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Dreamers Launch Protest from NYC to DC; Conjoined Twins One Month After Separation; Captured ISIS Members Speak from Prison; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 22, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Children who died also with reckless driving and reckless endangerment. And the accusations that authorities are coming forward with is that this bus was going far faster than it should have been going on this narrow roadway and well above the 30-mile-per-hour speed limit, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Martin Savidge, I'll let you get back to work. Thank you so much for updating us.

Martin Savidge, live from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

In just about a half hour a group of Dreamers will launch a Trump protest. They'll march all the way from Trump Tower in New York City to the nation's capital. Many of them afraid of deportation once President-elect Trump takes office.

Dreamers, you may remember, are undocumented immigrants who were brought into America as children. They were able to get valid driver's licenses, able to go to college and legally secure jobs under President Obama's special program. Well, it was on the campaign trail President-elect Trump said he would end that program.

Javier Palomarez is the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He's been talking with the Trump transition team.

Good morning.

JAVIER PALOMAREZ, PRESIDENT AND CEO, U.S. HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Good morning, Carol, how are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good. So what is Mr. Trump say about the Dreamers program?

PALOMAREZ: Well, I have to tell you that my conversations with Michael Cohen of the team have been very encouraging. You know, three observations. First, the team has been willing to engage with us. They have been willing to listen to our input and our counsel. Two, they understand the important economic and commercial implications involved in immigration reform. And three, I think that the majority of people who voted for Donald Trump are, in fact, not the neo-Nazis that we see on television.

While that is a fringe that has supported him, the majority of people who voted for him, I believe, are compassionate conservatives. They are Americans who have been underrepresented and were underestimated, turned out in record numbers. But I don't believe that they will resort to tearing apart families.

COSTELLO: So the thing that these Dreamers are most concerned about, under this special program that President Obama thought of, right, they gave their names, their addresses. They had to list where they're going to school. They came forward. They came out into the open. Now they worry that the government, now that it no longer supports this program under a President Trump, right, now they have -- the government has all of that information, that they'll be the first to go.

PALOMAREZ: Absolutely. You know, two years ago to the day, I supported Barack Obama, President Obama's executive action. We believed it was the right thing. President Obama urged these young people to come out of the shadows, turn their information over.

Donald Trump is inheriting the machine, the system that was put together by Barack Obama. Unfortunately, President Obama doesn't get a hall pass on this one. He had eight years to fix a badly broken immigration system. It is still not broken. At that time I said the only thing more broken than the immigration system in this country was our Congress. Sadly here we are 24 months later nothing has been done and we're in this current situation.

The good news is, I guess, is that we have a new president and we have a new Congress. Hopefully we can move forward and do what's best for the American people.

COSTELLO: But I will say that the students who are attending universities across this nation, and there are thousands of them, they are scared. That's why they're marching, right, from Trump Tower to D.C. They're scared. In fact many universities across the country have declared themselves sanctuary universities. They'll offer shelter of some sort to these students and they will not cooperate with INS agents. So what do you think might happen in this atmosphere we're living in right now?

PALOMAREZ: You know, again, we are -- we need to remember that we are America. We are a compassionate powerful country. We are a compassionate people. We believe in keeping families together. I believe that the American people will do the right thing. I'm very encouraged by the fact that the Trump team continues to listen.

COSTELLO: It's no longer the American people.

PALOMAREZ: I believe they're going to try to find the best --

COSTELLO: It's not the American people. It's President-elect Trump and it's Congress.

PALOMAREZ: Well, it is President-elect Trump and the new Congress. And again, I'm enthused by the fact that they continue to listen. They are trying to find, I hope, the best path forward for the American people. I don't believe anybody wants to tear families apart. It is a brain drain. These are the best and brightest from countries all over the world, frankly.

The cost to deport some of these undocumented immigrants is astronomical at a time when we least need that. We need to stay focused on what's at hand here. The reality of it is there was campaign speeches, there was campaign rhetoric. Now we're dealing with the reality of the presidency. And I'm hopeful that, you know, President-elect Trump will do the right thing.

We will continue to try to influence his thinking and find a way that's best for the American family to move forward and get beyond this issue.

[10:35:02] COSTELLO: All right, Javier Palomarez, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

PALOMAREZ: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, remember those conjoined twins who undergone a risky surgery to separate them? Well, they're doing just fine. An update next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It has been an emotional journey for the family of conjoined twins, Jadon and Anias. But after a rare 27-hour surgery, the 13-month-old twins are now sleeping in two beds, separate beds, and interacting with their parents one-on-one.

[10:40:02] Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reconnected with the family nearly one month after the surgery. Here's his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Nicole McDonald got to hold her son Jadon for the first time it was as if she saw him for the first time.

NICOLE MCDONALD, MOTHER OF JADON AND ANIAS: As a mother, you know when you hold your child you know every bit of their face. Well, his face also encompassed Anias'. So it was my first moment of relearning his face.

GUPTA: Jadon and Anias are literally one in 2.5 million. They were born craniopagus twins, conjoined at the head, sharing between 1.5 to two inches of brain tissue. After over a year of planning, last month the boys were separated after a 27-hour long operation at Children's Hospital in the Montefiore in the Bronx. Follow their journey through surgery and rehab.

The McDonalds have allowed CNN to follow their journey from surgery through rehab exclusively.

(On camera): Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Hi, Buddy. Hi. The last time we were in this room, they were --

N. MCDONALD: They were on one bed.

GUPTA: Were conjoined. And I think he's pretty happy with the outcome.

N. MCDONALD: I would say so.

GUPTA: You're sticking out at me?

N. MCDONALD: Yes, it's a new trick.

GUPTA: You're sticking out at me?

(Voice-over): For the McDonalds, this entire month has been full of first times. First time in separate beds. First time being held. First time seeing each other. But it hasn't been easy to get here. The boys have battled infections, fevers and seizures. It's been particularly trying for Anias.

N. MCDONALD: Serious infections close to the brain. Skin involvement. They had to take, you know, the bone out of Anias. They had to take skin out. You know, there's just been -- for Anias, it's just -- there's never a break.

GUPTA: Despite all of that, the boys' doctors are so pleased with their progress. Dr. James Goodrich is the boys' neurosurgeon.

(On camera): They said he was right on or ahead of schedule even. Is there a -- I mean, because this is so rare, is there a schedule?

DR. JAMES GOODRICH, NEUROSURGEON, THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL AT MONTEFIORE: Well, just when we deal with traumatic cases, people with injuries, recovery times are in months.

GUPTA: Yes.

GOODRICH: Sometimes years. So we're a month. If you can say this is one month out. This to me is incredibly fast.

GUPTA: Do you feel like you have permission or do you allow yourself rather now to think about the future with regard to Jadon and Anias?

N. MCDONALD: I think about their future all the time. All the time. I think about the first time they go to a park. And I think about, you know, them getting married some day. I think about -- I thought through their whole future 100 times.

CHRISTIAN MCDONALD, FATHER OF JADON AND ANIAS: It's not that I'm not optimistic. I guess I'm just more curious what the future holds for them. But I guess I don't want to get my hopes up, you know. I guess I just take it one day at a time. GUPTA (voice-over): But each day continues to bring more blessings.

The day I visited, Nicole and Christian got to see Jadon without his head dressings.

C. MCDONALD: I've never seen you like this.

GUPTA: For the first time.

(On camera): What's that like, Mom, to see the first -- first time without the dressings?

N. MCDONALD: It's amazing. It's the most amazing thing. I just can't even believe it. And look at his little hair on top that's growing in. Hi, baby.

So when I look at them and I see them laying in their beds whole and generally healthy and I think mentally with it and moving forward, I don't just see that miracle, the separation miracle, but it's been the miracles that took place every step of the way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Well, Carol, the images I guess speak for themselves. I mean, they're doing really well, these boys. And what you've seen is rare. One in 2.5 million pregnancies result in babies who are conjoined at the head. And obviously a much smaller percentage ever make it to birth or have the resources to have the separation that you just saw there.

I can tell you, the doctor, who's the world's expert in these types of operations, said this was the most challenging operation he's ever done, but also the most rapid recovery he's ever seen. So some good news in there.

The boys now are going to go to rehabilitation within the next several days or weeks, and they're going to learn to sit up. They're going to learn to crawl. They're going to learn to walk. Things that they would have otherwise learned had they not been conjoined.

It's a second birthday of sorts for them, Carol. And now they get a second shot at things.

COSTELLO: What a happy Thanksgiving. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:44:00] COSTELLO: They helped commit murders, trained as suicide fighters and took pictures to help plan attacks. Now a CNN exclusive report three ISIS members are speaking from prison. They say they regret everything they've done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A secret jail in northern Iraq, around 1,000 men are being held here, all are accused of supporting ISIS. Kurdish authorities allowed this exclusive access. Three of the captives agree to speak to us. They insist freely and without coercion about the important and very different roles they played in a recent large scale ISIS attack.

Laith Ahmed was one of the ISIS fighters who stormed Kirkuk on October 21st. This security video captured the operation designed to distract Iraqi forces from their main focus, the battle for Mosul.

The video shows the moment Laith Ahmed was shot in the leg. He crawled away to be captured by furious locals.

[10:50:08] Laith Ahmed tells me when ISIS took over his village west of Kirkuk more than two years ago they offered him a salary so he signed up. On the day of the Kirkuk attack he says he was driven there and told to fight. Now he says he wants nothing to do with ISIS.

LAITH AHMMED, ISIS FIGHTER (Through Translator): I made a mistake. I don't know how to read or write. Everything I did was wrong.

BLACK: Akram Ahmed was responsible for reconnaissance. He's 20, grew up in Kirkuk and worked in a mobile phone repair shop. He says he liked the religious messages he'd heard from ISIS but it all seemed distant to him. Until he was asked to help the group directly.

He says an ISIS member approached him and told him to shoot video of key strategic sites around the city. Army and government buildings, a key road and bridge. He did. This is the video and the sites were later attacked.

(On camera): How do you feel about the suffering that your actions have caused?

AKRAM AHMED, ISIS FIGHTER (Through Translator): Everything that happened is my fault. I always think about it.

BLACK (voice-over): Abdelrahman al-Azy says he was the money man. After pledging to ISIS a year ago, he says he was used by a sleeper cell in Kirkuk to make cash deliveries to fighters and their families. He also admits driving a gunman to murder someone on the orders of a local ISIS commander.

Al-Azy says he strongly believed in the group, its teachings and its many horrific acts of violence carried out against those considered un-Islamic.

(On camera): What do you believe should happen to non-believers like me?

ABDELRAHMAN AL-AZY, ISIS FIGHTER (Through Translator): If I'm speaking in the past, we believe in Islam that non-believers should be killed.

BLACK: And you still believe that?

AL-AZY (Through Translator): Now no. Someone in the prison explained to me that the prophet's neighbor was non-believer and he never attacked him or killed him.

BLACK (voice-over): Just four weeks ago, these men secretly worked to help ISIS spread its murderous ideology, launching an attack that killed 96 people. They now have disavowed the group. A Kurdish court will judge their actions and sincerity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK: Carol, speaking to those men, you get a sense of their many and varied motivations for supporting ISIS, from the religious to financial to fear. But you also get a sense of the enduring significant capabilities of the group. One of the men told us that even if ISIS loses Mosul, he believes that ISIS will survive because its underground support is so strong. He says there are so many sleeper cells. And, indeed, that's why security forces believe ISIS was able to launch that operation against Kirkuk on such a large scale. It almost conquered that very important city even while Iraqi forces were advancing on Mosul -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Fascinating, Phil Black, reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, Monday Night Football kicks off in Mexico. But could a rogue laser pointer have affected the outcome of the game?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:37] COSTELLO: The Texans and Raiders going down to the wire in Mexico City last night. And there was even a special cameo from a laser light pen during the game. It was weird.

Coy Wire has more south of the border. Good morning.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This turned out to be a really good game. And the NFL and fans who attended have to be pleased about it. The NFL returning to Mexico for the first time in more than a decade. And it was the first ever Monday Night Football game outside the USA. So the atmosphere was incredible.

Estadio Azteca, one of the most famous sporting venues in the world, was sold out within 30 minutes and fans were loving it. But something odd happened during the game. As Carol mentioned, that green laser pointer shined in the eyes of Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler in the middle of a play. Now this is something the fans have done at soccer games there in the past. But had to be odd for that team. And so the raiders in this game high powered offense, right, well, they were stymied for most of the first half until the second half. And in the fourth quarter especially where Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes to give Oakland that 27-20 win. They're now 8-2. The top seed in the AFC.

But we have to find out more about that laser pointer. Here's Brock Osweiler talking about whether it affected him or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BROCK OSWEILER, HOUSTON TEXANS QUARTERBACK: You know, it's really hard to tell. You know, I never want to say one thing's difference maker but, you know, certainly having a laser, you know, zoomed in on your eyeball definitely affects how you play a game.

KHALIL MACK, OAKLAND RAIDERS LINEBACKER: Yes, that was kind of weird. I've seen that. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. But I didn't really know what it was. I still don't. What is it? What is the green light? Oh, it were? OK, cool, cool, cool, cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: A cat toy, right? A guy's a cat toy. Let's get to see other top headlines.

U.S. soccer manager Jurgen Klinsmann fired after five years on the job. He took over the team in 2011. Led the U.S. team to the round of 16 back in -- to 2014 World Cup. But some disappointing losses recently to Mexico and Costa Rica in World Cup Qualifiers were seemingly the final star for Klinsmann. And it's been rumored that L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena will take over for Klinsmann. This will be his second run at leading U.S. team. His last stint as manager was from 1998 to 2006.

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: All I can think about is the Thanksgiving Day game, Lions versus the Vikings, oh, boy.

WIRE: You got them, Carol. You got them.

COSTELLO: Yes. I'm going to be drinking a lot.

Coy wire, thanks so much.

WIRE: I'm with you.

COSTELLO: And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.

(END)