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Hardliners Picked for National Security Posts; Aleppo's Brutal Airstrikes; Trump Presidency Looms over APEC Summit; Trump University Settles Lawsuits; The U.S. Reacts to Trump's Picks; Zika Is Here to Stay; Pope Francis Appoints New Cardinals; Trump Elevators Rise to Fame. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired November 19, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The Trump team's starting to take shape. The U.S. president-elect announces key members of his national security team and they seem to show him standing by some of the extreme ideas that he campaigned with.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Also, the billionaire president-elect settles multiple lawsuits against his defunct Trump University.

HOWELL (voice-over): And in Eastern Aleppo, could it get any worse?

A new death toll after 60 days of airstrikes says, yes, it can get worse.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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HOWELL: 4:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump is set for a busy Saturday, continuing to screen candidates for those critical jobs within his administration.

ALLEN: But he does have one less thing to worry about. He's agreed to pay $25 million to settle three lawsuits over his now-defunct Trump University. The lawsuits cover about 6,000 people who signed up for the real estate course. They can expect a refund of about half their money.

HOWELL: And in the meantime, Trump has named three hardline conservatives to key national security posts. One of them, retired general, Michael Flynn. Also Republican senator Jeff Sessions and Republican congressman Mike Pompeo.

CNN's Phil Mattingly has more now on Trump's team as it starts to take shape.

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GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER DIRECTOR, DIA: Lock her up, lock her up.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Loyalists, hardliners, now the core of President-Elect Trump's national security team. The choices revealing the next administration's security posture. One defined not by a pragmatic move to the middle, but instead by a move deeply into conservative orthodoxy.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: I told Donald Trump this isn't a campaign, this is a movement.

MATTINGLY: Jeff Sessions, a crucial voice inside Trump's team and his first Senate endorsement, now in line to be the next attorney general.

FLYNN: We need to bring back big-time leadership and that's Donald Trump.

MATTINGLY: Michael Flynn, Trump's closest campaign military advisor and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, his national security advisor. And congressman Mike Pompeo, a former Army officer, member of the House Intelligence Committee and harsh critic of Hillary Clinton now in line to be CIA director. The picks provoking a chorus of cheers from top Capitol Hill Republicans.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Jeff Sessions will bring back integrity to the United States Department of Justice.

MATTINGLY: And near universal caution or outright concern from Democrats.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, FORMER DNC CHAIRWOMAN: It's really getting more and more disturbing and clear that Donald Trump is not trying to bring the country together with the moves he is making right out of the gate.

MATTINGLY: For Trump, an unquestionable ramp-up of the pace of his transition. The so-called landing teams of advisers and transition team staff arriving at the Justice, Defense and state Departments today. And the quickened pace expected to continue in the days ahead. While Trump heads out of New York City to his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, the meetings with top candidates will follow.

2012 nominee and harsh Trump critic, Mitt Romney, and potential Education Secretary pick, Michelle Rhee, and potential Secretary of Defense pick James Mattis all scheduled for Saturday sit-downs with the president-elect. The Romney meeting by far the most notable with the like of comments like these during the campaign.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud, a con man, a fake. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.

MATTINGLY: Some questioning whether Trump's sit-downs are simply head picks to soothe critics who say he is not reaching out. Trump's team says this is the new reality.

SEAN SPICER, RNC CHIEF STRATEGIST AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The president-elect wants the best and the brightest. He is going to meet with people who supported him, people who didn't support him, Republicans, Democrats, independents, but most of all these conversations start off as just that, a conversation to discuss people's ideas and thoughts and get their opinions.

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ALLEN: Michael Flynn will not require Senate confirmation to become national security advisor. That may work to Trump's advantage, as Flynn comes to the job with a lot of baggage that might not pass muster in the U.S. Senate. CNN's Jim Sciutto explains why.

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FLYNN: The next president of the United States right here!

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, once a registered Democrat, will now be the president-elect's closest advisor on the greatest threats to U.S. national security.

But with views that are a marked departure from long-held U.S. policy of both parties, he has called Islam itself, not radical versions of it, a threat. In tweets such as this one during the campaign, "Fear of Muslims is rational," he wrote, and in --

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SCIUTTO (voice-over): -- public speeches, even calling Islam a cancer.

FLYNN: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): More broadly, he supports a significant reversal of which states the U.S. views as threats. He has identified long-time ally Saudi Arabia as a danger while growing U.S. adversary Russia, who the U.S. blames for Ukraine, atrocities in Syria and meddling in the U.S. election, as, at worst, an exaggerated threat; at best, a potential friend.

This is a view that contradicts the U.S. intelligence community and senior Defense officials from both parties. He has also unsettled U.S. allies by arguing that military commitments to NATO and other treaty allies should be conditional.

FLYNN: I've been called an angry general. I'll tell you what, you know what, I'm not angry. What I am is I'm very determined to make sure that this country is ready for my children and my grandchildren.

SCIUTTO: Flynn's military record is impressive. As an intelligence officer, he is credited with helping turn the tide against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. And ISIS' predecessor in Iraq. And yet, when he served as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, his management style antagonized many in the intel community, leading to his being forced out.

Since then, he was Vladimir Putin's dinner guest in December last year, accepting an undisclosed speaking fee. And Flynn's for-profit consultancy was still working with a foreign client while he was also attending classified security briefings with Donald Trump during the campaign.

The ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Government Oversight is now questioning Flynn's ties to lobbyists, requesting more information on his foreign connections as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a reputation as an iconoclast and an independent thinker. And some of that is good and necessary. I think the deeper problem potentially is that he -- he has publicly said that he thinks this war can go on for several generations.

He's publicly called for expanding the war to basically any Islamist militant around the world. Any of that comes with some potential downsides.

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HOWELL: CNN's Jim Sciutto reporting there for us.

Flynn's views on Islam have been condemned by some and have been defended by others. Here's what CNN host and professor -- religious scholar, Reza Aslan (ph) and CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnny (ph) had to say earlier about Trump's pick for national security advisor.

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REZA ASLAN, CNN HOST: Over and over again, we have talked about on this panel and earlier on CNN that Michael Flynn has said repeatedly that Islam is not just a cancer, but that it's not a religion, it's an ideology.

And we've been tossing this around, but I want you to understand very quickly what Michael Flynn means when he says this absurd, ignorant canard that Islam is not an ideology.

What he means is that therefore, Muslims should not have religious protections in the United States. That's what that means. That means that the 3.5 million, 4.5 million Muslims in the United States should not be protected by the constitution.

And I know that a lot of viewers right now are kind of looking at this and saying, well, this has to do with Islam, it doesn't have to do with me. But if you think that this kind of autocratic tendency, this sort of abuse of power is going to stop only at Muslims, then you don't know your history.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Mike Flynn said that Islam is a political ideology masking as a religion. KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Right, and it's important to understand why he made that statement. You have Andy McCarthy, a very respected former federal prosecutor, "National Review" columnist, who has written extensively on this and what he said is that, look, 90 percent of the Koran is in fact a legal doctrine, it is Sharia.

He's not saying that as an insult to the religion, but that is in fact structured differently than typical-type, you know, Christian religions or Jewish religions the way those books are structured. So, that is what he's meaning academically.

And then also I think it's completely unfair to say that he called Islam a cancer, because when you actually listen to the whole statement in context, he says, look, this ideology is being use for people to cut off other people's heads, to commit mass atrocities across the globe.

That's a problem, that is a cancer. He was referring to the way it is being used, the radicalized version of Islam.

So to just caricature him as being anti-Islam and take bits and pieces of his statement and to suggest that Muslims are not going to have constitutional rights under the Trump administration I just think is absurd hyperbole and I really don't think it's a responsible way to speak.

ASLAN: I mean no offense to Kayleigh, but you really don't know what you're talking about when it comes to either the Koran or the Bible. About 120 verses of the Koran have to do with legal matters out of tens of thousands. And if you've actually read the first five chapters of the Bible, you would know that it is mostly law.

All religions are --

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ASLAN: -- about not just your faith, but about the way that you conduct yourself in the world. So in a way, all religions are about ideology, however you define that. But that's not what Michael Flynn was saying. Michael Flynn was saying and it seems as though you may agree with him, that Islam is different. It's not like other religions. And so it has to be treated differently. Not Islamic radicalism, not Islamic extremism, but Islam and by definition, the 1.5 billion adherents of it regardless of their political or military views and that includes the 1 percent of the American population, citizens here, under the United States constitution, that actually follow Islam as a religion.

MCENANY: Well, Reza, I just want to quickly respond, because, you know, when confronted with facts a lot of times the other commentators descend into ad hominem attacks, which is what you just did to me. I have read the Bible.

ASLAN: I corrected your facts.

MCENANY: And there are academic scholars that disagree with your facts Andy McCarthy, I named him, former federal prosecutor who would completely disagree ...

ASLAN: He is not a scholar of religion.

MCENANY: ... with your characterization. So just -- let's not descend into ad hominem attacks. The worse than that, let's not descend into absurdities and suggest that Islamic Americans will not have constitutional rights. They have all the constitutional rights that I have as a Christian. President-elect Trump has never suggested otherwise.

And it's irresponsible to come on here and cry racist, Islamophobic and use these terms and misconstrued people's words. It's very sad. Let's give him a chance and let's listen to President Obama and give him a chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fear of Muslims is rational, that's what he said.

ASLAN: President-elect Trump at various times in his campaign has called for banning all Muslims from the United States, he's called for monitoring Muslim neighborhoods, he has peddled a lie that American- Muslims celebrated 9/11 and even after that lie was repeatedly exposed, continued to say that lie.

These are not opinions, Kayleigh. I am actually stating observable facts. And by the way, it doesn't matter what an attorney has to say ...

MCENANY: Well, let's start with the first thing he said which was a redaction of the facts, not the facts, per se. You said a complete ban of Muslims. He said a temporary ban until we find out what's going on. That was on the heels of someone getting into our country, Tashfeen Malik and taking 18 lives. That was on the heels of that. It's since been reformed to be people who come from terror hotbed countries.

Let's get our facts right, because nuance matters. And to come on and say, a complete ban, you leave out all the nuance, you leave out the temporary, you leave out until we figure out what's going on you scare a heck of a lot of people.

ASLAN: Actually, the truth, Kayleigh, is that Donald Trump has yet to actually clarify the ban on Muslims is still on his website. It's still part of his platform. We've gotten numerous indications, back and forth, from his campaign about whether that actually means a religious test or whether that's from Muslim majority countries, which in and of itself is quite problematic, because that's not where all the terrorism is.

I mean, look, the fact of the matter is that anti-Muslim bigotry has been the hallmark of Donald Trump's campaign throughout. And now, he has brought together a Cabinet, so far, of people who tend to agree with his views about Islam and about Muslim and that has to be problematic.

And again, to this whole constitutional element thing here, it's really just math, Kayleigh. If Islam is not a religion, then Muslims don't get religious rights, period.

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ALLEN: Quite a duel there on CNN earlier; coming up in the next hour I will talk with a professor of international relations in London about Michael Flynn.

HOWELL: Barack Obama is attending his last international summit as the American president. He could face tough questions from world leaders about his successor.

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ALLEN (voice-over): Plus, we'll show you a brutal scene that's become all too common in Aleppo, Syria.

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ALLEN: And welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta.

Saudi Arabian state news says the Saudi-led military coalition has declared a 48-hour cease-fire in Yemen. It's set to begin in about one hour, which will be noon in Yemen. The coalition says the cease- fire could be renewed if the Houthi rebels and their allies honor it. Reports say humanitarian aid will be delivered to conflict areas during the cease-fire.

HOWELL: Now to Eastern Aleppo, a quarter million people there have almost no food or medicine. The U.N. also saying that rebel groups there have agreed in principle to a relief plan for them. But Syria and Russia have not given it the green light.

Forty-six people were killed Friday alone, the fourth day of relentless government airstrikes on rebel-held neighborhoods.

We're about to show you some video also that is quite disturbing.

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HOWELL (voice-over): Rescuers trying to save a little girl from under the rubble. These brutal scenes like this, these are the scenes that happen so routinely each day in Aleppo. You see half of her body here appears to be trapped. But she remains calm, in part, seemingly in shock and almost emotionless.

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HOWELL: Wow. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley, following this story live for us in Istanbul, Turkey, this hour. Will, when you see images like this little girl, it just really drives

home the pain so many people are enduring day in and day out in this hellish situation now. Tell us more about how people are dealing with this.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Simply horrifying, George. These children, keep in mind, all of them are growing up, they've never known anything else. We talked about this earlier this week.

They don't remember what life was like before the planes started dropping these bombs in their schools, and their hospitals and their homes were destroyed and their friends and their parents were dying. It is sickening to think just in the last two months since that East Aleppo cease-fire broke down, 1,086 people have died, according to the --

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RIPLEY: -- Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That number includes 231 children. There was one week in September when 96 children were killed in less than a week.

And these -- these are -- these are families that are being torn apart by an onslaught. At the moment, they're also being cut off, the food supplies, the medicine is running out. And the bombing is being described by people living in East Aleppo as unprecedented in its intensity.

So even more intense bombing now than what they have seen in the last two months. And so the number of dead promises to continue to rise. And there is really no end in sight at least at this point.

Perhaps this plan to provide humanitarian relief will at least allow hospitals and markets to restock and relief organizations as well.

HOWELL: Will, let's talk about hospitals. For our viewers around the world, I just want to make sure this is not lost on people. But you go to a hospital, you think you're going to get help.

These hospitals, though, have become death targets in the bombardments. Talk to us about hospitals in Aleppo and throughout Syria that are being bombed and targeted.

RIPLEY: Well, let me give you an idea of how quickly this is all falling apart. I spoke with a doctor inside East Aleppo on Monday. At that point, he said that, out of nine hospitals in this area that service more than a quarter million people, there were eight operating hospitals at the beginning of the week.

Today, we are told from multiple sources on the ground, there are four hospitals. And it's not even clear if they are fully operational. Medical sources are saying that all of the trauma centers have been wiped out at this point.

And they're having a difficult time rebuilding them because they're running out of supplies and because the damage is so severe, when you're talking about dozens and dozens of barrel bombs being dropped on these medical facilities.

This is getting the attention of the U.S. State Department. The spokesperson there, John Kirby, talking about the role of Syrian regime warplanes and also allegations of Russia targeting hospitals outside of East Aleppo.

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JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: I can't speak for the Syrian military or the Russian military. I don't know whose airplanes are hitting these hospitals. What I can say is we've got credible claims from legitimate -- you know, well-established agencies that are reporting this and they are hospitals.

And they are patients; people that are trying to get well are, in fact, being bombed. And frankly, it doesn't really matter whose airplane is dropping the bomb. It's either the Syrians or the Russians or both. The fact is it's got to stop. It needs to stop.

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RIPLEY: The situation that you have on the ground in East Aleppo is that patients, even if they are ill or injured, are often afraid to go to these hospitals because the hospitals are considered targets of artillery fire, of barrel bombs.

And you have this tragedy compounded by the fact that there is less than 3 dozen doctors, 31 doctors that remain in East Aleppo, three pediatricians, a handful of surgeons. And they don't even have a place to work. They're running out of supplies.

One thing that is important to note as well is that there are atrocities being committed by both sides. That figure of more than 1,000 people killed in the last two months, also includes civilians who were killed by rebel attacks on Western Aleppo which is held by the government. Both sides accuse the other of using chemical weapons on civilians.

So certainly when it comes to this conflict, both sides are inflicting grave harm on each other, George. But in the middle of all of this, of course, these families and these children.

HOWELL: And, Will, I just want to take another second here just to look at this video again of this little girl. Stay with me here. I want you to tell me again about this situation.

But you know, I just don't think that -- I don't think people see enough of these images. And again, these things happen every day in Aleppo. I mean, these are the families. These are the children. I'm a father myself and it's heartbreaking. As a human, it's heartbreaking -- Will.

RIPLEY: I agree with you, George, that people don't see enough of this. The focus of the world right now is on the United States and the U.S. presidential transition and what the president-elect, Donald, Trump is up to and who he is meeting with. And I've chatted with people in Eastern Aleppo who feel that they have

been forgotten about by the world. The more we can tell their stories and show these images and let people know what's happening, they're hopeful that someone will help them.

HOWELL: CNN's Will Ripley, live for us in Istanbul, Turkey.

Will, thank you for the time and the report.

ALLEN: So happy she was pulled out alive. So many are not.

And Will mentioned the focus on Donald Trump and that will also be the focus at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, quite likely. U.S. President Obama landed there --

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ALLEN: -- Friday night. World leaders are meeting in a few hours to begin the summit. They are expected to ask Mr. Obama pointed questions over free trade and trade agreements which Donald Trump opposed throughout his campaign. Our Athena Jones has more from Lima.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Obama arrives here in Lima, facing some difficult conversations during this APEC summit. There's no denying that the White House expected a very different result from the election. President Obama said many times that he did not expect Donald Trump to be elected president.

Well, now that Donald Trump has been elected president, there's a lot of uncertainty about the direction that U.S. foreign policy is going to take in the coming years.

One thing we know is that President-Elect Trump has been skeptical of a series of international agreements. Chief among them is the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He has called that 12-nation trade deal a disaster.

We know from congressional leaders on Capitol Hill that that deal is not going to come up for a vote in the lame duck session of Congress. That means that it is dead. That's a big blow to the Obama administration's efforts to rebalance foreign policy in the U.S. toward the Asia Pacific region, which is a powerhouse on the economic front and important militarily as well.

The White House says that the president will try to make the case that the U.S. should remain engaged in that region. But it's unclear just how effective he's going to be able to be.

We know that China stands ready to fill the void left by the failure of the TPP with its own massive multi-nation trade deal. The White House says that that deal would lower or eliminate tariffs but wouldn't have the same high standards, standards protecting things like intellectual property, the environment, labor standards. It wouldn't have those same high standards that the TPP has. And it

would leave U.S. companies at a disadvantage. So this is going to be potentially a difficult trip for President Obama, who is scheduled to meet with China's president, Xi Jinping, and Australia's prime minister Malcolm Turnbull during the trip. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Athena Jones, thank you.

NEWSROOM is back after this.

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ALLEN,(voice-over): Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL (voice-over): And I'm George Howell with the headlines that we're following for you this hour.

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ALLEN: Saturday will be a busy one for Donald Trump as he interviews more candidates for high profile jobs in his upcoming administration. On Friday, Trump picked three hardliners for crucial posts on national security.

HOWELL: Let's list them out here from left to right. Republican senator Jeff sessions for the U.S. attorney general. House Republican Mike Pompeo for the CIA director and a retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for national security advisor.

ALLEN: Trump does have one less thing on his plate this weekend. Three lawsuits alleging fraud by his Trump University were settled Friday. You recall the story likely from the campaign. Trump agreed to pay now $25 million without admitting any guilt. The lawsuits cover about 6,000 people who signed up for the now-defunct real estate courses.

CNN's Paul Vercammen has the details.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dan Petrocelli, the lawyer for Donald Trump, emphasized this both in court and when he came outside after, he said in no way is the president-elect acknowledging any fault or liability in this case.

He said this will allow President-Elect Trump to focus on the matters at hand, which is fighting for America.

DAN PETROCELLI, TRUMP LAWYER: We felt very confident in our position but, at the end, President-Elect Trump was prepared -- set aside his personal interests and focused on the monumental task that he faces in bringing this country together and fighting for the important issues and all the people that he represents.

He wants to spend his time and his energy, his focus, his talent, his ability on fighting for Americans.

VERCAMMEN: And many times leading up to this trial, for years, Donald Trump had said he would never settle but, again, his lawyer seemed to be happy with this deal and both sides were jovial during the proceedings and after the proceedings. It didn't seem for either of them that they had been bludgeoned into this move.

In fact, Jason Forge, who is the plaintiffs' attorney, a former hard- charging federal prosecutor, said that they were not going to require any payment from the plaintiffs. He also said that this would be spread out and that every single plaintiff would receive at least half of their money back from what they paid for those classes, Donald Trump University.

They said all along that they felt the university was nothing more than a sham. Now back to you.

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HOWELL: Paul Vercammen, thank you.

Let's talk more here about the Republican senator, Jeff Sessions. He comes from a small town in Alabama. Most voters there cast ballots for Donald Trump. CNN's Gary Tuchman asked residents of that town about Sessions' nomination for the top law enforcement job in the United States.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In tiny Heflin, Alabama, the cabinet nomination of Alabama's own Jeff Sessions is the talk of the town.

JEFF SESSIONS, FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: I was surprised but glorified. I'm just --

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-- overjoyed with it. I think he's going to do us a great job.

TUCHMAN: Heflin, the county seat of Cleburne County, is where we came to talk about Sessions and other Trump cabinet nominees.

As of now it's been all white men named to be cabinet, is that OK with you?

NANCY BINION, ALABAMA VOTER: It is, yes.

TUCHMAN: But would you like to see a woman if she's qualified?

BINION: I would. Yes, I would. TUCHMAN: But not necessarily if everyone's qualified they are all white men, that's OK with you?

BINION: It is.

WANDA SMITH, ALABAMA VOTER: I'm not a feminist. So it doesn't matter with me one way or the other as long as they know how to do their job.

TUCHMAN: 88 percent of Cleburne County voters cast their ballots for Donald Trump. So they are loyal to him as well as Sessions. But we had questions. Jeff sessions in 1986 wanted to be a federal judge.

PATRICK GRIZZARD, ALABAMA VOTER: Yes.

TUCHMAN: He was rejected by a republican committee because of racially charged comments he made. He called the NAACP, the ACLU communist inspired, un-American. Do you think that should disqualify him?

GRIZZARD: No. Because 30 years ago that was something common for somebody to say.

TUCHMAN: If he said something hike that more recently, few years ago or last year, would you think that would be enough to disqualify him?

GRIZZARD: Yes.

BINION: 30 years ago, I went to an all-white school or maybe longer than 30 years. But when I was in high school I went to an all-white school (INAUDIBLE) all black school. I was all for that because I didn't know any better.

TUCHMAN: So if you did know any better back then?

BINION: Well, there's a chance he didn't.

TUCHMAN: If he made those comments today or a few years ago --

BINION: (INAUDIBLE) that would bother me. Yes, it would.

TUCHMAN: And what about the nominee for national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn?

MICHAEL FLYNN, RETIRED ARMY LIEUTENANT GENERAL: Lock her up. That's right.

TUCHMAN: Who was a fiery in controversial advocate for Trump on the campaign trail. He in the past has talked about Islam and he said Islam definitely hides behind being a religion. It's a political ideology did that trouble you?

AMANDA JOHNSON, ALABAMA VOTER: I don't think that's true. That might be his opinion, but I don't think it's true.

TUCHMAN: So does it bother you, should that disqualify him from being the national security adviser? He's acknowledged making those comments.

JOHNSON: Well, maybe he knows a heck of a lot more about it than I do.

TUCHMAN: And then there's the other nominee of the day Congressman Mike Pompeo for CIA chief. A few talk to know much about him but this woman feels the congressman may not have the proper experience to run the CIA. Does that trouble you?

CAROLYN LIMON, ALABAMA VOTER: A little yes, sir. If they don't have the experience, yes.

TUCHMAN: I mean, but Donald Trump picked him.

LIMON: Yes. Well, I might -- we can't agree with everything he does.

TUCHMAN: But in this small town there seems to be a general agreement that the presidential transition is going just fine. Do you think there are some people in this country, the political establishment, the news media who just don't get?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They never had it. I'm serious.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Heflin, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Gary Tuchman, thank you.

The pope appoints new cardinals and shakes up the Catholic Church. We'll explain why -- next.

ALLEN: Plus, the cast of "Hamilton" on stage on Broadway has a message for the V.P. elect who was in the audience.

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ALLEN: The World Health Organization has declared that the Zika virus is no longer a global public health emergency. But concern over the virus is far from over.

The mosquito-borne illness caused widespread fear when it was linked to pregnant mothers and birth defects in Brazil earlier this year. World health officials say the change in Zika's status will help them focus now on a long-term approach to fighting it.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not downgrading the importance of Zika. In fact, by placing this as a longer-term program of work, we're sending the message that Zika is here to stay and WHO's response is here to stay in a very robust manner.

We are dealing with long-term issues here, we're dealing with management of neurological complications in children and adults. We're dealing with family planning issues. We're dealing with health system issues.

We're dealing with maternal reproductive health issues and we're dealing with a long and comprehensive research and development agenda that needs to be multiyear and has been published by WHO just last month.

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ALLEN: Pregnant women are still being urged to take great precaution in mosquito-prone areas.

HOWELL: You know, that's really interesting, Natalie, so not a health emergency per se but still, a great deal of concern for many different families, you know, just to stay away from particular areas.

ALLEN: Thank goodness it's been knocked down a notch or two.

HOWELL: Yes, that at least a good headline to report on that but still the fight continues.

Heavy smog continues to blanket the Chinese capital of Beijing.

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ALLEN: Pope Francis has appointed 17 new cardinals and many of them have a background in humanitarian work and some come from far-flung places like Bangladesh and the Central African Republic.

Why is this so unique?

Let's find out from our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, she's joining us live from Rome.

Hello, Delia.

What does this signal from Pope Francis?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, these are some very interesting choices. Once again, Pope Francis going for the outsider.

Many of these places have never had a cardinal before, as you mentioned, in Bangladesh, in the Central African Republic, in Papua New Guinea. These are places where the pope sometimes has met personally these men and been impressed by the fact that they are working on the front lines for some of the issues that he cares about, such as poverty, such as immigration, environmental issues.

He's also chosen a new cardinal from Syria. He's an Italian-born ambassador to Syria. It's an interesting choice and he's one of the men who says he's going to stay in Syria and continue to work for peace there in what the pope calls his beloved and martyred Syria.

In the United States, there are three new cardinals. And again here, an interesting choice from Pope Francis because he bypassed some cities which traditionally receive cardinals, such as Los Angeles and Philadelphia and, instead, he's gone for Chicago, for example.

Blaze Cupich (ph) was somebody that the pope already surprised many in 2014, making him the head of the church in Chicago. He also invited him to be a special representative to the senate on the family over here, where Archbishop Cupich (ph) was seen to be in kind of the progressive camp in outreach to divorced Catholics and to gays and lesbians.

He's also got Archbishop Tobin from Indianapolis. Archbishop Tobin is another outsider choice. He's moving him to Newark, New Jersey, which has never had a cardinal before, and Archbishop Tobin distinguished himself last year when he butted heads with Governor Mike Pence over inviting a Syrian family to resettle in Indianapolis.

And you can imagine that that's something that might have impressed Pope Francis, with his emphasis on welcoming immigrants and resettling refugees.

Also Archbishop Ferrell, formerly the bishop of Dallas. He's been now been promoted by the pope to a new Vatican office over here on family, laity and life. So these three new U.S. cardinals, important choices, an important way that Pope Francis kind of puts his stamp on the men that he likes and the men that he wants to see help move the church in the direction that the pope would like to see it going.

Now, Natalie, today, what we'll be seeing is the cardinals receiving their biretta, the red hat, the three-pointed red hat, that signals a cardinal. The pope puts it on their head. He gives them the cardinal's ring.

They also get a church in Rome. Pope has many churches here. And each cardinal becomes an honorary head of a church in Rome. And the Vatican has just announced, Natalie, that after the ceremony, the pope and the new cardinals will head into minibuses behind St. Peter's up the hill to go and visit Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Delia Gallagher, very interesting. Thank you so much, live from Rome for us, thanks, Delia.

HOWELL: The U.S. president-elect's home in New York, the Trump Tower, I was just in New York, passed by the building, with tons of media. A lot of people on the ground, checking the building out. It is iconic but there's a specific part of that building that's getting a lot of attention lately. We'll have the story next.

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ALLEN: Well, U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump was famous long before he ran for office and his New York home, Trump Tower, was, too. But the recent high level meetings there have created a whole new star inside the building. Our Jeanne Moos takes a closer look.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Donald Trump announced for president it was Trump Tower's escalators that became a star, replicated on "The Simpsons," a selfie magnet.

But now it's the elevator's turn to shine and shine they do in all of their golden glory. Reflecting in their mirrored splendor and closing doors the hallowed press assigned a document that job seekers and dignitaries, going up and down to visit the president-elect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's going on upstairs?

Why are you meeting with Mr. Trump.

MOOS (voice-over): Like so many, the CEO of FedEx preferred fiddling with his phones to answering questions. Those who about to ascend tend to wave or smile or give a thumbs-up in lieu of words.

Sometimes the waiting journalists have to settle for a picture of the luminaries above, like South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and the four elevators require camera people to develop strategies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of like the elevator version of the shell game where you don't know which elevator he's going to come out of.

MOOS (voice-over): And heaven help the shooter...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there are two elevators at the same time, and it's number one and number four, then you're like, which way do you go?

MOOS (voice-over): Even when it was only the one and the two arriving simultaneously, the crews almost missed Rudy Giuliani. CSPAN is now streaming the elevator cam live.

Although it is not as cuddly as the panda cam, you do get variety, from Trump's ex-wife, Marla Maples, to the pizza delivery guy, these superstar elevators shine so bright, no wonder Judge Jeanine Pirro (ph) is wearing sunglasses.

May their golden glow bathe a CEO who elected to use them to reflect before meeting the --

[04:55:00] MOOS (voice-over): -- president-elect -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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ALLEN: Fred Smith from Memphis, Tennessee, CEO of FedEx.

I kind of like that CSPAN elevator cam.

HOWELL: But so difficult for those photographers.

ALLEN: Oh, poor, poor news media.

HOWELL: The life of a CNN photographer has its ups and downs. So...

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HOWELL: I'm here all day.

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ALLEN: A few blocks south -- quiet -- a few blocks south of Trump Tower, Vice President-Elect Mike Pence got an earful while he attended the hottest musical on Broadway Friday night.

HOWELL: He was greeted with some clapping but he was also greeted with booing, too. Listen.

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HOWELL (voice-over): The vice president-elect there at "Hamilton." The musical is about Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of America and defender of the Constitution. As Pence was leaving, the cast made it very clear, though, that they're worried about the incoming Trump administration.

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BRANDON DIXON, ACTOR: Vice President-Elect Pence, we welcome you and truly appreciate you joining us here at "Hamilton: An American Musical." We really do. We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our families --

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DIXON: -- children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us, all of us.

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DIXON: Again, we truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.

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ALLEN: The "Hamilton" cast still running the show.

HOWELL: Yes, using their free speech as well in the United States.

ALLEN: Hope he liked it, Mr. Pence.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell. Another hour of news just after the break. Stay with us. This is CNN.

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