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Deadly Train Derailment in India; South Korean President Now a Suspect; Syrian Civil War; Trump Transition; Obama Talks Trade and Trump at APEC Summit. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired November 20, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Scrambling to find survivors; nearly 100 people are killed as a train derails in India. Rescue crews are searching through the wreckage as we speak.

Ensnared in a corruption scandal: South Korean prosecutors indict the president's friend and two former aides and look at President Park Geun-hye as a suspect herself.

Plus this was no phony handshake: Donald Trump meets with Mitt Romney despite the bitter insults traded during the 2016 campaign.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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VANIER: At least 95 people are dead after a catastrophic train derailment in Northern India. The crash happened early Sunday morning near the town of Pukhrayan in Uttar Pradesh.

CNN affiliate CNN New 18 reports over 150 passengers were injured. It also quoted an official, saying up to 70 people may still be trapped in the mangled rail cars and the number of casualties may continue to rise, according to a railway ministries spokesperson.

For the latest on the crash, we're joined now the by CNN New Delhi bureau chief, Ravi Agrawal.

Ravi, you've been monitoring this for us over the last few hours.

Where do rescue efforts stand now?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Cyril, it's now a race against time. The Indian railways are telling us that they are on war footing to try and rescue as many passengers as they can. As you said, 95 dead, 150 more injured, but we're expecting the death toll to rise.

And the reason why is that this train derailment happened in the middle of the night at 3:00 am. There were many compartments. About 14 coaches or cars were derailed. Of those 14, a few completely flipped over and some of these coaches, just to be clear, they're not listed passengers on the rolls.

So what happens on Indian trains is in first and second-class compartments you have people traveling on reservations. But in some of the general compartments, you often have people just getting on sometimes, not paying, no reservations.

And so what they're also struggling with is to get a sense of how many people were on this train, how many more need to be rescued.

What they know for sure right now is a number of the carriages that have flipped over, they can see people under them. So they're there. The national disaster response force is there with gas cutters, with other machinery, just trying to rescue as many people as they can. So really it is a race against time.

VANIER: Ravi, with this very high death toll that we're seeing at the moment, this stands to be one of the worst rail incidents in recent memory in India.

AGRAWAL: Yes, it does, Cyril. There have been a number of rail accidents in India over the years. You can expect there to be seven to 15 in any given year. And this is because this is a very large railway network, spanning, crisscrossing rural India, urban India. It's a very old railway network in need of upgrades.

Millions of people use it every single day. So it's in heavy usage. But this particular accident, we're expecting the death toll to rise into three figures soon. According to officials, this would make this particular accident among the worst in the last five to 10 years.

So even though we see many of these in India, this one is quite bad, exacerbated by the fact that it was a packed train; most of the train's coaches were derailed and it was in the middle of the night. And in all of these kinds of accidents, Cyril, you know this, when it's nighttime people can't see what's happening. They were asleep.

So this came as a jolt. Reaction times would have been slower. There's very little one can do. And at this stage, now that it's daytime at the accident site, you can see on your screen hundreds of people are there, trying to monitor the rescue efforts, trying to help in any way they can. It really is just a race against time to save people.

VANIER: All right. Ravi Agrawal in New Delhi. Thank you very much.

Prosecutors say they're now investigating the South Korean President Park Geun-hye in the corruption scandal that has engulfed her presidency. Her informal adviser as well as two former aides were indicted on Sunday. Paula Hancocks joins us live now from Seoul.

Paula, as things stand currently, what is the president suspected of?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we've heard, Cyril, from the chief prosecutor this Sunday, is they believe that they have evidence, that they found evidence that means she could have colluded with her close confidante, Choi Soon-sil. That's a woman currently --

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HANCOCKS: -- indicted and has been indicted of fraud, abuse of power, coercion and has allegedly tried to coerce a certain amount of money from some of the big companies here in South Korea.

Many millions of dollars is being quoted in local media, for personal use and also for use in her foundations. So what prosecutors have said today is that they believe President Park is involved in some way. They will be investigating her as a suspect, which is a significant change from what we knew just yesterday.

She was going to be questioned as a witness. There is a very big difference. Now if this goes ahead, she will be the very first sitting president in South Korea to be investigated as a suspect.

So very bad news for President Park Geun-hye. And giving a louder voice to hundreds of thousands of people on the streets over the past four weeks, calling for her resignation -- Cyril.

VANIER: And, Paula, the president has almost no popular support left in her country. The opposition is also calling for her to hand over most of her power.

What do you think this could do to her presidency?

HANCOCKS: Well, certainly, I've been on the streets many nights. Certainly, on Saturday nights, when hundreds of thousands, as I say, are there and I've spoken to many people, who say she's lost complete trust of the people. They say she has no power.

She's also been to the national assembly, the parliament here and effectively offered to give up some of her power to try to get some kind of deal with lawmakers there. That didn't appear to happen.

Now she can't be actually charged while she's a sitting president. It's simply not possible within the constitution here. It would only be an investigation.

And any charges would have to come after she stepped down. And for that reason, there are many people here who believe she will not resign because she feels that is going to be a threat, of course, when she loses power.

She has apologized twice. That hasn't been enough at this point to try to quell some of the anger here. But it's very difficult to see how she will regain any trust. The approval rating at this point is just 5 percent.

VANIER: Paula Hancocks, reporting live from Seoul in South Korea. Thank you very much.

Medecins sans Frontieres is demanding Syria stop bombing medical centers in Eastern Aleppo. Doctors say a quarter million people trapped there do not have a single hospital operating at full capacity.

At least 68 people were reported killed on Saturday alone and this is the fifth consecutive day of renewed government airstrikes.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us now from Amman in Jordan.

Look, Jomana, the rebels have been trying to break the siege of Eastern Aleppo. We know they haven't been very successful over the last three weeks and now we're seeing the Syrian regime, with their Russian allies, doubling down on their offensive against the rebels.

Do you feel that this might be the end game to retake Eastern Aleppo?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen these offensives come and go over recent months since that siege of Eastern Aleppo back in July, Cyril. And, according to people on the ground, they are really terrified about this current campaign.

They were really worried about it last Sunday, when we were speaking to residents of Eastern Aleppo, after they received those ominous text messages en masse from the Syrian regime, warning them of this military assault that is coming.

And, of course, we saw the rebels last month try and launch another offensive. It was a large-scale military campaign that they say was aimed at breaking the siege into parts of Western Aleppo. But that seems to have failed.

The regime regained all the territory that they had lost for some time to the rebels. And, this time, it seems that the focus of this campaign is mainly being carried out by the Syrian regime.

We've heard this from the Russians, the Russian ministry of defense, saying that they're not involved in Aleppo; they are taking part in airstrikes and military campaign in other parts of the country, including Idlib and Homs.

But when it comes to Aleppo, it seems that this is, at this point, a campaign by the Syrian regime, as it was described by the Syrian state media.

They're calling this a preliminary operation into Eastern Aleppo, part of what they described as this zero hour operation against what they describe as terrorist organizations across the country.

They also said that there is going to be a ground push by ground forces from several fronts onto Eastern Aleppo, to tighten the siege, something, obviously, people, as you mentioned, a quarter of a million people, living in Eastern Aleppo, really cannot afford -- the humanitarian situation has never been so bad, according to people we've spoken to and activists on the ground.

And there is this feeling that this could be worse than any other offensive we have seen in the past and definitely the figures and the images we're receiving daily from Eastern Aleppo do show that -- Cyril. [03:10:00]

VANIER: Jomana Karadsheh, reporting from Amman in Jordan. Thank you very much.

Now Brazilian military police say they are investigating a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro that killed four officers on Saturday. Firefighters could be seen working to pull victims from the crumpled wreckage.

The chopper went down near the slum known as City of God, where police and criminal gangs were locked in an intense shootout. It's unclear if the helicopter might have been shot down or crashed for a different reason.

Still ahead on CNN, two high-profile meetings may point to important cabinet positions in the Trump administration.

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VANIER (voice-over): Stay with us.

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VANIER: No new cabinet nominations were announced by Donald Trump on Saturday but the U.S. president-elect did hold multiple get-togethers with potential candidates for jobs in his incoming administration.

Of keen interest were Trump's meetings with two particular individuals: retired Marine Corps General James Mattis and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was one clear meeting that everybody wanted to know everything about here in Bedminster on Saturday. That was the meeting with Mitt Romney.

It wasn't so long ago that "con man" and "choke," all sorts of insults were flying back and forth on the campaign trail.

Not anymore. For an hour and 20 minutes Mitt Romney sat down with President-Elect Donald Trump, vice president-elect Mike Pence, discussing primarily foreign policy.

Of course raising the question is there a potential position in a Trump administration for Mitt Romney?

We haven't gotten any comment on that but this is how Mitt Romney described their conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OR MASSACHUSETTS: We had a far- reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance. We discussed those areas and exchanged our views on those topics.

Very thorough and in depth discussion in the time we had. And appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect and look forward to the coming administration.

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It's important to note that Trump transition officials do confirm that Mitt Romney is in the running for something. People have been talking about the potential for a secretary of state slot.

But again, we don't have any final answers on that.

There was another very interesting meeting that happened on Saturday here as Donald Trump continues to work toward filling out his cabinet. That was with retired Marine General James Mattis. I'm told from a Trump transition official keep a very close eye on General Mattis.

That meeting went for more than an hour, longer than any other meeting but the Romney meeting and a very potential pick for defense secretary.

Now James Mattis would need a waiver from Congress to actually get that position because he retired in 2013 but it's very likely as Republicans control Capitol Hill that would be in the offing if he was selected. Donald Trump himself saying that he is the real deal --

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MATTINGLY: -- and that he had a great meeting. So guys, don't just keep an eye on Mitt Romney, keep an eye on General James Mattis as well.

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VANIER: Phil Mattingly, reporting there from Bedminster.

And Donald Trump is back on Twitter. This time it's to demand an apology from the cast of the Broadway musical, "Hamilton." He tweeted that the cast harassed Vice President-Elect Mike Pence when he came to see their show Friday night and he called their message to Pence "rude."

The cast says they were just using their platform to start a conversation. Listen to what they actually said during Friday's curtain call.

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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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VANIER: The cast urged audience members not to boo Pence. The vice president-elect had been greeted by boos and some cheers, it has to be said, when he arrived at the theater.

Now the Trump transition team has been in high gear, interviewing numerous candidates for important jobs in the new administration. CNN's Victor Blackwell looks at the positions already announced and what they may tell us about a Trump presidency.

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TRUMP: When it comes to Washington, D.C., it is time to drain the damn swamp.

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a rally crowd favorite in the last days of the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump's promise to get rid of Washington insiders.

But as he staffs his White House and top cabinet positions, many of the president-elect's picks are part of the so- called political establishment and so far they're also all white men. And some of the choices are receiving major resistance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is someone who ran a campaign on hatred and bigotry, who has since he has been elected chosen some of the most dangerous people possible to staff his White House with.

BLACKWELL: The most recent pick, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. If confirmed, sessions will serve as attorney general. In 1986, the then U.S. attorney's nomination to a federal judgeship was defeated over claims he made racially charged remarks about blacks and referred to a white lawyer as a race traitor.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R) ALABAMA: I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks. I supported civil rights activity in my state. I have done my job with integrity, equality and fairness for all.

BLACKWELL: The former prosecutor has opposed immigration reform as well as bipartisan proposals to cut mandatory minimum prison sentences. Sessions has been accused of calling civil rights groups un-American and Communist inspired, criticizing the Voting Rights Act and its impact on Southern states.

Once said he was fine with the KKK until he found out they smoked pot. Sessions later dismissed that remark as a joke.

Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo has been tapped to be the next CIA director. He will also need Senate confirmation.

Elected to Congress 2010, Pompeo was a Tea Party favorite and one of the lead Republicans investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack. He was a sharp critic of Hillary Clinton's leadership as secretary of state. The third-term congressman has been accused of being anti-Muslim.

During his run for Congress in 2010, he personally apologized after his campaign tweeted a link to a blog that referred to his Indian- American rival as a "turban topper" and President Obama as an "evil Muslim communist usurper." Pompeo called the posting a mistake.

For this top adviser on national security, President-elect Trump has turned to retired army lieutenant general Michael Flynn. He's an outspoken critic of President Obama and was forced out of the Pentagon's top intelligence job in 2014 for his combative style.

Flynn has tweeted a series of statements calling fear of Muslims rational and in August he compared Islam to cancer.

LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN, (RET) U.S. ARMY: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion. I don't see a lot of people screaming "Jesus Christ" with hatchets or machetes or rifles shooting up clubs or hatcheting -- literally axing families on a train.

So it's like cancer and it's like a malignant cancer, though, in this case. It has metastasized.

BLACKWELL: And then there's Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist. He spent seven years in the U.S. Navy, was an investment banker for Goldman Sachs and was one a Hollywood investor. Most recently he's made it his mission to take down the Republican Party establishment.

STEVE BANNON, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CEO: What we need is to bitch- slap the Republican party and get those guys heeding to. And if we have to, we'll take it over.

BLACKWELL: Bannon is the former chairman of the conservative website "Breitbart News."

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BLACKWELL: The site has a history of inflammatory headlines, like "Meltdown continues, wave of fake hate crimes sweeps social media and anti-democracy crybabies march by thousands nationwide."

Another reads "Bill Kristol, Republican spoiler, renegade Jew."

And this, "Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy."

And finally the chairman of the Republican national committee, Reince Priebus, who will be the president-elect's chief of staff.

While he's a mainstream pick that many congressional Republicans find encouraging, one prominent Tea Party leader fears Priebus will make it more difficult, not less, for President Trump to achieve the change that people voted for -- Victor Blackwell, CNN, Atlanta.

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VANIER: Now the current U.S. President and other Pacific Rim leaders have another day of talks ahead of them in Peru at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday and talked democracy, trade and Donald Trump. Athena Jones has this from Lima.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This last foreign trip by President Obama has been very much focused on reassuring world leaders that the U.S. is going to remain engaged in the world, that it will continue to uphold long-standing alliances, like for instance the NATO alliance. That is something that he has stressed on both sides of the Atlantic.

President Obama telling Latin American leaders that he doesn't expect the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America to change drastically under a Trump presidency but also acknowledging there could be some tensions in certain areas, areas like trade.

We've seen President-Elect Trump exhibit some skepticism toward trade deals, both existing trade deals and trade deals that were in the works. But the president's message, part of his message today, was to tell the leaders of the world and the citizens of the world to give President Trump a chance. Take a listen.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it will be important for everybody around the world to not make immediate judgments but give this new president-elect a chance to put their team together, to examine the issues, to determine what their policies will be because, as I've always said, how you campaign isn't always the same as how you govern.

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JONES: So the president there, offering reassuring words to the world leaders and to the citizens of the world about the Trump presidency. But I should add both in Europe and here in Peru, he offered a few warnings. In Berlin he warned about what he called a crude nationalism, an "us

versus them" way of thinking and he echoed those same themes today in Peru, saying people around the world, both leaders and the populations of all countries of the world, should resist the urge to define themselves by race or tribe, skin color or birthplace, this "us versus them" way of thinking that he believes could be detrimental to governing.

He said instead that people should be proud of their identity but they should see what they have in common with people that don't look like them so they can work together to solve problems.

That appeared to be a reference to some of the concerns you hear from Trump critics, about the tone and tenor of his campaign and people who are concerned with how he may govern.

So some difficult conversations for the president to have on this last foreign trip. And confronting world leaders, talking about an election that did not turn out the way the White House expected it would. Back to you.

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VANIER: We want to move away from politics now to show you these pictures from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.

And lift-off.

VANIER (voice-over): And if you live anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, you definitely want to take an interest in these satellites. A new generation of U.S. weather satellites, rising off the launch pad Saturday evening; the first one riding that rocket there is now in orbit.

So they're known as GOES-R and they'll be working for you. They're expected to dramatically improve weather forecasting with real-time high-definition views of hurricanes and other storms that in the Western Hemisphere, as we were saying.

So a monumental day for weather forecasters around the world, including our very own meteorologist, Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm giggling because very few things huddle my family together around a computer screen to watch NASA television and rockets launching into space.

But tonight that the case. So it was a monumental thing. We've been tracking this for months, if not years. And what it's going to do for me and my job and meteorologists like myself personally is monumental, it's huge, but it's also going to improve things for you at home. We talked about that yesterday in quite detail so I won't rehash that. But again, we're just giving you a nice perspective here of the Atlas

5 rocket that took the GOES-R new weather satellite into space which occurred roughly about 6:30 in the evening Eastern Standard Time --

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VAN DAM: -- from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday.

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VANIER: All right, thank you very much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier. I'll be back with the headlines in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Stay with us.