Latest in Series of Targeted Killings in Bangladesh; Philippine Terror Group Kills Canadian Hostage
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN NEWSROOM," live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour:</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hacked to death over free speech; a leading gay rights activist killed in Bangladesh.</s>VAUSE: Donald Trump says bring it on after his two rivals are working together to stop his path to the Republican nomination; and, Hillary Clinton expects full support from Bernie Sanders, without conditions, if she wins the democratic nomination.</s>SESAY: Plus, what to do with Prince's fortune and the vault of songs he left behind.</s>VAUSE: Hello, everybody; great to have you with us. We would like to welcome our viewers all around the world; I'm John Vause.</s>SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay; "NEWSROOM" L.A. starts right now.</s>VAUSE: Two men in Bangladesh are dead after a gruesome attack, the latest in a series of what appears to be targeted killings in the capital city, Dhaka. One victim was Xulhaz Mannan, the editor of Bangladesh's first and only magazine for the country's lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender group. He also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development at the time of his death and formerly for the U.S. Embassy.</s>SESAY: Police say a group of men posing a couriers entered a flat and attacked the victims with machetes. The U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh has condemned the killings; they come just one day after police detained a student in the hacking death of a professor on Saturday.</s>VAUSE: Let's bring in Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson and Brad Adams, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch as well. Ivan, first you; what do we know about the gang behind this most recent attack, what are the details there and exactly what are authorities doing to track them down? IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: Well, John, so far no claims of responsibility. We do know that this appeared to have been a home invasion, with this group of people infiltrating the house and then killing the two men, Xulhaz Mannan and then his friend, Tanay Mojumdar. As for a motive, well, they could be many because Xulhaz Mannan, his death has sent ripples throughout the diplomatic community. He had been a former chief protocol officer at the U.S. Embassy and then he was now working with USAid. Could he have been targeted because of his affiliation with the U.S. Embassy or could it have been because he was a gay rights activist, working with this only real LGBT magazine in all of Bangladesh, called "Roopbaan?" That also could have been, perhaps, a motive for this attack and it certainly has sent ripples as well throughout the LBGT community in the country. You know, he wrote an article on an Indian LGBT magazine, called "The Pink Pages", and it was surprisingly optimistic, saying he was an openly gay man and concluding with this sentence, "In a country where the whole concept of sex and sexuality is a taboo, we're learning to navigate our ways by highlighting love as the center of all." It was an optimistic message; and this man cut down savagely with machetes and very frightening because it fits a pattern of murders that have been taking place in the capital, Dhaka, and other parts of the country that has been accelerating over the course of the past year. John?</s>VAUSE: I want to pick up the last point with Brad because as Ivan was mentioning, there has been a series of killing atheist bloggers, the professor killed a day or two ago. Is there now a sense in Bangladesh that these gangs, whoever they are, they can act pretty much with immunity?</s>BRAD ADAMS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Yes; people are very scared there. I was in London recently and I met with a room full of bloggers. Some are based in the UK or Bangladesh and other people have fled. We just had a team in Bangladesh and there's an incredible sense of fear and insecurity. People are afraid about who will knock on their door. They're afraid to go outside at night. There does seem to be immunity. The government has, of course, taken some action, investigated some cases but at the same time they have criticized the victims. They claim that some of the victims have religious sentiment. They have asked them to be quiet. One senior government minister suggested that the victim community leave the country if they want to be safe. The government is not devoting the resources that this pattern requires, because they are spending most their time going after a political opposition. Just last week they arrested an 82-year-old newspaper editor on pretty flimsy charges. I think what has to happen now is the government has to actually make this national priority number one, to try to root out the culprits.</s>VAUSE: Ivan, very quickly, back to you; they used machetes, even they were armed, apparently, with firearms. So by using the machetes, especially brutal here, what was the message, I guess, that was being sent by doing that?</s>WATSON: It's spreading a climate of fear across Bangladesh. When you have been targeting now six atheist and secular writers killed in some 14 months; a university professor in a provincial city cut down with machete's just last Saturday; some foreign targets, an Italian aid worker, he was killed with a gun last October in Dhaka; and then a rising number of attacks against minority groups as well. The big question here, who is carrying this out? The government insists that this is the work of home grown extremists, but we've been saying now claims of responsibility from groups affiliating themselves with al-Qaeda and with ISIS as well and there even seems, some experts say, to be some kind of competition between groups as to who can kill more people and spread more fear within intellectual groups, liberal groups across this majority Muslim, but also supposed to be secular democra -- democratic country. John?</s>VAUSE: Yes; Brad, John Kirby from the U.S. State Department said the U.S. was outraged by this murder. He also added this:</s>JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Bangladesh is justifiably proud of its history as a moderate, tolerant, inclusive society that values the diversity of its people, culture and religions; and this attack fundamentally seeks to undermine all that Bangladesh stands for and all that the Bangladeshi people have strived to bring about in recent years.</s>VAUSE: Brad, do you agree with him, Bangladesh is a tolerant and inclusive society?</s>ADAMS: Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's an extremely polarized society, politically, along religious, sectarian lines and we have a government that actually is polarizing the situation in many ways; demonizing the victims here, but also spending a lot of time going after political opposition which boycotted the last election. I think what is possible now is that because one of the victims was a cousin of a former foreign minister, somebody I know, (Inaudible), it may be that the government starts to take this more seriously because this is starting to strike closer and closer to the heart of the country. I would not be surprised to see that senior intellectual figures, who the government takes more seriously, starting to be targeted. I only hope that they take action before it's too late because they really have been standing on the sidelines for the last year.</s>VAUSE: Well, so far it seems nothing is being done because these attacks continue. Brad Adams there from Human Rights Watch; our Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson there in Hong Kong; thanks to you both.</s>SESAY: Now a Philippine terror group has killed a Canadian hostage. John Risdel was one of four people kidnapped by Abu-Sayyaf last September. He was killed when a ransom deadline expired.</s>VAUSE: It's not clear what will happen to the other hostages. Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau says his country will work with the Philippines to bring the killers to justice.</s>JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER, CANADA: Canada condemns without reservation the brutality of the hostage takers and this unnecessary death. This was an act of cold blooded murder, and responsibility rests squarely with the group who took him hostage. The Government of Canada is committed to working with the government of Philippines and international partners to pursue those responsible for this heinous act, and bring them to justice. On behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Risdel.</s>SESAY: Well Bob Rae joins us now from Ontario, Canada. He's a longtime friend of Risdel, and a former member of the Canadian Parliament. Bob, we are so sorry for your loss. This is devastating news. Your friend was taken hostage in September of last year. I understand you were involved in efforts to secure his release. What can you tell us about that? How far were you able to get? BOB RAE, FAMILY FRIEND, JOHN RISDEL FAMILY, via telephone: Well, I mean, I really was just advising the family about making sure that they were able to be in constant communication with the Canadian government and with the Filipino government, which obviously had responsibility for helping to figure out what to do. I mean, these four people, now three, were in captivity in a war zone in southern Philippines. There's been an ongoing gorilla conflict between the Abu Sayyaf gorilla group, the terrorist group, and the government of the Philippines. So it was a complex and difficult effort to get them out. I mean the Canadian government and the Norwegian government both made it clear that they were not going to deal directly with anybody and that they were not going to be paying ransom. So the families themselves had to figure out what to do; and, obviously, they were caught in the maelstrom of this highly complicated political and military conflict. In the end, as we know, the deadline of April 25th, which is one of many deadlines, but the deadline was passed and Mr. Risdel was killed in a really ruthless, brutal fashion by the -- by Abu Sayyaf.</s>SESAY: And Bob Rae, I know at a time like this, you are trying to hold on to the good memories of your friend John and how he lived. What would you like people to know about John Risdel?</s>RAE: Well, I mean, I met John in university and we're both in our late 60s, so that's 50 years ago. And he was a very vital and engaging guy. He was very adventurous. His career path was unique to him. I mean, he decided he would do different things. He worked as a journalist; he worked in your business for a long time. Then he worked for a number of companies in the oil business, as well as in the mining business. And he worked internationally. He worked in North Africa. He worked in Asia and he worked in the Philippines. When he died, he was actually in semi-retirement and was on a sailing holiday on his own boat and stopped the boat at a resort and was staying for a few days and it was there, in a terrible irony, that he was captured with three other people, who are still in captivity. That's why it's hard to talk in any great detail about what efforts have been made, but it's important for their families to know that everybody is trying to figure out what the next steps could be in trying to get them released.</s>SESAY: Yes; Bob Rae, we are once again so sorry for your loss. Of course, our hearts go out to the Risdel family. I just want to say thank you so much for joining us at such a difficult time to share what you know and to tell us a little bit more about your friend. Thank you.</s>RAE: Thank you; thank you very much. I appreciate it.</s>SESAY: Now, the U.S. is sending a message to Russia with a show of support for NATO allies in Eastern Europe. Two highly advanced F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed at a strategic Romanian air base on the Black Sea Monday. It's close to the Ukraine border and the Russian navy fleet in Crimea.</s>VAUSE: NATO's eastern members have been on edge over Russia's annexation of Crimea and with the backing of pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. CNN's Clarissa Ward was onboard the refueling plane that traveled with the F-22's.</s>SESAY: She has more on the signal Washington is sending with its most sophisticated aircraft.</s>CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These Air Force pilots are preparing for a unique mission; they will accompany two U.S. fighter jets to Romania, a NATO ally on the Black Sea. It will be the first time America's fearsome F-22 Raptor has landed there; an opportunity for the U.S. to show its bolstering NATO defenses on Russia's doorstep. Flying one of the two is Squadron Commander Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lahowski. He explained what makes the F-22 special.</s>LT. COL. DANIEL LAHOWSKI, SQUADRON COMMANDER, U.S. AIR FORCE: A combination of stealth, super cruise, increased situational awareness that the aircraft provides us, which all that adds up to a unique (inaudible) metric advantage on the battlefield.</s>WARD: So basically you're saying this is the best fighter jet in the world?</s>LAHOWSKI: The aircraft is truly incredible. It is, indeed, the best fighter aircraft in the world.</s>WARD: The technology is so advanced that Congress has banned their sale overseas. On route to Romania, the jets must regularly be refueled, a delicate balancing act we got to see close-up. A nozzle, called a boon, is lowered from the tanker. The jet then moves into place, directly below it, and the gas starts pumping. Officially, this is a training exercise to move U.S. fighter jets from a fixed base to a forward operating base, but it's the symbolism that is important here. This is intended to a show of force to an increasingly assertive Russia. Earlier this month, Russian jets repeatedly buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea, in maneuvers the U.S. called provocative and aggressive. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has steadily built up its military footprint on the Black Sea, unnerving many NATO allies in the region. As Romanian Air Force Chief of Staff Lorien Anastasof told us this.</s>LORIEN ANASATASOF, CHIEF OF STAFF, ROMANIAN AIR FORCE: Increasing the air activity. They're increase the missions. They're increasing the training. This is the things what we are seeing every single day. So we need to get ready for what's going to be. That's my major concern, how to get ready for what's going to be next thing.</s>WARD: And like many here, he hopes that the U.S. will continue its commitment to its NATO allies, whatever tomorrow may bring. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Constanta, Romania.</s>VAUSE: Well, when we come back, Lyin' Ted, Crooked Hillary, Donald Trump likes to hit rivals with colorful nicknames. Now, he is launching a verbal food fight with another one, calling his table manners "disgusting".