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President-Elect Donald Trump Claims Transition Going Smoothly Despite Rumors; Students and U.S. Mayors Protest Against Trump's Immigration Plans. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 17, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, trouble behind the scenes for team Trump. The President-elect claims his transition is going so smoothly.
VAUSE: A deadly day in Aleppo, Syria, airstrikes appeared to deliver a target at children's hospital and blood bank.
SESAY: And latest, Twitter takes a stand against offensive speech they claim crosses the line into hate.
VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM L.A.
Team Trump is heading to Washington. President-elect Donald Trump is dispatching what are called "Landing teams" to meet with national security and other government agencies.
VAUSE: But in New York, sources continue to say that transition is fraught delays and confusion. Here's Sara Murray with late details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Just a week into Donald Trump's transition effort, his team is already beating back reports of infighting and disorganization.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: We feel really good about the transition. I actually would just say it's false to say it's not going well. Everything up there is very smooth.
JASON MILLER, TRUMP COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: And anyone saying anything else is either: A, bitter, because they're not on the inside and not being considered, or, just someone who's just bitter, because the election was last week and they didn't get the result that they wanted.
MURRAY: Trump himself took to Twitter to insist everything's going fine. "Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!" A steady stream of top aides, family advisers and potential appointees, coming in and out of Trump Tower all morning. As one of his allies, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is urging Trump to take his time.
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: If you're a new President-elect, everything's possible. And the minute you pick somebody, you'll be able to shrink the possibilities. And so, I think he's being correct in being very cautious on how he's approaching this.
MURRAY: The President-elect also knocking down reports that he was interested in top secret security clearance for his children. Tweeting, "I am not trying to get "top level security clearance" for my children. This was a typically false news story." Despite Trump's assertion that he himself didn't ask about it, CNN has confirmed that a staffer inquired about it, and that staffer is no longer with the transition team. As Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is now heading the transition effort travelled to Washington to meet with Vice President Joe Biden ...
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm available to him 24/7.
MURRAY: One of Trump's visitors today, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, the liberal democrat, told reporters he wanted to express the fears of many New Yorkers, particularly minorities, about a Trump presidency.
BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK MAYOR: I tried to express to him how much fear there is, how much fear there is in communities all over this city. We need to see things that will give people more assurance that all New Yorkers and all Americans will be respected.
MURRAY: This, as there are new concerns about the Trump teams transparency. Trump departing his Midtown tower Tuesday evening for dinner with his family. After aides assured reporters he was in for the night. Journalists swiftly noted the small group of reporters assigned to track a president. Our President-elect's movement each day, must be present in case of historic or horrific developments. The small cadre of reporters that changes regularly, noticed the protective pool, documented George W. Bush's reaction upon learning about the September 11 terrorists attacks. Witnessed John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, and were right there when Ronald Reagan was shot outside of a hotel in Washington, D.C.
Now, a number of different associations of journalists have already reached out to the Trump transition effort, to express their displeasure about Trump ditching the journalists who follow him. For instance, the White House Correspondents Association called it "unacceptable." Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now, Eric Bauman, Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party, and Mark Vafiades, is the Chairman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party. Guys, thank you so much for being with us. SESAY: Yeah, thanks for staying.
VAUSE: Let's start again with Hillary Clinton, she made this appearance, her first appearance since her concession speech last week. She was obviously, you know, still suffering from what was an unexpected loss. She said it wasn't easy to go out to this event. It was planned before Election Day. This is some of what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week, a lot of people have asked themselves, whether America is the country we thought it was. The divisions laid bare by this election run deep. But please listen to me when I say this, America is worth it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:04] VAUSE: Eric, at this point, are the democrats trying to sideline the Clintons? It's a bit like beetle juice, if you don't say their name, they won't show up?
ERIC BAUMAN, VICE CHAIR OF THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, I'm not sure if that's the case. I think there's a new energy and a new direction that a lot of democrats want to see us go in, more populous, more Bernie Sanders oriented, but I think the Clintons are certainly still elder states people of the Democratic Party, to be sure. But I think that this is going the cause a pivot, for sure.
SESAY: Mark, let me ask you about the meeting that Vice President- elect Mike Pence had with Joe Biden. We just saw the clip in Sara Murray's piece. I mean, as we talk about the pivot, you know, we heard Joe Biden say he's there available to, you know, Mike Pence, should he need him. I mean, would you like to see that kind of leaning on, someone like Joe Biden, that kind of involvement of a democratic like Joe Biden?
MARK VAFIADES, CHAIRMAN OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: Absolutely. I mean, especially during the transition, they have to talk about, you know, what's happened in the past. It's not just about politics, it's not just about ideology. You know, I definitely want them to meet, to talk. Obviously, we're not going to go over to the other side, ideologically, but I actually want them to talk and discuss what the job entails.
VAUSE: Look, Pence and Biden could not be more different in many ways.
SESAY: Yeah.
BAUMAN: And -- but clearly, this team is not prepared. I mean, when the Trump team made its first walk through in the west wing, and they asked the staff, "Are you going to stay?" and they were told, "No."
VAUSE: Exactly. BAUMAN: They were - they were startled, they didn't realize that. So, there's a lot - because these people are not insiders, they're not experienced, they're very different. So, they're going to be learning from square one -- and look, the president has committed to providing for President-elect Trump, the same kind of welcome that President Bush provided for him.
VAUSE: I think that's a tradition.
VAFIADES: And by the way, it is typical especially when governors become presidents that they really don't know exactly what they're supposed to do once they get there, and they do need to be trained a little bit in the - in the, you know, the functionality of the White House and some of those kinds of things. So, it's not any worse than it's been in the past.
VAUSE: Well, OK, that's debatable, but we'll let it slide.
BAUMAN: It is debatable.
VAUSE: OK. One of the ultimate insiders now is Steve Bannon, a White House Strategist, a lot of controversy about his appointment. I want to play an interview that Steve Bannon did with Donald Trump when he was candidate, Donald Trump - this was back in November last year. Bannon, at that point, was running Breitbart News and he was hosting a call in show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF BREITBART NEWS: You got a lot of blow back the other day from saying hey you may have to go in and shut down some mosques. Were you actually saying you need a NYPD intelligence unit to get a network of informants?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: At a minimum, at a minimum. I want that at a minimum. We have to start that back up again in New York City, and elsewhere.
BANNON: I guess what I'm saying is you're not prepared to allow an enemy within - to try to tear down this country?
TRUMP: That's right. That's not going the happen. Let me tell you something, if I'm president, it's not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And Mark, (INAUDIBLE) playing this, it was just one example, because there are other clips out there from this radio show, of Trump starting out with one position, Bannon sort of coaching him into a more extreme position, an example of, you know, the influence that Steve Bannon had on Donald Trump at that early stage, before he even joined the campaign, before he even got into the White House.
VAFIADES: Now first one, that was taken a little bit out of context, because really, when you have a community where you have people within that community that are causing havoc, such as terrorists within that community. You work with that community, and that's what they're talking about. You don't go in there covertly, you actually work with the community to find people within the community, that want to create that kind of chaos. And that's basically what they were talking about.
BAUMAN: I don't think that's what they were talking about. I think that this is overt Islamophobia, I think the fact that we're talking about maintaining list of Muslims, I think that the fact that we're talking about - again, talking about banning Muslims coming into our country --
VAFIADES: No, no, from certain countries, not Muslims. They're just from (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: The (INAUDIBLE) Bannon announcement came out a couple of weeks after that interview with Bannon. So, the timing is coincidental at least.
VAFIADES: We should back him up.
VAUSE: Yeah. OK.
SESAY: So, let me ask you this, you know Steve Bannon a little, you met him some time ago, what is the message Donald Trump is sending by appointing someone like Bannon, in your view. Because obviously he knows how it's going to go across. What do you think the message is here?
VAFIADES: Steve Bannon is a strategist, and I think people are trying to characterized Bannon in a certain way that he's - that he's divisive, that he is Islamophobia, that he is anti-Semitic, which absolutely is not true. And really, he's a strategist, he wants to really make sure that President Trump really pushes his agenda, and gets his agenda through.
SESAY: You don't think Steve Bannon will pushing his own agenda?
VAFIADES: Absolutely not. Donald Trump is his own man. He will take the advice of all of his advisers, but he'll be the one to make the ultimate decision having heard everybody's point of view on this.
VAUSE: Directly to the policy.
[01:10:00] BAUMAN: Two comments about this. First of all, Bannon's history during the time -- once he took over Breitbart, clearly showed his willingness to promote very divisive, very distasteful topics and subjects and articles, point one. Point two, part of the discussion that's gone on all along, when you see the pairing of Priebus and Bannon, is that, this is the kind of destabilization that Trump likes to prevent there from being centers of power that could erupt and control his environment. So, by having these two kinds of centers, he keeps it divided.
VAFIADES: So, you're saying that's a good thing? BAUMAN: I don't know, if it's a good thing. I don't think that having Bannon in the White House is a good thing, because I think he represents some of the greatest divisiveness in American politics. I think, what he allowed to appear on the Breitbart's News site, probably sent Breitbart rolling over in his grave.
VAFIADES: I think, again, you know, people that don't agree with Bannon's point of view, or Donald Trump's point of view, politically, are going to say these horrible things about Bannon. It's natural, I'm sure that you might do the same thing if there was a real leftist ideologist that went into the White House.
VAUSE: But it's the ideologist on the --
SESAY: Yeah.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) there's a lot of groups which have come out, a lot of (INAUDIBLE) other groups to come out against Breitbart, under the watch of Steve Bannon.
SESAY: And you've never been troubled by anything that appeared on the Breitbart website?
VAFIADES: I don't - to be honest with you, I don't really look at Breitbart website that much.
VAUSE: OK, one of the other concerns is Donald Trump and his relationship with the media, Megyn Kelly, he's had a long-running feud. This is the Fox News anchor, who's had this feud with Trump. She said it started before the debate, she panicked on the segment on her show about Ivana Trump, and claims that she had made - that she'd been raped by Donald Trump, those claims although were taken back. This is Megyn Kelly (INAUDIBLE) Anderson Cooper explaining how Trump reacted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 ANCHOR: And you said in the book that he threatened you.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: He did. So, he was very angry that I'd aired that segment, and, you know, I said, look, I did you a favor. You know, I said, nobody was even telling the other side of that. They were just accepting this as irrelevant story. He didn't see it that way, and ultimately, I said, "Look, Mr. Trump, you don't control the editorial on the Kelly File." And that was it. He said, "That's it. You're a disgrace. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." And then he said, "Oh, I almost unleashed my beautiful Twitter account against you and I still may."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Eric, should members of the media be worried and if so, should members of the public be worried if the media are going to be targeted by a Trump administration? BAUMAN: Well, look, to begin with, the entire campaign, he's had a very peculiar relationship with the press, cutting off certain media outlets that he didn't care for, attacking certain media outlets that he didn't care for, last night, his escapade, and disappearing without bringing the press corps with him, that should trouble all Americans, because it may speak to a very peculiar relationship between the president and the public and the (INAUDIBLE) who's purpose is, to keep us all informed.
SESAY: Mocking on (INAUDIBLE) I saw you shaking your head.
VAFIADES: Well, first of all, I mean, you know, what happened last night, when he's gone to the restaurant, he's still transitioning from a private person to a public figure. So, that's not going to happen moving forward. It's not.
SESAY: But what happened is he hasn't dropped the Twitter habit. He hasn't stopped using Twitter to attack, mass criticize the media. Does that concern you?
VAFIADES: Well, again, you know, he's just making this transition. I think he's going to back off of that. But again, I like that, because we know what he's really thinking, for good or for bad. I don't think - I don't see that as a bad thing.
VAUSE: Should a president be tweeting at 3:00 in the morning?
VAFIADES: Well, you know, people say he -- it's not like he got up at 3:00 in the morning to tweet. That's his get-up time. If someone said, I tweeted at 8:00 in the morning, well that's the time, I would be getting out of bed and opening my computer. He doesn't sleep much. That's what time he gets up and that's part of his routine.
BAUMAN: Maybe that's his problem, is he's doing stuff from not getting enough sleep. But no matter what, when they - when they - when they took his Twitter account away from him, he did much better in the press than when they gave it back to him. And then he went right back to attacking people.
SESAY: And you have to acknowledge it as President of the United States, words have consequences, words mean something, and they mean something whether they're spoken or they're tweeted.
VAFIADES: Yes. So, hopefully, they will cut back on his Twitter account.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: There's a lot of hope going on here. I have been saying. OK. The flight with Japan. One last thing?
SESAY: Yeah. Yeah.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) Trump's first meeting will be with Shinzo Abe, and of course, we know there are a lot of concerns that the Japanese have about Donald Trump because of statements like this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons, when North Korea has nuclear weapons? And they do have them, they absolutely have them. They can't - they have no carrier system yet, but they will very soon. Wouldn't you rather have Japan, perhaps, they're over there, they're very close, they're very fearful of North Korea, and we're supposed to protect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Mark, those comments unleashed a storm of controversy. Do you think those comments will come to be seen as just, you know, the rhetoric of the campaign, or that something actually more tangible here that we'll see in terms of foreign policy.
[01:14:59] VAFIADES: Right. He was talking hypothetically speaking. I don't think that's - you know, he's not going the change that policy currently. Remember now, we had nuclear weapons in other countries as well, but they're under our control. Maybe he was discussing that. Again, it was hypothetical. I don't think he's saying "Japan, you take nuclear weapons. We'll give them to a bunch of other countries and let you guys protect yourself. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think that's what he meant.
SESAY: All right.
BAUMAN: I tell you, I think that in history, we're going to have an interesting time explaining this presidency to eighth graders and ninth graders and tenth graders. And some things are just not going to make sense. OK.?
VAFIADES: Oh, ye of little faith.
VAUSE: Oh, OK.
SESAY: Oh, it's more hope and faith.
VAUSE: OK. I'll be changing faith and all the good stuff. OK. I'm not going to --
SESAY: Gentlemen, a pleasure. Thank you so much.
VAFIADES: Thank you.
BAUMAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., U.S. college campuses are turning into battlegrounds of Trump's immigration plans and mayors of major cities are also taking a stand.
SESAY: And the rise in hate crimes during the presidential campaign. The Muslim communities fears of what happens next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Alex Thomas with your CNN WORLD SPORT headlines.
If Andy Murray is to hold on to his new world number one ranking and finish the season at the top of men's tennis, then he'll need to dig deep after a marathon match against Kei Nishikori. It took the pair 3 hours and 26 minutes to get through just three sets of tennis at the ATP World Tour finals here in London. Murray eventually winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, which extends his streak to 21 matches.
It's been a tough day for the World Anti-Doping Agency at the meeting of the Associations of National Olympic Committees in Doha, after surviving the fallout of the Russian doping scandal in the (INAUDIBLE) aftermath at the Rio Olympics. WADA President Craig Reedie has come under attack again. This time from the presidents of the Olympic Council of Asia and powerful IOC committee member Sheikh Ahmad is called for a change of leadership at the Global Anti-Doping body, and a relocation to Switzerland.
Pressure mounting on manger Jurgen Klinsmann, after the USA suffered their worst football qualifying defeat for 36 years. They were beaten 4-0 by Costa Rica. Mr. Klinsmann admitting the loss hurts more than any other in his five years in charge. The loss puts the U.S. dead last in these so-called hex qualifying. Only the top three are guaranteed spots at Russia 2018 with fourth place going to a playoff. That's a look at all your "SPORTS" headlines. I'm Alex Thomas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Thousands of students on U.S. college campuses are walking out of their classes in protest of President-elect Donald Trump's immigration plans.
[01:20:02] VAUSE: Now, mayors from the country's biggest cities are also speaking out against Trump's proposals. Nick Valencia has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For millions of undocumented immigrants across the United States, a Donald Trump presidency is a new reality.
TRUMP: We will enforce all of our immigration laws.
VALENCIA: And the fear of mass deportations has mayors from Seattle to Chicago, Los Angeles to New York taking a stand against Donald Trump.
BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: New York believes in liberty. We stand behind Lady Liberty with open arms to welcome immigrants and refugees. We always have and we always will.
VALENCIA: There are hundreds of so-called sanctuary cities in the U.S. that choose not to enforce national immigration laws to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
RAHM EMMANUEL, MAYOR OF CHICAGO: You are safe in Chicago. You are secure in Chicago.
ED MURRAY, MAYOR OF SEATTLE: These are our neighbors and we will continue to support our neighbors. That's what community is about.
VALENCIA: But Trump making it clear on the campaign trail, what he plans to do when he's in the White House.
TRUMP: Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars.
VALENCIA: At a rally at East L.A. College today, the school's president says many protesters feel that they're fighting for their future.
MARVIN MARTINEZ, PRESIDENT OF EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE: We have a little over 30,000 students on the campus, about 5,000 of them are undocumented. So, many of them, they do fear as to what could happen to them.
VALENCIA: Some are even encouraging university presidents to make their colleges sanctuaries campuses. This open letter to the president of the University of Southern California was circulated in a petition this week to USC alumni and students. Thousands have already signed.
RANDY KESSLER, ATTORNEY AND EMORY UNIVERSITY LAW PROFESSOR: There's going to be a tension between the federal government and the federal law enforcement and the local law enforcement.
VALENCIA: Attorney and Emory University law professor, Randy Kessler says legally, sanctuary cities can't stop potential deportations.
KESSLER: At the local state municipalities don't have to do anything over and above enforcing their own laws. And if they're not interested and motivated to go collect immigrants and deport them, then they're not going to make it easier on Donald Trump or the federal investigators, federal law enforcement who want to do that.
VALENCIA: Attorney Kessler went on to say that he foresees this fight going all the way to the Supreme Court, with the Supreme Court deciding whether or not these sanctuary cities should enforce National Immigration Law or continue to do more of the same. The more immediate concern however is what President-elect Donald Trump is threatening and that's to take away federal funding from sanctuary cities, places like San Francisco get more than a billion dollars in federal aid. In New York City, the hit could be devastating with a $6 billion loss if President-elect Trump follows through with his plans. Nick Valencia, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: It has been one week since the U.S. Presidential Election, and since then, sights like this, clear displays of hate, racism, and intimidation from pro-Trump supporters are only becoming more common. The latest FBI statistics tracking crime before the election found a spike in the number of hate crimes nationwide. And most sharply against Muslims, but people are fighting back. Protesting to show their fear and concern about what lies ahead under a Trump presidency. For more about the possible fast forward, we're joined by Ahmed Shihab-Eldin. He's a senior correspondent for AJ+. Ahmed, good to have you with us.
AHMED SHIHAB-ELDIN, AJ+ SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you.
SESAY: So, during the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump proposed temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S. floated the idea of recording Muslims in a national database and even subjecting them to intensified surveillance in their places of worship. Now, he is President-elect Trump. Let me first of all, ask you, how is the Muslim community feeling right now?
SHIHAB-ELDIN: Muslims are scared, Isha. There's really no other way to put it. They're terrified and they have a reason to be. And, you know, it's also important to note, it's not just Muslims. A lot of minorities in this country are feeling a collective sense of anxiety. Of course, this is a President-Elect Trump who campaigned on the back of rhetoric that was extremely divisive, racist, inflammatory, and it wasn't just targeted towards Muslims. So, I think you're seeing a wide, wide swath of the country very, very unsettled. It's not surprising to see that hate crimes are up in the last year alone, 67 percent, as you said. And, you know, more than 300 incidents reported just in the weeks since he was elected.
SESAY: You know, we're hearing from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach who told the Reuters News agency that Trump's transition advisers are considering recommending a registry for immigrants from Muslims countries. When you hear that, what goes through your mind, what's your reaction?
[01:25:07] SHIHAB-ELDIN: My initial reaction is one of confusion, and not just because it's not going to be effective and because it's extremely, extremely offensive and dangerous as a strategy, but, you know, if Trump has, you know, positioned himself as the change maker, the candidate of change, why is he, you know, promoting and doubling down on this plan to force Muslims to register when it was tried by the Bush administration, didn't work not just because the civil liberty concerns and the fact that it, you know, violates the constitution, but the very - you know, the very efficacy of that strategy proved to be a failed strategy, and now, he's surrounding himself with the same people, you know, not just, you know, the man that you mentioned, but many other of the men and women that he's surrounding himself with such as Rudy Giuliani, who, you know, boasts that he put, you know, FBI spies or other sorts of spies in mosques in New York City as part of, you know, the surveillance program by the NYPD that was debunked and found to be not only a violation of civil liberties, but again, you know, that it actually harmed our national security.
SESAY: Let me read you what Mohammad Khan said. Mohammad Khan is a campaign manager at Empower Change, a Muslim grassroots advocacy organization. He was recorded saying this, "I think we're going to have to operate in a manner similar to opposition parties living under authoritarian regimes. We expect organizations and leaders to be targeted for harassments and legal measures in the coming years.
I mean, turning now to Muslim civil liberties groups, civil rights group, are they right to be afraid? I mean, we talk more broadly about the community, but what about these groups that are advocating on behalf of Muslims here in the United States?
SHIHAB-ELDIN: Of course, they're right to be afraid. And I think one of the encouraging things, not that there's necessarily a clear silver lining in any of this, but we're starting to see Americans who aren't Muslims stepping up, and, you know, for example, in response to the Muslim registry saying that they're going and register even if they're not Muslim. You know, to try and just really demonstrate how serious it is, you know, these things that Trump is not only proposing, but doubling down on, appointing people such as Walid Phares, who Trump recently on Tuesday in an interview with Fox seemed to believe is a Muslim, but who, in fact, you know, is not allowed back into his home country of Lebanon for his ties to Christian militia groups during that country's civil war who committed massacres such as Sabra and Shatila.
You know, he is surrounding himself with people who should, you know, give all Americans pause and deep concern at whether or not Trump -- you know, this question that everyone in the media has been discussing this past weekend and for the last part of the election, whether or not Trump will actually try to do and implement some of the extreme controversial things that he has proposed, and it really looks like he is going to try to.
SESAY: Well, a lot is unknown but in the - in the meantime, there's still a lot of fear. Ahmed, we really appreciate it. Ahmed Shihab- Eldin joining us there from D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.
SHIHAB-ELDIN: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: And we'll take a short break. When we come back here on NEWSROOM L.A., the humanitarian crisis is growing in Eastern Aleppo. The Syrian regime accused of deliberately targeting hospitals.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:55] JOHN VAUSE, CNNA ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Isha Sesay.
The headlines this hour -
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: At least 87 people were killed in a Syrian regime attack on rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo on Wednesday. The Al Shar (ph) appears to be the worst hit. Fire bombs struck hospitals, a blood bank, and targets close to schools. VAUSE: The air strikes on hospitals by Syrian regime appear to be no
accident. The World Health Organization documented 126 attacks on medical facilities this year alone and says, "The pattern indicates that health care is being targeted in the Syrian conflict. This is a major violation of international law and a tragic disregard of our common humanity." And the United Nations has warned food rations in east Aleppo could be depleted by the end of the week.
Stephanie Hammond joins us now. She's from World Vision. She is in Washington and has more on the humanitarian crisis facing the civilians.
Stephanie, Syria's Civil Defense, a volunteer group known as the White Helmets, are reporting that the offensive has sharply escalated in the last 24 hours. What is the expectation now for the women and men and children who are trapped in eastern Aleppo?
STEPHANIE HAMMOND, POLICY ADVISOR, WORLD VISION USA: The situation in eastern Aleppo right now is absolutely horrific. And, yes, the situation has indeed worsened in the last few months but the citizens of Aleppo have been living a nightmare for years now. And you're absolutely right that the medical sector, that health care has been deliberately targeted in Aleppo. Right now, in eastern Aleppo, we're seeing almost the complete destruction of the medical infrastructure in that area. There are 30 doctors in all of eastern Aleppo city. What that means is there's about one doctor for every 9,000 civilians. There are about 11 functioning ambulances right now and only about six partially functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo.
VAUSE: The Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Portugal's RPT Network this offensive is intended to liberate the residents. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL ASSAD, SYRIAN PRSIDENT: The eastern part of Aleppo is occupied by the terrorists for the last three years and they have been using the civilians as human shields. From all sides, from our part, as our government, we are trying to fight the terrorists to liberate that area and the civilians from those terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:35:14] VAUSE: From everything you've seen, from everything you're being told, are civilians being liberated or being targeted?
HAMMOND: Well, World Vision, for instance, has seen our programming being targeted. We have witnessed firsthand how innocent civilians have been targeted. Just putting ourselves in their shoes for a moment they witnessed their homes be attacked. Markets where they conduct their daily shopping, schools, and other strictly civilian buildings have absolutely been attacked.
VAUSE: The Aleppo Media Center released images of children walking over debris and destruction caused by barrel bombs, which have been dropped by the regime. For some of these kids, who are 6 years old or younger, this is all they've known of life so far. How are they going to be coping with this as they get older? What will be the long-term impact for them?
HAMMOND: That's right. At the end of the day, this absolutely is a children's crisis. Not only are they witnessing these cluster bombs, these aerial attacks, absolutely horrific impact that this daily violence has on children, but we are seeing rising child labor trends. In Aleppo, for instance, there is upwards of 60 percent of children are engaged in some form of labor during the school hours. This means that these children are not going the school. We are seeing rising trends of child marriage, of forced recruitment of children. And we're also seeing rising trends of children who have been separated or now are unaccompanied. So, the majority of these children have experienced the death of one or both of their parents.
VAUSE: By all accounts, it is about to get a whole lot worse in the coming days.
Stephanie Hammond, with World Vision, thanks for being with us.
HAMMOND: Thank you.
SESAY: Time for a quick break now. Twitter is defending its decision to suspend some accounts associated with the Alt-Right movement. Next, more on what that white nationalist group and its support for Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:41:22] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Twitter has suspended the accounts of some users associated with the Alt-Right.
SESAY: The name is short for Alternative Right and refers a far-right movement in the United States aligned with white nationalism. Many of its advocates supported the election of Donald Trump.
Our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD SPENCER, PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR, NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE: Who are we? We aren't just white. White is a check box on a census form. We are part of the people's history, spirit and civilization of Europe.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCEDS: That is Richard Spencer, president and director of the National Policy Institute, a group dedicated to the, quote, "heritage, identity and future of people of European decent in the United States." He wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews removed from the country. And now, his Twitter account has been removed, along with several others belonging to his organization and online magazine.
SPENCER: I'm alive physically but, digitally speaking, there has been execution squads across the Alt-Right. STELTER: The election introduced millions to this idea of the Alt-
Right, a provocative, antiestablishment, mostly online, movement embodied by "Breitbart News." Its boss, Steve Bannon, ran Trump's campaign and will be the new president's chief strategists.
Some, not all, but some Alt-Right adherents, like Spencer, espouse racist white nationalist views via the web.
Naturally, he lashed out at Twitter in a YouTube video.
SPENCER: It is a corporate Stalinism. There is a purge going on and they are purging people on the basis of their views.
STELTER: Views, like this tweet about "The Daily Show," "Trevor Noah was an affirmative-action hire. Although we may not like Jews, admit Stewart was sometimes funny"
(on camera): This is a battle over the main streaming of fringe opinions. Sites like Twitter is deciding when offensive speech crosses the line and qualifies as hate.
(voice-over): This is a battle over the mainstreaming of fringe opinions. Sites like Twitter are deciding when offensive speech crosses the line qualifying as hate.
Twitter recently have changed its rules prohibiting violence threats, harassment, hateful conduct and multiple account abuse.
Harassment can be very broadly defined.
Among those newly suspended were Pax Dickinson, founder of an Alt- Right sight, Researcher. Another Alt-right Internet personality that goes by the fake name Ricky Vaughn and blogger, Paul Town, who has dismissed critics on Twitter for being Jewish or for being not white.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Wow.
STELTER: During the election, Alt-Right men, and they are almost entirely men, used Twitter to cheer on Donald Trump, but now companies like Twitter, while trying to respect free speech, have seen enough.
SPENCER: I think they're triggered by this narrative that social media helped to elect Trump. Excuse me. Social Media helped to elect Trump and they think they have to do something about it. The fact is, social media did help elect Trump. This is a clear sign that we have power, even if it's in our own small way, even if it's sending a sarcastic tweet or two, we have power and we are changing the world, and they're not going to put up with it anymore.
Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Hemu Nigam joins us once again. He's an internet security analyst and the founder and CEO of the online safety firm, SSP Blue.
Hemu, thank you for coming back.
Twitter is a privately-owned company with no First Amendment obligations. It bills itself as the free speech wing of the Free Speech Party, but it's there has been a rise in harassment online. So how much of this has been driven by the bottom line?
[01:45:08] HEMU NIGAM, INTERNET SECURITY ANALYST & FOUNDER, CEO, SSP BLUE: I think most of it is driven by the bottom line. If you look back historically, even before Facebook and Myspace, Microsoft was looking at conduct happening on its websites and saying is this hateful or bullying conduct, and is it directed at particular individual to hurt them? And they were taking sites or accounts like that down. Facebook and Myspace, does it. A lot of companies do it. So, in fact, Twitter is late to the game. Most interestingly, even though it's the top of the headline right now.
SESAY: What do you say to those critics who say it could backfire and actually amplify the voices of the Alt-Right and other white nationalist groups?
NIGAM: Any time you take action against a particular group for their hateful content or conduct, you expect they are going to try to find ways to come back in through other means or create a social uprising to do something about it. But at the end of the day, Twitter is a private platform. It is a business. It has a responsibility to the customers it cares about. And what Twitter is saying you are a customer I don't care about because of the way you behave. And there are community rules on our platform, much like when you go to someone's house. When you're at their house, they say, you know what, don't come into my house if you're going to swear, that's no allowed. You're swearing, get out. That's what Twitter is saying. But they're doing it at a level that is very connected to personal, meaning you are attacking somebody, hating on somebody, doing things designed to bully as opposed to having a discussion around political beliefs and views.
SESAY: And your free speech does not give you the right to hurt other people within our community.
NIGAM: If you are watching TV all the time and you see it on scripted shows, you might believe you have a right to free speech anywhere, anytime you go. But the reality is when you go to somebody's house -- Twitter is a House. You have to think about it like that, or an establishment. You have to do what they say and comply with it or face the consequences.
VAUSE: We all know the president-elect is a keen user of Twitter. This is what he said to -
NIGAM: That he is.
-- to "60 Minutes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a great form of communication. Now, do I say I'll give it up entirely and throw it out? That's a tremendous form. I'm picking up now -- I think I picked up yesterday 100,000 people. I'm not saying I love it but it does get the word out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Oh, I think he loves it.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: Very, very much.
VAUSE: Yeah.
Twitter's stock surged on the news that Trump won the election. Some are saying that Donald Trump might be the man to save Twitter because -- after its stock price hit rock-bottom earlier this year.
NIGAM: I think if you look at Donald Trump and his history, he is one of the few people in reality television who made reality television what it is today from his other show. And what he's doing now, in the strangest kind of way, is recreating reality TV in the digital world that our Millennials and everyone else is living in through Twitter. For example, he goes out there and campaigns and gives speeches and does interviews, then he goes into that booth, as you recall on reality TV, where you are talking in the booth and saying, hey, this is what's going on, here's my personal beliefs on it, here how I'm reacting, well, he's doing that on Twitter. That is his private booth with a confessional of sorts, and using it in a very, very powerful way, which is connecting to the people who are listening any time he wants to, any time they are awake.
SESAY: Well, he'll be doing it the next four years of the administration.
NIGAM: Well, that's true. In fact, all the businesses are going up because the -- and I think the stock price is more connected to the fact you have a businessman in the White House coming in as opposed to just the fact he uses Twitter.
VAUSE: OK.
SESAY: Hemu, always a pleasure.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Thanks so much.
SESAY: Thank you so much. Great insight. Thank you.
[01:49:09] VAUSE: Donald Trump's star may be on the rise but his name is disappearing from at least three New York buildings. Up next, why they decided to dump Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. Bob Dylan won't be traveling to Sweden next month to collect his Noble Prize for literature. The Swedish Academy says the American singer and songwriter feels very honored by the award but he won't be able to attend due to previous commitments.
VAUSE: He's got a book club to go to.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Yeah. He can still collect his prize as long as he presents a mobile lecture within six months. He is the first song writer ever to win a Nobel Prize and probably the last.
SESAY: Donald Trump isn't the only one in transition. Three buildings in New York are getting a facelift by losing his name.
VAUSE: CNN's Jeanne Moos has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His name may be on everyone's lips.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump.
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: Donald Trump.
TRUMP: Oh, Donald Trump.
MOOS: But it's no longer on three Manhattan amount buildings.
(on camera): Give me a "T," give me an "R," give me a - you're getting rid of it?
(voice-over): Off they came, letter by gold letter. Silver letters, too.
How do you spell relief?
LINDA GOTTLIEB, STARTED DUMP THE TRUMP NAME PETITION: Look at that. Is that beautiful?
MOOS: Linda Gottlieb lives at the former Trump Place, luxury rentals overlooking the Hudson River. She started the Dump the Trump Name petition because she considers the president-elect to be a racist and misogynist.
GOTTLIEB: Who wants to live in a label like that? And every time you come home, you see it.
MOOS: The petition to remove Trump's name --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's always been sort of a little bit of a joke.
MOOS: -- got almost 700 signatures.
GOTTLIEB: We didn't want to live in the Trump building but we got a good deal.
(CROSSTALK)
MOOS (on camera): You didn't want to live -
(CROSSTALK)
GOTTLIEB: He was like, no. The apartments are nice.
MOOS: The company that owns the three buildings says the petition didn't cause them a remove Trump's name but rather an agreement with Trump to use his name for free expired. And they're assuming a new neutral identity will appeal to current and future residents.
It didn't appeal to this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an unpatriotic act.
[01:55:13] MOOS: But what do?
(on camera): Can I give you a hand?
(voice-over): -- with the spurned letters?
(on camera): Can I have some letters?
(LAUGHTER)
Where are you going to take them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inside.
MOOS (voice-over): No longer spelling anything, they seem forlorn.
(on camera): Kind of hollow.
Oh, there he is.
What do you think this is worth on eBay?
(voice-over): Donald Trump powered his way to America's highest office but his name is being power-washed off the walls.
GOTTLIEB: This is great?
MOOS (on camera): Is it?
GOTTLIEB: It makes me think of the song, "I'm going the wash that man right out of my hair."
(SINGING)
MOOS (voice-over): But you can't shampoo him out of the White House.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: They could take the gold letters and put them on the White House.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: Yes, it could be Trump White House. Just --
SESAY: Don't --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: -- a suggestion for recycling.
SESAY: --- put any more ideas.
VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay.
We'll be back with another hour of news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:09] SESAY: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
