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British Muslim Family Heading to U.S. Is Prevented From Boarding Flight; Landslide in Shenzhen: Four Days Later; Iraqi Colonel: Iraq's Army Making Slow, Steady Progress Against ISIS in Ramadi. Aired 00:00-01:00a ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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


ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. (HEADLINES) Muslims barred; a family heading to Disneyland for the holidays is prevented boarding a flight from London to L.A., capturing the confrontation on video. Did U.S. security target them because of their religion?

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. "Newsroom L.A." starts right now.

It has been four days since the devastating landside in Shenzhen, China and the hope of finding 70 missing people is fading fast. About 5,000 people are keeping up the rescue effort but they're past the critical 72-hour window, when chances of survival are the highest. At this point, at least four bodies have been pulled from the rubble at an industrial park and more than a dozen people remain in the hospital.

One person was found on Wednesday after being trapped for 60 hours and we're getting new details on exactly how he survived. Let's turn to CNN's Matt Rivers, in Shenzhen, with that part of the story. Matt, what are we learning about how this 19-year-old survived? How he was rescued?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isha, this is really the one good piece of news we've had in the two-plus days -- almost three days now that we've been here in Shenzhen. State media reported that this young man was inside one of the buildings that collapsed and as it collapsed around him, because of this landslide, it created an air pocket. Perhaps more miraculous than that, state media also reporting that a bag of snacks, if you believe that, fell right next to this young man. He was able to eat the period of several days and that, combined with a sense, you would imagine, of mental toughness and it was around 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, local time, that he struck a rock with a piece of metal when he heard rescuers nearby. They heard those calls for help. They spent the next several hours digging him out, clearing out debris. He remains in stable condition at this point. Really the only bit of good news amidst many, many other people who remain trapped and the likelihood of them being pulled out alive gets slimmer and slimmer.

SESAY: Yes, sadly, it was. Matt, we're also hearing that local factory owners have been gathering. Do we know the reason for the meeting?

RIVERS: They've been gathering and talking about next steps here. This industrial park was filled with several different factories, owned by different people. We know they have been meeting over the past several days. They actually created a group text message where they're going back and forth, trying to decide what to do next; specifically, talking about the financial situation. They're not sure who will bear the brunt of their financial losses. This is their entire livelihoods and, frankly, the livelihoods of the workers that worked in their factories. Many of these factories are destroyed, perhaps beyond repair.

So, moving forward, depending on who is to blame for all of this, the factory owners are wondering, will they get compensated from the government; perhaps the company that owned this construction waste pile that collapsed; or, whether they will be forced to bear the financial burden themselves?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Matt Rivers joining us there with the very latest from Shenzhen. Matt, we appreciate all of the reporting; thank you so much.

Turning now to Iraq; and Iraqi government forces say they're making progress in their fight to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS. The military released a picture of one neighborhood liberated on Tuesday. Iraqi forces say they are less than two kilometers from the ISIS-held government compound in the city center. The U.S.-led coalition is providing air support.

Well Ramadi is the capital of Anbar Province, an important area in Iraq's Sunni heartland, and it's just over 100 kilometers away from the capitol, Baghdad. Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraqi troops roll across a floating bridge, opening a path towards central Ramadi. Heavy gunfire continues to ring out. Iraqi armored vehicles on the [00:05:27] move, fighting street to street. The entire area is mined and booby-trapped by ISIS; entire houses wired to blow up. Tough work for Iraqi troops, even after weeks of U.S. training to prepare for urban warfare.

COL. STEVE WARREN, SPOKESMAN, ANTI-ISIS COALITION, IRAQ: This enemy has had time to set up their defense inside this city. It's going to be very difficult and is going to be a slow process for the Iraqis to slowly, methodically, and carefully clear their way through this city.

STARR: Sectarian sensitivities are being handled delicately. The fighters purposely do not include any Iranian-backed Shia militias in this part of the Sunni heartland, according to the U.S. The U.S. already helping Iraq plan for a Sunni-led force to hold the city if it is taken back by Iraqis. Hundreds of Sunni tribal fighters have been trained by the U.S.; the U.S. military, anxious to show success of its anti-ISIS strategy.

WARREN: We've begun a training program a year ago, to train Iraqi forces to be able to take their country back. In the last several weeks, we've begun to see that happen. That training has started to take hold.

STARR: Some say for ISIS, Ramadi already served its purpose this Spring, when they chased Iraqi forces from the city.

MAJOR GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They've now determined, look, they're going to trade space for time. We're going to give up the space called Ramadi. We're going to continue to live to fight another day.

STARR: But on this already devastated battlefield of a city, desperation is everywhere. Some ISIS fighters remain dug in and willing to use Ramadi citizens as they see fit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Human shields are going to be the favorite tactic that ISIS employs. The civilian casualty rate is also going to be a significant problem for Iraqi forces. So if operations go wrong, they are going to have possibly some real problems going into those areas without causing the deaths of civilians.

STARR: And even if the Iraqis can get Ramadi back and hold on to it, the next challenge still remains Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city still in the firm grip of ISIS.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Col. Peter Mansoor joins us now from Columbus, Ohio. Colonel Mansoor, after the initial rapid advancement by Iraqi forces into Ramadi, the rate of progress has been slow on Wednesday. Is the way the battle is progressing, is it in line with your expectations?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Absolutely. the ISIS forces have had several months to dig in and create tunnels, fortifications, plant lots of roadside bombs, wire up houses to explode. This is a battlefield that is absolutely littered with munitions and bombs and things that go boom in the night. So it will be a slow slog to root out the last 300 or so defenders from their positions.

SESAY: And the question remains of how you feel -- how you fill the vacuum, if and when ISIS is routed and Ramadi is taken? After all, there will be a disaffected Sunni population.

MANSOOR: Well, this is the key question, right? You have to give local Sunnis a political bargain they can live with, and if you do that, then the policing will take care of itself because the tribes will rise up and secure their own territory but they need some sort of provincial autonomy. They need a share of the oil revenue, perhaps their own police force. They need something they can live with so they know they will not be under the thumb of Shiite militias or the government in Baghdad.

SESAY: Col. Mansoor, if i can turn your attention to Afghanistan. Reports emerging on Wednesday that Russia and the Taliban have been exchanging information, working together to defeat ISIS. I've got to ask you what you make of this.

MANSOOR: You know, Russia and the Taliban are going to work together to defeat ISIS the same way that Russia is trying to defeat ISIS in Syria, which is not at all. It's simply a smokescreen to get Russia involved in the end game in Afghanistan and to be part of negotiations going forward. I can assure you that Vladimir Putin has almost no interest in defeating ISIS in Afghanistan, much less in Syria or anywhere else.

SESAY: How much of this is about thumbing their noses to the United States, if you will; the Taliban that, of course, the United States has fought over many years?

MANSOOR: Well, there's a sense that the United States is retreating from the world. We have an Administration who - which publically says we're about ending wars not continuing or starting them and, you know, other nations take our word at face value. You have a leader in Vladimir Putin who likes to stick [00:10:10] his nose in places and advance his agenda and his power wherever he can. So, this is just another example of how he's using the void created by what i think is a lack of U.S. leadership in the world today to advance Russia's interests.

SESAY: And as you look at the situation and this report about Russia's -- Russian cooperation with the Taliban, what does it mean as for the region as a whole in your view?

MANSOOR: You know, the Afghan war is not over. The deaths of six service members there recently to a motorcycle bomb is proof of that. You know, there's been a lot of Taliban activity in Helmand Province. Sangin, where a lot of British troops served during the war, is now almost completely under Taliban control. So, this is an area in South Asia, that's more and more unsettled, unfortunately, going forward and i think the administration, the Obama Administration, NATO, is going to have to relook at the levels of troop commitment if they want Afghanistan to hold together going forward.

SESAY: Colonel Peter Mansoor, it's great to have you on the program this evening. We appreciate the insight and perspective; thank you so much.

MANSOOR: Thank you.

SESAY: Well, staying with Afghanistan, on the battlefield, Afghan officials are denying Taliban claims of a takeover in Sangin District in Helmand Province. The acting defense minister says reinforcements arrived amid fierce fighting. The Taliban said the district center had been overrun and large quantities of weapons and equipment had been captured. But, an army spokesman tells Reuters the claim is baseless. Let's bring in Alexandra Field who joins us now with more on all of this. Alexandra, what are you hearing about the Taliban advances in Helmand

Province?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well government officials aren't responding and they're fully acknowledging that fierce fighting is continuing in Sangin Province where we've seen the bulk of that fighting over the last few days. But, what they are saying is that the Afghan forces have had successes in other parts of the Province, in terms of holding back the Taliban in places where the Taliban has exerted pressure. They're saying the Taliban has not seen advances in other parts of Helmand Province, but the focus really remains squarely on Sangin, the key district where local officials had rung the alarm bells just a few days ago, saying the Taliban had basically taken over the entire district. That's when they reported having some 150 people holed up in the police chief's building and having another building surrounded by the Taliban, which belonged to one of the army's battalions. So that is where they continue to be focused.

You've got government officials saying that some relief has been provided. There had been reports that the Afghans, they were running out of food, ammunition, other supplies. So, you do have some government officials saying that some relief has arrived but they say that the operations need to continue in Sangin and that there are plans for expanded operations in that area, in order to fend off the Taliban there. Isha?

SESAY: And we're hearing from the Taliban, they're speaking out. What are they saying? How are they framing this fight?

FIELD: The Taliban has responded most specifically to the decision to send a small number of British troops to Helmand Province. These are troops that are not there in a combat role. They're there strictly in an advisory role, as part of a larger NATO team. But you will, of course, recall that the British had a big stake in the fight in Sangin Province for a number of years. They lost more than 100 troops there. So they have returned and the Taliban is seizing on the return of these British advisers, saying this, in a statement: "the intervention of the British government show that the illegitimate Kabul Administration can't look after itself and the nation doesn't accept them."

So all sides acknowledging, really, that this fierce fight continues in Sangin, but Afghan officials say they are working to bring more relief to that area, to continue this operation, to try and fight off the Taliban. The Afghan officials, however, are also underscoring the point, though, that the British are there simply in an advisory capacity; that they're not in any combat operations. Isha?

SESAY: A very, very complicated situation. Alexandra Field with the very latest from Afghanistan; appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Now, the bodies of six American Air Force personnel killed this week in an attack on their patrol in Afghanistan were returned to the United States Wednesday. The flag-draped coffins arrived at an Air National Guard base in Delaware. The U.S. official revealed new details on the severity of the bombing. The suicide bomber inflicted extra damage by packing the motorcycle with explosives instead of just wearing a suicide vest.

In Thailand, two migrant workers from Myanmar plan to appeal their death sentences for the murders of two British tourists. The victims' bodies were found on a beach in September of last year. The trial? The trial was fraught with controversy and allegations that police mishandled investigation. The suspects they say were forced to confess.

Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," live from Los Angeles, a Muslim family denied entrance to the U.S. and they claim no one is telling them why. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (WEATHER HEADLINES)

SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. (HEADLINE) Well, for a family, a Muslim family in Britain, security concerns have already been too much. They were supposed to be heading off for a joyous holiday, bringing their children to America. Instead, they were suddenly barred from their flight and, as they told Diana Magnay, no one has explained why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: the owners of these little dresses had hoped to be roaming Disneyland this Christmas with [00:20:16] their cousins who live in the U.S.; but the Mahmood family, Mohammad and Zahir, their two nieces and seven small and teenage children, were turned away at the gate as they were about to board the plane for Los Angeles. Zahir (Inaudible) didn't want her children filmed. She doesn't want them to feel like they did at the airport, singled out.

ZAHIR MAHMOOD, MOTHER, BANNED TRAVELER: My 10-year-old daughter said to my husband, is it because we're Muslim? My husband said, why would you say that? She goes, well, because we're the only Muslim people in that line.

MAGNAY: The family's papers, the electronic authorization they need to visit the U.S., were all in order; approved six weeks before by the Department Of Homeland Security. They were due to fly with Norwegian but the airline said they couldn't help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The problem is, though, that we don't know why you've been taken off the flight.

MAGNAY: Just a message from U.S. Immigration that they could go no further.

MOHAMMAD MAHMOOD, FATHER, BANNED TRAVELER: If they had felt that, they should have told us six weeks ago, so we would not have taken them out of school, booked the holiday, got their hopes up.

MAGNAY: The family want answers, and they feel the fact they're Muslim has something to do with it.

MAHMOOD: Well I definitely think Donald Trump's theory did have a part to play in it because otherwise why wasn't anyone else flagged up on that flight? Just one Muslim family.

DONALD TRUMP, R-NY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown.

MAGNAY: Earlier this month the presidential candidate called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States. A U.S. official tells CNN that not all of the family members were prevented from traveling. Besides that, the U.S. won't comment on this particular case for privacy reasons. They say religion, faith or spiritual beliefs play no role in matters of immigration, that there are a myriad of other factors which might mean an individual is turned down: health issues, criminal records, security, to name just a few.

The family say that this Facebook page may have sparked a red flag. It's written by a man who says he lives in Birmingham and calls himself a supervisor at Taliban and leader at al-Qaeda, but the e-mail address connected to this account appears on an electoral register against the Mahmood's residential address in London.

MAHMOOD: Maybe someone has hacked in. It has the same address of ours but a different name and e-mail address.

MAGNAY: The family spent $15,000 on this trip and Norwegian says they're not entitled to a refund. Zadif Mahmood, who doesn't want to show her face, has been ill all year. She was going to stay home but she wanted the best for her children.

MAHMOOD: It was either me to go private and have private health care, or for my children to have two weeks of pure bliss. I decided that's what i wanted to do with the money, is to send my children away so they could have a nice holiday and feel fresh and start a new year afresh.

MAGNAY: She's keeping the dresses until next time. She wants her children to see Disneyland. She is sure one day they will.

Diana Magnay, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, joining me now is Salam al-Marayati. He is the President of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Thank you so much for joining us.

SALAM AL-MARAYATI, PRESIDENT, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: thank you.

SESAY: You have said this move to ban this family from traveling to the United States is reflective of the political climate here in the U.S. Explain what you mean by that.

AL-MARAYATI: Well, I mean, people are scared. There's a lot of fear; and when the public is scared, the Government starts acting in an irrational manner and unfortunately communities have to live under a cloud of suspicion. I remember when Cat Stevens was denied entry into the United States and he had to work hard to regain that privilege to come to the United States. i feel really bad for the family that unfortunately lost the chance to come to America.

I see that we also live in a polarized world today, where Westerner's and the Muslim world may live under a cloud of suspicion. Muslims, even if they are born here in the United States, or in the West, will also live under a cloud of suspicion for quite some time.

SESAY: The Council on American Islamic Relations Care is asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate whether Donald Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. is being implemented informally. Do you think that's what is happening?

AL-MARAYATI: I wouldn't give Donald Trump any credit for this. Like i said, governments become overcautious in this situation. We just had a horrific terrorist incident in San Bernardino. Paris was very recent. So we all have to understand that we're going to have to go through these extra precautions. Some of us, unfortunately, are going to run into these kinds of problems.

Now, there are means to clear the names of individuals who may have last surnames that match names of individuals who are on terrorist lists?

SESAY: How commonplace is that?

AL-MARAYATI: It is common, unfortunately, when you have a last name like Mahmood. It's common. If there's somebody named Mahmood on a terrorist watch list, then you have a case of mistaken identity, perhaps. There are ways to clear the names of individuals.

SESAY: And you also said that you have been speaking to Muslims living here in the United States who are concerned about taking trips out of the U.S. now.

AL-MARAYATI: Right. So, for example, i was just taking my parents to the airport. They're going on what's called Umrah, which is going to Mecca outside the time of Hajj. I met another individual who said he is not going to Mecca because he doesn't want that stamp on his passport because he's afraid, by coming back to the United States, he's going to be harassed or denied entry back to his home. So there is a lot of fear and hysteria right now.

It's a time of Christmas, and i think that if Christmas is the spirit that we are all going to be experiencing in the next few days, let us remember the words of Jesus, to overcome hate through love and reconciliation; and let us work towards having goodwill and reconcile with one another. And so, i want to wish the Christian world a merry Christmas, and I, as a Muslim, revere Jesus as the word of god. i think that the more understanding we have on that front, and the more that people realize that, yeah, there is ISIS, but the majority of people fighting ISIS are Muslim.

SESAY: Yes.

AL-MARAYATI: The Iraqis just had a major victory against ISIS in Ramadi in Iraq. So people have to understand the depth of this issue and not get into stereotypes and fall into the traps of labeling people as terrorists when it's just scapegoating and it's just brushing people with stereotypes and unfortunate generalizations.

SESAY: Salam al-Marayati, we appreciate you coming in at this time of year, and also to share that message of tolerance and peace and people living together peacefully. Thank you.

AL-MARAYATI: If it -- it was God's will to create different people, so it's diversity; and America is the last bastion of pluralism. So thank you for the opportunity.

SESAY: Thank you. We're going to take a quick break; this week we're looking back at some of the year's historic moments and stories. Next, correspondents reported from the middle of the refugee crisis share their thoughts. Plus, the father of a young boy, who drowned while fleeing Syria makes a Christmas plea to the world. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You are watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour: (HEADLINES)

An Iraqi colonel says government forces are making slow but steady progress to liberate Ramadi from ISIS. He says soldiers are searching for booby-traps and IED's left behind by the terror group. The U.S.- led coalition is providing air support.

Now the refugee crisis has been one of the biggest stories of 2015 and some of our correspondents have seen the struggle firsthand. They sat down to talk about the unprecedented number of migrants and refugees, leaving their homes in search of a better life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you ever think you'd see just the masses of people marching into Europe like that? I don't think i ever would have imagined a scene like that.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And then the scene when they get to Greece and the boats that just keep on coming and coming.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

DAMON: There's a logic out there of, well, why don't they just stay in Lebanon or Turkey. They're safe?

NIMA ELBAGIR: I suppose the question is, would you? I mean, would you? I mean, I think that's what people forget.

DAMON: No, because you need a life. You need to be able to build a life. You need to be able to build a future for your children. And you're not going to have a future sitting in a refugee camp or a country where you can't actually get a job. You can't pursue your education. You can't pursue your life. You know what; sadly, the reality is they're not going to go home. The war in Syria isn't going to end in anytime soon, and if it were to end tomorrow, i mean, the country's - NICK PATON WALSH: It's an awful consequence for the decades to come there that the dentist, the architects, the boring people who do those important jobs are not going to be there -

ELBAGIR: Yes.

DAMON: Yes.

WALSH: And they're not going to want to go home, and they're going to be doing that job in Germany.

DAMON: This isn't necessarily the poorest of the poor that are making this journey.

WARD: No.

DAMON: They can't afford it.

WATSON: A lot of these folks were middle-class people -

DAMON: Syria's, you know, lower -

WATSON: -- who are coming from the safe parts of Syria.

DAMON: Syria's poorest of the poor are, sadly, the ones that area either still in Syria because they can't afford to leave and getting bombed just about every single day or they're the ones who are stuck in the refugee camps. It's not a cheap journey.

WALSH: But it's so universal; it's the sheer volume of people doing it for totally understandable human reasons.

WATSON: There's no way the way the refugee trail unfolded was good for any of the refugees and migrants, or for any of the European states. It kind of weakens European institutions. It also weakens the boundaries and borders.

ELBAGIR: But it also became a debate

DAMON: And that idea of, you know, Europe, or even America, it's meant to be a democracy. It's meant to uphold all these ideals and values; and to be treated like trash, that's how they felt. They felt like they were being treated like trash.

WARD: That's the heartbreaking moment -

WATSON: It depended on the country or the border.

DAMON: Sure. Yes.

WATSON: That's not entirely fair because there were people who welcomed these migrants.

ELBAGIR: Yes, and people who made difficult political decisions.

WATSON: Exactly, but it also created more of a pull factor and that's - was that better --

ELBAGIR: We had the conversation in the U.K., where the conservatives said if you stop saving them, they will stop coming. And you have debate what that does to your humanity? Can you really watch thousands upon thousands of people washing up on shores?

DAMON: Also, why does it have to get that bad for people to react? Why does it have to take that image of -

[CROSS TALK}

DAMON: -- people on the beach, for people to begin to react?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: A great conversation there from some of CNN's best correspondents.

Now, we're hearing from the father of the boy, our Arwa Damon [00:35:00] just mentioned, 3-year-old Allen Curdy. His body was found washed up on a beach in Turkey earlier this year. The photos of him lying lifeless shocked the world. Allen, his mother and brother all drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to make the journey to a better life. Allen's father lived, and has a message for the world.

That's part of the Abla Curdy's Christmas plea, calling on countries to open their doors to Syrians. The message will air, in full, on Christmas Day on the U.K.'s Channel 4.

We take a quick break. A deadly tornado is making its way through the U.S. Southeast. We'll tell you what is causing this rare December tornado. And the Miss Universe finale was the blunder seen right around the world. Now, Miss Colombia is talking about the crown she didn't win.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: This video is coming to CNN from the U.S. state of Mississippi. A tornado, rare for December, hit their on Wednesday. At least three people were killed, including a seven-year-old boy. Three other people died in storms in Arkansas and Tennessee.

Let's bring in Derek Van Dam who joins us with more. Derek, just how rare is a tornado outbreak for this time of year?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Isha, if a tornado is going to develop across the United States this time of year, it's likely to be the states adjacent with if Gulf of Mexico: Texas, to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi. On average we see about 24 tornadoes through the month of December, but take a look at this: we have exceeded that, or come close to that, i should say, just in the matter of one day. 22 tornado reports, with over 150 wind damage reports and they have not completed their entire survey of the damage. Now, most tornados are on the ground for roughly two, perhaps upwards

of five minutes, traveling about one kilometer or so. But the tornado you just saw on your TV screens a moment ago, was on the ground for a whopping 200 kilometers or more. This puts it in the upper echelon of long track tornadoes. Typically about 0.1-percent of all recorded tornadoes actually stay on the ground this long.

This is the initial preliminary damage track of this particular tornado that took place in northwestern sections of Mississippi. Here

it is from Storm Chaser Video. I want to show you something unique that storm chasers actually caught. Notice this tube. This is called a vortex tube and it got sucked right into the middle of the storm and that allowed for that storm to further intensify and it allowed it to stay on the ground for that long duration of time. Isha?

SESAY: Derek, we appreciate the insight; thank you so much.

All right, well, turning, now, to that Miss Universe Pageant we've been talking about for a number of days. Miss Colombia has broken her silence on that awkward crowning at the pageant. CNN's Brian Stelter has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miss Colombia speaking out about that mistake heard around the world.

STEVEN HARVEY, HOST, MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT: Miss Universe 2015 is - Colombia.

STELTER: Rianya Gutierrez posted a lengthy message on Instagram saying, "Life continues; and in the future we will find out why things happened the way they happened." The 21 year old congratulating the real winner, Ms. Philippines, while showing grace under the pageant lights and saying nothing about the humiliated host, Steve Harvey.

HARVEY: The first runner-up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines.

STELTER: It is a moment that will live in TV infamy: the host of "Family Feud" mistakenly reading the runner-up's name then correcting himself with the whole universe watching. You could see his discomfort. The moments after the gaffe, Harvey appears to complain to producers that the teleprompter had the wrong name, and said Ms. Colombia was the winner. But, seconds later, Harvey publicly took the blame.

HARVEY: This is exactly what's on the card. I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card.

STELTER: The real winner, Miss Philippines, printed in small type on the card, showing the perils of live television. Harvey tweeted an apology saying "I feel terrible" and suddenly, Miss Universe was trending like never before. And maybe that's why Harvey will be back. Entertainment Tonight reporting Harvey signed a multi-year contract just a few days before Sunday's pageant. A spokesman tells CNN the company is not ruling out his return next year, saying only, "we do not disclose any information on our contracts." Now picture yourself in Harvey's shoes, would you want a shot in redemption?

I think if I were Steve Harvey i would want another chance. keep in mind the synergy here: Donald Trump sold this pageant to WMEIMG a few months ago. That's a giant Hollywood talent agency, and one of the many celebrities it represents is Steve Harvey. So it would makes sense for them to remain in business together but my sense is, no final announcement about next year's host will be made for a long time. They do have almost 12 months to decide.

Brian Stelter, CNN, New York

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: There is no way i would be back. Thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom," live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay. "World Sport" is up next. I'll be back with another hour of news in 15 minutes. You are watching CNN.

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