President Duterte's Brutal Crackdown on Drugs in Manila
MANN: In the Philippines, new President Rodrigo Duterte has only been on the job for a fwe weeks, but he's already launched a major anti-drug offensive. It is producing results but also criticism as the body count rises. We warn you, Ivan Watson's report on this contains some very graphic images.</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is part of the new war on drugs in the Philippines. Police send a local government official going house to house, calling out residents by name. The authorities call these operations knock and plead. They go door to door inviting suspected drug users and dealers to voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities. And so far we haven't seen anybody turn down the invitation. Police lead suspect back to town hall. Here, urine tests, fingerprints, and mug shots looking awful lot like procedures for an arrest, until the new arrivals are instructed to take this oath.</s>CROWD: I voluntarily surrendered to the police and government authorities that I am an illegal drug user.</s>WATSON: More than half a million Filipinos have turned themselves in this way in just seven weeks, says the country's brand new national police chief. With no evidence, arrest warrant or trial, many of them will just end up on a watch list.</s>GEN. RONALDO DELA ROSA, PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF: We have zero tolerance for drugs. So as much as possible we want to be -- to have a drugless society.</s>WATSON: Is that realistic?</s>DELA ROSA: No, it cannot be achieved.</s>WATSON: The country's largest government-run drug rehabilitation center is crowded and overwhelmed says the head doctor. He says he's seen a sudden surge in new patients. Thirty new patients today and are they telling you why they're coming?</s>BIEN LEABRES, MANILA REHABILITATION CENTER HEAD: Most of them are here because of fear.</s>WATSON: Fear?</s>LEABRES: Fear. What's going on outside, the government's actions, especially the</s>PNP . WATSON: And the police.</s>LEABRES: . the police, the crackdown has made them fear that they might be either incarcerated or worst, even killed.</s>WATSON: Since the Philippines' president launched his war on drugs on July 1st, police say they've killed at least 659 people across the country. Are the police being ordered to kill suspected drug dealers?</s>DELA ROSA: We have to kill them if they endanger our lives.</s>WATSON: Human rights groups are sounding the alarm about the growing body counts and what that means for the rule of law, while some local government officials are worried about other new logistical problems.</s>ANTONIO HALILI, TANAUAN CITY MAYOR: I never thought that this would happen. I never thought that this would be overpopulated.</s>WATSON: Cells in the brand new Tanauan City jail built to hold 30 prisoners, now holding more than 50, many of whom were recently arrested on drug charges. Is there room in prisons, in the jails, in the court system for these thousands of new suspects?</s>DELA ROSA: They have to do like that inside the prison cells. Yeah, they're stuck inside.</s>WATSON: In his rush to combat drugs, this country's top cop seems to have little time for the idea that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty.</s>MANN: And Ivan Watson joins us now from the Philippine capital Manila. I want to ask you about something you alluded to there. But the president himself is making no bones about it. He is side stepping the law without apology. Any way to tell how the people of the Philippines feel about that?</s>WATSON: Well, you know, he was elected not too long ago with a very convincing lead over the other candidates. And according to a reputable poll from just last month, he had pretty much 91 percent approval and confidence ratings from Filipinos surveyed. So he does still enjoy a great deal of popular support. And people are clearly looking for some semblance of law and order, including at the drug rehabilitation center that we visited where there were new arrivals coming in, some of them in handcuffs who had been kind of forced to come by their desperate loved ones who said they were bringing in their sons or brothers or daughters because they were frightened they could get killed out on the streets, and yet when i asked them about this deadly war on drugs they pretty much -- these desperate relatives and even some of the patients who were in treatment said they did in fact support this as a way to try to get rid this threat, particularly of methamphetamines, that's the number one drug out here that people are taking and buying and selling. That said, there are critics out here within other branches of the government. For example, there is a Senate inquiry that's going into affect next week that's calling up that very same police chief that I interviewed to answer why are so many people being killed by the police? Why are there so many unsolved additional murders taking place. he has agreed that he will attend that senate inquiry, but clearly the new president doesn't like it. He slammed in very personal terms the female senator who is leading the inquiry, John. He called her an immoral woman and accused her of having an extramarital affair as well in very insulting terms on live television at a police celebration yesterday. So that gives you a sense of kind of how the political rhetoric is heating up here and the sense of the president's very combative style when he comes under criticism.</s>MANN: He wants to see results. Obviously, the people of the Philippines want to see results. And they are seeing them, at least in the short-term. Over the long term, though, is this really going to work?</s>WATSON: Well, you know, what was very clear was not only at the rehabilitation center, but also at the jail that we visited, these institutions had not been prepared for this war on drugs. And when I asked the police chief about that, did you prepare for this? He said, no, we didn't have time. The urgency of the drug epidemic was such that we had to move forward without preparing larger prisons, for example, without hiring more drug rehab specialists to help treat some of these people. So you got the sense -- and then also I interviewed a city mayor who said he had not been given any guidelines by the executive branch of the central government, no guidelines, no kind of instructions on how to carry out this war on drugs. He describe it as something quite ad hoc. The people are just trying to interpret the statements being made by the president on television and then trying to implement the war on drugs on the ground. In the meantime, the bodies just keep piling up -- John.</s>MANN: Ivan Watson, live in Manila. Thanks very much. Turning now to the U.S. presidential election. Could it be deja vu all over again on the campaign rail? A sharp decline in the polls has led Donald Trump to revamp his team again. And some speculate this overhaul could mark a return to the old Trump and not a new direction for the Republican nominee. According to the most recent CNN poll of polls Hillary Clinton is leading her rival with an average of 49 percent support to Trump's 39 percent. Just short time ago, Trump new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway spoke to CNN's New Day program. Our Alisyn Camerota asking her about the campaign leadership and its impact on her candidate's poll numbers.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If we're going to talk about polls, the polls on Donald Trump have not been going in the right direction either. But was the feeling that under Paul Manafort's leadership that Donald Trump was being too handled? Too -- not being -- not being -- sort of not letting Trump be Trump?</s>CONWAY: I've not had that conversation with Mr. Trump. And Paul Manafort remains as our chairman. We -- Paul and I and Steve Bannon were with each other yesterday when we had a briefing with -- we had a round table with national security and foreign policy experts. We were together reviewing the last cuts of our ads, which will start this week. We're very excited.</s>CAMEROTA: So Kellyanne, what will you do differently with the campaign than we've seen in the past few weeks or couple months?</s>CONWAY: So I think we're going to sharpen the message. And we're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin, that he doesn't lose that authenticity that you simply can't buy and a pollster can't give you. Voters know if you're comfortable in your own skin. And let him be him in this sense. He wants to deliver a speech, if he wants to go to a rally, if he wants to connect with the crowd in a way that's very spontaneous, that's wonderful. And that's how he got here. That's how he became the nominee in large part, Alisyn. But at the same time, we have some really serious, pressing problems in this country that I'm hoping will start to be addressed more by the media. He's going to give these policy speeches, and I'm thrilled that we've gotten so much coverage this week just on the first two speeches. You'll see more of those. Next week is immigration week followed by education week, and we're really excited about that.</s>MANN: Kellyanne Conway, Trump's new campaign manager. Well, for more on the race we are joined now by CNN politics senior correspondent Chris Moody live in Washington. Thanks so much for being with us. The shakeup seems to be about recreating the enormous success Trump had in the primaries for his ongoing general election campaign. Can they make lightning strike twice?</s>CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, not if you are taking the same strategy you had in the primaries. Remember in the American system that's a very different context. You are only talking to not only Republicans, but very engaged Republicans who like to vote several months before and be engaged in these primary contests state by state. But now you have to expand to speak to the American people from coast to coast. You have to speak not only to Republicans but to Democrats. You have to bring on people from the other party and also sway independents. And from the polls I've been looking at, the swath of independents, or the non-committed voters at this point is quite large. So, there is a lot of voters there that are up for grabs. The only problem is in that crucial time after the conventions is summer, frankly let's just say it, he blew it. He focused on things like personal attacks, especially against the family who lost their son in the Iraq war and other things. So it seems to me from those comments from the new team that they are going to try to focus him a little bit more, but also give him some breathing room so he can do it in a way where he feels comfortable. If anything, they do need a focus. It looks and sounds to me like they're going to be putting -- spending a week on a different topic and subject. And I think that could prove helpful for him. But then again, all the plans we've had up until this point, Donald Trump usually just blows them up anyway with an offhand comment here or there. So, there's really no predicting what will happen, Jonathan.</s>MANN: Well, that's what I was going to ask you, because the tone of the campaign has been the big variable. At times he tries to seem presidential and disciplined, at other times he says whatever is on the too much his head. And it seems like these people have been hired to give him license to do more of that.</s>MOODY: Well, it seems they are trying to find a way to manage Trump. But what you can't do is package him -- you know, a lot of consultants will come in and say here is how you need to speak, here's how you need to act, that just does not work with Donald Trump. But they are obviously looking at these polling -- the same numbers that we are. And it doesn't look good. I think the numbers to look at are these key swing states where Donald Trump is really, really struggling. And he is going to have to win. Look, the electoral map that we have in our system here doesn't look good for Donald Trump. He has to win really a landslide of toss up states whereas Hillary Clinton because of the way the demographics are currently set up, she only has a win key states like Florida and Ohio and the thing is in the bag for her. Donald Trump has a lot more ground he is going to have to make up.</s>MANN: Now, there has been a drama of despair from inside Republican ranks at their own candidate. Does this address that in any way?</s>MOODY: Well, yes, you are exactly right. It's very difficult for a lot of these Republicans who during the primary and beyond called him things like a con man, someone -- he could not be trusted with the nuclear codes, someone unfit for president and then have to say, oh, and by the way I'm now voting for him. It does put them in a tough position. He has struggled to unify the party in a way. Hillary Clinton has not -- even though she had her challenges with Bernie Sanders supporters -- she has locked up more than 90 percent of Democrats saying they're going to vote for her. Donald Trump is hovering just about 80 percent of Republicans who say they're going to vote for him. And that's just the voters. I'm not even talking about the leaders. I'm not even talking about the leaders. And now we're starting to see lawmakers from the House and the Senate saying I want nothing to do with this guy, especially the folks that are up for re-election in November. And for the Republicans, there is a lot at stake. There are 24 senators up for re-election that are Republicans in november. And if Hillary Clinton wins, Democrats only need to net four seats to take control of the Senate. That has a lot of Republicans spooked. And it's a lot bigger than just the presidential race.</s>MANN: Chris Moody in Washington, thanks very much.</s>MOODY: Thank you.</s>MANN: Steve Bannon will be Trump new campaign CEO, his addition coming as a surprise for many Republicans, because he has no experience running election campaigns. Brian Stelter looks at why Bannon appealed to Trump nonetheless.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were like boys on a playground and he became a very scary situation and he actually stood up for Sarah Palin.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES" (voice-over): This violent scene sums up what Steve Bannon thinks about politics. The filmmaker and conservative media giant is not shy about his bare knuckles appoint.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I come with a very strong point of view.</s>STELTER: And make no mistake. He's hungry for a battle.</s>STEPHEN BANNON, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CEO: We need to have a fight in the Republican Party for the soul of the conservative movement.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with you.</s>STELTER: In announcing the hire. The campaign made clear what Trump sees in Steve Bannon touting that the new campaign CEO has been dubbed the most dangerous political operative in America. Bannon, former navy officer and Goldman Sachs banker may lack campaign experience, but he makes up for it with his media prowess. He's the chairman of the far right website Breitbart and has made political films intended to sway the minds of on the fence voters.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of all of the 50 governors in the United States, sitting at the desk as one of the most powerful and she wasn't afraid to use those powers.</s>STELTER: One of those films boosted Sarah Palin.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mean that's out there is that Governor Palin is caribou Barbie. She's a complete and total bimbo and she is an ideologue. Okay? The empirical evidence in Alaska as governor is exactly the opposite.</s>STELTER: Another tried to take down President Obama before the 2012 election.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're angry because you were basically lied to.</s>PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: We're not even half way there yet.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think disappointed because we thought there was going to be a change. Everyone that voted for him thought there was going to be a change.</s>STELTER: At the time, Bannon told CNN the film was just a way for disgruntled Obama supporters to vent their frustrations.</s>BANNON: When you talk to them, they feel the country is more divided than ever and in their lives they feel the economy is not going back. I mean, this is a film of the working class and middle class in this country.</s>STELTER: The same kind of popular rhetoric is a staple of Breitbart. Hillary Clinton has been the main target of the pro-Trump's site. Close behind, Republican establishment Paul Ryan, immigrants and the news media.</s>BANNON: These guys come to Washington a lot of time as country lawyers and what they do is they stay. Their wives become lobbyists, their children, their in-laws. They turn the business of government into a family business.</s>STELTER: It's no coincidence Breitbart's site promotes the book and film "Clinton Cash." Bannon helps write the film and co-founded the group that funded it, nor is it a coincidence Trump has used Clinton Cash material on the campaign trail. Now the two men's anti-Clinton alliance is official.</s>BANNON: You have to understand how the Clintons who -- who proclaim that they support all your values essentially have sold you out for money.</s>MANN: Brian Stelter reporting on a man to watch. You are watching Connect the World. Still to come, the true spirit of the Olympics, a runner from New Zealand helps her American rival to her feet after a painful collision on the track. We'll hear from American Abbey D'Agostino when we come back.