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Inside the U.N. Resolution on Syria; Not All Syrians Want to Leave Their Homeland; Friend of Killer Faces Terrorism Charges; Obama Visits Families of San Bernardino Victims; Obama Tries to Quell Terrorism Fears; Cruz and Rubio Butt Heads; Beijing under Pollution Red Alert; Disney Installs Metal Detectors at Parks; High School Teacher Suing New Jersey School District; U.S. School in Row over Homework Assignment; Mother Teresa's Path to Sainthood; "Force" Not to Awaken for Another Week in India; Baby Born on "Star Wars" Opening Day. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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


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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.N. Security Council unanimously backs a plan for peace in Syria.

But with hundreds of thousands killed, millions displaced, is it too late for a political solution?

Comforting the victims of terror: President Obama meets with families in San Bernardino, California, hours after promising to ramp up the fight against terrorism.

And a legend in life becoming a saint in death. More on the pope's planned canonization of Mother Teresa.

From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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HOWELL: And a good day to you. We start this hour with the long, bloody conflict in Syria and now a glimmer of hope. Syria could find itself on a political path to peace.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved the resolution on Friday designed to end that country's civil war. The U.N. envoy to Syria says implementing the accord will be an uphill struggle but peace is possible.

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HOWELL (voice-over): While this resolution lays the groundwork for a political solution it does not address the issue of this man, what to do with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Russia wants him to stay in power. The U.S. would prefer not. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: There are also issues that need to be resolved, including the question of which specific parties should be involved in the talks. CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has this report.

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ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperate to refocus the world's attention on ISIS, world powers, all stakeholders in Syria, inch closer to agreement on a road map for ending the Syrian civil war.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have agreed on a plan of action. And the council's vote today is an important boost on the road to a political settlement.

LABOTT (voice-over): Today, the U.N. Security Council blessed those efforts, beginning with a cease-fire between regime and rebel forces and starting political talks early next year.

But nations can't even agree on which Syrian groups to consider terrorists and which to include in the talks.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We are all united on the front, that terrorists of all stripes have no place in the talks.

LABOTT (voice-over): And still unresolved, the fate of Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that Assad is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the bloodletting.

LABOTT (voice-over): But today, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told "Foreign Policy" magazine, President Obama's decision in 2013 to stand down on strikes in Syria, ignoring his own red line on Assad's use of chemical weapons, dealt a severe blow to U.S. credibility, which many argue has given space for ISIS to grow and for Russia to enter.

As the coalition continues to pound ISIS targets in Syria, including these strikes, which helped thwart a massive ISIS attack, the U.S. has set its sights on the group's branch in Libya, killing the affiliate's leader in an airstrike last month.

Now these photos show U.S. military personnel on the ground in Libya, helping to beef up the Libyan army's defenses against jihadists. On a swing through the region, the Secretary of Defense warned ISIS' global reach is never-ending.

ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We're in Syria in Iraq, which is the home tumor of this movement. We are seeing little nests of ISIL spring up around the world, including here in Afghanistan. LABOTT: And a U.N. diplomat tells me, these negotiations to be led by the United Nations, are only going to work if the U.S. and Russia stay united. Only they can put pressure on the regime and the opposition groups to stay on track with the political process.

And without them, this diplomat says, the U.N. will only be leading from behind -- Elise Labott, CNN, New York.

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HOWELL: Now to some developing news out of Turkey. The state-owned Anadolu news agency is reporting the sinking of a refugee boat. It happened just off the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea; 18 refugees drowned when their wooden boat sank.

Turkey's coast guard was able to rescue 14 people. The boat though was transporting 32 Syrian and Iraqi refugees to the Greek island of Kos.

The sinking of that boat only reinforces the danger that these refugees face when they're fleeing their homes. But still boatloads of people continue to arrive every hour on the shores of Greece. Senior international correspondent Sara Sidner has more from the island of Lesbos, Greece.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They don't know each other's names. They don't speak the same language. But they cling to one another like mother and daughter. One is a refugee from Syria. The other an Australian volunteer.

ALISON THOMPSON, VOLUNTEER: She was just like in shock and shivering. And so we just wrapped her and she wouldn't let go of me. So she just felt safe. We're just trying to give her love.

SIDNER (voice-over): Alison Thompson has dedicated her life to caring for the most vulnerable, from New York during 9/11 to the shores of Lesbos, Greece, where tattered boats filled with refugees arrive daily.

THOMPSON: This is a kind of a gentle landing, but it gets chaotic, especially at night. The screams are terrifying for us, too, the volunteers. It's like everybody's screaming. And it's so dark you don't see them until they're about 10 feet from the shore.

SIDNER (voice-over): On this day, by 2:00 pm, five distressed boats filled with cold, wet people have been towed in.

This family of five says they escaped from Deir ez-Zor, Syria, with three young children.

"We left because of bombing from al-Assad, war, just war everywhere," father Mohammed al-Ahmed tells us. The refugee crisis, nowhere near slowing down; as long as the bombs keep falling and the bullets keep flying, the waves of the people will keep coming.

But fear is also rising, as new details about the path of the ringleader of the Paris attackers and two others mimic that of the refugees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Greek media, there was a lot of coverage that one bomber from Paris, he passed from the Greek islands. So I think all this thing gives support to the right-wing parties, their rise in all of Europe.

SIDNER: Jason from Athens is here to try to temper that fear, showing his support for the refugees. Jobless in the stagnant Greek economy, he spends his days rescuing those far worse off.

Hundreds of thousands have made it to the Greek island of Lesbos, the vast majority on dangerous vessels like this rubber dinghy.

Desperate people often running from terrible atrocities with no other options -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Lesbos, Greece.

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HOWELL: Back now to the United States and the U.S. President Barack Obama, he made some unplanned remarks after meeting with survivors of the San Bernardino terror attack.

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HOWELL (voice-over): He stopped in San Bernardino just a couple of hours ago before leaving for Hawaii for Christmas break. The president and first lady met privately with victims' families and with first responders.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they are also representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country.

And as we go into the holiday season, even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening. even as we insist we can't accept the notion of mass shootings in public places and our places of work and worship, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there.

And if you met some of these folks, despite the pain and the heartache that they are feeling, they could not have been more inspiring.

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HOWELL: As for the investigation after that attack, a former neighbor of one of the attackers is due in court on Monday for a bail hearing. He now faces terrorism charges in connection with the massacre. CNN's Kyung Lah has the details on the apparent radicalization of Enrique Marquez.

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