Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

AT&T, Time Warner Agree On $85B Media Mega-Merger; Kurdish Forces Make New Push Northeast Of Mosul; Trump Lays Out Agenda In Gettysburg Speech; Clinton Campaign Makes Final Push In Swing States; Chicago Cubs To Meet Cleveland In World Series. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired October 23, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: A historic acquisition, AT&T and Time Warner agree to a deal that could alter the future of how we consume media. Opening a new offensive against ISIS, Kurdish fighters in Iraq expand their operation around Mosul. Plus, Donald Trump fights back against new sexual assault allegations, as he lays out his plan for the first 100 days in office if he wins. All these stories ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining us. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

AT&T is getting closer to becoming a massive media powerhouse. The wireless provider has reached a deal to buy Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. The government regulators have to sign off on the merger. If approved, AT&T would also control entertainment leaders such as HBO and Warner Brothers Pictures.

CNN money correspondent Cristina Alesci has more about it.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest media deals ever with the headline number of $85 billion. Time Warner shareholders are getting $107 a share. That is a lot higher than what Fox offered for Time Warner just about two years ago when it was offering about $85 a share, so some vindication for Time Warner for holding out and negotiating a better deal. Now, this seems like a win-win situation, because for AT&T, it means more customers, a greater base, right? It has a large presence in wireless, it has pay TV and DIRECTV. And now, it has content, which is extremely powerful. And it makes AT&T a way more powerful company possibly having more leverage to negotiate with all parties. And, of course, there is the regulatory question, "Will regulators sign off on this deal?" and that is still a question mark. It's going to take a long time, possibly a year to negotiate this with regulators. But it does seem, based on conversations that I've had today, that they can get this through, two companies, Time Warner and AT&T can get this through regulatory approval with probably some concessions. Also, AT&T has to issue a lot of debt to get this through, so that's another consideration there. But all in all, for both sides of the deal, it does seem like a good one. AT&T also, you know, there's not really a ton of targets out there that AT&T could have easily bought. Disney is a $150 billion market company, much bigger than Time Warner. CBS is out there as a target, but that is controlled by a family, could get more complicated to execute that deal. So, so far, it seems like a good one for both sides. ALLEN: Now to Iraq, Peshmerga forces say they're launching a new offensive from two fronts on another town northeast of Mosul. The Kurdish general command says it's part of the campaign to clear ISIS from the province. Meantime, the governor of Kirkuk says 60 ISIS fighters have been killed since Friday after the terror group launched an offensive on that city. He says the situation is now stable and most of the terrorists have been eliminated. As ISIS retreats from towns and villages around Mosul, it's lining roads with explosive devices and booby-trapping homes.

CNN's Michael Holmes spent time with the Kurdish bomb disposal team who risk their lives every day to save others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Peshmerga Captain Chillhan Sadik comes face to face with death every day. Here, showing us the fruits of his labor. He says he has removed hundreds, perhaps thousands of IEDs like these. "I do it for humanity," he tells us. "The people who plant these things are dangerous for my people, for the world, so it's my decision to help save a life."

As Kurdish and Iraqi forces edge ever closer to Mosul, ISIS has been leaving behind the weapons to kill and maim, even once they've gone. Brigadier General Bajat Masuri heads the elite (INAUDIBLE) Special Forces. He says he loses more fighters to IEDs than on the battlefield, 30 percent of those casualties, men working to defuse and remove the explosives. "We liberate a village and they are everywhere," he says. "People come back to their homes and open something up, it blows up."

[02:04:56] The demining teams have rudimentary equipment, a metal detector if they're lucky. The operator of this one lost his fingers to a booby trap. Usually, the tools are wire cutters and their bare hands. Their faces inches from the explosives, not even body armor, let alone bomb disposal suits. "We need training, but it is not enough," he tells us. "We need equipment, new equipment to find the IEDs and destroy them."

And he was killed by a mine -

Captain Sadiq has lost many friends who do the same job, as he shows us a photo of one who died a few days ago trying to defuse one of a wide variety of devices.

This is just an example of one of the devices, if you like. This is C-4, high explosive, and this is packed with ball bearings. Now, these men killed the man who was carrying this, the ISIS fighter, before he was able to detonate it. You can just imagine the explosion and the damage that would have been done if it had gone off.

Captain Sadiq defused that bomb himself, as well as countless booby- traps. Here, a pressure device that set off by a vehicle driving over it. It's the danger from booby-traps that means that civilians can't go home to their villages yet, even now that ISIS has gone. All they can do is collect a few things and leave again. One is Mejwal Akhmir Hadi who tells me we can't live there, no water, no electricity, damage everywhere, and explosives as well. So, Captain Sadiq and his men will continue their mission to make those villages safe for people like Mejwal to return to.

How many IEDs and booby-traps are along these roads and in villages like this? Well, countless. We spoke to Peshmerga teams who said they've been clearing one village for three months, and they're not done yet. Clearing places like this of rigged explosives is going to take longer, far longer than the battle for Mosul itself. Michael Holmes, CNN, near Mosul, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Just two weeks until the U.S. Presidential Election, and Donald Trump is laying out his priorities, if he wins. The republican nominee held a rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Saturday, site of the famous address by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. Trump urged voters to follow President Lincoln's example and heal divisions in the U.S. He also slammed his democratic rival Clinton, and he threatened to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Listen, every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened, never. All of these liars will be sued after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Meantime, an 11th woman has come forward with allegations against Trump. Jessica Drake held a news conference with Attorney Gloria Allred. She showed this picture of herself with Trump. Drake says Trump invited her to his hotel suite in 2006 and she says he hugged and kissed her without permission. Trump's campaign released this statement in response saying, "This story is totally false and ridiculous, the picture is one of thousands taken out of respect of people asking to have their picture taken with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person, and would have no interest in ever knowing her."

Hillary Clinton was also in Pennsylvania pushing for unity against what she calls hate and division. She made a number of campaign stops with her running mate Tim Kaine in the Battleground State Saturday. On the back of her campaign, Clinton told reporters she's over responding to Trump's accusations and is focused on winning over voters.

Singer Miley Cyrus spent Saturday campaigning for Clinton at George Mason University in Virginia. The actress went door to door dressed in colors of the American flag, urging students to vote for Clinton and Kaine. Cyrus says she was inspired to campaign for Clinton after a trip home to Nashville, Tennessee.

At least seven people have died in mudslides and heavy rain in Honduras. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is following that story for us. Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Natalie, this is what days upon days of rainfall looks like in very remote villages in Central Honduras. This is about 150 kilometers east of the capital city. This is Villa Santa, and you can see people lining up, searching for some of the lone survivors of this particular deadly mudslide. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, seven people have perished. There are still three individuals missing at the moment, a father and his two sons. You can see the steady rainfall that continues to be forecast across Central America including Honduras and into Nicaragua, even points further south. An additional 50 to 100 millimeters of rain, especially along the coastal areas of Honduras and Nicaragua. This is a very mountainous part of the world, so landslides and mudslides do occur here quite frequently. Ultimately, soil gives way to the heavy rainfall, gravity wins, and we see those torrents of mud and debris flying down the mountainside.

I want to bring you to the other part of the world. This is across South-western Europe, near the Mediterranean, where we have the potential for severe weather today. Listen up, if you're located across Portugal and the coastal areas of Spain, Sardinia, and to Sicily, even North Africa across Libya and Tunisia, you can see our chance of damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes as a large area of low pressure continues to send out wave after wave of moisture across this part of the Mediterranean. Spotty thunderstorms anticipated there.

We jump across the big pond, that is the Atlantic. We head to the Northeast of the United States, and you can see a storm system impacting this region as well. A different type of precipitation here. This is snowfall indicated with that shading of white and blue, helping edge up sooner the opening dates for some of the big ski resorts across Vermont, upstate New York and New Hampshire. Unfortunately, not doing much to help or alleviate the ongoing drought across that area, drought conditions near in Atlanta, Georgia as well. And believe it or not, Natalie, this is impacting pumpkins across the United States, as we edge closer and closer to Halloween. The prices for large pumpkins increasing because of the drought, it takes more irrigation and water to actually build up those sizes of the pumpkins.

ALLEN: Yeah, I can believe that. Poor pumpkins. All right. Thanks, Derek.

VAN DAM: All right.

ALLEN: The Chicago Cubs are headed to the World Series for the first time in, wait for it, 71 years. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night to claim the National League pennant. Pitcher Jon Lester and second baseman Javier Baez were named co-MVPs of the series. The Cubs will now face the American League champs, the Cleveland Indians. The World Series starts Tuesday in Cleveland.

That is CNN NEWSROOM.

"MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)