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Trump Cabinet Picks; Plane Crash in Colombia; Head of English FA Speaks on Allegations; Thousands Pack Havana Plaza to Remember Castro. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 30, 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] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, from celebrations to catastrophe, the tragic end for an underdog Brazilian football team, and new clues in what may have caused their plane to crash.

Look who is coming to dinner. President-Elect Donald Trump breaks bread with one of his biggest critics, now his potential secretary of state.

And could Pope Francis be on the verge of the most consequential diplomatic breakthrough of his papacy?

Hello everybody -- great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Donald Trump may be getting closer to choosing his secretary of state.

The U.S. President-Elect received a smattering of applause as he arrived for dinner with Mitt Romney in New York just a short time ago. Romney is on a short list which includes General David Petraeus and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The last few weeks he has been carrying out a transition effort. And I have to tell you, I've been impressed by what I've seen in the transition effort. The people he has selected as members of his cabinet are solid, effective, capable people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Trump has settled on two other cabinet nominees. An official says former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin is Trump's pick for treasury secretary and sources tell CNN billionaire investor Wilbur Ross will be tapped as commerce secretary.

Joining me now, CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers. Dylan -- good to have you with us.

Let's start with that dinner with Governor Romney. And by chance CNN's Jim Acosta just happened to be there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a pretty warm and friendly discussion, pretty engaging discussion for the last 20 minutes or so since they arrived at this restaurant inside the Trump International Hotel, right here in Columbus Circle, in fact it is across from our studios at CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So if you want to keep anything private, don't have dinner across from CNN's headquarters in New York. Or maybe they didn't want to keep this private.

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Well no, I don't think there is any doubt. I mean Donald Trump is a showman. The fact that he was a showman for 18 months throughout his candidacy, he is going to be a showman as President-Elect. And he'll certainly be a showman as president of the United States.

If you look at everything he has done throughout his transition, he has organized this to almost feel like a reality show, to almost feel like "The Apprentice", if "The Apprentice" were playing out of Trump Tower, Manhattan restaurants, and eventually we hope Washington, D.C.

And so inviting Romney, sort of stage craft by which, you know, you sort of bring in your former rival. You show that you can break bread with him and then you have him go out and give remarks afterward where he says he said that he is impressed with Donald Trump.

VAUSE: Let's take a look at that because it must have been some dinner. Let's hear a little more from Governor Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I've had a wonderful evening with President-Elect Trump. We had another discussion about affairs throughout the world. And these discussions I've had with him have been enlightening and interesting and engaging. I've enjoyed them very, very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mitt Romney does not drink so he was stone-cold sober.

BYERS: Neither does Donald Trump.

VAUSE: Neither does Donald Trump. But this is quite a turnaround obviously for Mitt Romney.

(CROSSTALK)

BYERS: It's a huge turnaround. And if he meant what he said, it is an enormous departure from the Mitt Romney who during the late stages of the Republican primaries had taken it upon himself to come out and sort of be the voice for establishment Republicans in terms of trying to stand up to Donald Trump.

I think what is happening now, you're seeing it happen across the Republican establishment, including many so called never-Trumpers. There is an understanding that he is the President of the United States. And if you respect the democratic process, when the President of the United States calls, you answer. You entertain the conversation with him.

And look, I also think it's true that Donald Trump is very fickle. And he's going through his own changes as he prepares for an office that I don't necessarily think he thought he was going to win. And he is a guy who likes to be liked. He likes to be liked by whoever he is in the room with.

So he may have said a lot of things to Mitt Romney that sort of, you know, appealed to Mitt Romney. The real question is and this is what the whole transition is about. Who does Donald Trump surround himself with? Who are really in those official positions? Who really has his ear in the Oval Office or in his office at Trump Tower? And who is influencing him? Because that ultimately, reading those tea leaves, that's how you're going to understand what kind of presidency Donald Trump is going to have.

VAUSE: Yes. People of policy I think is what they're saying. Let's look at some of the people he will be surrounding himself with.

[00:05:00] If Romney is chosen as secretary of state, he'll fit right in with all the millionaires and billionaires. His net worth is around $250 million. Steven Mnuchin, who is the possible new treasury secretary, doing it pretty tough with $40 million. Betsy DeVos, tapped for education, family wealth estimated at more than $5 billion. Wilbur Ross, possibly the next commerce secretary almost $3 billion. His deputy could be Todd Ricketts also a billionaire as well.

Has there ever been a potential cabinet like this in the history of the United States?

BYERS: No, I don't think so. And what happened to draining the swamp?

VAUSE: Yes. It's really like the battle of the bankers.

(CROSSTALK)

BYERS: What happened when Donald Trump went out there and said to all of the disenfranchised white working class voters, you know, I'm your president. I'm there for you. Let's drain the swamp. Let's get rid of money in politics. All of those sort of -- that familiar rhetoric that Donald Trump sort of trafficked in. Now all of the sudden he's tapping, you know, he's tapping New York -- the sort of Goldman Sachs types like Mnuchin.

And again, this -- one of the big questions when you look at this cabinet, this sort of, you know, rogue's gallery of billionaires. How is he going to convince the people who voted for him, who got him into office that he is following through on his promise to them? If he can't appeal to the people who got him into office, and he can't achieve real positive change for at least a majority or plurality of this country, he might be a one-term president.

BAIER: Well, there is some positive change, at least on the surface. There was a big announcement tonight from Carrier air conditioning company. They tweeted this out. "We are pleased to have reached a deal with President-Elect Trump and VP-Elect Pence to keep close to one thousand jobs in Indianapolis. More details soon. Just a reminder, earlier this year Carrier announced that it was shutting down that plant in Indiana. And the announcement of that went viral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It became clear that the best way to stay competitive and protect the business for long-term is to move production from our facility in Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Trump jumped on that. It was one of the sort of the individual cases which made up the cornerstone of his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: They're going to call me, and they're going to say, Mr. President, Carrier has decided to stay in Indiana. Thank you, sir. And by the way, 100 percent, ok, 100 -- it's not like we have an 80 percent chance of keeping them or 95 percent -- 100 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Looks like he was right.

BYERS: Good.

VAUSE: Yes.

BYERS: Good on him. You know, look, if Donald Trump can find a way to keep jobs in this country without sort of damaging America's overall economic prosperity in the world going forward, without starting any sort of trade wars or anything like that -- good on him.

VAUSE: Well, clearly, this announcement or this deal had been in the works at least for today. But instead, you know, the news cycle was dominated by this tweet which Trump put out. "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag. If they do, there must be consequences, perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail."

I mean so many people jumped on this because burning the flag is protected under free speech under the First Amendment. Senator John McCain was clearly agitated when he was asked about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Very close decision on -- by the United States Supreme Court. I do not approve of burning the flag. I think there should be some punishment. But right now the Supreme Court decision is that people are free to express themselves that way. No comment on Mr. Trump's comments. I have not and will not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not? He is the President-Elect and you're a very senior member up here.

MCCAIN: Because that's my choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He really doesn't want to talk about it. But this whole tweet about burning the flag, he tweeted it after watching a story on Fox about flag burning. It's just like --

BYERS: Look, when Senator John McCain says I don't want to talk about Donald Trump's comments, he is speaking I think for so many people who recognize that there are enormous fundamental questions at play about what America is going to look like over the course of at least the next four years and even after Donald Trump's presidency. What is he going to do to that?

And a lot of the really important questions on the positive side, they have to deal with keeping jobs in the United States. On the negative side, they have to deal with Donald Trump sort of blurring the lines between his presidency and his business interests around the globe.

The key issues are not the issues that he tweets about, it's not his opinion on whether or not you can burn the flag, an issue on which he probably won't do anything about; it's not whether or not he goes to war with the cast of "Hamilton" because he doesn't like the fact they read something to Mike Pence encouraging him to be a president for all people.

[00:10:05] What Donald Trump does, and he did it this week. He watches cable news. He sees an issue like the flag burning report which happened at 6:25 a.m. on Fox News. And then at 6:55 a.m., he tweets out something like that.

He is like any other twitter user, the difference is that he is the President of the United States. How the media covers that, how whether or not you -- you have to pay attention to what the President of the United States says. You also have to focus on the bigger issues, the bigger issues and can't get distracted.

VAUSE: So you're saying the responsibility is on us to kind of ignore it, eventually?

BYERS: To put it in context.

VAUSE: Yes. Ok. Dylan -- thanks a lot. We'll catch up next hour.

BYERS: Ok.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Brazil has announced three days of mourning after a deadly plane crash in Colombia; 71 people were killed Monday night, only six survived. Among the victims are members of a small Brazilian football team. They were set to play their biggest match in club history. At least three people survived the crash. The flight recorders have been recovered. They're said to be in perfect condition.

CNN's Shasta Darlington joins us now live from Medellin, Colombia. So Shasta -- are investigators any closer to finding the cause of the crash?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly the hope -- John. As you mentioned, both black boxes have been recovered. They're in good condition. But we had an opportunity to speak to the head of civil aviation just now in the airport in Medellin. And he said they will, of course, be investigating them. But they're also waiting for authorities from Brazil and from Bolivia to arrive because this was a Bolivian airplane so that they can investigate this together. Obviously they want to make sure it's a thorough investigation, but that could slow things up a bit.

This is -- it's been tough, you know. It was hard for the rescue workers to get into the site to begin with when the plane crashed here in the mountains outside of the city. It was raining. There was fog. It was dark. They tried to get in on helicopters. They couldn't. They were turned back.

So they had to eventually go in -- this is part of the reason it took them so long to get the survivors to the hospitals like the one behind me. There are two survivors here in very critical condition. And the doctor told us if they had been able to get them here a bit sooner they might actually be in better shape.

So things are coming together. But this has been a pretty difficult ordeal so far -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, this crash has had such a devastating impact on so many people in two different countries. How are they dealing with the loss?

DARLINGTON: It's been devastating I'd say in both countries. I started this morning in Brazil where it literally was a national tragedy. Brazil is a football-loving country.

And the story of Chapecoense is kind of a Cinderella story. It had people excited. They were virtually unknown just a couple of years ago. They clawed their way up to be in Brazil's top league.

Today what you saw were hundreds of fans going to the stadium in Chapeco in southern Brazil -- an outpouring of grief, just in shock that their little home team had come to this just when they were on the brink of realizing their dreams.

Here in Medellin as well, there was a small candlelight vigil organized by the fans of the team that they were going to play in the South America cup final, Atletico Nacional. We expect a much bigger turnout tomorrow night when they organize a big candlelight vigil in the stadium where Chapecoense was going play their first game.

It's just shock I think across South America. But it's particularly felt in Colombia and Brazil -- unexpected. And to what people view as such a team that was deserving of so much more -- John.

VAUSE: And just very quickly, Shasta, there are moves under way now towards Chapecoense, the title which they were going to compete for.

DARLINGTON: Well, I'm not sure if I heard your question correctly. But one of the first things that the team did that they were going play against is they said that Chapecoense should get the trophy without the tournament even being played. This was a team that had never made it this far, and that they should receive the trophy. We may hear more about that tomorrow.

The families and the friends and other members of the team are expected also to be arriving here in Medellin in the coming hours, maybe some more tomorrow. They're still working out the delegations of who is going to be coming. They'll be arriving on Brazilian Air Force planes, according to the information that we got here in the hospital.

So these are -- the few survivors are still waiting for their family members to come. They will certainly be getting more developments and bring those to you tomorrow -- John.

Ok, Shasta, we appreciate the live update. Shasta Darlington, live in Medellin -- thank you.

[00:15:01] A short break. When we come back, allegations of sexual abuse have rocked the sport of football, or soccer in the U.K. Now the head of the Football Association is speaking out.

And later this hour, Pope Francis and Catholics in China -- the historic deal he is trying to make and the controversy it's causing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The head of the English Football Association says allegations of child sexual abuse are one of the biggest crises in the history of EFA. At least four U.K. police departments are investigating separate allegations.

On Monday the former English football coach Barry Bennell was charged with eight counts of sexual assault against a boy under the age of 14.

And as Erin McLaughlin reports from London, the football association is now reviewing what individual clubs knew at the time of the alleged abuses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's clear the UK Football Association realizes its credibility is at stake. More than 20 former football players have come forward alleging abuse as children.

For the first time, FA chairman Greg Clarke took questions about the growing scandal. He acknowledged the moral consequences of failing to deal with these issues in the past. He was asked if the FA had evidence of a cover-up.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

[00:20:03] GREG CLARKE, ENGLAND FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION: I don't know if there is a cover-up or not. I really don't know. I suspect that like many big problems, people aren't drawn towards them. My methodology is if there is a problem, run towards it. Embrace it. Fix it. Disclose everything that happened.

I think institutionally, all organizations in the old days used to protect themselves by keeping quiet and closing ranks. That's completely inappropriate and unacceptable today, which is why we've had an independent-led inquiry.

MCLAUGHLIN: The FA chairman emphasized that he did not want to speculate. He said the FA is working to be as transparent as possible. He said an independent investigator is working to create a timeline that dates back to 1990 to establish the facts then release the findings to the public and accept the consequences.

No timeline has been established for the investigation. He made clear that it would not interfere with ongoing police investigations.

Now when asked, Clarke said they are in contact with FIFA, which says it's monitoring the situation. The FA is trying to encourage victims to come forward. The hope is to fully understand the extent of the abuse in order to help the victims and make sure it never happens again.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ambrocio Rodriguez is a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. He also led a sexual assault and child abuse unit at a district attorney's office here in southern California. Ambrocio -- thank you for coming in.

AMBROCIO RODRIGUEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you.

VAUSE: From a prosecution point of view, how difficult is it to go back, in some case 20, maybe 30 years to gather the evidence, to make a case of past child sexual abuse?

RODRIGUEZ: In cases that are 20, 30 years old, the most important thing is to find other victims. That is, if you only have one victim or one alleged victim coming forward, it's going to be extremely difficult. But if you can find now adults that over the years were molested by the same person in the same type of pattern when you're dealing with, you know, a coach, a teacher, someone in a position of trust, it becomes easier and easier. Jurors can kind of see how that pattern was established by the person. It just rings true given everything we know now about how child molesters operate.

VAUSE: This case is still early. More than 20 people have come forward. Would you expect more?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes. That's not rare in a situation where you're dealing with a serial child molester. We saw that at Penn State. We've seen that with Bill Cosby. There have been other cases in the media where you see someone in a position of power and authority that just becomes a serial child molester, or already is, but has that protection from his position. I mean we saw that with the priests in the Catholic Church scandal.

VAUSE: Is there a familiar pattern in how these sex scandals unfold in institutions like Sandusky at Penn State, Jimmy Savile at the BBC?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. First of all, you have a person who's in a position of power and authority that becomes a gate keeper to these children's future. So they're able to really pick their victims -- right. A lot of these victims have similar kind of demographics. That is, they have issues at home. Maybe there is issues of poverty. And they kind of rely on this person for acceptance, for love, for guidance. And they're children. So they're easy to manipulate, victimize and this kind of awful things happen over and over again.

VAUSE: In cases like Sandusky and Savile -- how do those in charge, how do they rationalize covering up these crimes? Because in both of those cases a lot of people knew what was going on and nobody said anything for a very, very long time.

RODRIGUEZ: I think it was willful blindness. There has to be. Because something happens within I guess human nature that it becomes more important to protect the institution -- and it's an institution of power and status, and a lot, a lot of money, billions of dollars. And that becomes easier, more important to protect than children.

We shouldn't be surprised. That is kind of the tragedy of human nature is that we do that all the time.

VAUSE: Ok. We will have a lot more on this next hour. So we're lucky you'll be sticking around.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll catch up next hour. Thanks for being with us.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, still to come here, huge crowds are turning out in Cuba to say goodbye to Fidel Castro. We'll look at how they're remembering their long-time leader.

And the Muslim call to prayer could be silenced for part of the day if lawmakers in Israel pass a new bill. Next, why some Christian leaders say this is dangerous politics.

[00:24:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Flight recorders from the plane which crashed in Colombia Monday night have been recovered and investigators say they're in perfect condition. At least 71 people died in the crash, only six survived. The plane was carrying members of a Brazilian football team who were due to play their biggest match in club history.

U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump is set to announce more cabinet picks. But secretary of state is not yet one of them. Trump had dinner Tuesday in New York with one of the leading candidates for that post, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Up to 16,000 people have fled the fighting in eastern Aleppo, Syria but the U.N. says nearly 200,000 others are likely still trapped. Regime forces and their allies took control of a large part of the city from rebels on Monday.

Rain in Tennessee is bringing some relief from the wildfires raging near two resort towns. Officials believe the initial fire was deliberately lit. The flames have scorched hundreds of buildings in just 24 hours and killed at least three people.

Tens of thousands of Cubans are mourning Fidel Castro. They attended a huge rally in Havana on Tuesday. The former Cuban leader died on Friday and the country declared nine days of mourning.

Our Robyn Curnow and Havana bureau chief Patrick Oppmann are in Cuba's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're in Revolution Square, the place where Fidel Castro would speak to the Cuban people. Now the Cuban people have come here to listen to others saying goodbye to a man who defined their lives for over 50 years.

With me is Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana bureau chief. And we've been trying to assess just how many people are here. And there are hundreds of thousands.

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: We know it is absolutely capacity. The square can fit a million people. In the beginning days of the revolution, you would have close to a million people here hanging on every word that Fidel Castro said.

I've covered three papal visits here when they brought Che Guevara's body back. This seems as full, if not more full than those events. Most of Havana is probably here tonight.

CURNOW: Certainly. And what do you think about the atmosphere.

OPPMANN: It's very --

[00:30:00] ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. And what do you think about the atmosphere?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA-BASED CORRESPONDENT: It's very somber. During the papal visits, you had moments of cheering. It does remind me bit of Che Guevara. There's sort of sadness of saying goodbye to somebody. But also much more profound because there's a bit of sadness and uncertainty of what the future means.

So many of us and so many people here wondered what will happen to Cuba after Fidel Castro dies, even though he wasn't president. He is such a potent symbol here. And now that the day has come, there are a lot more questions than answers.

CURNOW: All of these people around us, as they look to this uncertainty in the future, how are they remembering Fidel Castro?

OPPMANN: I think for the people who are old enough, who spent so much of their youth in this plaza absolutely entranced by this man. A master order, a man who could just slowly put the entire room, the entire plaza in the palm of his hand. Keep people on their toes waiting for more.

A man who took this country and completely changed its destiny and the destiny of everyone who lived in it. Changed every Cuban's life, whether they stayed or they left, for better or for worse. And I think no one will ever replace him. People do not love Raul Castro in that same way. They respect him because, of course, he was always with Fidel Castro. This is a machismo culture. And this is a man who came down from the mountain with Fidel Castro, Raul Castro with a gun in his hand, and that earns respect in Cuba.

The people who will follow Raul Castro in a year when he steps down do not have those same credentials, Robin, and they will not be able to fill this plaza as Raul Castro and as Fidel Castro have filled the plaza tonight.

CURNOW: OK, Patrick Oppmann, thank you so much.

It is certainly a moment of history here. A man who has defined not only Cuba, but in many ways the divisions of the 20th century Cold War era. He is gone. People are saying goodbye to him. And Fidel Castro will be buried on Sunday. I'm Robyn Curnow in Havana.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Robyn and Patrick, thanks to you.

We go to Israel now, where the Knesset is expected to vote on two controversial bills in the coming hours. One of them would effectively silence the Muslim call to prayer during part of the day.

Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem where some accuse politicians of using religion to incite hatred.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A

familiar sound across the Middle East. The Adhan calls the Muslim faithful to prayer five times a day, sunrise to sunset.

This man, known as the muezzin, citing the chant, calling out from the minaret loudspeakers. Now proposed Israeli law could muffle the call to prayer, known as the Muezzin Bill.

It says religious announcements are forbidden between 11:00 at night and 7:00 in the morning. It doesn't mention a specific religion, but its impact overwhelmingly would be on Muslims' morning call to prayer.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has received complaints from all religions, including Muslims about the call.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Israel is a country that respects freedom of religion for all faiths. Israel is also committed to defending those who suffer from the loudness of the excessive noise of the announcements.

LIEBERMANN: Some cities around the world impose limits on religious loud speakers. But if they get too loud, Israel has a way to deal with them.

(on-camera): Critics of this bill, and they come from the left and the right say there are already noise ordinances in place to quiet the call to prayer if it gets too loud. Some of those critics say this bill, then, is a populist attack on Muslims.

(voice-over): Lawmaker Ahmad Tibi chanted the Adhan in Israel's parliament to protest the bill. His anger he says is a reflection of the Arab community's anger.

AHMAD TIBI, LAWMAKER: We are against it. We will continue to be against it. And I am calling my people not to respect such a law.

LIEBERMANN: Support has come from Christian churches whose leaders say this is turning peaceful religion into dangerous politics.

FATHER MICHEL SABAH, LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM: They are using and misusing religion to incite each people to kill the other. That's problem. Do not use religion for your politics, especially not use religion as an incitement.

LIEBERMANN: The Muezzin Bill is latest iteration of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. But when the conflict touches faith, it could become something else entirely, a religious struggle as the sound of the Muezzin becomes the noise of the conflict.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A short break. When we come back, an outspoken cardinal in Hong Kong says Chinese Catholics could be in the crosshairs if a deal with the Vatican goes through. We'll have details on the Pope's plan to get some of the faithful out of the shadows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: For the past few years, one thing has become abundantly clear about Pope Francis. He is no ordinary pope. He recently extended the authority for priests to forgive abortion. He has spoken out on climate change. Even helped broke a thaw in relations between Cuba and the United States.

And now he may be on the verge of what's being described as the most coincidental diplomatic feat of his papacy, a breakthrough with Beijing.

Mainland China severed ties with the Vatican in 1951. Catholics are allowed to worship, but only in Chinese state-controlled churches approved by the communist government, which also chooses bishops and refuses to recognize the pope's authority. But millions of other Chinese Catholics defy the government and gather in so-called underground church, risking arrest and prosecution.

Under the deal, the pope would reportedly be allowed to choose bishops from a list of candidates approved by the communist government. He could reject them all and demand new names, which means for the first time, Beijing would recognize the Holy Father as head of the Catholic Church in China. There has been whispers of an agreement for months, but already it's drawn a lot of criticism.

For more, Father Drew Christiansen joins me now from Washington.

Father, thank you for being with us. Is that essentially how this deal would work? Did I get it right?

FATHER DREW CHRISTIANSEN, S.J., DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think that's the beginning of the deal is the approval of bishops and the nomination of bishops. As a matter of fact, they're building on a relationship that exist now for maybe 20 years.

There has been joint appointment of some bishop, not all, and then there's controversies when the Chinese appoint bishops on their own and the Vatican doesn't give approval. But they've gone back and forth on making appointments together now for quite a while. And particularly in the last several years, appointing bishops who will replace both an above ground bishop in the official church, who is retiring and a bishop of the underground church who is retiring.

And I think you can see there an effort, particularly on the part of the church, to heal divisions within the church. But I think the Chinese will be very happy to see unity within the church and not division, too.

VAUSE: One of the most outspoken critics of this deal is the former bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen. He told "The Guardian" newspaper this. "You cannot go into negotiations with mentality we want to sign an agreement at any cost. Then you are surrendering yourself. You are betraying yourself. You are betraying Jesus Christ."

Cardinal Zen, he's always been outspoken. But even by his standards, they seem to be very strong words.

CHRISTIANSEN: Well, I just think that Cardinal Zen has been a hard line all along. And rapprochement with China has had opposition within the Holy See. I think that is different offices of the Vatican have held different positions. The Diplomatic Corps for years has been working for some kind of rapprochement.

[00:40:00] But other officers of the Vatican, staffed by anti- communist, members of former communist countries generally opposed it. That time has kind of passed now, particularly for Pope Francis, but even in the time of Pope Benedict, it was moved forward in this area.

And Cardinal Zen has made no bones about his being opposed to rapprochement. I don't think it's a matter of sacrificing principles. The Holy See will still be making choices. The Pope will be making choices. But there will be a process in which both are involved. And that's the process that they've been fully engaged in now for maybe ten years.

VAUSE: Well, Pope Francis has been on child offensive with China for some time. He hasn't met with the Dalai Lama, for example. And earlier this year, he told "The Asia Times," for me, China has always been a reference point of greatness. A great country. But more than a country, a great culture with an inexhaustible wisdom."

Is there a concern that he is heading down the same road as, you know, multinational companies like Google and a Facebook, willing to give up on some principles, ignore religious persecution, human rights abuses in China, you know, to reach a potential market of more than a billion people?

CHRISTIANSEN: Well, I think that in his case, he's responding to the Chinese sense that they are a civilizational society. They're not just a nation state like other nation states. They have a great history that is not respected.

And Francis also, in principle, very much for unity, but unity with diversity. And I think in this situation, it's not unity with uniformity, but with diversity with a different kind of relationship perhaps with the church in China than the church elsewhere.

VAUSE: And the Holy Father sees himself as an undoer of knots. This would be one of the biggest knots of all.

Father Christiansen, thanks so much for being with us.

CHRISTIANSEN: Thank you very much. Good to be with you, John.

VAUSE: Well, every four years, the math and science skills of 10 and 14-year-olds from around the world are assessed in an international study. Asia came out way on top. More specifically, Singapore crushed the competition in every category. Looking just at the science results, Singapore was first among 10- year-old students in 2015, followed by South Korea, third place Japan, then came Russia. Hong Kong in fifth place. Finland, the only European country in the top ten out of nearly 60 countries. The U.S. rounds it out in tenth place.

Congratulations to all those kids.

The global retailer Patagonia made five times more than it expected during last week's Black Friday sales. And it's giving all $10 million of it to environmental groups.

The outdoor clothing retailer says it anticipated only about $2 million in sales. But customers, well, they spent up big. The money is going to nearly 800 organizations fighting to protect natural resources. Patagonia already donates one percent of its daily global sales to help the environment.

You know, it's pretty cold in China right now and in the northwest part of the country. That's home to the only completely brown panda, Chisai. Now the staffer responsible for the 7-year-old cutie say despite the cold weather, he never worries about it. He even walks on top of the snow.

That's a pretty good appetite as well. He likes to eat up. And then has a nap. And that's pretty much all he does. What a life.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROO live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next.

I do not know what that was about.

I'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. You're watching CNN.

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