., meets with China on a military basis, it's always important but worth mentioning, these meetings were scheduled before this recent rise in tension with North Korea, on the Korean issue.

But in general, we're seeing in the region an attempt, I think, to ease the tension that has been building since last week on the North Korea nuclear program. I am sure again that will be a aim of the Chinese at least today in Beijing.

SESAY: All right, David McKenzie, joining us there from Hong Kong, not Beijing. To David McKenzie, we appreciate it. Thank you.

VAUSE: The U.S. President Donald Trump is now back New York, greeted by crowds of protesters outside Trump Tower. They're angry about what they see as his tepid response to the white supremacist rally in Virginia at the weekend and the death of a counter protester who was struck by a car.

SESAY: The president initially condemned violence on many sides but did not specifically call out neo-Nazis or the KKK. On Monday, take two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Joining us now, political commentator and Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican consultant John Thomas.

VAUSE: Also with us here in Los Angeles, entertainment journalist and social commentator Segun Oduolowu.

So, Segun, we will like to start with you. The president's speech on Monday came two days late. He insisted on talking about the economy first. He then move on to the investigation by the Department of Justice. He spent less than 20 seconds of a five-minute-long speech specifically calling out the hate groups by name.

Better late than never?

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: There's nothing that this president now can say to me and I think to a lot of African Americans, two days late, five days late, a week late or even after it happened that would ever get us to think that he has done the right thing.

This is a man that will go on Twitter and lash out within 30 seconds if someone says something about him and you had people dying in a college town, where someone decided to drive a car and run over protesters and his mealy-mouthed, weak, wishy-washy first response -- I mean, Pence gave a better response out of country and he, President Trump, couldn't even denounce Nazis.

When you see the Nazi flag being waved right alongside the Confederate flag, when a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, is telling you that they not only voted for them but they support what his agenda is, and now you want to disassociate yourself two days later from the people that are telling everyone that they put him in office, I find it not only repugnant, to use Trump's words, but if I am really going to go over the top, I find it to be a punk move. I expect more from my president. I don't aim to be moral authority. But, please, Nazis?

Nazis right next to the Confederate flag and you are telling me two days later, did he get permission from Bannon?

Is that what happened?

Did Bannon tell him it was OK for him to now speak up and denounce racists that commit violence?

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: John, let me go to you as our resident Republican on this matter. Listen, someone go as far to call this a debacle for the president, the way this all played out, the way it was handled. He made the statement on Monday after a host of Republicans came out and criticized the lack of naming these groups and talk about many sides.

Is this a debacle, that the president alone owns?

Or is this something that the Republican Party is going to have to deal with as well down the line?

JOHN THOMAS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the answer is yes and yes because the president represents the party, whether the party likes it or not and so, you know, the party I think was very quick. If you look at every leader of the party, except for Donald Trump, they were very quick that night to denounce white nationalism, Nazism, et cetera. The president certainly made a mistake here. I liked the tone that he struck today. I just wish it had been 48 hours ago.

VAUSE: Unfortunately, before he struck that tone, the president went after the head of Merck Pharmaceuticals, Kenneth Frazier, quit a presidential business panel in protest of what the president did on Sunday and then Donald Trump tweeted this.

"Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"

A day that took the president 54 minutes to condemn Frazier, who is one of the top African American executives in the U.S.

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: And you've got a president who skewers his attorney general, the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, number of other Republicans --

[02:15:00]

JACOBSON: -- and yet he was completely tone deaf in condemning neo- Nazi, white supremacists --

VAUSE: -- Meryl Streep --

JACOBSON: -- right, the damage has been done and all the Republican members who are running for reelection in the House or for the Senate, they're riding the president's coattails, whether they like it or not. And ultimately this is going to trickle down ballot impact in --

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Well, this is also a symptom of low presidential approval numbers, one thing we know about business leaders, forget the color of your skin, is they do not like controversy. They don't want to be associated with a controversial figure, certainly when they have low approval ratings.

So it's not surprising to see several people follow right after the Merck --

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBSON: And here's the thing, if I can jump in real quick, Donald Trump's response today was followed by Richard Spencer, the leader of the alt-right, who said, "This is Kumbaya nonsense and only a dumb person would believe what the president said."

That is the message of the alt-right and the neo-Nazi movement is taking from President Trump saying.

SESAY: Segun, to go to you, as you heard John and Dave make the point, we've seen these CEOs drop off the president's council, the manufacturing council. We know that Merck did this intel. He has just announced he's stepping away. The CEO of Under Armour saying the same thing and he tweeted this, let me read it to you.

"I love our country & company. I am stepping down from the council to focus on inspiring & uniting through power of sport."

Let me ask you this, Segun, how much comfort do people, do minority communities take from seeing these CEOs walk away from the president?

ODUOLOWU: Well, I think that they should not take much comfort at all because this feels like fake outreach to me. You knew what this man was when you supported him. You knew what this man was. He entered politics by denouncing the first African American president and asking for his birth certificate.

Then he attacked a woman running for president and denounced women and called them all types of sexist names. So this is par for the course. I don't expect much from this president but I would ask John this, as a Republican, when you have basically sold your soul to the alt-right, to people who are marching the streets of a college town, an institution for higher learning, where slaves actually built that university, when they are marching and you own the presidency, you pretty much own the judiciary, you own most of the elected officials and the government, what country were they -- are they losing?

They are the GOP right now. They are the GOP.

(CROSSTALK)

ODUOLOWU: You're in bed with the enemy, John. So please, I love you, brother, but --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: John.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Segun.

First of all, it is fairly offensive for you to say that I sold my soul to back Donald Trump, to think that the alt-right is representative of the conservative Republican movement, is ridiculous. Donald Trump captured the lower -- Donald Trump captured a lower percentage of the white vote than Mitt Romney. He captured a larger percentage of the African American, the Latino vote and the minority vote than Mitt Romney.

So you tell me, Segun.

Is it the alt-right that put Donald Trump in office?

It's not. They're a fringe group. The president did make a mistake on Saturday. He should have condemned them immediately. But he's rectified that today.

ODUOLOWU: But, John, which mistaken are we going to go, the mistake that he tried to rectify today or when he was caught on the "Access Hollywood" cameras? Or when he was caught talking about the Miss Universe contestants?

Or when he kept going after the different people in your own party, when they were debating him, small hands and talking about their wives, which mistake are we going to finally give a pass on?

And when you have an alt-right leader as a advisor to the president, please don't tell me that you all are not in bed with the alt-right really heavy when David Duke, on national cameras are telling you who they voted and who they support.

VAUSE: Quickly, John.

PHILLIPS: Donald Trump has disavowed David Duke numerous times. And Steve Bannon's not a leader of the alt-right movement --

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: -- he didn't disavow the support today when he spoke up. He named the groups. There's no doubt about that. But again the point has been made for a president who tends to personalize a lot, he had a moment to stand up and say, I don't want your support. I stand with all of American.

But he didn't.

Why?

PHILLIPS: He's done that numerous times --

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: -- when it was needed, when the country was looking to him?

PHILLIPS: Well, I think the president is believing that you do not need to elevate these people by continuing to name a know -- look, he's -- David Duke is nothing.

SESAY: He was already naming them. So why not go the step of saying I do not want your support if it wasn't a political calculation, as some people fear?

PHILLIPS: But he's gone through in the past, in numerous times and disavowed David Duke and called him fringe and called him crazy. You are just looking for the president to repeat himself. And perhaps he --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: -- can you denounce these groups too much?

JACOBSON: No, not at all. Are you kidding me?

The Nazis slaughtered millions of Jews.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBSON: The KKK wants to annihilate African Americans. The reality is, look, it is a -- it's a pure political calculus. We're talking about --

[02:20:00]

JACOBSON: -- a president, who, according to Gallup today, put out a poll that is a 34 percent approval rating. That's a historic low for a modern-day American president.

And the reality is, Donald Trump needs these supporters. He's got nothing left to lose.

What, is he going to be in the anyone in the 20s after that? Then we're looking at real impeachment, even among Republicans.

VAUSE: Steve Bannon, senior editor of the Breitbart website, he proudly declared that a platform for the alt-right, John, and many people say if Donald Trump is genuine about what he says, Steve Bannon has to go.

But he's not going to go, is he?

PHILLIPS: Oh, he's going.

VAUSE: He's going?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

VAUSE: When?

PHILLIPS: I'm going to say tomorrow.

SESAY: So we can write that down?

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: You heard it here.

VAUSE: We'll leave it at that.

SESAY: CNNNewsroomLA.

VAUSE: John and Dave, thank you.

And Segun, you want one last word?

ODUOLOWU: Yes, put your name to that, John. If you're going to go Miss Cleo and predict that Bannon is going, I want you to put your name to that. (CROSSTALK)

SESAY: Thank you.

Don't you have to be wearing hoop earrings to be Miss Cleo or bangles or...?

VAUSE: Yes. Absolutely. I don't want to waste anything.

Time for a short break here on NEWSROOM L.A. When we come back we'll have more on the man who's accused of that car attack in Charlottesville. We are learning about his fascination with Nazis.

SESAY: Plus massive mudslides taking hundreds of live in Sierra Leone. The latest on the conditions just ahead and a live report.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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VAUSE: Streets are on fire in Sierra Leone's capital are flowing with mud after massive mudslides which buried hundreds of people as they slept. The Red Cross says more than 200 people are dead and hundreds more are missing.

SESSIONS: And they expect that death tolls to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. Heavy rain triggered these devastated mudslides. The pictures are just awful. Sierra Leone has seen triple the average amount of rain this season. CNN's Farai Sevenzo joins us now from Nairobi, Kenya.

Farai, thank you so much for joining us.

What are you wearing right now about the search and rescue efforts?

And what are you hearing in terms of current numbers of dead and missing?

Have they changed since they were last put out a couple of hours ago?

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, we're still hearing the figure, Isha, of around 212 bodies recovered. But don't forget, this torrential rain came down Mount Sugar Loaf and Sugar Loaf Mountain is (INAUDIBLE) highest mount in the Freetown peninsula and Freetown, as you know, is perfectly on the coast of this West African country.

And the amount of rain simply washed in when people were sleeping and took people perhaps a mile down, because this is also sitting in a valley.

So the rain just kept coming down and cascading down and people were just (INAUDIBLE) unaware of what was coming their way.

And the police operations and the soldiers have been trying to help people out. And the rescue operation, to put it no finer point on the head of the Red Cross, Abuba Katawawale (ph), told us just a few moments ago that they only had two diggers to excavate people from this place.

So the rescue operation is in a great deal of --

[02:25:00]

SEVENZO: -- need for more equipment, for more people; otherwise people are simply scrubbing with their hands and, of course, the mud is not at all safe and they could also be sucked in.

So it's a dire situation there -- Isha.

SESAY: It really is. I spent my childhood in Sierra Leone. My family is in Sierra Leone.

Help our viewers understand the areas that were impacted. You talked about Mount Sugar Loaf, the highest peak in Sierra Leone. We know that these are desperately poor communities. A lot of these places are informal settlements that just sprung up after the war.

Talk to us about the areas a little bit more and the infrastructure.

SEVENZO: You're absolutely right. Again the Red Cross who was in Freetown, told me just now a few minutes ago that the regions in the area was established just 10 years ago. In August it was peace and renewed confidence in Sierra Leone. People had been settling in and sometimes planning commission wasn't stalled and instructions were built. But nobody even thought about, I don't know whether it's global warming or just the torrential rains.

Also we're hearing that Bo, the second city of Sierra Leone, also experienced heavy rain overnight. But that's (INAUDIBLE) kind of terrain.

So at the moment, these new areas are the ones that are suffering the most. And if you think about it, (INAUDIBLE) secure and maybe not so much cement has been used.

Of course, such kind of rain is going to have a terrible impact -- Isha.

SESAY: Yes, Farai Sevenzo joining us there from Nairobi, Kenya, Farai, we appreciate it. Our thoughts and prayers are with every single person in Freetown in Sierra Leone at this very, very terrible time. Thank you.

VAUSE: Police says the suspect arrested in a plot to blow up a bank in Oklahoma was out for blood; 23-year-old Jerry Varnell was arrested Saturday as he allegedly tried to detonate what he thought was a van full explosives outside this bank in Oklahoma City.

The FBI has been investigating him. They say he has an antigovernment ideology. SESAY: Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to

destroy a building. If convicted, he could face 20 years in prison. Officials say the foiled attack echoes the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people.

VAUSE: Time for a quick break. "STATE OF AMERICA" with Kate Bolduan is coming up next for our viewers in Asia.

SESAY: For everyone, the man suspected as a driver in the car attack in Virginia is said to be fond of Hitler. How likely that he'll be charged with a hate crime. I'll ask our legal analysts -- next.

VAUSE: Also, marking the anniversary of independence: the legacy, the end of colonialism brought to India and Pakistan.

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[02:30:13] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour --

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: The man accused of the car attack in Virginia is said to have been fascinated with Nazis and white supremacists. He is suspected of plowing a car into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally in the city of Charlottesville.

SESAY: The 32-year-old woman was killed in the attack.

Our Brian Todd has more from Charlottesville.

And we must warn you, the report has some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boiling tensions outside the courthouse in Charlottesville as the man suspected of driving his car into a crowd of protesters after a white supremacist rally was charged with second-degree murder.

Inside court, James Fields, the 20-year-old suspect, appeared by video link, now held without bond on multiple charges. Authorities say he rammed his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of people, killing a 32-year- old woman, injuring 19 others.

CNN has learned Fields recently moved to this apartment complex in Ohio. He told the judge he works at a security firm, makes $650 every two weeks and could not afford a lawyer.

A picture now emerging of a troubled young man with strong white supremacist views, according to those who knew him.

DEREK WEIMER, FORMER TEACHER OF JAMES FIELDS (via telephone): He has some very radical views on race. He was very infatuated with the Nazis and Adolph Hitler. He was also, huge military history, especially with German military history, World War II. But he was pretty infatuated with that stuff.

SAMANTHA BLOOM, MOTHER OF JAMES FIELDS: He didn't mention the Alt- Right.

TODD: Fields' mother said she knew her son was traveling to Virginia, but was unclear on the reason.

BLOOM: I don't know. I thought it had something to do with Trump.

TODD: Fields enlisted in the Army in August 2015, according to documents obtained by CNN. He reported for basic training but was soon released from active duty, quote, "Due to a failure to meet training standards in December 2015. As a result, he was never awarded a military occupational skill, nor was he assigned to unit outside of basic training."

(CHANTING)

TODD: A motive isn't yet clear, but according to a Justice Department official close to the investigation, federal investigators may have gathered enough evidence to suspect the accused driver wanted to send a message.

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: He does meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our statutes. You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation towards the most serious charges that can be brought because this is an unequivocally unacceptable and evil attack that cannot be accepted in America.

TODD: And according to a Justice Department source, investigators are looking into whether Fields may not have acted alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: The thing they will look at is not just who was driving the car, but who was helping that person, who was an accomplice to this, who was behind this. it will be a wide-scope investigation, as it should be.

TODD (on camera): Even though he said he could not afford a lawyer, the charge said he could not appoint a public defender for James Fields because, the judge said, someone in the public defender's office had a relative who was affected by Saturday's violence. The judge did not go into specifics. We reached out to the attorney who the judge did appoint to represent James Fields. That attorney has not gotten back with us.

Also, the security firm which employed Fields as a security officer in Ohio has told CNN that Fields has been terminated.

Brian Todd, CNN, Charlottesville, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, CNN legal analyst, Areva Martin, joins us now. She's also a civil rights attorney.

Areva, good to have you with us.

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

SESAY: James Fields charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, failing to stop in an accident that resulted in the death. Some expressing surprise this isn't first-degree murder. Have the right charges been levels, in your opinion?

[02:34:47] MARTIN: I think the right charges have been leveled to date. Keep in mind, it is really early in the investigative process. We have the state taking primary jurisdiction. They filed the state charges which he appeared in court on today. And then we have this federal investigation that was opened right away. The Department of Justice came out really strongly saying that they will use all of their resources to investigate this to determine if any federal statutes, any federal criminal statutes were violated. Because the Attorney General also wants to prosecute James Fields if there were violations of federal law.

SESAY: Or it is a consideration that it could be prosecuted as a hate crime.

MARTIN: Yes.

SESAY: Talk to me about meeting that standard, that bar.

MARTIN: So the federal hate crime statute grows out of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. It says if you commit an act of violence and you target someone because of their race, their nationality, their ethnicity, their religion, their gender preferences, that you can be charged with this federal hate crime statute. With it comes the right for the prosecutors to seek the death penalty. So the penalties are very, very stiff.

SESAY: Isn't already the death penalty for --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: There's a death penalty statue in Virginia.

SESAY: Yes.

MARTIN: So there would not be a reason for that. Prosecuting a hate crime is important. It sends a very strong message. It sends a message that you can't target people because of their race or ethnicity the way James Fields did in this case. Let's look at what happened. You have white supremacists, Neo-Nazis plowing through peaceful protesters in the middle of the day, and essentially a Nazi killing an American that's standing up for freedom, that's standing up for inclusion and diversity. So if you ever thought about a case that prime for the hate crime statute, it is this. But there are wrinkles to this person the person killed is white. Although, there were African-Americans that were injured, so that be an issue that the Justice Department will have to grapple with to see if the statute is broad enough to cover this case, when you have a white victim of the crime.

SESAY: People are also asking why there isn't more talk about this being tried as a domestic terrorism case.

MARTIN: So, no doubt, this is domestic terrorism. And the definition of that is, is using violence to engage in some act to incite fear, to intimidate with violence, so we saw that. And we can -- without question, they went to Charlottesville to incite fear, to intimidate, to engage in acts of violence. That's why we have heard everyone, from the Attorney General to the vice president, using the words "domestic terrorism." However, the federal law does not criminalize domestic terrorism. So it is not a statute that you can actually prosecute someone under. Y you can attach the domestic terrorism charge to another charge and that gives the federal government these broad powers to investigate.

So look for this investigation to take many arms and legs. It's going to be massive. We have already heard from James Fields' teacher. We have heard from his mother. We know that the FBI and law enforcement are looking at his social media accounts, his Facebook page. Everyone that knew this young man, this terrorist, this - this -- this Nazi that was so audacious as to drive that car in that crowd is going to be talked to and is going to be the subject of this investigation.

SESAY: All of that being said, many legs, many hands, many cooks, along with an online application?

MARTIN: Long drawn-out investigation. But you notice what happened today in court. The court did not, the judge would not set bond. I do not think this is the case -- with this individual, this alleged murderer, will see the outside of a prison cell. Think about Dylan Roof. Remember that the nine victims in that AME church? Charged with 33 counts under the hate crime statute, sentenced to death. This case has many layers to it, many similarities to what happened in the Mother Emmanuel Church.

So it's a case we'll be following. It's not going to happen -- the prosecution won't happen overnight. But I think the first step towards justice for Heather Heyer, for the other individuals in this case, happened with the arrest of him and with this judge refusing to grant bond in this case.

SESAY: Reva, some really important information shared with our viewers.

We appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thank you.

SESAY: Thank you.

[02:40:12] VAUSE: We'll take a short break. But when we come back, marking a milestone as India raised its flag in celebration of Independence. We'll take a look back at the legacy of the country's partition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Well, India is celebrating 70 years of independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the national flag and addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

VAUSE: The end of British colonel rule and the creation of Pakistan brought more ethnic tension. Millions of people migrated based on their faith. At least a million died in fighting between Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims.

SESAY: For more on this, we're joined by our own Mallika Kapur, in India, and Sophia Saifi, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Welcome to you both.

Mallika, to you first.

This is a milestone anniversary. We've seen the pomp and ceremony. But this also a time that bring sup some very painful memories of the past. Talk to us about how people are squaring the two, if you will.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a bittersweet moment or a bittersweet milestone in India. On one hand, there's a great deal of pride that India is marking 70 years of independence. But today, you know, a lot of people, for a lot of people, what happened in 1947 also invokes some really, really painful memories because when India was partitioned into India and Pakistan, it as a virtual blood bath. Twelve to 15 million people crossed the borders. There was extreme communal violence. About a million people lost their lives. Women were abducted and raped. And for many, many people, it meant that families were divided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAPUR (voice-over): This is the story of two sweetshop, one is in Delhi, India. It's run by Alodin (ph). The other, in Lahore, Pakistan, is run by his cousin, Misbaldin (ph). There's is one of the many families divided by the India-Pakistan partition in 1947.

(on camera): Tell me, what does the name of the shop mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: House of Sweets.

KAPUR: House of Sweets?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

KAPUR: And in Lahore?

KAPUR: House of Sweets.

KAPUR: It's the same name in Lahore and in Delhi? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(SINGING)

KAPUR (voice-over): Alodin (ph) and Misbaldin's (ph) fathers were brothers. They lived here in the family home in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in Delhi.

In 1947, when India gained independence from British rule, the country was rocked by communal violence between Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGAUGE)

KAPUR: One of the uncles went to my groceries one day, Alodin (ph) tells me, he was slaughtered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KAPUR: "We never got his body back."

Another uncle, worried for his safety, fled to newly created Pakistan, where most Muslims migrated to after the partition of India.

A few years later, he returned to Delhi and joined the family business. But word got around a Pakistani man had come to India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANUAGE)

KAPUR: "Around 25 people stormed the sweetshop, they pulled my uncle out and marched him to the border. They forced him back to Pakistan," Alodin (ph) says.

The family has lived between two countries since then.

Alodin (ph) last visited his cousin in Pakistan over 20 years ago. He talks to Misbaldin (ph) on the phone occasionally. They do not have access to Facetime or Skype. So we offered to send a message to Misbaldin's (Ph) family by recording it on my phone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KAPUR: "How are you. Come and visit," they say.

CNN's Pakistan team traveled to Lahore to show Misbaldin (ph) the video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(LAUGHTER)

[02:45:10] KAPUR: His family is delighted.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

KAPUR: The children say, "Take us to India. We have forgotten eve4ryone. We don't even know our family anymore."

The message from India reminds Misbaldin (ph) of his father and uncle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KAPUR: Slowly, slowly, people fad away. Only the memories remain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KAPUR: For this generation, even the memories are few.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAPUR: And Alodin (ph) told us he is hoping to make it to Pakistan this November for his niece's wedding, but of course, that will depend on whether he gets a visa or not -- Isha?

SESAY: Great reporting there, Mallika.

Sophia, to you there in Lahore, talk to us about this anniversary and how it's being marked in Pakistan. And have people made peace with the painful and bloody way in which the country was created 70 years ago?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Isha, there has been the requisite pomp and ceremony, the lighting of the fireworks, the hullabaloo of joy that followed when everybody was celebrating yesterday. But, yes, the thing with partition is that these are people who have been united for many, many centuries, the people of the subcontinent. And yes, there are borders and there is hostility between the governments and the military issues that happen. But on the ground, whenever you speak to somebody from the generation that came here, there's an understanding that the time when this bloody partition took place was a time of turbulence. And now, 70 years down the line, they should be better relations between the two countries. And there is a sort of reconciliation with the fact that there was much lost but there is much to look forward to in the years ahead -- Isha?

SESAY: Sophia, thank you for that.

Mallika, to you, I mean, to that point, how much of those events of 70 years ago continue to shape India's present and future?

KAPUR: They do. But as Sophia mentioned, on the ground level, when you talk person to person to the ordinary citizen, people are hopeful and people do want peaceful relations. And it's not like India and Pakistan haven't attempted that. They have attempted to restore peace many times. But it's always a case of one foot forward and another two back. So diplomatically speaking, India and Pakistan relations remains very frosty. And it's spilled into other areas as well. It spilled over into sports, into culture. There is nothing more exciting on the Indian subcontinent than an India-Pakistan cricket match. But because of the political differences, India and Pakistan do not play cricket in each other's countries anymore. When it comes to culture, everybody in the subcontinent really enjoys a good Bollywood film. But because of past skirmishes along the line of control, at the border last year, India has banned Pakistani artists from acting in India. So it has spilled over into other areas of everyday life as well.

SESAY: Sophia, last world to you. From where you are in in Pakistan, what is the feeling about what it will take to normalize, to have good relations with India from the Pakistani point of view, as you speak to ordinary people there in Lahore?

SAIFI: Well, in every city in Pakistan, the main thing that comes up in normalizing relations is dialogue and interaction, which is problematic because of the visa restrictions and the hard borders between the two countries. So the thing that keeps coming up is the need to dialogue, the need to dialogue between government, between people, and an interaction that's necessary for things to normalize -- Isha?

SESAY: All right. Sophia Saifi, in Islamabad, and Mallika Kapur in Lahore, thanks you. Mallika Kapur there in India. Thank you to you both. Appreciate it. Great reporting.

VAUSE: Monday brought Swift vindication to one of the world's biggest pop stars. A Colorado jury sided with Taylor Swift in her counter lawsuit against a former radio host. The singer accused David Mueller of groping her a meet-and-greet in 2013. Mueller was later fired over the incident.

SESAY: The jury also sided with Swift's mother. Mueller had sued her as well, accusing her of interfering with his $150,000 a year contract by making false accusations. Swift was awarded a symbolic $1 in damages. The pop princess thinks the jury and her legal team for fighting on her behalf. She has vowed to donate to organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.

[02:49:53] A quick break here. Kids and their Smartphones. They're supposed to be connecting with each other. But new research finds a disturbing Trend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Most parents find it hard to say no, but now a study is asking if Smartphones have destroyed a generation. Part of that study appears in this month's "Atlantic" magazine. It focuses on what it calls the I Generation, kids born between 1995 and 2012, and says they're on the brink of the worst mental health crisis in decades. Researchers found the risk of depression goes up as much is 27 percent for eighth-graders who use a lot of social media. And teenagers say they are lonely. Those feelings spiked in 2013 and have remained high.

Joining us now is human behavioral expert and psychologist, Wendy Walsh.

Wendy, thank you for coming in.

This is such an interesting study. (CROSSTALK)

WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIORAL EXPERT & PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, we both have reasons to care about this.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: OK, this is looking at a group of kids, aggregate, between 15 and 22 years old of the generation, which has grown up with Smartphones, not knowing life without one. One of the striking findings is this, "Since 2007, the homicide rate among teens has declined but the suicide rate has increased as teens have started spending less time together, they are less likely to kill one another and more likely to kill themselves. In 2011, for the first time in 24 years, the teen suicide rate was higher than the teen homicide rate."

OK, Smartphones and Snap Chat and instant messaging and Facebook, you'd think it would connect them and bring them together. But this is dividing them up and keep them --

WALSH: Well, I want to remind you when we quote the statistics that correlation does not always indicate causality. I would venture to say that there are many social factors that make teenagers depressed today, and that lack of connection with their friends and their family is one the one. And the one place depressed teens tend to go right away is their social media. So we are going to see that correlation but it doesn't necessarily mean causality.

VAUSE: It does bring a lot of help at least.

WALSH: It rings an alarm bell because parents see these kinds of statistics and think, that is it, I am going to not let my kid have a Facebook. They don't go on Facebook, they're too young. We're the ones on Facebook.

(LAUGHTER)

They're not going to let them have Snap Chat or Instagram. And that's it. But that's like telling your child, I am sorry, you will not get to be on the playground at recess. You must stay in the classroom.

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: It's not going to work just by stopping them from having social media.

VAUSE: This also says depression was much higher and people less mature than earlier generations. "Across a range of behaviors, drinking dating, spending time unsupervised, 18-year-olds now act like 15-year-olds used to. 15-year-olds are more like 13-year-olds.

All of that isn't bad. It's good that kids are drinking alcohol later, that they're having sex later. Overall, is there a long-term problem with this sort of slow maturity.

WALSH: The big phrase that I heard there that rang with me was a lot of time left unsupervised. So what is really going on is we're now seeing into three decades where we're seeing dual working parents, we're seeing divorced families, we're seeing blended families, and we're not seeing -- because parents are trying to make enough money to survive, we're not see a lot of time they're giving to their kids. The most expensive thing a parent can buy their children is their time. And it's about spending more time with them.

I asked my 14-year-old daughter, if there is a kid who spends her summer on her iPhone and she's depressed and she's having suicidal thoughts, what does her parents do when she goes, they need to sign her up for stuff.

(LAUGHTER)

Really, truthfully. Whether --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: It doesn't have to be an expensive camp. It could be a Boys or Girls Club. Just get them out in the world.

[02:55:03] VAUSE: We're almost out of time. There's a lot of social questions with kids on the phone, pressure on parents. But a mom in Texas has started this E National Movement. It's waituntil8.org. It's a website. Parents take a pledge not to get their kids a Smartphone until at least eighth grade. They sign up, form basically a support group for one another.

That seems drastic. Does that kind of out-sources your responsibility in some way?

WALSH: It creates social suicide for middle schoolers is what it does. Those kids end up at my house and every other house, logging on with secret accounts on any tablet or any iPad or phone that they find around. And then their parents can't monitor at all.

The answer is be engaged with your children in tech. Understand it with them. You're not going to be able to roll the clock back to another time and teach them how to use typewriters. You are going to get involved with them, make sure that you follow them on social media, that they follow you, as cringeworthy as that is for a kid. And that you learn together. And when you stumble upon things that are inappropriate, it's a teaching moment. Let's talk about this.

VAUSE: And to my daughter, Katie, who I know is watching in Sydney, because she's on vacation, Kate, good advice.

Wendy, thank you so much.

WALSH: Thank you.

SESAY: Katie is saying, Dad, leave me alone.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER) SESAY: All right, for 150 years, it's been an iconic sound of London.

(BELLS TOLL)

SESAY: The famous chimes of Big Ben.

VAUSE: Come Monday, the chimes will fall silent. It won't ring for the next four years as the tower will undergo major restoration work. They expect it to cost about $40 million.

SESAY: People in the neighborhood will get a peaceful night's sleep.

(LAUGHTER)

Find the upside, eh?

You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause.

Be sure to join us on Twitter, @cnnnewsroomla for highlights and clips from our show. You can watch them over and over again.

SESAY: And over and over.

VAUSE: The news continues with Rosemary Church. We're finished.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:07] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. and North Korea now taking a wait-and-see approach. Kim Jong-Un says he's watching the Yankees while the U.S. --