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Iran-Saudi Tensions Increasing; President Obama to Take on Gun Control; Major Earthquake Hits India; Stocks Down Across Asia Pacific; Mexican State Mourns Its Mayor. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired January 04, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: (HEADLINES) Hello, everybody; we'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. Great to have you with us; I'm John Vause. "Newsroom" L.A. starts now.

In a region already strained by sectarian conflicts, there is deepening tension in the aftermath of Saudi Arabia's execution of a dissident Shia cleric. Iranian protesters at the Saudi Embassy in Tehran triggered a very sharp reaction from Riyadh. The Saudi Foreign Minister announced the cutting of ties with Iran and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours. The countries have had strained relations for years but Fred Pleitgen reports cutting diplomatic ties was unexpected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many observers were quite surprised by Saudi Arabia's move to cut all ties with Iran. The Saudi Foreign Minister went on to a televised press conference and said the reason was that he believed that Iran was undermining Saudi Arabia's security and he said the Saudi's would not stand for, this, of course, a reaction to the storming of Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Tehran, which happened on Saturday night, when a mob went into the Embassy compound, ransacked several rooms and also set part of the building on fire, in a reaction to Saudi Arabia executing some 47 prisoners, including a very famous Shia cleric. Iran is, of course, the main Shia country there in that Middle Eastern region.

Now, the Iranians, for their part, throughout the course of Sunday have, at least, to a certain extent, been trying to conduct a sort of damage control. On the one hand you had the supreme leader who came out and was highly critical of the execution of the Shia cleric, even calling for divine revenge against Saudi Arabia's ruling family. On the other hand, the more moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, criticized those who stormed the Embassy and even said they would be brought to justice. Iran, on Sunday, announcing they arrested some 40 people in relation to that incident. However, all of this, evidently not enough to soothe over the Saudis.

Now this, no doubt, will have repercussions for the entire Middle Eastern regions. You have, for instance, the conflict in Yemen, where the Saudi's have long accused the Iranians of stoking tensions there, of supporting the Houthi militias; while the Iranians, for their part, have been highly critical of Saudi Arabia's campaign in Yemen. But, the country where this could have the most profound effect is

certainly Syria, where the U.S., for the first time, was able to bring both the Saudi's and the Iranians into the same room recently, in Vienna, to try and talk about some way forward to end that conflict. It certainly is hard to imagine that those talks would continue the way that they were before. So certainly this is something that does not bode well for a great deal of the Middle East going into 2016.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN producer Shirzad Bozorgmehr joins us now, on the line from Tehran. Shirzad, any reaction there from Tehran about this decision by the Saudi's to cut diplomatic ties?

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via telephone: The official reaction came from the (inaudible) in charge of the foreign ministries policies, vis-a-vis the Middle Eastern (inaudible). He said that Saudi Arabia has taken, basically, taken to thinking that by severing ties with Iran they can make up for their mistakes there in the region, and also for this great mistake that they made by execution of the Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, Shia leader in Saudi Arabia.

The other officials of the Iran, including the powerful member of parliamentary community on foreign policy, Mr. Mujahideen, he said that (inaudible) should react more strongly to the reactions [00:05:28] and all the politicians in a position of leader denounced Saudi actions. So the expectation is that (inaudible) today, but if this trend continues it could go towards a more serious confrontation between the two countries (inaudible) represent. On the one side, Saudi Arabia represents the Sunni majority of the region. Iran represents the Shiite minority. So in effect it seems to be more than anything (inaudible) in the region as well as sectarian areas, Sunni versus Shia.

VAUSE: Shirzad Bozorgmehr there on the line there from Tehran. Shirzad, thank you for that.

Let's go to our CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer for more on this. Bob, when I heard 40 Iranians had been arrested for storming the Saudi Embassy, the Iranian President condemned the attack, I thought, okay, here we go. This is about the de-escalation but instead the Saudis cut diplomatic ties. They raised it big time. So, what's going on here?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, John, I've never seen relations this bad since late '80s, during the Gulf War, when it was a hot war. It's not just the burning of the Saudi Embassy. It's the war in Syria; Iran's ally, Russia, is attacking Darah (ps) as we speak. Saudi proxies there are losing. It's bad news for the Saudis in Iraq as well as Yemen. I've never seen these countries so close to war, really, since 1988.

This is -- i think this is a serious conflict. It's a further wedge between the Sunni and the Shia. There is genuine fury in Iran and the rest of Shia countries. Shia majorities, they're furious about the execution of this sheik who was considered nonviolent. There's no evidence, good evidence, that he was involved in terrorism.

VAUSE: Okay, Bob, so what we're saying is that this time it's different. This time the Saudis feel like they're being, I guess, encircled by Iranian influence. There's new leadership there, in Saudi Arabia. You say it hasn't been this bad since the '80s, but these two countries aren't going to go at each other in any type of direct confrontation. So what happens next, then? How do they go through --

BAER: I don't think they're going to -- it's no one's intention to start a war but as this escalation, it continues to get worse and worse, and looks like it's going to get worse this year. I'm worried about some sort of accidental confrontation in the Gulf even, or in Yemen, it doesn't matter because Saudi Arabia is feeling very vulnerable these days. It's losing on all fronts. It's got a - the second Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, is young. He's very powerful. He's almost supplanted his father in so many ways and the leadership is worried. This is why they executed this Shia sheik. I think it was a mistake, but they did it for reasons they believe were legitimate.

VAUSE: What are the chances now the Saudis and Iranians will turn up for the Syrian peace talks later this month?

BAER: I think it is zill. I don't think they will. I think, you know, there's - you know, the undercurrents, the hate between these two countries is so deep. If they did show up, if we forced them to, in some manner, they're not going to arrive at a solution and the war in Syria is going to continue to rage; with the Iranians supporting one side and the Saudis the other.

VAUSE: And that is the consequences of this conflict between the Saudi's and the Iranian's. Bob, good to speak with you; thank you.

To Iraq now, and the brutal fight for Ramadi. Iraqi troops are painstakingly combing through the newly liberated city avoiding, carefully avoiding booby traps and bombs ISIS left behind. Nima Elbagir is there and filed this exclusive report.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ramadi. After months of ISIS rule this is what remains: ISIS' occupation of the city leaving its mark both above and below ground.

These are the houses that the militants were hiding inside of. You can see what they were doing is they were digging up tunnels so that they were able to move from house to house without being seen by the Coalition planes. So that this wasn't spotted from the air, they were hiding the dirt that they were digging up and keeping it inside the houses themselves. As you come through here, we can show you one of the tunnels leading through. Some of these tunnels, we're told, went as far as a kilometer. We're going to have a look inside.

It's not actually that wide, but it does give you a sense of the moving in the dark, under the ground, out of sight.

Ramadi fell to ISIS in May last year. Since then, Iraqi forces have been battling to reclaim their territorial integrity and [00:10] their ravaged moral. The head of Iraq's Counterterror Force told us the liberation of Ramadi should be celebrated around the world.

TALEB SHEGATI AL-KERVARI, 1st LT. GENERAL, IRAQI COUNTERTERRORISM FORCE, via translator: Defeating ISIS and this victory has impacted upon ISIS plans and its very existence, causing weakness and desperation. The road to Mosul is now open and clear.

ELBAGIR: Blindfolded and bound, captured ISIS fighters face the war. They were, we're told, attempting to blend in to what remains at the local population; a reminder ISIS fighters can be hiding in plain sight.

Even as the road to Mosul is in the Iraqi Armed Forces' sights, a week on from the announcement of liberation here in Ramadi and Counterterror forces battle to purge the city of the remaining militants' presence.

We're hearing some pops of gunfire. They're a little further across the other side of the river. The fighting is ongoing. The clean-up operation is still going on, and that's why the helicopter is circling overhead.

In spite of the threat of IED's and roadside bombs, the troops continue their painstaking push. Under inch of reclaimed territory, a possible death. Everyone here knows so much is at stake in this claimed liberation and not just for Iraq.

AL-KERVARI: This victory is a victory for humanity because ISIS is against Iraq and against all of humanity.

ELBAGIR: It is also, finally, some palpable momentum in the battle.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Ramadi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And tomorrow we will have more of Nima's exclusive reporting from Ramadi. We'll hear from civilians who are caught up in the fighting, used as human shields, and who now face more danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: This is what remains of Ramadi. This is what remains of people's lives, of people's homes: absolute desolation. Even as the operation to push back those remaining ISIS militants within this city continues they are also attempting to rescue the hundreds of families trapped, the other side of the river, here in Ramadi; trapped within areas where ISIS militants still exert control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That's tomorrow, only on CNN. (HEADLINE) U.S. President Barack Obama is starting his final year in office taking on gun control. It's an issue he's had to deal with throughout his presidency and many deadly shootings in the U.S. since he took office, but so far he's not been able to get anything done. Mr. Obama is expected to take executive action in the coming days to tighten background checks on gun sales; and CNN is hosting an exclusive Town Hall with the President on Thursday. He'll make his biggest pitch yet for tougher gun control in the U.S.

Even before the executive action is announced, another major issue for the coming election; Chris Frates has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: A few months ago i directed my team at the White House to look into any new actions i can take to help reduce gun violence. On Monday I'll meet with our Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, to discuss our options because I get too many letters, from parents and teachers and kids, to sit around and do nothing.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources say President Obama is expected to announce new executive action soon, expanding background checks on gun sales aimed at closing the so called "gun show loophole" which allows some gun sellers to avoid conducting a background check.

Gun control advocates have also pushed the White House to tighten regulations on the reporting of loss and stolen guns, and want them more domestic abusers and passengers on the No-Fly List from buying guns. But before the President has even announced the details of his actions, Republicans running to replace him were seemingly competing on who would undo them faster.

DONALD TRUMP, R-NY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So he's going to sign another executive order having to do with the Second Amendment, having to do with guns. I will veto that. I will unsign that so fast; so fast.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-FL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All these executive orders he's going to come out tomorrow, that are going to undermine our Second Amendment rights, on my first day in office, they're gone.

FRATES: And Jeb Bush argued that there was no need to expand background checks because:

JEB BUSH, R-FL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The so-called "gun show loophole", which i think is what he's talking about, doesn't exist. People that want to sell random, you know, occasionally sell guns ought to have the right to do so without being impaired by the Federal Government.

[00:15:35] FRATES: Democrats have applauded bottom's efforts. On Sunday, Bernie Sanders, whose democratic rivals called him weak on gun control, endorsed increased background checks.

BERNIE SANDERS, D-NH, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well i think most gun owners in this country understand that people who should not own guns, should not be able to buy them. And, we do need to expand the instant background check. I don't think that's an onerous burden on anybody.

FRATES: Measuring America's attitude seems to depend on how you ask the question. In a recent poll CNN poll a majority said they don't support stricter gun control laws or the President's handling of guns. But, in a Quinnipiac survey, an overwhelming majority, 89-percent, said they support requiring background checks for all gun buyers.

Chris Frates, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Please join CNN for a special look at "Guns in America," with U.S. President, Barack Obama. Anderson Cooper hosts an exclusive, live, one hour town hall event. See it Friday at 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time; that's 1:00 a.m. in London, only here on CNN.

Still to come, a powerful earthquake has rattled parts of northeastern India. We'll have the latest on the death toll and the damage; that's just ahead. Plus, the assassination of a Mexican mayor just one day after she took office. That, and more, still to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:32] VAUSE: At least five people have died after a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern India near the border with Myanmar. An Indian official said 33 others were hurt. A number of residential and government buildings have also been damaged. Another tremor was recorded five hours later.

So, let's go to Pedram Javaheri, our meteorologist, who joins us from the International Weather Center, with more on this. Are these the earlier reports or is this what we're looking at as far as the death toll as far as the latest earthquake?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think this is the death toll from the latest quake, John, but, of course, more reports are going to come in. I think the number could increase significantly based on what the USGS puts. As far as estimates for quakes in this region, we've had 19 quakes in the past 100 years that have been 6.0 or greater, within 250 kilometers of this particular area.

The video shows you significant damage. Imphal, a town in this area, where the population, from a 2001 census, sits at roughly 200,000 people; but we know a far more people felt the shakiness associated with this quake. In fact, go in for a closer perspective and about 80 plus million people felt this particular quake. The close-up shows the color contours of the very strong shaking to severe shaking that potentially was felt near the Imphal region.

Back to the West, that's where the epicenter is located, in a very mountainous region, and you can clearly pick out the mountains, right here, as the mountains typically want to absorb some of the shaking. This particular quake, it was shallow enough to where we got the shaking to be pushed right into the valley next door. Again, a 6.7 coming in, with a depth of 55 kilometers in regions just west of the Ompa being the epicenter.

You can see 80 million people feeling light shaking; moderate, about seven million. 500,000 people felt the very strong to severe shaking associated with this.

This puts it, John, in the moderate to almost strong category, when it comes to quakes in this part of the world. Aftershocks, you would expect another one in the 5/7 scale, and notice, hundreds, potentially thousands, of aftershocks left in an area that's vulnerable to them, seismically speaking. John?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Okay, Pedram; thank you for that. Thank you for the update.

Stocks across the Asia Pacific region are trading down right now, first day of the trading year. Let's take a look at the numbers.

In Sidney, the SX200 down by almost 1/2-percent. The Nikkei in Tokyo down almost three-percent. Hong Kong down by more than 2.25-percent. But, in Shanghai, too; heading way down there in negative territory. The latest numbers we have is actually that the fall could be a lot bigger than the 3.94-percent you see there right now.

Let's go to Paula Hancocks, who is monitoring the situation from Seoul, in South Korea. So, Paula, we're getting these reports that actually shares in China may be down by about five-percent and trading has been suspended. What more can you tell us?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're trying to get that confirmed at this point. We haven't confirmed it, but obviously that will be an interesting development and a very negative start to the year for China, if that is the case.

Now we've been seeing, as you say, stocks, really across the board, falling fairly rapidly over the past few hours after a fairly flat trading start. Now, there's a few reasons for that: (1) specifically to China, is there was an unofficial survey that came out, a private survey on the manufacturing sector, and it was weaker than expected. It showed that manufacturing sector contracting once again in December, the tenth straight month that has happened. So obviously that's going to be weighing on investor sentiment.

We also have the tensions in the Middle East, of course, between Saudi Arabia and Iran. That is weighing on sentiment as well; but it is worth noting that some of these trading volumes will be fairly light. This is the first day of the trading. Some investors will still be getting back to their desk after the holiday period. So we can see some exaggerated moves.

So thin volumes may account for some of this, but certainly a negative start to the year. John?

VAUSE: A very negative start to the year. What impact is the tension between the Saudis and the Iranians are having on the market, or is this all just being locally driven by the manufacturers report?

HANCOCKS: It will certainly be having some impact, that's what invest stores are assuming at this point, the fact that they're the tensions in the Middle East. Of course, oil plays into this significantly. Saudi Arabia and Iran both major oil producing nations. Now, we have seen over the last year that there was a global oversupply of oil. Those oil prices sank significantly, about 35-percent for the internationally traded Brent Crude, over the year. A massive loss in price; but we are seeing that those oil prices are about two-percent today. The reason being, those tensions in the Middle East. The fact that those two oil [00:25:10] supplying nations are in dispute at this point, diplomatic ties are being severed and that is giving concern about what will happen to the oil price itself. But the over supply is not going anywhere, that has happened over 2015. It's not expected to change this year, according to many experts; so the expectation is those oil prices will sink once again. John?

VAUSE: Paula, thank you; welcome back. Happy New Year! Still to come here, a city in Mexico is observing three days of mourning after the murder of its newly elected mayor. That story is still to come.

Also, Hillary gets heckled. Find out how the U.S. Presidential Candidate handled a not-too-friendly lawmaker on the campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back; you're watching "CNN Newsroom", live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause; the headlines this hour: (HEADLINES)

In Mexico, the state Morelos is beginning a three day period of mourning for a mayor who was murdered just a day after taking office. Gisela Mota was shot dead by armed men in the doorway of her home on Saturday. It happened in the town of Temixco City, just south of the capitol. CNN spoke with Tim Johnson, the Mexico City Bureau Chief of McClutchy Newspapers, about why the mayor may have been targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM JOHNSON, BUREAU CHIEF, MCCLUTCHY NEWSPAPERS - MEXICO CITY: The most likely hypothesis is that the killing of the mayor was either a settling of scores between these gang, because perhaps she was perceived as being in cahoots with one of them; or it could have been that she was ready to fight these drug gangs and she was killed in retaliation.

VAUSE: And journalist Debra Bonello joins us now from Mexico City, Mexico. Debra, do you think Mayor Mota's killing was a warning to others by the organized crime gangs?

DEBORAH BONELLO, JOURNALIST: It's hard to tell. I mean, her killing is one of hundreds that have happened here in the last ten years, as a result of drug-related violence. Of course, it's always very difficult to know what the motive is behind these sorts of killings.

There wasn't a massive operation underway in the state of Morelos. It started a couple of days ago. It was by the federal government; but other than that there's really been no information released about, you know, what the possible motivations behind her killing could have been.

VAUSE: Well, three people have been arrested over the shooting, including a minor, I think. What more do we know about the suspects?

BONELLO: Apparently they told some of the local press that they were paid about $500,000, which -- 500,000 peso, sorry, which is equivalent of about $29,000, to carry out the killing; but they've given no information as to why. The gang accused of the killing has been involved in quite a bloody territorial war in the neighboring state of Guerrero, which, as you may or may not know, is the most violent state in the country. So it could be some spill-over violence, something to do with the proximity of the two states; who knows.

But very little has come out, in terms of why she was targeted in particular. She won't have been the first mayor to swear to clean up the town from organized crime, and I doubt she'll be the last. So killing her is a warning, it would seem; like an old tactic in an old war.

VAUSE: You mentioned the numbers of elected officials who have been killed. The Association of Local Mexican Authorities say almost 100 elected officials have been killed in the last decade. They say more than a thousand public servants have also been killed. Is the federal government there, the authorities there actually doing anything to try and protect these officials?

BONELLO: Well, as you may or may not know, former president -- Mexico President Calderon launched crack down on organized crime around ten years ago, in 2006. Existing president Enrique Pena Nieto, has pretty much carried on the same strategy. The federal police and the army are involved in this crack down. So it would argue that it is doing something to battle organized crime.

We must remember that corruption is rife within Mexico security forces; abuse of power, disappearances, torture, all of those strategies have been attached to state agents. So it's rather difficult to perform heart surgery with a blunt spoon, you know. The human cost of the drug war has been huge and yet, you know, the federal government insists that it's having a positive effect. So, you know, the local officials aren't the only group that have been targeted, you know.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

BONELLO: Priests, doctors, journalists.

VAUSE: A lot of people have been paying a very high price for this -

BONELLO: Absolutely. VAUSE: -- drug war, which the authorities have been carrying out. Deborah, we'll leave it there; but thanks for being with us. Deborah Bonello, a journalist there in Mexico City, thank you so much.

BONELLO: Thank you.

[00:35:36] VAUSE: (HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: (HEADLINES) A remote Federal Wildlife Refuge is now the center of an armed protest in the U.S. state of Oregon. And antigovernment group has seized control of a building saying they're taking a stand against the way Federal Government has used the land and abused their rights. CNN's Polo Sandoval has the story.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well these are members consider themselves "patriots" and "constitutionalists" simply looking out for rights of landowners and ranchers as well. Then you hear from law enforcement, even some civilians who disagree. They say this group is simply seizing an opportunity to further what is called a misguided cause.

They are armed and staying put. A group of protesters broke into an unoccupied building at an Oregon Federal Wildlife Refuge Saturday. They claim to be taking a stand against the Federal Government's control and use of the land. The armed occupation broke off from a peaceful rally early in the day to support Dwight and Steven Hammond. They're a father/son ranching duo expected to report to prison Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It isn't my decision, obviously. It's the sentence.

SANDOVAL: Hammond and his son were convicted of arson, setting at least 130 acres of Federal land on fire. The Hammonds maintain it was a controlled blaze that accidentally got out of [00:40:14] hand. Prosecutors, however, argue the flames were meant to cover up poaching.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sort of frightening when there's people making threats and people touting guns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are afraid.

SANDOVAL: Among the armed protesters, the son of Nevada rancher Clivin Bundy. He was at the center of a similar standoff with the Federal Government last year over grazing fees.

CLIVIN BUNDY, PROTESTER: This is not a time to stand down. It is a time to stand up.

SANDOVAL: The younger Bundy called on militia groups to descend on Harney County and demand the Government restore "the people's constitutional rights," part of vague and vocal antigovernment message.

AMMON BUNDY, PROTEST ORGANIZER: The people have been abused long enough. Their lands and their resources have been taken from them to the point where it's putting them, literally, in poverty.

SANDOVAL: The Hammonds, however, are distancing themselves from this latest face off. Their attorney communicating in a short but clear statement to the County Sheriff's Office says neither "Ammon Bundy nor anyone within this group or organization speak for the Hammond family." Those armed protesters, however, say their demonstration is peaceful; but if provoked, they will defend themselves.

Law enforcement watching this evolving situation very closely, the FBI responsible for investigating it as that Refuge facility is, in fact, a Federal building.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The popular British drama "Downton Abbey" kicked off its sixth and final season in the United States. The show is created by Julian Fellowes and gives viewers a look at the English aristocracy in the early 20th Century. The creator of the series sat down with CNN to talk about the show's success, as well as the finale.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN FELLOWES, CREATOR, DOWNTON ABBEY: In truth, we were originally planning to end on the fifth series, and then when we started to get nearer that it just felt as if we had too much to do. We needed, really, a whole series that was about resolution. So we decided to do Six. So it's not as if we're cutting ourselves off short. We actually thought we would end a year earlier because, you know, it's good to leave a party when the people are still sorry that you go and not wait until everyone is incredibly relieved. We just felt we sort of completed the journey, really.

I mean, of course people say are you sad? Of course I'm a bit sad because it's been an extraordinary adventure in my career, very unlikely to be topped; and, you know, I consider myself lucky to have had one of these sort of world sensation thing-a-me's, you know. But, nevertheless, everything must come to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Everything does come to an end and so do we; but before we go, we had this revealing admission from Prince William about the impact of fatherhood. The Duke of Cambridge, father to Prince George and Princess Charlotte says since becoming a dad, he's a lot more emotional.

In a sit down interview he explain how he now sees the world differently, ever since becoming a dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has fatherhood changed you now that you've got the two children?

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: I'm a lot more emotional than I used to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you?

PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes, weirdly. I never use to really kind of sort of wind up or worry about things. But now, the smallest little things, I can feel - you well-up a little bit more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

PRINCE WILLIAM: You get affected by sort of things that happen around the world, or whatever, a lot more, I think, as a father; just because you realize how precious life is -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Yes.

PRINCE WILLIAM: -- and it puts it all into perspective, the idea of not being around to see your children grow up and --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Prince William proving he is a human being. That is it for this edition of "CNN Newsroom." Thank you for watching; I'm John Vause. Stay with us, "World Sport" is up next, and I will be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

("WORLD SPORT" AIRED)