[Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Excuse me. Olympic park. Olympic park.
[Lynda Kinkade:] With the Rio games four days away, we navigate the city to see if Rio is ready to host the Olympic-sized crowds. Also ahead, did Donald Trump go too far? What some members of his own party are saying after Trump's controversial exchange with the Muslim- American parents of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. And a Russian helicopter shot down in Syria after an aid mission to Aleppo. How is Russia responding? We'll have a live report just ahead. Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade sitting in for Becky Anderson. In just four days, the eyes of the world will be watching Rio de Janeiro, that's when the Olympic games will get under way. And as I'm sure you know by now, the lead-up to the games has been plagued by controversy. Despite the issues, final preparations are under way and athletes are arriving by the hour. Our team is stationed across Rio. First, I want to go to Shasta Darlington who is outside a new metro station that has opened for the games. Shasta, this line has been talked about for decades. Finally, it's off the ground.
[Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Exactly, Lynda. At least it's off the ground for ticket holders. In fat, we went out and tested all of the different sections of the metro, the bus, the train, that ticket holders will have to use to get to their venues. Check this out.
[Darlington:] It's a beautiful day. So we're going to head to some Olympic stadiums and test out the public transportation system, which is coming together at the very last minute. Olympic transport tickets cost about $49 for a week, or $8 for a one- day card. So for the first leg we're taking this journey underground on the metro. And here we go. So we're going to head up to the escalator and up to the train that will be our next leg of this journey. So there are no signs yet for the Olympic parks. A tourist is going to be pretty lost. They would probably head over here to the information booth. So we'll head over here. So let's ask security if they know. Excuse me, Olympic park? Olympic Park? Part two, getting on the train.
[Unidentified Female:] Will depart from platform 8.
[Darlington:] So this used to be the can of sardines train. Obviously it's looking better now. They've put more cars on the tracks, especially as we get close to the Olympics, and more security. So if you're coming to see track and field, this is your stop. And let's see if, if you calculate the time to switch trains, it's about 50 minutes from your hotel door to right here at the stadium. If you continue on to the Deodoro Park for BMX or Rugby, give yourself a good hour and 15 minutes from the hotel. You have just seen an equestrian even or maybe a canoe slalom, and you want to get to the main Olympic Park, you're going to take this dedicated bus line. Right now it's empty. In fact, it looks like they're still finishing it. But once the Olympics starts, this is going to be a really important trajectory. It's going to connect the Olympic Park right there the main one to all of the hotels on Rio's south side. The good news is this has its own exclusive lane. So hopefully we won't be sitting in traffic. That was fast, comfortable, and air conditioned. I'd be getting on the metro now, but the new line won't be open until four days before the Olympics start. For now stuck in traffic. So starting to day, all of that changes, Lynda. This is one of the new metro stops right behind me. It opens up to ticket holders and people with credentials the volunteers, the athletes, the journalists. We're going to check it in just a few minutes, but the idea is that it will cut what can be a two hour trip in congested traffic down to about a an half hour. We'll let you know how it goes, Lynda.
[Kinkade:] Half an hour, that is incredible. All right, Shasta, stand by for us. I want to go to Amanda Davies now who is covering the Rio Olympics for us as well. Of course, a cloud still hangs over the Russian team amid the doping allegations. What's the latest on that?
[Amanda Davies, Cnn World Sport:] Yeah, absolutely, Lynda, not what the IOC and Olympic organizers would have wanted at all. We know that 100 Russian athletes have been banned already from competing at this games because of either previous doping offenses or links with that pretty explosive McLaren report which talked about the systematic state sponsored doping of sport in Russia since 2010 all because of absences of trustworthy doping tests over the last couple of years. But there are about 270 Russian athletes who are here. They have been cleared to appoint by their international sporting federations. Of course, the IOC themselves, many people felt shirked the decision to issue a blanket ban. Instead, they put the focus on the international sporting federations. And now those athletes are being assessed by on a case by case basis, by a three-person IOC panel as to whether or not they will in fact be allowed to compete. The deadline for that decision is Friday's opening ceremony. But the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has spoken out saying he believes it will, in fact, be sooner than that. He hopes the decision will be told to himself, his team, his athletes by the close of play on Tuesday. Interestingly though, Lynda, the athletes village, which is up and running in Baja, which is at the end of that train line that Shasta was talking about, on display there is the biggest Russian flag you could really ever see at this Olympic games. They may have a diminished number of athletes here, but their flag by far is the biggest flying in the athletes village. A lot of the different teams display their national flag off balconies out of the windows to really identify their area of the athletes village. But the Russian flag is flying proudly, many of those athletes taking part in all the organized activities. But still at this point with just four days to go until the opening ceremony, don't know whether or not they will actually be allowed to compete.
[Kinkade:] All right. Amanda Davies, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much for that. I want to go back down to Shasta Darlington now. Shasta, we've seen obviously so many concerns in the lead-up to these Olympics. I know just the not just the Russian doping scandal, but also obviously the Zika virus, political turmoil. Are people finally trying to get excited there?
[Darlington:] Well, Lynda, people are start to turn towards these positive stories. You know, there was a rehearsal for the opening ceremony. Only volunteers were allowed in. We weren't allowed in. But that is getting people talking. It's building a bit of a bubble, some enthusiasm. I think the big question, though, is whether or not that will translate into ticket sales. They're still doing a more recent tally, but the latest figures we have show that 20 percent, more than a million tickets, are still available. This is a country of 200 million people. They thought these were going to sell out quickly. They're being priced at very accessible prices, cheaper than London. So the question is why aren't they being bought? And with just four days to go, will they finally sell out some of the tickets and fill all of the stands, Lynda?
[Kinkade:] Absolutely. All right. We can only hope that is the case. Shasta Darlington, thanks so much. I want to go to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He is at Copa Cabana Beach. Nick, secuirty also a major focus with the Olympics, but already a security firm hired has effectively been sacked.
[Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yes, and there are, of course, here on the area around me remarkable signs of how Brazil wants to show in great evidence the security measures it's taking. It's crazy. There are helicopters here, boats in the sea, troops all over the street. But there is one fundamental thing that appears to have been overlooked.
[Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] You couldn't really get any more obvious when it comes to Rio trying to make you feel safe. Copacabana and almost everywhere you look here near the venue for the opening ceremony, there's someone smiling with a gun. But they seem to have missed something quite important. Well, it's one of the biggest challenges for organizers, security screening for the huge crowds that want to get into the venues. But the basic task of working out who's going to be banning the x-ray machines at the end of these lines has been left to the last minute. Just one month ago, they hired a contractor to man these machines. On Friday, it was announced the military police will take over as the contractor wasn't ready. But still, some employees of the contractor, not shown here, were being asked to come to work this weekend. One agreed to talk to us anonymously. He wasn't asked to provide a police criminal background check, he says, and only had to do a quick online training course.
[Unidentified Male:] There are people who turn up for the job without any real training kind of work we're being asked to do. Our job is to look after people's security and some of the people doing the work, in my view, aren't up to that. The training course was very quick. There should have been more to it.
[Walsh:] It's not clear with just days you can count on one hand to go whether he's needed again.
[Unidentified Male:] Today, I was meant to do a six-hour shift but did eight hours. At the end, the supervisor came and said they didn't know when we had to come back to work again.
[Walsh:] We tried to reach the contractor for comments. Olympic Chief Thomas Bach says he has total confidence in the security of the games. The government says they're drafting in thousands of retired police and firefighters to help. But away from the bright lights, some are asking what else has been missed? Now staggeringly, you can't think of a more important role in security screening herethan making sure that those who go into into the venues are safe when they're inside. That worker you saw there in that piece there still went to work this morning despite the fact on Friday the contractor here works for effectively being sacked. So, he says, did other of his colleagues presenting the idea that there is kind of chaos now at those x-ray machines to some degree, because it isn't quite clear who is meant to be there. That potentially is troubling such a visible effort here to make people feel safe. But this, so fundamental, it does seem with dealt in very much the last minute Lynda.
[Kinkade:] Yes, certainly does sound troubling. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much for bringing us that report. Now for some other stories on our radar right now. Tokyo has elected its first ever female governor. Former defense minister Yuriko Koike received over a million votes more than her nearest rival who was backed by Japan's ruling Democratic Party. Uber is selling its China operations to homegrown ride hailing company Didi Chuxing. The move will give over a 20 percent stake in the new entity. The rival companies have been involved in a billion dollar battle for market share in China. In Kabul, Afghanistan, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for today's truck bombing at a fortified hotel which was used by foreign contractors. One police officer was killed and four others were wounded. Authorities say three attackers were also killed. In the U.S., the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq are asking Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to show some empathy. Speaking at last week's Democratic convention, Khizr Khan, the soldier's father, criticized Trump for his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Khan questioned whether Trump had ever read the constitution. Trump hit back questioning Mrs. Khan's silence at the event implying that she was not allowed to speak because she's a Muslim. Just a short time ago, Ghazala Khan did speak to CNN. Take a listen.
[Ghazala Khan, Mother Of U.s. Marine Killed In Iraq:] I'm so happy to be saying that I am a Muslim woman, and Muslim women have all the rights that in the world. In the eyes of god, we are equal to our husbands. We are equal. And we are number one in the household in my family, in my culture, in my community.
[Kinkade:] Trump doesn't seem willing to let the controversy die down, even tweeting his reaction during that interview. He said Mr. Khan doesn't know me, viciously attacked me from the stage at the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same. Nice. Well, for more on all this, CNN's senior reporter for media and politics Dylan Byers, joins me from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us. This is a story that surfaced back on Thursday when the Khans addressed the Democratic National Convention. It's now five days later. Is Trump digging his own hole?
[Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Politics Correspondent:] Yeah, he absolutely is. I would say there is a pretty simple and bipartisan playbook for dealing with the families of fallen soldiers. You honor them. You comfort them. What you don't do is try to attack them and pick public fights with them. And look, Donald Trump has very often thought that if he just goes after his criticizers and anyone who is speaking ill of him that he can somehow outlast them in the news cycle, that he can somehow rally support among his base and sort of dominate the news cycle. That's not what is happening here. What is happening is the news cycle is dominating him. And as you said, it's been dominating him for five days. Obviously, he is on shaky ground here when you get into the issue of veterans of fallen soldiers. And it's a problem that could continue to dog him for the rest of the week.
[Kinkade:] And Dylan, Khan, of course, called on all Republicans to disavow Trump. We are seeing a lot of prominent Republicans, even Trump's own running mate for vice president at odds with Trump on this issue.
[Byers:] That's true. And, look, since day that he announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has sort of been pushing the boundaries with his Republican colleagues and cohorts. And this is really when we look back on 2016 and the 2016 presidential campaign, it's really going to be a question about the Republican Party and where the Republican Party stood with or against Donald Trump. Now, there have been many things that Donald Trump has said over this 12 month period that have earned condemnation from other Republicans. But, of course, now that he is the nominee, we're seeing a lot for trepidation now. On the one hand, you have House Speaker Paul Ryan, you even have Donald Trump's own running mate Mike Pence coming out with statements that seem to be at odds with what Donald rump is saying here. But they have yet to issue, and of course, his own running mate won't do it, but prominent Republicans many of them still have yet to issue a sort of robust condemnation of what he said. Again, at the end of the day, I think this is going to be a question about how the Republican Party is branded and how it is seen in the eyes of the American voting public.
[Kinkade:] And, of course, Trump does find himself at the center of controversy quite often. and more often than not, it doesn't affect him in the polls. Will he come out of this unscathed again?
[Byers:] Well, you're absolutely right about that. Somehow he seems to be Teflon. I mean, he's upended all the conventional wisdom about politics and what should tank or be, you know, suicide for a candidate. This, again, this is a very tricky issue for him, because it does have to do with the military, it does have to do with the men and women who have sacrificed for this country. No issue is sort of closer to the hearts and minds of the American people and certainly for very long time to the Republican Party. Normally, the issue of soldiers and those who have sacrificed in the armed services, that's really been an issue that Republican Party has owned. If you looked at the convention in Philadelphia for the Democrats, that was really an issue that they came out and tried to own this cycle. So, no, I don't think this is one that he ends up winning. I think it's one, like I said, that continues to dog him for some time. And I think it's one that continues to affect him in the polls. And at the same time, that fallen soldier's parents have been making a very convincing case to Trump supporters or voters who are on the fence about Trump why they should abandon Trump and come over to the Democratic Party.
[Kinkade:] Yeah, they certainly are very well spoken that couple. All right, Dylan Byers, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
[Byers:] Thank you so much.
[Kinkade:] Well, still to come, one of the most brutal rebel groups in Syria trying to rebrand themselves. But what is behind the move? We'll take a look at that in just a moment. Also, thousands of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia are facing a food crisis. The reason why in about 15 minutes.