Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Massive Blast Kills Dozens in Iraq; Inside Mosul's Liberated Neighborhoods; Girl Posts about Destruction in Aleppo; Calls for Unity and a Recount in the U.S.; Democrats Plan Grassroots Movement Like Tea Party; Second Chance at Peace in Colombia. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 25, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour, a massive blast kills dozens of pilgrims in Iraq.
Donald Trump and Barack Obama call for Unity while another presidential candidate demands a recount.
And it's a second chance at peace in Colombia -- FARC rebels and the government sign a renegotiated deal to end decades of war.
Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly truck bombing in Iraq saying it was in retaliation for the battle in Mosul. At least 80 people, mostly Iranian Shiite pilgrims were killed in Thursday's blast at a gas station southeast of Baghdad. The victims were on buses heading home from a gathering in Iraq's holy city of Karbala.
Now to eastern Mosul, where ISIS is no longer in control but is still a threat -- we are hearing dramatic stories of death and survival from people inside the city. CNN's Phil Black reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These people have just lived through the horror of urban warfare. They cowered in their homes for days, prayers and white flags their only protection as Iraqi forces fought their way through the neighborhoods of eastern Mosul against fierce ISIS resistance.
Now there is little food, water, or medicine, no electricity, but there's much relief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a dark thing on your chest.
BLACK: ISIS is like a dark thing on your chest?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BLACK: And it's gone now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dark is gone.
BLACK: You can hear the fighting in the near distance. It is still dangerously close. ISIS is gone from the streets but its ability to the harm these people hasn't passed. Just 24 hours ago, we're told, a family was sitting her outside their home when a mortar struck just a short distance away and an 18-month-old girl was killed.
Her name was Amira Ali. Her father Omar is overwhelmed by grief. He cries what did she do wrong? She was just playing. She's gone from me and she's my only one.
Every day this makeshift clinic inside Mosul sees the terrible consequences of mortars fired into civilian areas. It's a bloody production line. The wounded are delivered, patched up quickly and loaded into ambulances for transport to hospital.
At times it seems endless as one ambulance pulls away another military vehicle speeds in carrying more wounded civilians. They're unloaded with great care as the medics work to help the victims of yet another ISIS mortar attack.
But they can't save everyone. This man's 21-year-old son was killed. He says a mortar just fell in front of the door. "We came and he was just a piece of meat. Four or five of my neighbors were standing with him and they're all dead."
Here, another parent falls to the dusty ground before the body of her son.
These people endured two years of living under ISIS only to be killed by the group's desperate military tactics and its total indifference to the lives of the innocent.
Phil Black, CNN -- Mosul, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, some of the quarter million people trapped in eastern Aleppo could start starving to death in less than ten days according to the head of the volunteer group, the White Helmets, who also told Reuters that rescuers are running out of heavy equipment to pull people from the rubble.
On Thursday alone at least 59 people were killed. Activists say a suspected chemical attack involving chlorine killed one woman. More than 300 in rebel-held neighborhoods have been killed in ten consecutive days of government airstrikes.
In the meantime, the anti-ISIS coalition is going after the group in Iraq and Syria. CNN was granted exclusive access to a secret spying program that targets ISIS militants.
[00:05:03] CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fighting ISIS in a space suit. We can only identify the pilot by his first name, Captain Steven and by his call sign, Meat Head. He's about to embark on a high altitude reconnaissance mission in a U-2 spy plane.
We were given rare access to the preparations, launch and landing of one of these highly secretive missions that have a clear objective, one of the pilots tells me.
MAJ. MATT: U.S. AIR FORCE: With the U-2 we are able to get out there, find those guys, track them, get that information back to the fighter types, the bomber types. That way when they go out there they've got the best intel, the best information about where they are and then obviously do what needs to be done.
PLEITGEN: the U-2 can fly extremely high -- more than 70,000 feet and get pictures and other information to forces on the ground very fast. It's a cold war era plane flying since the 1950s but its cameras and sensors have been completely upgraded.
With its many technological upgrades, the U-2 dragon lady remains one of America's main assets in the information gathering effort against ISIS. But of course, intelligence gathering happens on many levels and much of it happens through drones like this global hawk which patrols in the skies above Iraq and Syria almost every day.
The information from these surveillance platforms is key to helping jets from the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition strike their targets and support the forces combating the group on the ground in places like Mosul and Iraq.
But while the U-2 can soar higher than almost any other plane it's pretty hard to land. We are in a chase car that speeds after the jet helping to guide the pilot to the ground after almost a ten-hour mission.
Peeling himself out of the cockpit, Captain Steven says he believes the U-2 is making a major impact.
CAPT. STEVEN, U.S. AIR FORCE: The things that we can do while we're up there as well as how often we're up there, I mean thanks to the maintenance guys we are constantly up in the air providing that support for those who need it the most.
PLEITGEN: And the need for the U-2 services will remain in high demand while ISIS may be losing ground, the group remains both deadly and elusive.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- in the Middle East.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Remarkable technology. Well, for children in Aleppo death and destruction is routine, a part
of life. But one little girl there used the Internet to make two requests, an end toe the war and a "Harry Potter" book. So author J.K. Rowling delivered a little bit of magic.
CNN's Robyn Curnow explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amidst unbelievable destruction in Syria, a small bit of good news for a little girl. This is Bana al- Abeid (ph) -- a seven-year-old who lives with her family in eastern Aleppo and almost constant gunfire and bombardment. Bana and her mother tweet about life in their city under siege.
One of her most recent posts reads "Good morning from Aleppo. We are still alive."
In a recent respite from the war, Bana was able to see one of the "Harry Potter" movies and became an instant fan. But you can't find the "Harry Potter" novels in Aleppo. So this week the little girl's mother posted a message to author J.K. Rowling saying "Bana would like to read the book."
And the famous writer responded "I hope you do read the book because I think you would like it. Sending you lots and lots of love." Rowling also sent Bana e-books of all of her Potter novels.
Bana's mother says her daughter is now happily reading and she posted this thank you picture and video.
BANA AL-ABEID: How are you? I am excited reading your books. Thank you very, very much. I love you.
CURNOW: A little girl's wish granted, now reading to forget the war.
Robyn Curnow, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: A welcome bit of magic there.
Police in France are searching for a suspect after a woman was found dead inside a retirement home for religious people. A local official in southern France says a masked man forced his way into the home early Friday morning. The intruder tied up a staff member who was able to free herself and call police. The source says a knife was used to kill the victim and that it appears she was the intended target. Police do not think the attack was terror-related.
Donald Trump says he is working hard even on Thanksgiving to keep U.S. jobs from going to Mexico. The President-elect tweeted Thursday he is trying to get the Carrier air-conditioning company to stay in the U.S. "Making progress -- we'll know soon." Carrier says it has nothing to announce at this time. The current U.S. President is urging Americans to come together this holiday season. Barack Obama says "Thanksgiving reminds us we are still one people."
[00:09:58] Meantime, the push for a U.S. election recount is gaining momentum. A Web site for Green Party candidate Jill Stein has raised more than $4.5 million for recount costs in three states.
Donald Trump won close victories in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Votes are still being counted in Michigan but Trump is in the lead there.
Some experts say Hillary Clinton's vote totals in areas with electronic voting looked too low compared to those with paper ballots. It raised concerns that votes tallied electronically may have been hacked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL STEIN, GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we're saying is not that -- you know, the hacking or fraud has necessarily taken place. I don't think we have evidence of that But I think it's only natural and it's good for Americans to be reassured that our votes are counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: The deadline to request recounts are fast approaching. It's Friday in Wisconsin, Monday in Pennsylvania and Wednesday in Michigan. Clock is ticking.
Although the Democrats here in California are taking Hillary Clinton's loss hard, they're looking to the future. Kyung Lah reports on their plans for a turnaround in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The (inaudible) is in there if you need to cry.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The time to whine is over says this room of 200 Los Angeles Democrats.
LISA TAYLOR ROSENFELD, DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST: I want to build an army of progressives across this country.
LAH: Trying to harness the rage of Californians, a state that is seeing daily, often massive anti-Trump protests. When you look into this room what do you see?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is exactly the place where Republicans were in 2008.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --
LAH: November 2008, Republicans lost the White House, the Senate, and the House of representative. Sound familiar? Back then, from that loss, a grass roots conservative movement was born -- the Tea Party.
EMILY CAMASTRA, ACTIVIST: We need that passion, that activism, that level of engagement that, you know, the Republicans harnessed in 2008, going forward and we need to capture that for the left.
LAH: People, like Emily Camastra -- she is not a Democratic operative, neither are the people in this room. But they are united in their resistance to a Trump administration.
California still counting its votes is overwhelmingly Democratic and anti-Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want --
LAH: You see it in the (inaudible) exit movement seceding from the United States, California's outgoing Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer submitting largely symbolic legislation to end the end the Electoral College which gave Trump the win despite losing the popular vote and the Los Angels police chief sending a message to the new President- Elect that state laws won't force the LAPD to round up immigrants.
The West Coast, the natural setting for an opposition to Washington.
BILL CARRICK, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There's the shock here of how did this happen? Because they didn't see it in California so they're going to organize and organize hard.
LAH: Is this grassroots movement going to influence the rest of the country?
CARRICK: You have to see Democrats are going to be afraid of Trump. So I think they're going to be, you know, all hands on deck.
LAH: Is this different than every other thing you have ever seen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's absolutely different. There's action steps. They have awoken something in us that won't stop.
LAH: Borrowing from the Republican playbook, hoping for a different ending in 2020.
Kyung Lah, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Time for a quick break.
Colombia and its largest rebel group won't be consulting voters this time around. Both sides just signed a new peace deal to end more than 50 years of fighting.
If being battered by Hurricane Otto wasn't enough, Central America has a new natural disaster to deal with. The details just ahead.
[00:13:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SESAY: Central America has taken a double hit from Hurricane Otto and an offshore earthquake in the Pacific. The U.S. National Weather Service says the tsunami threat has passed but Otto remains dangerous. It was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall in Nicaragua on Thursday and has already been blamed for several deaths in Panama.
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now with more. Derek -- what are you seeing now?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Isha -- it was simultaneous disasters for Nicaragua and Central America. Take a look at this -- unbelievable that two of these coinciding right next to each other same time.
This is what I'm talking about. We have been monitoring Hurricane Otto for the past several days. It made landfall just after 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. Just in the southern sections of Nicaragua near the coast of Costa Rica.
But look what happened just offshore right around the same time, local time -- a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Unreal. There was actually tsunami warnings that were issued from this. There was never a major tsunami threat from the underwater earthquake but regardless, to have twin disasters like this happen within such a short space of each other is quite a thing. And wow, they have had a rough go over the past 24 hours for Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Not done yet -- The greatest impact going forward -- flash flooding, mudslides and landslides.
Here's the latest information we have to tell you at home if you are tuning in or have family or loved ones in Central America, around these two countries. This storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm but still a formidable disaster -- or potential for disaster with heavy rain and flash flooding. Winds at the moment sustained at 110 kilometers per hour.
By the way, this storm strengthened right before it made landfall to an equivalent of a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane. Winds were upwards of 160 kilometers per hour for that short period of time before it made landfall just after 1:00 p.m. local time on Thursday.
This is a very abnormal time of the year for a hurricane to form. And this, in fact, will go down in the record books, Isha, as the lowest- latitude hurricane to ever strike Central America. We should start to see the hurricane season dwindling down by now but here it is -- Hurricane Otto.
Back to you.
SESAY: Here it is.
VAN DAM: Yes.
SESAY: Let's hope it's wrapping up. Derek, appreciate it. Thank you. VAN DAM: You're welcome.
[20:00:00] SESAY: Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes in Israel as wildfires raging throughout the nation are being called arson terrorism. The mayor of Haifa called the scale of the disaster unprecedented.
Authorities have set up rescue centers to help those who are on the run. Israel's internal security minister said it was clear arson was behind many of the fires. He also said there had been arrests and that investigations are ongoing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the arson was essentially terrorism. He vowed to punish anyone who tries to burn parts of Israel.
Latin America's longest war may finally be over and this time the agreement is expected to be enshrined in law.
Shasta Darlington looks at Colombia's latest attempt at peace with the rebel group called the FARC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Colombia's government and the FARC rebel group have signed a peace deal bringing an end to half a century of fighting -- again. That's because nearly two months ago Colombians voted to reject the initial peace accord.
President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC rebel leader known as Timochenko signed this new deal in a simple ceremony using pens fashioned out of bullets.
TIMOLEON JIMENEZ, FARC LEADER (through translator): Let words be the only weapons of Colombians.
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The citizens this past October expressed themselves. They said we want peace but we want a new accord.
During those 40 days we have heard the Colombian people. We have heard their fears and their voices of hope, to persevere and to not lose the momentum when we were so close to our goal.
DARLINGTON: While there are some changes in this new accord. The single biggest difference is simply that President Santos is not going to put it to a nationwide vote. This goes straight to Congress to be voted on. It also stands in stark contrast to the grandiose ceremony we saw at the end of September when heads of state flew in, the U.N. Secretary General was there, military planes were flying overhead and Colombia's president said that they had finally found peace.
Of course it was just a few days later in a nationwide referendum that the Colombians voted to reject the deal by a very narrow margin. But it highlighted the divisions in the country, the anger and frustration after decades of conflict that had killed over 200,000 people and displaced about five million people.
Many Colombians felt that the rebel leaders simply weren't being held accountable. They weren't looking at jail time. They were being allowed to run for office in the future.
This new accord does have tougher sanctions. Not all of the demands were met and in fact critics say it still doesn't go far enough. But it is expected to pass in Congress because Santos and his allies have a comfortable majority there.
Shasta Darlington, CNN -- Rio de Janeiro.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: For more, Oliver Griffin joins us now from Medellin, Colombia. He's a reporter for the "Colombian Report". Oliver -- thank you so much for being with us.
How different is this latest deal from the original deal that was rejected in the October referendum?
OLIVER GRIFFIN, REPORTER: Well, depending on which side you are on the deal has either a lot of changes or not enough. You know, the new deal has judicial guarantees for the military. There were concerns from higher ranking members of the military that the deal was not right. And so those have been addressed.
The FARC are being required to hand in over their (inaudible) so they have to, you know, disclose how much money and how much wealth they have and they want to increase the information they are giving on drug trafficking. That is something else that has been pushed through.
Something else for the more conservative members of society is in the new deal they're really pushing through a protection of family values. That is something that has been sort of called for by certain members of various organizations.
But for other people there is opposition. For example, the chief proponent against the deal, former President Alvaro Uribe has said that the new deal is barely a retouching of the agreement that was signed and then defeated in the October referendum. So I think, you know, there are still some sort of contentious issues.
SESAY: Yes, this time there will be no referendum. The deal will be subjected to a vote for approval by Congress. How does this work around, if you will, going over with the Colombian public?
GRIFFIN: Well again, this is something that some people are very against -- again Uribe and sort of the more conservative wing of society are calling for another referendum. President Santos has said quite clearly that is not going to happen. This new deal is final and it needs to be put through as quickly as possible.
[00:24:55] The other day he issued a statement following a few killings of human rights leaders and community leaders in various parts of the country. The limbo between the deal being signed in the first place and this sort of period now with the extended cease-fire is a dangerous place for the country to be in.
SESAY: Yes, it certainly is. I mean agreeing to a deal is one thing, implementation is quite another. What are the challenges that lie ahead if indeed this deal is approved by Congress?
GRIFFIN: Well, the chief challenge is going to be the mass demobilization of the FARC group. There is an agency that has been in existence for a long time now, the (inaudible) agency in Colombia, which works with demobilized guerillas and paramilitaries and, you know, previously they have worked with these groups on a smaller sort of drip by drip scale and suddenly they're going to have to sort of work with over 20,000 demobilizing members of one group the implications of which are going to be testing.
Of course, the U.N. is involved and they will be overseeing the entire process from the giving up of arms and demilitarizing of former FARC fighters. They are going to be watched by international bodies. It is going to be a challenge for moving all this sudden surge, if you will, of demobilized people into various places that they are going to be safe and feel that they are not being persecuted at the same time.
SESAY: Oliver Griffin joining us there from Medellin, Colombia. We appreciate it so much. Thank you.
GRIFFIN: Thank you.
SESAY: Time for a quick break.
A man convicted of killing four young gay men now suspected in an umber of other deaths in the U.K. Why police are under fire for their handling of the case.
[00:26:50] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:30:15] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles, I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
In Iraq, at least 80 people were killed when a truck bomb exploded at a gas station southeast of Baghdad. Iraqi officials say most of the victims were inside buses carrying Iranian-Shiite pilgrims. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the incident saying it was in retaliation for the battle in Mosul.
Some Aleppo residents have less than ten days before they start starving to death. That's according to Syrian activist interviewed by Reuters' news agency. At least 59 people were killed in the besieged city on Thursday alone. Activists say a chemical attack involving chlorine killed one woman.
A revised peace deal between the Colombian government and rebels will now head to Congress for a vote. Leaders from each side signed a deal on Thursday in Bogota. It's aimed at ending Latin America's longest war. Voters rejected the original deal last month. And police in France are searching for a suspect after a woman
was found dead inside a retirement home for priests and nuns. Authorities say an armed intruder forced his way into the home and that the woman was the intended target. Police do not think the attack was terror-related.
Now police in the U.K. are looking into the deaths of dozens of men over concerns they could be the victims of a serial killer. Stephen Port was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering four gay men and drugging and sexually assaulting seven more. Now deaths previously dismissed as drug overdoses are being reviewed as authorities are criticized for their mishandling of the case.
Erin McLaughlin has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Highly devious, manipulative, and self-obsessed. Police say Stephen Port was driven to kill by an overwhelming desire to have sex with younger gay men. All were drugged and unconscious. Port met his victims using dating apps and bought the drugs online. All four victims were in their early to mid-20s. Their bodies found not far from his east London home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These poor all found very close to where you live. Poor men, young men, the type of men that you say that you find attractive. They're all now dead, Stephen.
STEPHEN PORT: (INAUDIBLE) I know nothing about.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): This week, Stephen Port was found guilty of murder. But serious questions remain over how police handled this case, why they didn't identify port as a killer sooner. And some are accusing the police of homophobia.
PETER TATCHELL, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER: I suspect that if the victims had been female, there would have been a much more robust and comprehensive police investigation.
MCLAUGHLIN: The first victim was 23-year-old Anthony Walgate, his body found drugged outside Port's block of flats. Chillingly, it was Port who called police, pretending to be an innocent bystander.
OPERATOR: How old did he look?
PORT: Twenty.
OPERATOR: Do you know if he was awake?
PORT: No.
MCLAUGHLIN: Police tracked Port down. They discovered the two had met online. Port was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice. And incredibly, allowed to walk free. He killed again some two months later. In August, 2014, a dog walker found 22-year-old Gabriel Kovari's body in a cemetery, a mere 500 meters from Port's home. And then in September, another body, 21- year-old Daniel Whitworth found in the same place by the same dog walker.
BARBARA DENHAM, DOG WALKER: P lease let him be drunk. Please let him be sleeping it off. Please don't let me find another body.
MCLAUGHLIN: In the victim's hands, a fake suicide note written by Port saying, "Please don't blame the guy I was with last night."
Later that same month, he met 25-year-old Jack Taylor on a gay dating app, Grinder. And Port killed for the final time. Depositing Taylor's drugged body at the same Abbey Green Cemetery. He was finally arrested after being identified on surveillance footage.
Taylor's family blames police for not arresting him sooner.
DONNA TAYLOR, VICTIM'S SISTER: If they'd done their job properly, Jack would still be here. So, to me and to us as a family, they're just as responsible for Jack's death.
MCLAUGHLIN: Scotland Yard has referred itself to independent investigators for review.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[00:35:00] SESAY: All right. We're going to take a quick break now.
When we come back, J.K. Rowling has done it again. The Harry Potter spin-off "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is enchanting many. We'll take a look at what's happening at the box office this weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Across the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is a good weekend to overeat, get annoyed at your in-law's and also catch a few new movies. This year's box office has something to almost everyone including Billy Bob Thornton as a very bad Santa. It's been 30 years since he played the original drunken reverend and unapologetic character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I want Minecraft, Halo 5 Guardians (ph), Rise of the Tomb Raider (ph), Project Excellent 2 (ph), Assassins Creed Chronicles Trilogy --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's great. That's great. I don't know. UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Grand Theft Auto 5.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Sandro Monetti is joining us now. He's the managing editor of "Entity Magazine."
I haven't seen those -- seen the original, but I love the concept of a grumpy, grouchy Santa.
SANDRO MONETTI, MANAGING EDITOR, ENTITY MAGAZINE: Oh, yes, and I love it. You know, it's worth the wait. It's worth 30 years. It's more of the same.
SESAY: More of the same.
MONETTI: I'm amazed you found a clip that was clean. That you could play. I was thinking coming here, could you -- that is about the only 20 seconds in the movie which is probably acceptable for a family audience. Be warned.
SESAY: Be warned. Now you know.
All right, let's talk about a couple of movies. "Fantastic Beasts," "Lion," and "Allied."
I want to start with "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Spin-off, of course, of J.K. Rowling. A pre-call if I'm right.
MONETTI: That's right.
SESAY: Of the "Harry Potter" franchise. How is it doing?
MONETTI: It's doing really well and so it should. And it has to for Warner Brothers because this is the first in a planned five-film franchise.
SESAY: Five film.
MONETTI: Now it would really be a problem if it had gone down the toilet at the box office. But no it's soaring and, you know, I absolutely loved it. I see so many movies and you think you lose the power to see magic, but this is just so different, so special. It sort of transports you, shows you things you haven't seen before. And what really works is lots of new faces in the film. And it makes it so much more believable when they don't cast the same old people.
SESAY: And to that point, how are "Harry Potter" fans reacting to it?
MONETTI: Well, they love it.
SESAY: I don't know if it's a new audience that is watching this. That's why I'm asking about "Harry Potter" fans specifically. MONETTI: Well, that's why Warner Brothers invested in this,
because they thought the pre-existing "Harry Potter" fans and a new generation sort of coming along, who were discovering the books all the time and they've got a new hero to cheer for in Newt Scamander as well played by Eddie Redmayne in a performance so brilliant he deserves the Best Actor Oscar again. That's how good he is.
SESAY: Oh wow, OK.
OK, what about "Lion?" This is another film that's out that a lot of people are talking about. A lot of buzz. They say that if you're going to see it, take your hanky.
MONETTI: I would say take three hankies. I have seen this audience -- I have seen this film with three different audiences now and they are just wailing and crying, but it's happy sad if that makes sense. This is my dark horse for the Oscar race.
SESAY: Really?
[00:40:10] MONETTI: It really is, because I've seen how it affects audiences. And even though it is not being talked about as a potential best picture or major winner, it's the one that seems to be connecting with people most.
It's about a 5-year-old boy who got separated from his family. He gets adopted on the other side of the world, but in his early 20s he decides, you know, I want to investigate my roots. And what he finds is quite dramatic.
SESAY: Dev Patel from "Slumdog Millionaire" apparently with a remarkable turn here and great performance. Everyone is talking about.
MONETTI: And Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mother absolutely superb also.
SESAY: Quickly, I want to talk about -- I know how much you love the new Brad Pitt film "Allied."
MONETTI: As it's Thanksgiving, it's appropriate to talk about a turkey. And you know, as much as I love Brad and Marion, you know, they have no chemistry together and that ruins the movie.
SESAY: I find it hard to believe that these two have no chemistry on screen.
MONETTI: Zero, zilch, nothing.
Maybe some of that Eddie Redmayne from "Fantastic Beast." Maybe he's got something in his suitcase that can help the box office of this movie.
SESAY: Or maybe people just like something beautiful to look at and they will go and just stare at these two very, very beautiful people.
MONETTI: But enough about you and me on CNN International. What about Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt?
SESAY: Well, according to you, not much.
(LAUGHTER)
Sandro Monetti, I know you will be back next hour. Another batch of films we'll talk through. Hopefully, you won't be giving them all the short shrift tonight. Enough for now.
Thank you, Sandro.
Now, a U.S. woman who mistakenly texted a strangers and invited him to a Thanksgiving meal has been receiving a lot of attention on social media. On Thursday, she made good on her accidental invitation and welcomed her into her home.
Now Nohelani Graf of affiliate KNXY or KNXV, in fact, was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WANDA DENCH, GRANDMOTHER: Oh, yes. Perfect.
NOHELANI GRAF, KNXV REPORTER: A bird in the oven.
DENCH: How does it look?
GRAF: Guests arriving from out of town. It's the family's social event of the year. But this year, thanks to social media at Wanda Dench's house the table is set for a Thanksgiving unlike any other.
DENCH: Hi, Jamal.
GRAF: Perfect family.
DENCH: How are you?
GRAF: Growing by one more thanks to a text message mix up and an unintentional invite that Grandma Wanda decided to extend to Jamal Hinton any way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our home. Let's do some eating.
GRAF: A simple gesture that gave everyone the feels and won over the Internet.
DENCH: I actually have to look up what does it mean, hashtag.
GRAF: #CanIGetAPlate? #Everybody'sGrandma. Hashtag --
JAMAL HINTON: Grandma to go (ph).
GRAF: But no one is more thankful than these two.
Thankful for a lesson in kindness.
HINTON: She welcomed me into her house. So that showed me how great of a person she is. Thanks to people like that.
GRAF: Thankful for a blessing in disguise.
DENCH: It's come from God above. That he's just using us as tools and vessels to bring a message, you know, to others.
GRAF: Two strangers that made the world smile with their selfies now standing together smiling over a friendship that's sure to last a lifetime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: A heart warming way to end the show.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. "World Sport" is up next, then I'll be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORT)
