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ISIS Militants Captured; Donald Trump To Rip Off The TPP; Catholic Church Allows Forgiveness of Abortion; Mosul Battle Continues; TPP's Uncertainty On Trump's Presidency; Earthquake Hits Japan; Trump's War With Media. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 22, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Face to face with former ISIS member in a CNN exclusive report. Captured militants talked about how they helped the terrorist. And what they think of ISIS now.
Plus, as Donald Trump promises to rip off the TPP, Japan's signals a willingness to renegotiate the massive trade deal.
And the Catholic Church turns a corner on abortion. Pope Francis makes it easier for women to seek forgiveness from the church.
Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Iraqi troops are making small gains as the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS goes into its second month. They liberated an ancient monastery just southeast of Mosul Sunday. ISIS militant had ransacked the site and scrape inscriptions off the walls.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Prime Minister's office says U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is praising the army's progress against ISIS. Shia-led popular mobilization unites are fighting to cut off ISIS supply routes from Tal Afar to the west and Mosul.
And we are learning more about the terror group from former members captured during last month's assault on Kirkuk.
CNN's Phil Black spoke with three men about what motivated them to join ISIS and has this exclusive report.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.
Laith Ahmed tells me when ISIS took over his village west of Kirkuk more two years ago they offered 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAITH AHMMED, ISIS FIGHTER (TRANSLATED): I made a mistake. I don't know how to read or write. Everything I did was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Akram Ahmed was responsible for reconnaissance. He's 20, grew up in Kirkuk and work in a mobile phone repair shop. He says he like the religious messages he heard from ISIS but it all seem distant to him. Until he was asked to help the group directly.
He says, an ISIS member approach 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.
How do you feel about the suffering that your actions have caused?
AKRAM AHMED, ISIS FIGHTER (TRANSLATED): Everything that happened is my fault. I always think about it.
BLACK: 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 order someone on the order of 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 on his limit.
What do you believe should happen to non-believers like me?
ABDELRAHMAN AL-AZY, ISIS FIGHTER (TRANSLATED): 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 (TRANSLATED): Now, no. Someone in the prison explained to me that the prophets neighbor was non-believer and he never attacked him or killed him.
BLACK: 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 VIDEO CLIP)
[03:05:03] CHURCH: And Phil Black joins us now live from Irbil in northern Iraq. So, Phil, the three men you spoke to in your exclusive report as we just heard there, they all disavow ISIS now. But how representative are they of all the other men who also fought for the group and now they are being held in that same facility.
BLACK: Well, those men, Rosemary, like the rest of the population of that facility, but they were quite vary. They come from different backgrounds, different places, some small remote villages out of big towns and cities, they have different levels of education, different levels of religious motivation, and crucially different levels of commitment to ISIS.
We're told by the Kurdish that most of the men in that facility have actually defective. They are effectively fled the organization and given themselves up. Others were culturing battles others during investigative operations.
But what's really concerning about those who took part in the Kirkuk operation is how they were able to do it at all, how they were able to launch such a large and almost successful assault. It came very close to conquering the city at a time when Mosul is under so much pressure just 180 kilometers to the north around Mosul, where Iraqi forces are pushing deeper into that city every day.
So what the investigators are looking at is how they were able to mobilize those resources, how they were able to get the people the fighters in there and of course, the degree to which they do have that secret hidden layer of support that appears to being so crucial in this attack as well, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, it is extraordinary what are they learning now from these men. I appreciate your exclusive report there, Phil Black joining us live from Irbil in Iraq where it is about six minutes past 11 in the morning. Many thanks.
Well, activists say at least 27 people died in another day of intense bombing in eastern Aleppo on Monday. Syrian regime forces have pummeled rebel-held areas for a week now killing more than 300 people.
Schools and hospitals have been targeted and there are reports of chemical attacks on civilians. A young Syrian boy who was apparently wounded in a chemical attack was inconsolable as he told nurses what happened to him.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHURCH: Just impossible to watch this. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us now live from Amman, Jordan. And Jomana, the scenes from Aleppo simply horrific. The circumstances unbearable. What is going to happen to all of the civilians living in Aleppo as the attacks continue and food and water supplies dry out?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, as we heard yesterday from the United Nations top humanitarian affairs official, Steven O'Brien, his really powerful testimony to the Security Council basically saying that conditions have become unlivable for human beings in eastern Aleppo as the world is watching what he described as this annihilation of eastern Aleppo and its people..
You're talking about this constant bombardment that people are living under unprecedented, according to residents this intensity of it this past week where hundreds of people have been killed. Nowhere safe from them to go.
You're talking about hospitals that have been repeatedly attacked and barely any hospitals that are functioning right now. And of course, as you mentioned they are running out of food, they are running out of water there because the siege is taking its toll.
Some organizations on the ground are saying that it's a matter of days before people could starve to death. So the United Nations is trying to do something about it. They say they have this humanitarian plan for eastern Aleppo. They have presented it to the different parties involved in this conflict.
But so far there are no guarantees that this is going to happen. They have the aid ready to roll into eastern Aleppo. They want to get the wounded out, they want to rotate doctors in to try and help the medical staff, only 30 doctors for 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo.
But so far, they do not have these guarantees. The difficult part, Rosemary, here is not getting a plan which United Nations have. Its enforcing it, implementing it, it's getting these different parties to agree to it.
[03:10:03] They say that the rebels have agreed in principle to this plan, but they are still waiting for the green light from the Russians and from the Syrian regime. And it really doesn't look promising considering the escalation we have seen in recent days.
CHURCH: It is simply horrifying to be watching, standing by. And all of us feeling so helpless. Jomana Karadsheh, joining us there from Amman, Jordan. It is 10 minutes past 10 in the morning there. Many thanks to you.
Well, U.S. President Barack Obama's signature trade deal the Trans- Pacific partnership probably won't survive the incoming Trump administration.
Donald Trump revealed on Monday that pulling the U.S. out of those negotiations would be a top priority as soon as he takes office in January. Here's what he said in a short video released online.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT-ELECT: On trade, I'm going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to American shores.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Trump's announcement is a sharp blow to the nearly dozen Pacific Rim countries that were part of the TPP. The Japanese Prime Minister said the deal is as good as dead without the U.S. calling it meaningless.
So let's bring in CNN Money Asia Pacific editor Andrew Stevens. He joins me live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Andrew. So, what will be the likely global impact do you think of Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the TPP trade deal?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, it's difficult to quantify it, but you would have to say that it is not going to push economic growth, not having this TPP. This was all about getting rid of some 18,000 tariffs, payments that other countries had to make to get their goods into a different market, Rosemary. It was about protecting workers' rights and their environmental standards.
Now without this, there -- trade will obviously still go on, but perhaps not at the same extent. Donald Trump said this deal was bad because a lot of the other 11 countries sending exports to the U.S. The U.S. is opening itself up which means jobs in the U.S. would leave as people started to buy overseas goods.
It's very difficult to quantify, as I say. The real issue here is not so much whether he pulls back on the TPP, but if he carries through with his other trade threats, which is calling China currency manipulator, slapping 45 percent tariffs on Chinese exports going to the U.S.
If that happens China is likely to retaliate and you end up in a trade war and that is where things get very, very serious for the global economy.
CHURCH: Yes. That is the real concern. And what about the Pacific Rim countries that were part of the TPP agreement? How will they be affected directly by the U.S. pulling out? And have these countries made any backup plans in preparation for this inevitable withdrawal of the U.S.?
STEVENS: Well, this TPP has been some 10 years in the making, its consume and awful lot of negotiations. So that has been the great hope for the Asian Pacific countries, the 12 countries involved.
But talking about 12 countries with a combined GDP, global GDP of 40 percent, nearly half of the world's economic output is involved in this deal. Have they made backup plans, no they haven't.
But it was interesting to note in Peru, where the APEC leaders were gathering that the star of the show wasn't the U.S., which it always has been at the APEC meetings because the U.S. is the big economic power in the region.
The star of the show was Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. And as the New Zealand Prime Minister said, if the U.S. is backing away from TPP it leaves a vacuum, a trade vacuum and an influence vacuum in Asia. That vacuum will be filled by China.
And the New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key said that we like to have the U.S. around. They are not going to be around so much now. So the countries in this region will do deals.
They will continue to do deals but they wanted the U.S. in there. They wanted the U.S. market in there and they want the U.S. market in there for security as well. The deals will still be done but it will be China who will have more influence in those deals now, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. And I know you will be watching this changing landscape for sure. Andrew Stevens, joining us from Hong Kong. It is nearly 4.15 in the afternoon there. Many thanks.
Well, we expect to hear more in the coming hours about appointments and nominations to the incoming Trump administration. Here's a closer look at some of the people Trump has spoken to so far about possible jobs.
Donald Trump's election as U.S. President sent shockwaves through Washington. And now the billionaire businessman's cabinet is also prompting much debate.
[03:15:03] Trump has been tasked with appointing the heads of 14 executive departments with varying degrees of influence. The Senate will need to confirm them, too. Several additional White House positions will also be filled before the new president's inauguration.
Perhaps the most divisive appointment so far is Jeff Sessions who Trump has tap to head up the Department of Justice as attorney general.
The Alabama Senator was nominated to become a federal judge back in the 1980s but was blocked by the Senate after a colleague allege he made racist remarks. Sessions has always denied making such comments.
Most of the remaining key positions have yet to be filled but the rumor mill is certainly in full swing. The secretary of state oversees the United States relations with other countries around the world. The names in the frame include former presidential nominee Mitt Romney, previously a fierce critic of Trump and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Another important role on the international stage is secretary of defense. Controlling the country's military and the largest government agency from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The current favorite for this post is retired Marine General James Mattis, a respected four-star general who led forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Department of Homeland Security is a relative newcomer to Washington's corridors of power, created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Its leader has the responsibility of preventing attacks on American soil. And one of the top contenders is Rudy Giuliani, who was New York Mayor during those attacks.
Taking control of money matters, from printing cash to collecting taxes, is the secretary of the treasury. Several big names are apparently in the running for this pivotal job including investor Carl Icahn, J.P. Morgan boss, Jamie Dimon and former Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke.
Many cabinet positions attract little attention overseas such as the secretaries of agriculture, education and health and human services. But one person who certainly won't escape the international spotlight is Donald Trump's press secretary.
Potential candidates include current Trump staffers, Jason Miller and Sean Spicer along with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. Whoever takes this post may become as familiar a face as President-elect Trump himself.
All right. We'll take a very short break here. But still to come, a powerful earthquake strikes off the coast of northern Japan. The latest on damage and potential for aftershocks. That's next.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Christina Macfarlane with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Jurgen Klinsmann has parted ways with U.S soccer after five years as the national team coach. This coming on the back of the full start to the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign which sees the United States in last place. In the Cup three (Inaudible) lost to Mexico and Costa Rico.
Klinsmann's 55 win as U.S. coach is second only to Bruce Arena.
The International Olympic Committee has disqualified 12 athletes of failing anti-doping test at the London 2012 Games. Four of the athletes named are Russian, including women 3,000 meters gold medalist Yuliya Zaripova.
Hundreds of samples from the Beijing and London Games have been retested in the bid to clean up the sport. So far, an additional 98 athletes have fallen foul of the anti-doping rules. And it's understood there is more testing to come.
As the Formula One season draws to a close, it appears that a shake-up install for the 29 team schedule. On Monday, the Malaysia Grand Prix has confirmed that it will no longer host its annual event after the current agreement expires in 2018, saying the cost of doing so is too expensive.
The move cast serious doubts of the viable of the sports in Southeast Asia after Formula One Bernie Ecclestone told the Singapore magazine that Singapore Grand Prix was also in doubt after its current year expires next year.
That's a look at your world sport headlines. I'm Christina Macfarlane.
CHURCH: People living on the northeastern coast of Japan are on high alert after a 6.9 magnitude quake struck Tuesday morning. The quake hit Honshu Island and triggered tsunami waves as high as 1.4 meters.
Officials say aftershocks could continue for days. People as far away as Tokyo felt the tremors. And you can see the shaking at this hostel. It's called the Book and Bed hostel. And you can see why, you see the books on the ceiling. But you get an idea of the shaking there in that particular hostel.
So let's the latest no. And I'm joined by CNN's Alexandra Field in Tokyo. So, Alexandra, what is the latest in the aftermath of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake? Have things returned to some form of normalcy there?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, in some sense they have, Rosemary, because people are beginning to return home. These are people who have heard the sirens going off, they had been warned that they need to get to higher ground. They have received text messages telling them to evacuate the area.
Those people along the coast of the Fukushima prefecture. So in that sense yes, power has been restored in a lot of places, and people know that they can start to return home.
But this is a jarring moment for that community. For tens of thousands of people who experienced this aftershock, the Japanese Meteorological Agency is saying that the earthquake that was felt today is very likely an aftershock from a devastating earthquake that happened in 2011 that triggered a tsunami that killed some 20,000 people.
So, this is really a regurgitation of some of the experiences that people had just a few short years ago. These are communities that can continue to be affected by that devastating disaster. Back in 2011, you got tens of thousands of people who haven't been able to return to their homes in the aftermath of the 2011 tragedy.
So when you have this earthquake today and when you have these tsunami warnings and then those tsunami waves this is a truly traumatic experience for a lot of people. We're told that there were only a handful of injuries but all eyes of course were on the two nuclear power plants in Fukushima prefecture.
Fukushima Daiichi, which is where you have that massive meltdown in 2011, the nation's greatest nuclear disaster in its history and people were also closely watching Fukushima Daini, that is the sister power plant. And that's we were told that there was a problem with one of the cooling systems.
Today, it temporarily went down. Official who run the plant say that it didn't pose any kind of immediate threat or danger and then the system was back up and running again rather quickly, they say in about an hour. They say there were no abnormalities at either of the plants and that radiation levels have not changed.
But really the takeaway from all this is that people were traumatized again after suffering so much related to that 2011 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Two hundred thousand people evacuated at that time. TEPCO, which runs the power plant says it will take 40 years
potentially to fully have that facility repaired and working again to its original capacity. So, this is something that's taken seriously in Fukushima prefecture and it was certainly a very startling moment for people today.
[03:25:02] They are again returning to their homes but they go home with the knowledge that there could be more aftershocks to come they'll be ready once again to evacuate if needed.
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, I wanted to talk about that. Because the aftershocks would be the scary moment for people. And as you say, you know, when you thinking back to what happened in 2011, terrifying for so many people, but Japan is built to withstand these sorts of earthquakes, isn't it? Certainly has facilities available to protect people, doesn't it?
FIELD: Right. This is not unanticipated if you live here. Certainly it's not unanticipated if you have experienced something on the scale of what happened in 2011, and we should remind people for context that was a 9.0 magnitude quake. Much more powerful than the 6.9 magnitude quake that was experienced today.
But yes, there are routinely earthquakes for people who are living in Japan, there are somewhat routine tsunami warnings. So people know what to do when they hear that alarm sound. There's also a warning system that's been upgraded and put in place since the 2011 disaster where people are able to get these mobile messages.
Messages on their text, on their cell phones telling them to get to higher ground which is what you saw people do quickly. They went to shelters, they had open, they are fortunately are now being told that they can return back home, Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. That is good news at least. Alexandra Field joining us there from Tokyo. Many thanks to you.
All right. I want to get more now from our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who joins me now in the studio. And this is the problem for people, isn't it? So terrifying when you think what happened back in 2011 with the earthquake, with the tsunami, and the damage and how it turned people's lives upside down, and now they sort of get to relive it.
I mean, it's not going to be as bad at 6.9 compared to that massive quake back in 2011. But it's a real worry for people, isn't it.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. It's going to continue and, you know, the temps are so far as far as advancing the warning systems that are in place now, Rosemary. It's fascinating, because anytime any sort of wave is detected, not even once that would induce any sort of violent shaking but the waves that come initially from these quakes within a matter of few seconds when a jolt occurs.
There seismometers that actually instigate a system that sends out SMS messages to millions of people letting them know within 30 to 45 seconds violent shaking going to begin. And of course, we know in bullet train services begins slowing down at this time, elevators stop.
And the Fukushima Daiichi power plant they actually halted operations at a moment's notice when this initial wave came out of this quake. So, all of these advancements have really helped and why we think no fatalities came out of this particular earthquake in the last few hours.
But I just want to quickly show you what we've seen. Because if you take a look, all of these areas in the smaller circles, those are aftershocks. Eight of which have occurred that have been 4.0 or stronger in magnitude.
The quake itself coming in at 6.9. Statistically speaking, you should have one aftershock at 5.9 or greater. That has yet to occur. We have again many on the four scale and then over the next several weeks certainly hundreds and thousands you get into the threes and then two's as well.
But you take a look at this, 52 million people felt the shaking associated with this. So you would imagine 52 million people really getting that reminder, as Rosie was touching on moments ago when it comes to the 2011 events.
But again, this was farther off shore, the shaking was more the light variety but it still felt across an expansive area. And yesterday, economic toll and this could be at least about a million U.S. dollars high probably of that based on previous data when you look at this.
And you know, it's just important because we saw Alexandra actually mentioned that this was verified by folks in Japan as being an aftershock tp that 9.0. Over 20,000 of them so far going back to 2011. So, anytime these plates are disrupted they will gradually fall back into place and large-scale motions like the one today are going to be expected.
CHURCH: And so this is extraordinary that determination, isn't it. Certainly is for five years after the fact to have that.
JAVAHERI: Correct. Yes, it's just all in the same boundary where we have had, again, up to 20,000 of these.
CHURCH: Incredible.
JAVAHERI: Yes.
CHURCH: All right. Thank you so much, Pedram. Thanks for keeping an eye on that.
JAVAHERI: You bet.
CHURCH: I appreciate it.
And still ahead, Donald Trump summons TV anchors and media executives to Trump Tower to complain, yet again, about press coverage. We will have inside details of how that meeting went. We are back in a moment.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on our top stories this hour.
Activists say at least 27 people were killed in another day of intense air strikes in eastern Aleppo on Monday. Syrian regime forces have been bombing rebel-held areas relentlessly, killing more than 300 people since last Tuesday. There have been reports of chemical attacks on civilians.
Authorities in China are blaming snow, rain and fog for a deadly car pileup. Seventeen people were killed in the 56-vehicle accident on a northern highway. China Xinhua news agency reports 37 people were injured. An official investigation is underway.
Donald Trump says he will pull out of negotiations on the Trans- Pacific partnership trade deal once he is president. He made the announcement in a short video outlining his first 100 days in office.
The Japanese Prime Minister quickly responded saying the TPP is meaningless without the U.S. involvement.
Well, the clock is ticking down to Donald Trump's inauguration in January, and there are still many open positions left in his upcoming administration.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest on Trump's search for the people who will help to carry out his presidential agenda.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the latest episode of presidential apprentice. Donald Trump's cabinet candidates look almost like contestants parading past the cameras, the chance to be a part of the new administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BROWN, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR: I'm glad that he called. And he's going to obviously meet other folks and we should know I would think probably after Thanksgiving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: There are transition surprises every day with democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard being floated as a possible United Nations ambassador, and past rival Rick Perry under consideration for energy, not to mention the ultimate cliff hanger, Mitt Romney. Transition sources say the 2012 GOP nominee is a real possibility for secretary of state.
TRUMP: Smart enough.
ACOSTA: Potentially shifting Rudy Giuliani over to homeland security. Even more unclear is the fate of Chris Christie who met with Trump after bumped from his role leading the transition. Trump has problems looming, like the growing course of white nationalist and neo-Nazis and the self-described alt-right movement who were cheering his election.
[03:35:06] In an alt-right conference in Washington, one of the movement's leader, Richard Spencer offered this disturbing take on the president-elect catch phrase "Make America Great Again."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD SPENCER, NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE PRESIDENT: For us, as Europeans, it is only normal again when we are great again, hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump's new chief strategist Steve Bannon is still being pressed on the sometimes racist and anti-Semitic stories featured on his web site Breitbart news. Bannon defended his views to the Wall Street Journal adding, "Breitbart is the most pro-Israel site in the United States of America."
Former DNC Chair Howard Dean who is now running to lead the Democratic Party again described Bannon as a Nazi in an interview with the Canadian news outlet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, FORMER VERMONT GOVERNOR: He is a complicated guy. He appoints a reasonable person who is much more conservative than I am but for somebody who can talk to there was chief of staff and then senior adviser is a Nazi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You called him a Nazi?
DEAN: Well, he is anti-Semitic, he's anti-black and he's anti-women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: In response to the alt-right conference the Trump transition team released a statement saying the president-elect denounces racism of any kind. But that statement does not come close to the criticism president-elect had for the cast of Hamilton in its comments for Mike Pence.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Along with possible cabinet candidates, leading members of the media also met with Mr. Trump Monday. They included executives and anchors from America's five biggest TV networks including CNN president Jeff Zucker and anchor Wolf Blitzer.
Now this comes as concerns increase over how much access the media will get in Trump's incoming administration.
And joining us now to talk about this is CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. Brian, always great to talk with you.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.
CHURCH: So, what all was achieved in this meeting with the president- elect and where does it leave this question of media access to Mr. Trump and his administration going forward?
STELTER: Now these meetings can be pretty useful. You know, from time to time, President Obama and past presidents have had off-the-record sessions with journalists.
For example, every year before the state of the union address, the president meets with the big TV anchors before the address, talks to them over a lunch about his plans for the year ahead.
This meeting, though, not quite so productive. According to sources who were in the room share there's only unanimously because the media was off-the-record. It was venomous at times with Donald Trump complaining about media coverage of his campaign and now this transition.
He singled out NBC and CNN, two of the networks that were in attendance. However, Trump also said he does want to have a working relationship with the press. He recognizes the importance of the press and his aides said there will be a press pool.
This has been one of the big issues involving access. When the president or president-elect usually travels anywhere a small group of journalists travel with that person.
President-elect Trump say he will have that same arrangement, he will accept a press pool in the future. But the big takeaway is that President-elect Trump is the same as candidate Trump. Still angry at the media, still complaining about the media and we saw that on Twitter later in the day, as well.
He commented about all of the coverage of conflicts of interest between his businesses and now running the government. He said the only people that care about that are the "crooked media." So, the same Trump we saw in the primaries and during the election is the same Trump we are seeing today.
CHURCH: Interesting. And then over the weekend, Brian, Mr. Trump tweeted about the reception that his V.P. pick Mike Pence received at the Broadway show Hamilton and he also tweeted about not being very happy with his own portrayal on the comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Unlike other leaders the president-elect it appears unwilling to accept this level of free speech, how much concern is this causing?
STELTER: I think it's taken a while for him to understand that being the president means you are the most criticized person in the country, maybe the most criticized person in the world. But the way you see these stories really depends on the way you see Trump himself. Here's what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON DIXON, HAMILTON CAST: Conversation is not harassment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: That's Hamilton star Brandon Dixon responding to Donald Trump's twitter fight with the most acclaimed show on Broadway.
Trump lashed out of the cast tweeting that they harassed future V.P. Mike Pence. After Dixon delivered this message following Friday's performance with Pence right there in the room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIXON: We have the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: With the president-elect back in firm control of his Twitter account he's not letting go of any perceived slight calling the cast rude and writing, "The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior."
TRUMP: It was very inappropriate.
STELTER: And Trump's ire is not just reserved for Hamilton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:40:02] ALEC BALDWIN, SNL CAST: Google, what is ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: After SNL portrayed him as in over his head, Trump fired back on Twitter. "It is a totally one-sided biased show, nothing funny at all. Equal time for us."
Alec Baldwin who plays Trump responded "equal time, election is over. There is no more equal time. Now you try to be president and people respond. That's pretty much it."
Trump's former campaign manager says his fiery tweeting is a nonissue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Why do you care? I view that and make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet, you are assigning malice or you're assigning wrongdoing to him where it doesn't exist. And I think we all should have learned a lesson from the election that that doesn't fly with the voters.
STELTER: Some media watchers are worried that Trump's tendency to lash out could over time hurt free speech. Others say a thicker skin would just serve him well. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is going to be made fun of, as he should be, any president will be, and should be and he's got such a thin skin he can't just shrug it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: Shrug it off is exactly what Mike Pence did after the stars of Hamilton spoke up.
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MIKE PENCE, UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: I wasn't offended but what was said. I'll leave it to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it.
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STELTER: Whether trump can take a cue from his V.P. and tone down his reactions remains to be seen.
Rosemary, I think this is the divide in the nutshell. If you are a Trump fan you believe he is sticking up for his vice president, sticking to the elites. But if you are a Trump critic you say why is he grabbing his phone, complaining about a Broadway show?
And by the way, the producers of Hamilton would love to have him come see the show. They've told me they have two seats available for him any time even other show has been sold out for a long time.
CHURCH: Yes, it will be interesting to see if he takes up that invitation. Brian Stelter, always a pleasure. Thanks so much.
STELTER: Thank you.
CHURCH: A quick break here. But still to come, Pope Francis makes another move toward inclusion and forgiveness. Ahead, the power he's extending to all Catholic priests.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The Catholic Church is expanding the possibility of forgiveness for women who have abortions. Pope Francis is giving priests and not just bishops the power to absolve for abortions giving women a path to rejoin the church.
Now this extends dispensation that was given during last years' year of mercy. The pope reiterated the church still considers abortion a grave sin but he added there is no sin that God's mercy cannot reach.
And joining us now from Canberra, Australia is Neil Ormerod, he is a professor of theology at Australian Catholic University. Thank you, sir, for joining us on the line.
So, Pope Francis had already granted all priests the right to forgive abortion during the year of mercy. As we mention, this announcement simply extends the authority indefinitely. But how is this being received in Catholic nations across the world?
NEIL ORMEROD, AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY THEOLOGY PROFESSOR: Well, thank you, Rosemary, for that. Look, the fact is that in some diocese around the world, this sort of situation already of the time while bishops technically are the only ones who have been able to offer absolution for abortion. They often delegate that to priests.
So in a sense it is not, not completely out of the blue, or completely out of an ordinary or completely something that unexpected. In fact, in Australia here, it's quite a common practice for the bishop to give all priests a dispensation which would allow them to grand absolution for women who had abortions. But what this does is normalize the effect to some extent to the whole church.
CHURCH: Yes. And clearly the pope saw a need to do that. Why do you think it was so important to the pope to grant priests the power to forgive abortions? What's his motivation here?
ORMEROD: Well, I think it's a sign of his strong pastoral focus that he wants the church to be seen as the most forgiving place. He wants to encourage women who have been in this situation to come forward.
It's much more threatening to think you have to go to a bishop than to just go to your local priest or perhaps another priest. So, it's an extension of his fame of which he's being from his papacy in the beginning, the importance of mercy and extending that.
I think he has a strong pastoral sense, particularly from his years in Rio -- in Buenos Aires where knowing the poverty of the people and the difficulty of their lives, the hardships that they face, you know, in situations where it might be impossible for someone to even think about approaching a bishop.
Then, you know, it's important that priest be able to offer this form of forgiveness.
CHURCH: It is an effort to bring more people back to the church?
ORMEROD: Look, I think it is an effort to present the church in a better light, in a more sort of humane, and forgiving light. I mean, it's important to know, too, that abortion isn't the only sin. It's called the reserved and there are a number of reserve sins which only a bishop or perhaps even the pope can forgive.
What this has done is take abortion out of that list of reserve sin and it's probably, if you look at the sort of list of reserved sins, most of them are pretty extraordinary, such as, you know, attempting to assassinate the pope or something like that. Where what this does, with abortion it's actually perhaps more common than the church would like to think.
CHURCH: And just very quickly, the abortion is still seen of course as a grave sin by the Catholic Church.
ORMEROD: That's right.
CHURCH: You mentioned these other sins. Do you think that the church may move to try to forgive some of those other sins?
ORMEROD: Well, they can be forgiven by a bishop but they are pretty rare. Whereas, I think abortion is more common. So, it's a more pressing pastoral issue. The other issues, as I say, are not going to come up in a normal priest ministry, whereas abortion may well occur and this gives them the authority to deal with it directly.
CHURCH: All right. Thank you so much for talking to us, Neil Ormerod. I appreciate you joining us from Canberra, Australia.
ORMEROD: You're welcome.
CHURCH: Well, a source close to Kanye West's family says he is in the hospital being treated for exhaustion.
[03:50:01] The rapper has been on a tear lately ranting about the U.S. election and racism in America. He angered fans on Saturday cancelling a show in Sacramento after just two songs. The next day he cancelled the remainder of his tour.
Well, turning on TransAsia Airlines is going out of business. The airline cancelled all flights on Tuesday without giving a reason at first after a board meeting. TransAsia's chairman said the board decided to dissolve the company because of financial problems.
Taiwan's news agency reports the government has launched an investigation into insider trading of the airline's stock. Trading was suspended on Tuesday.
Well, Mexico hosted its first NFL game on Monday night. Just ahead, we will show you how one overzealous fan left his mark. We are back in a moment with that.
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JAVAHERI: Weather watch time. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you.
And the storm train in full motion across the United States. Look at this, they got a couple of storm. There's one right there across the Central United States. There comes a front right there across the western United States, and one after another where it is rightly to impact portions of the country.
And you notice this particular storm system is actually timing out to impact the Midwestern U.S. over the next 24 hours. And potentially into Thanksgiving holiday and Thanksgiving day itself. The northeastern United States with some wet weather, as well.
So, a lot of travel implications when you consider that to be in the works over the next couple of days. Around the northwest, this is what it looks like from Seattle down towards Portland. We got a pretty incredible amount of rainfall in the forecast over the next couple of days and of course, all of that translates to higher elevation snow showers.
We know almost 50 million people are going to be traveling across the United States and some of those roadways definitely are going to be slick at times around that part of northern California over the next few days.
Denver will take some snow showers, after temperatures were in the 20's just a few days ago. Winnipeg brings in a few flurries as well. Atlanta warms up to 18 degrees while Chicago cloudy skies and around six degrees across that region.
And watch carefully right here in the Southern Caribbean. Watching a storm system that is now formed into tropical storm Otto, this is in fact the most southern tropical storm we've seen for this late in the season in about seven years' time. Watching this over the next couple of days.
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CHURCH: The U.S. men's football game has fired its head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann. he held the job fo five years making some big promises about advising America's place in the world ranking.
[03:55:01] But he never gained much traction. And he was dismissed Monday following an embarrassing 4-nil lost to Costa Rica. The next coach will face an uphill battle to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Mexico hosted its very first Monday night for a football game. The Houston, Texans met the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City.
Our Nick Valencia was on the field.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The historic game kicked off for the first time ever on Monday night in NFL history. The game is much anticipated about a year in the making.
According to the NFL, it's part of their push to try to expand the game internationally and to also reach out to even more Latino viewers. They say in the last five years, there's been a 28 percent increase in Hispanic audience viewership. They also estimate here in Mexico about 22 million fans making it one of the largest fan bases in all of North America.
As for the stadium they are playing the game in Stadium Azteca, it has its own history. The only venue in the world to host two World Cup finals and now are making history again, Monday night football here, which of course is a historic event for the NFL.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Mexico City, Mexico.
CHURCH: The Raiders scored two late touchdowns to pull out a dramatic win by a score of 27 to 20. The fans saw some exciting events in the fourth quarter after sluggish start. Their team won but some Raiders' fans tried to take things in to their own hands.
Someone in the stands tried to blind the Texan's quarterback with a laser pointer. And you can see the green laser on his helmet just there. Not very sportsman like at all.
Well, thank so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemarycnn. Stay tuned now for more news with Hannah Vaughan Jones in London. Have yourselves a great day.
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