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Typhoon Melor Headed for Philippines; Le Pen, National Front Party Eye Presidency in France; Le Pen Loses in Region Vote; Tensions Rising Between Russia, Turkey; Officials Missed Critical Information in Malik Background Check; Trump Still Leading But Challenged by Cruz; Trump Goes on Offensive as Lead Slips in Iowa; 1st Women Elected in Landmark Saudi Arabia Vote; World Leaders Reach Historic Climate Change Agreement; Mysterious Disappearance of Chinese Billionaire; Director J.J. Abrams Talks "Star Wars" Launch. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 14, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:37] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining our two-hour block. CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

All right. We start with a powerful typhoon that is slamming coastal areas of the Philippines at this very moment. And it is only going to get worse.

CHURCH: Typhoon Melor should make landfall in the coming hours at the southeastern tip of the mainland island of Luzon. The winds are equivalent to a category 3 hurricane, 205 kilometers, or 125 miles per hour. And those winds could last up to 18 hours.

BARNETT: All emergency personnel are on standby at this moment. More than 700,000 people have evacuated and most of them are in southern Luzon.

We call upon our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who's watching all this to join us with more.

This is a part of the world used to storms like this. Still, though, this is coming with quite a punch.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Correct. And the most threatening thing with this storm was that about 24 hours ago it was a tropical storm. We've seen hundreds of them in recent years over this region. It has now intensified to a category 3. In the last five minutes just walking over to this desk now I've seen it's now a category 4 equivalent. So the winds have gone from about 205 to 215 kilometers per hour, about 135 miles per hour. This is what's considered catastrophic strength for any tropical cyclone. We're going to break this down as far as intensity of the storm p. It is a menacing feature. It sits 600 kilometers across. You're watching this across Western Europe. You place the storm over Western Europe it would take up the entire country of France. That's the cloud field associate with the storm. We've seen much larger storms when it comes to cloud field. But the intensity of is it across the northern province of Samar. That's the highest populated region of the province. In total the province has about 1.7 million people and again, in this part of the world hurricanes, tropical cyclone, typhoons as they're named in this part of the world, typhoons are not given a category per se but across parts of the Atlantic ocean in the United States they are given a category so you can extrapolate wind speed that is sitting at it-215. In this case KPH that would put you at a category 4 equivalent. That would be given a catastrophic status as far as the potential damage associated with the storm system. Across the Philippines they have issued a signal. 120 KPH for at least 18 hours, that is issued, and that's precisely what's happened in this region. And notice the winds gusting over 260 KPH. You can pick up that eye literally skirting the northern fringe of Samar eventually pushing into the San Bernardino Strait and across portions just to the south of Luzon where we think the rainfall's really going to be the main threat with the storm system because I often say about 90 percent of the fatalities of any tropical feature are not associated with the winds, but the water it displaces, the water it puts down and this storm system has the potential to put down half a meter of rainfall in the next two days alone. We've seen storms in December of 2011, a tropical storm that took two lives in this part of the world. A December 2012 storm took 1100 lives. We're hoping the evacuations in place will save a lot of lives this time around.

BARNETT: You see that radar it looks so intense so we'll continue to watch this very closely.

Pedram, thanks very much.

JAVAHERI: Thanks.

CHURCH: Thank you, Pedram.

Well, last hour, CNN Philippines reporter, George Kahilez, gave us an update on this storm and the damage it's already causing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE KAHILIZ, CNN PHILIPPINES REPORTER: About 300 kilometers south of the Philippine capital, Manila. And right now winds and rains are getting stronger by the hour. It's already 2:00 in the afternoon here. And the downtown establishments have started to close around lunchtime to allow their personnel to go home early and secure their families before the typhoon batters the province.

Typhoon Melor is expected to hit portions of this province as early as 5:00 a.m. The provincial government here has declared a state of imminent danger. Preparations are under way for possible storm surges, flooding.

Officials have been urging residents of coastal areas to move to safer ground as soon as possible. And they're also preparing to distribute food and other emergency supplies to these people. And there are about a million residents here and officials estimate some half a million people will be affected by this typhoon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:05:29] CHURCH: And we are keeping a very close eye on this storm. We'll have another update later in the show.

France's far right National Party came up empty-handed on Sunday, unable to win any of the country's 13 regions after leading in six of them during the first round of voting a week ago.

BARNETT: However, Marine le Pen and her anti-immigration party, they don't see this as a loss. They call the outcome a victory. They took their biggest step yet toward the prize they're really eyeing, which is the presidency.

CNN's Jim Bittermann explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kind of a strange election result because no one appears to have lost this election. Everyone was claiming victory in the aftermath.

The two mainstream parties, the Socialists and the Republicans, were happy that they had stopped the National Front. Just a week ago, it looked like the National Front could win perhaps as many as six of the 13 regions of France. In fact, tonight, they won none of those regions.

But while they were claiming victory because of that, the National Front for the extreme right-wing party was in fact claiming victory as well because Marine le Pen, the leader of their party, said, look, we have triple our representation in municipal and regional governments over the last five years. And she's right about that. In these regional elections, there are still National Front people who have won seats, even though they haven't won the region, they've won seats and are representing the opposition in many of the regions. So everybody was saying they were victorious tonight.

The Socialist Party leader said it's a victory without joy, however. And one of the reasons he said that is because the Socialist Party told its candidates in regions where it looked like they might lose that they should withdraw in order to form a front against the National Front. And in fact, that seemed to have worked. In both the northern region and in the southern region, where Marine le Pen was running, and her niece, Marianne Marichal le Pen, running in the south, both were defeated in elections tonight.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Even though le Pen is choosing to look forward to a presidential run in 2017, both she and her niece suffered decisive losses Sunday in the regions they ran personally.

CHURCH: CNN contributor, Stefan DeVries, walks us through the specifics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFAN DEVRIES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & FRENCH JOURNALIST: It shows that the strategy of the government has worked. The government appealed to the left-wing voters to vote for a right-wing candidate in order to, well, make it impossible for Marine le Pen win any region. And it seemed their strategy has worked. The exit polls now showing that Marine le Pen has lost in the northern region where she was a candidate herself, but also her niece, Marianne Marichal le Pen, the 26-year-old M.P., has lost the region in the south. It's a big setback for Marine le Pen. And of course, in a speech tonight, she said that she was the victim of the system, that this shows that the traditional parties basically treat the French voters as children, and that she will be back in 2017 during the French presidential election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: At least 45 people have been killed after hours of air strikes near Syria's capital on Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a principal died when a strike hit near a school.

BARNETT: Now, at least 10 children were also killed in heavy shelling. It's not clear whether Syrian or Russian planes took part in the air strikes.

And all this comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to attend a meeting in Paris Monday about Syria.

And about 14 hours from now a cease-fire is set to go into effect in Yemen.

CHURCH: The one-week truce is meant to coincide with U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland. Since March, Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition in the campaign to stop Houthi rebels from gaining ground in Yemen. The rebels are backed by Iran.

BARNETT: The fighting has killed almost 6,000 people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

CHURCH: As one country tries to broker peace, tensions are rising again between two others.

BARNETT: That's right. Russia says one of its war ships fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing boat Sunday in an attempt to avoid a collision. The incident comes after Turkey shot down a Russian military plane near the Syrian border last month.

Former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, joins us live from Moscow with more on this.

Jill, we should note there's been no official response from Turkey yet, but as we mentioned Russia says this was to avoid a collision. But relations between these two nations are at what you could call an all-time low. What do we know about this?

[02:10:19] JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: They really are, Errol. And you know, if you look at this objectively, it's a fishing vessel, compared to a destroyer. It seems not that serious at first glance. But what were they doing if this indeed is exactly what happened and the Russians describe it that way, a fishing vessel coming up very, very close to that destroyer. Numerous attempts to get into communication, including radio, semaphore, et cetera. And then they say they were forced to give warning shots to that boat and then without communication the Russians again claiming there was no communication from that fishing vessel and that if moved off. And if you look at the way the Russians are handling it, they're taking it very seriously. Remember, just a few days ago, last week, President Putin was talking to his senior military and he ordered them that if there were any attempt or any threat to their forces in Syria, and this ship is part of the Syrian operations, that they should immediately destroy that threat. So they're taking things very seriously. They didn't destroy the fishing vessel but they did call in here in Moscow the military attache from Turkey. It was described as a strict representation of what Russia thinks about it. And, in fact, the person who did that was the Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov. He called it a provocative action and also warned about the consequences of what they're saying and also the reckless actions. The quote that's been on the website for the defense ministry is just "by good fortune tragedy was averted."

BARNETT: So a bit of aggressive posturing there.

Our Jill Dougherty, former CNN bureau chief, joining us from Moscow. 12 minutes past 10:00 in the morning with that update. Jill, thanks.

CHURCH: A new report says social media accounts for one of the San Bernardino shooters were not checked before she was granted entry to the United States. And what was found on those accounts is disturbing. That's next.

BARNETT: And U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is going on the offensive as his lead slips in an important nomination state.

Stay with us here on CNN.

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[02:16:36] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The FBI and California authorities are continuing to track the digital footprint of the San Bernardino shooters. They're trying to find a missing hard drive belonging to Syed Rezwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.

BARNETT: Dive teams ended their search of a lake near the shooting site this weekend. Officials claimed some items were recovered but they won't confirm if they are related to the shooting. And this is pretty stunning. A new report indicates U.S. Immigration

officials missed some critical information in their background checks for Tashfeen Malik.

CHURCH: Malik entered the U.S. in July last year on a fiance visa to marry Syed Rezwan Farook. But "The New York Times" reports investigators had not uncovered her social media accounts in which she talked openly about supporting and wanting to be part of violent jihad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There's tens of millions of people coming into the United States lawfully. So this is the legal immigration system. Most of them, 99.9 percent of them, are law-abiding immigrants who are coming here for education, for travel, or to actually live here, like on a K-1 visa to marry someone. The capacity to go back on everyone's social media account is just -- it's impossible. And what we have to remember is to do that, even if you committed the resources, would so slow up the lawful immigration process for the United States, commerce, vacations, tourism, everything would come to a standstill. So it's a constant balancing act. And you're basically in a situation which is if someone doesn't trigger further review, Immigration officials will not go to social media at this stage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: You'll remember Farook and Malik killed 14 people and wounded several others before they were killed by police.

CHURCH: We want to turn now to U.S. politics where we are seeing a shift in who's out front in the Republican presidential race. Two new polls showed Ted Cruz leading Donald Trump in Iowa.

BARNETT: A FOX News survey released Sunday shows this, Cruz with 28 percent support compared to Trump's 26 percent. So Cruz just edging out Donald Trump. And it follows a "Des Moines Register"/"Bloomberg Politics" poll that showed Cruz with 31 percent backing from likely Republican voters, 10 points ahead of Trump.

CHURCH: And in less than 48 hours Cruz and Trump will stand side by side on the main stage at the last Republican debate this year.

BARNETT: That's right. You're going to want to see this. CNN is hosting the event at the Venetian Theater there in Las Vegas.

Athena Jones has more on the so-called players at the table.

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[02:49:29] ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming to you from the Venetian Theater on the Las Vegas Strip. This is where it will all go down on Tuesday night. We're in the middle of rehearsals right now but you can see here the main stage has been set. We now know the nine candidates who made the cut for the primetime

debate. They are, in order, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Rand Paul.

Trump is center stage once again. He is still the front-runner nationally but his front-runner status is being challenged by Cruz in the state of Iowa. Three new polls now showing the Texas Senator leading there.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash along with Salem radio's Hugh Hewitt are spending a lot of time over the next several days in the cone of silence finalizing debate questions for this huge production. There will be 17 cameras and an invite-only audience of about 1,400 people filling this theater on Tuesday night.

Of course, this will be the last debate of the year, the last chance for these candidates to make a strong impression with voters heading into the holiday season. Millions will be watching. So the big question, will Donald Trump attack Ted Cruz? Will Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz get into it? Will Ben Carson and Jeb Bush and others have breakout performances that can boost their poll numbers? We'll be watching to see what happens.

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BARNETT: Now, with Donald Trump falling behind in that Iowa poll you see him now really going after Ted Cruz.

CHURCH: He told CNN's Jake Tapper that he and Cruz have gotten along so far in the 2016 race, but that is about to change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT & CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Why should votes go for you over Ted Cruz?

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Because I'm more capable, because I have a much better temperament, because I actually get along with people much better than he does. You know, people don't know that about me. I actually have a great relationship with people. In fact, I was criticized at the beginning because I get along with Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives. I get along with everybody.

TAPPER: And he doesn't?

TRUMP: Because as a world-class businessman that's what you have to do.

No, I don't think he does. And I like him. He's been so nice to me. I could say anything and he said, I agree, I agree.

(LAUGHTER)

But I think the time will come to an end pretty soon it sounds like. TAPPER: Let's talk about the reason why a lot of Republican leaders

are -- say they're expressing such anxiousness these days, and that is your call Monday for a, quote, "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S." There's now some polling information, and you cite polls all the time. You say what can you go by if not the polls? And a majority of Americans, 58 percent, reject this call, reject this proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. Now, I know your supporters agree with you, but this is a poll of the American people --

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TRUMP: I don't do it for polls. I don't care what the polls say. I didn't do it for polls. Now, my polls happened to have gone up a lot since this announcement. A lot of people thought it would go down. I didn't do it for that reason.

But with that being understood, when you're getting a phone call from a polling agency and they're saying, well, do you support, you know, the banning of Muslims, et cetera, do you think they're going say -- who's going to say yes? I don't think the polls are accurate. At the same time I have many friends that are Muslims, and I will tell you, they are so happy that I did this because they know they have a problem. There is a problem.

TAPPER: Your Muslim friends are happy --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I have many friends and at the highest level. I have partners that are Muslim. I have unbelievable --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: They support a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.?

TRUMP: They said -- no. They said it's about time that somebody spoke up as to radicalism. You have radicalism in this country. It's here, and it's trying to come through. I just read where ISIS has gotten hold of a passport printing machine for the migrants to get them into the United States. Now, maybe that's true and maybe it's not. It's an early report. But how crazy are we allowing ourselves to be subject to this kind of terror?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: You can watch it live or set those DVRs now to see the final debate of the year for the Republican candidates, Wednesday, 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, 8:00 a.m. for those of you in Tokyo.

CHURCH: It's just a little too early for you, tune in to the replay for you that night at 7:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, 8:00 p.m. in Tokyo, right here on CNN.

BARNETT: Now, for the first time, women have been elected to public office in Saudi Arabia. CHURCH: State media say at least six women won seats this weekend on

local councils that oversee planning decisions. Official results are due later month.

BARNETT: Saudi Arabia was the world's last country to give its women the right to vote.

Becky Anderson spoke with one woman who decided to run for office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I'm going to try to cross the Saudi borders. I'm driving a car I own and I have a UAE driving license.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That attempt to drive across the border last year landed her in jail for over two months.

(on camera): Take me back to that drive and those days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just an attempt to confront the ban on Saudi women to drive. Technically, in legal terms, I was allowed to drive inside with that license. But I was arrested regardless.

ANDERSON (voice-over): A year later, some things are changing. While women in the conservative kingdom still can't drive, they can and have now for the first time in Saudi history run for public office and voted in an election. Municipal elections were held and ballots cast on Saturday.

[02:25:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't explain how excited I am for this big improvement in our country. I'm very proud and lucky that I can participate in it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm one of the candidates. I work at Prince Sultan University as a lecturer in architecture.

ANDERSON: Luchain (ph) also hoped to have her name on the ballot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they announced the final list of the candidates, discovered I was eliminated. So I decided to object and then appeal and went to verify with the council that my name was back into the list, and they said yes, it will be added. But then I discovered yesterday at the boarding center that my name wasn't yet added. No one was able to vote for me.

ANDERSON (on camera): I know your experience of these elections has by no means been perfect, but just how significant are these elections?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As for the impact, I think it's an important one, especially for women, to finally feel and experience how it is to be socially and politically responsible, equal to men. That's a great move forward. And also it's a bit of opportunity for men to see how capable women are.

ANDERSON: Are you optimistic for the future?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, extremely optimistic.

ANDERSON (voice-over): An historic election, raising hope that change can come one vote at a time.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I just want to update you on that story. In fact, state media say at least 17 women won seats this weekend on local councils that oversee planning decisions.

Well, hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to escape Typhoon Melor. The latest on the threat to the central Philippines, that is coming up next.

BARNETT: Also coming up, we'll have strong reactions from world leaders who the climate change deal reached at the COP21 summit. Stay with us.

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[02:30:30] CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett.

Let's update you on our top stories right now.

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CHURCH: A powerful typhoon is slamming coastal areas of the Philippines right now and it's only going to get worse. Just moments ago, wind speeds reached 215 kilometers per hour, the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane. Typhoon Melor is considered a catastrophic storm because of the potential damage it could cause.

BARNETT: A lot of people are watching from the Philippines right now connecting with us on social media. We're letting you know to stay safe.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more.

Because, Pedram, it is a powerful storm. In the last hour or so, it just got stronger.

JAVAHERI: It has. This is a storm we've seen intensify so quickly. That's really what I think the main concern with this storm is because you take a look at it. A menacing feature certainly, spans about 600 kilometers across. But I want to draw the northern feature of Samar in this area because the center of circulation literally riding across the northern tier of this province. The province home to 1.7 million people based on the 2010 census. Taking over this region it will push into the Cebuano Sea then several landfalls possible before it moves into the South China Sea. But the dense population nature of this region really concerning as well because you take a look, the center of the storm right here across the northern portion of Samar. Anything indicated in orange at least 100 people per square kilometer of land. About 7100 islands make up the archipelago of the Philippines and a lot of them densely packed. This is a concern with trying to get people evacuated across this region. Of course, that would involve getting them on boats. We know with the rapid intensification this is precisely what we've seen in literally an 18- hour period. The storm went from a tropical storm indicated in yellow to what is a category 4 equivalent storm system across this region of the Western Pacific Ocean.

Here's what we have in store right now with winds gusting to 260 kilometers per hour. The storm will eventually meander out over pretty warm waters. Some of the warmest waters in our planet right directly to the east of the Philippines. Rainfall totals could be up to half a meter. I often talk about fatalities associated not just directly related to winds but the water the storm displaces and also the water it brings down. Notice the eastern portion of the Philippines indicated in purple, this is where we have no dry season. In fact, December and February is the wettest time of the year. Precisely what we're watching for, for potential of some landslides and flash flooding in place as well. And the storm will eventually move out over open waters in the next 36 hours. We think it will end pretty quickly, but again, it has moved into this region very quickly. And, Rosemary, and also, Errol, this is an area where thousands of fishermen are on vessels. With and he know because of that rapid intensification potentially they weren't given the warnings when it was a tropical storm so something we'll watch carefully.

BARNETT: It got more powerful very quickly move even faster but these next 24 hours will be key to watch.

Pedram, we'll keep checking in with you in the hours ahead. Thanks very much.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

BARNETT: Now, world leaders are reacting to what's being called an historic climate change agreement. Nearly 200 countries reach an ambitious deal over the weekend during the COP21 summit in Paris. The goal, limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.

CHURCH: U.S. President Barack Obama calls it a turning point for the world. And the pope is calling on all countries to follow through with the deal.

And CNN digital columnist, John Sutter, joins us now live from Paris with more. So, John, an historic and an ambitious climate change deal. What more

are these world leaders saying about this and how tough was it to get to this point?

[02:35:16] JOHN SUTTER, CNN DIGITAL COLUMNIST: So I really do think we saw history made over the weekend here. And the statements that have been coming out from world leaders, from not just the U.S., but from China and India notably. The biggest polluters in the world are saying this is a turning point that could mark the start of the end of the era of fossil fuels. Basically, to meet that two degrees goal, which you mentioned is at the heart of this agreement, we'll basically be off of fossil fuels or carbon neutral later this century sometime, scientists tell me, between about 2050 and 2080. You think what the world would have to look at to meet that goal, we won't be using oil and natural gas, coal for our energy sources and for our electricity. We would need to move rapidly toward greener energy, like solar and wind. And also, as Bill Gates and others here have been saying, invest billions of dollars in new technologies that could help get us away from fossil fuels entirely.

I really do think this is a watershed moment. 196 countries came together to say we need to do something to tackle global warming, it's in all of our individual national interests as well as in the collective interests of the world. I think the question now is whether these countries individually will be willing to do enough and put the policies in place to meet this ambitious target that they've set here in Paris.

CHURCH: That's the thing, isn't it? Because there's always a lot of talk with these sorts of discussions, a lot of excitement at the end of it, but then it's making sure that something happens within the next few months, within the next few years. What systems are in place to ensure that happens?

SUTTER: So this is a legally binding framework, so it basically makes these countries keep coming back to the table every five years and upping their ambitions. They each came to Paris, actually submitted plans before they got to Paris, saying this is how much we want to cut our carbon emissions. China, for example, said it wants to peak emissions and drop down after about 2030. The U.S. made a fairly ambitious pledge, as did the E.U. But those actual targets are not what's legally binding. So it's essentially this international peer pressure system with this legal underpinning to keep bringing them back to the table.

And we have seen some leaders, particularly in the U.S., the U.S. Senate majority leader, for example, saying that this deal could be completely swept off the table if a climate skeptic or a Republican is elected into the White House in 2016. So I think that there are some questions going forward and we'll have to see how committed these countries actually are to meeting these goals that they set.

But I think for now, the mood in climate circumstances in Paris certainly is that there is just a lot of anticipation and hope that this could be the moment the world turns the corner and moves off of fossil fuels. CHURCH: Some important points made there.

John Sutter joining us live from Paris. Many thanks to you.

Well, renewed pressure on Brazil's embattled president, Dilma Rousseff, after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding her impeachment.

BARNETT: Take a look at some of the demonstrations held in cities across the country. These are the first since the Congress opened an impeachment motion against her two weeks ago. Brazil's economy is in a deep recession. And some of the president's allies are accused in a corruption scandal.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, details in the bizarre disappearance of a Chinese tycoon. His company says he's now assisting the government in an investigation. We'll bring you more on that after this.

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[02:41:47] BARNETT: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. We appreciate you staying with us.

It has been a rough start to the week for the stocks in the Asia- Pacific region. Markets have closed for the day in Sydney and in Tokyo.

CHURCH: Look at that. In Australia, they're down more than 2 percent. The Nikkei moving in a similar direction there. You can see the Shanghai Composite up 2.5 percent there. Generally, it doesn't reflect overall what's happening in the region. And then also markets down half a percent there for Hong Kong.

Well, shares of Fosun Group resumed trading in Hong Kong after being suspended Friday when the firm's billionaire owner went missing.

BARNETT: It's quite a mystery. But then the company released a statement saying Guo Guang Chang is, quote, "assisting in certain investigations carried out by mainland judiciary authorities." There were no further details.

Let's bring in "CNN Money's" Sophia Yan now. She joins us live from Hong Kong with more on this.

Sophia, fill us in on what we know about Guo Guang Chang and the possibility here of any wrongdoing.

SOPHIA YAN, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: As you said, what we do know here at this point is the company has said he's assisting authorities with an investigation. Now, the company has not disclosed what the investigation is about and who exactly is being investigated. He could be sustained with perhaps another individual -- another investigation into a separate individual if he had some sort of information about that. But at the moment, it's still quite unclear. It's sort of a stock phrase that's been used in a number of cases where many other business executives have been detained mysteriously.

Now, the company shares were halted from trading on Friday. They've since resumed today and immediately were down about 10 percent. Now, the two companies traded in Hong Kong, Fosun International and Fosun Pharma. Both are linked to the overall Chinese conglomerate parent, Fosun Group. The company may not Sunday very familiar to you but they actually invest in everything from real estate to entertainment. They own Club Med. They own a stake in Cirque du Soleil.

BARNETT: He's referred to as China's Warren Buffett. He's responsible for so much business there. This is getting a lot of attention, though, because it doesn't appear to an isolated incident. It fits this larger trend of powerful top executives going missing in China. What is the changing relationship between big business in China and the all-powerful ruling party because there is an effort to stamp out corruption right now?

YAN: That's exactly right. A lot of executives have gone missing. A lot of them are actually at brokerage firms in China. Now, the government has been casting a wide net. There's been a huge anti- corruption campaign since 2013 when the current president, Xi Jinping, took office. Now, that particular crackdown has since widened to include the financial sector. Government authorities are looking around to cast blame on individuals, on companies for the summer stock market crash. Now, in these cases, it's really difficult to know what's happening. Oftentimes, there are no details released. You know, in some cases, the company will announce that they have not heard from their executive, which is a strange thing to say, but they are beholden to shareholders to let the public know what's going on as it could have a fairly material impact on the company's bottom line. But it also does point out, at this point, the opaque nature of China's legal system. A lot of people are perhaps tried behind closed doors. They could be detained and their family and friends don't know where they are. It's very murky what's going on here.

[02:45:] BARNETT: We appreciate you explaining some of that to us.

"CNN Money's" Sophia Yan joining us from Hong Kong. Quarter to 4:00 in the afternoon there. Thanks very much.

Now, we keep our focus in China because scuffles broke out near a courthouse in Beijing earlier as a prominent human rights lawyer went on trial. Take a look.

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BARNETT: You're seeing supporters and journalists essentially clashing with public security officials.

CHURCH: The U.S. embassy is urging China to release Pu Zhiqiang, who's on trial for comments he posted on a Chinese social media site. The U.S. says the charges are suspicious and inappropriate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. DIPLOMAT: The embassy of the United States remains concerned that Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent Chinese defense lawyer is being tried under vague charges of inciting ethnic hatred and picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Lawyers and civil society leaders such as Mr. Pu should not be subject to continuing repression but should be allowed to contribute to the building of a prosperous and stable China.

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BARNETT: The indictment claims Pu made comments that criticized government officials and Chinese policy.

CHURCH: Well, the story of a galaxy far, far away is getting awfully close. "The Force Awakens" premieres Monday. CNN sat down with Director J.J. Abrams to talk about the new movie. That is next.

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[02:50:58] UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: There were stories about what happened.

HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: It's true. All of it.

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CHURCH: That's right. It's almost time. The latest installment in the legendary "Star Wars" film franchise is nearly here.

BARNETT: "The Force Awakens" premieres Monday night in Los Angeles, less than 24 hours from now. You know folks are already lined up, waiting to see had thing. As the fans eagerly await the movie, the team who made it wants to hear what they think.

CHURCH: Our Isha Sesay sat down with Director J.J. Abrams to talk about opening up a new chapter.

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J.J. ABRAMS, DIRECTOR: We are here on day one of "Star Wars," Episode 7.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear, hear.

ABRAMS: How incredible is that?

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ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've said that you are inheriting the "Star Wars" legacy. I also know you are one of the legion of super fans of the films. I'm wondering how with that pressure, that love of the films themselves, how you even begin the process of imagining a new chapter.

ABRAMS: Well, first of all, I had to put my being a fan aside somewhat because that wasn't the job. You know, I couldn't just be a cheerleader for this thing. It had to be storytelling. And working with Lawrence Kasdan in writing the script, we didn't just talk about the continuum of where things may have gone and what may have happened to some of the characters that people know but also why do we want to tell the story now? What makes it relevant? What's the point? So in talking about it from the most basic point of view, not just as a "Star Wars" movie but this is a story about a young woman who, this is a story about a young man who, just talking about the story was the thing we need to do to tell a story that was worth telling and not just a nostalgic trip.

SESAY: An incredibly diverse cast. Something you deliberately set out to do?

ABRAMS: I knew when we were writing it I wanted this movie to look more like the way the world works than not. But we didn't write any of the characters with that in mind. We just wrote the story. We didn't know what we were casting it who would look like what. We just decided to cast the movie.

SESAY: But then you have the added dimension of blending the old with the new.

ABRAMS: Yes.

SESAY: And seeing how that chemistry works.

ABRAMS: Which if it didn't work well would have been a disaster. You have these actors like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and people who are wonderful and established in this iconic way. And then you've got these absolute unknowns who are stepping in. And it wasn't clear what that alchemy would result in. And what was so lucky was, to a person, they were supportive of each other. There was no weird resentment or kind of trying to edge out someone. They were all there to kind of raise each other up. And that was sort of a beautiful thing to watch.

SESAY: Are you worried about the numbers, the box office numbers? Is this something you're concerned with? All the projections are this is going to blow box office takes, totals out of the water. Is that something you care about?

ABRAMS: The success for me is just going to be if people go and like the film. If kids go and see themselves in the movie and people feel better when they lead the theater than when they got there, and the numbers are the numbers.

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BARNETT: You know what? I think I might avoid the crowds. I'll wait a while. I'm not a massive "Star Wars" fan, but it looks like they spent a bit of time on that.

CHURCH: Absolutely. I can't wait.

The 2016 U.S. presidential election is providing comedy show "Saturday Night Live" with great material. This week, "SNL" alum, Will Ferrell, reprised his role as former President George W. Bush and poked fun at the Republican candidates.

BARNETT: And it was funny because he could barely keep it together when he got to the front-runner. Watch this.

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[02:55:02] WILL FARRELL, COMEDIAN: And then you've got this knucklehead --

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-- with the hair --

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-- and the 100-foot wall.

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Bring that picture back.

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I'll tell you something, whenever I get in a bad mood, I just picture his big, fat, orange, Oompah-Loompah face and just piss my pants.

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Jeb. Oh, boy.

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Poor Jeb. You've got to admit it's a pretty good plot twist that I turned out to be the smart one.

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FARRELL: Of course, I wish he would have asked me about the exclamation point on the end of his name.

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Look, I don't like the taste of broccoli. But it doesn't get any taster if you call it broccoli!

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CHURCH: So much material to work with there, right?

BARNETT: Yeah, go Will Ferrell.

CHURCH: Yeah.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett.

More live reports around the world. We've got one more hour to go. Join us after the break.

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