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Votes in Italy and Austria Crucial for Future of Europe; Cuba Set to Bury Longtime Leader; Beijing Lodges Complaint Over Trump's Call to Taiwan; Support for Mattis as U.S. Defense Secretary; Far- Right Candidate Could Win Austria's Election; Italy's Referendum Risks Pushing Some Banks Over the Edge; Chapecoense Fans Honor Fallen Football Heroes; Syrian Civilians Flee Aleppo; Japan Tests New Pizza Delivering System Using Reindeer; Aired 4-5a ET

Aired December 04, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:09] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: A pivotal moment for Europe, Italy, and Austria. Votes in ballots that could affect the future of the continent.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MULE, WAREHOUSE FIRE SURVIVOR: Ran outside, and I just watched this warehouse burn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: A survivor of a deadly fire in northern California describes the chaos he saw as crews looked for people still missing.

And a sea of support for Fidel Castro. Thousands in Cuba show up to pay their respects to the controversial leader.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.

The rise of populism across Europe is being tested this weekend. Two crucial votes in Italy and Austria may have major political and economic implications for the continent. Austria could elect Norbert Hofer who would become the first far-right head of state in the European Union.

And in Italy, the future of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi now depends on the constitutional referendum.

Let's focus on Italy first. CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has the story from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sunday morning, at times will be going to the polls to cast their vote in a constitutional referendum, where they will be given the choice to either reject or accept modifications to 47 of the 139 articles of Italy's 1948 Constitution.

Basically it's all about cutting down the powers and the size of the Italian Senate, basically making it a much smaller body. Instead of 315 members it'll go down to a 100, and they will be appointed, and though have very little in the way of decision-making power.

The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says this is a good way to streamline a very cumbersome political process. But his critics say that this really poses the danger of giving dictatorial powers, or rather too much power to whoever is in the position of prime minister. Many people harking back to the days of Mussolini, who was one of the reasons why the cumbersome political system exists here in the first place.

The problem is, of course, Matteo Renzi has said that if Italians reject these constitutional changes he will resign. So many of his opponents have turned this simply into a popularity contest for Matteo Renzi. He's the 41-year-old prime minister who has been in power for the last two and a half years. He came to power promising to get the Italian economy, which hasn't really moved since the late 1990s, moving again. It has moved from negative growth to very anemic of progress, or rather positive growth, but for many Italians that's simply not enough.

And then there's the whole matter of Italian banks. Their worry is that if this vote is rejected, there will be a period of instability and you have eight Italian banks that are basically on the brink of bankruptcy. Political stability could bring them down and could bring to power those who want to get Italy out of the Euro, and are very, to say the least, Euro-skeptics. So it isn't quite Brexit, but there is quite a lot at play in this referendum.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: But while that vote is happening in Italy, voters in Austria will also turn to the polls. Left of center candidate Alexander Van der Bellen is the former leader of the Green Party. He won the election back in May by a thin margin of about 31,000 votes, but a rerun was ordered because of voting irregularities.

He is a big supporter of the EU and says his opponent, Norbert Hofer, wants to take Austria out of the union. Mr. Hofer originally supported a vote on this issue but now says he just wants to reform the union rather than leave it. Hofer represents the anti-immigration Freedom Party and has run an anti-establishment campaign.

The last election showed a sharp divide in Austria. Supporters of Van Der Bellen came most from the west, areas in the north and from Vienna. Supporters of Hofer are found in eastern and southern parts of the country.

Let's talk more about both of these issues. Jeremy Cliffe joins us now from Cambridge, England via Skype. He's a columnist for "The Economist." [04:05:01] Jeremy, thank you for being with us. Quite a weekend to

watch what goes on. Let's start in Austria, though. If the anti- establishment candidate Hofer prevails, what might that signal?

JEREMY CLIFFE, COLUMNIST, THE ECONOMIST: Well, it would signal various things. I mean, the first thing to state is that this story isn't completely new in Austria. While we're living through a wave of populist advances around the world, Mr. Hofer's party, the FPA, has actually been a major player in Austrian politics in many decades. It was founded in 1996. And so you do have to take that back story into account.

But this is a new advance. We are possibly on the cusp of seeing Europe's first democratically-elected far-right head of state since 1945. So just the symbolic importance of that I think would be enormous, but it also has a practical importance. Although the presidency in Austria is largely ceremonial, it also carries certain powers, for example, the president can dissolve parliament. The president oversees the appointments of ministers. The president even has the right to travel to Brussels and attend European summits.

And Mr. Hofer has suggested that he will start using those powers that previous presidents have not exercised. And so he could actually become a relatively significant figure in European politics.

ALLEN: And what about the fact that Austria is one of Europe's most wealthy economies. What impact could that have if Mr. Hofer prevails?

CLIFFE: Well, it all really depends on what happens next. As I say, the president can't suddenly start making policies. He doesn't have much direct executive power. But you have to see this in the bigger story of what's happening in Austria at the moment. You just have to look at the polls for the next parliamentary elections to see that his party, the FPO party, many people consider far-right, is leading by quite a long way.

And that party has been in government before but has not put up -- the chancellor has not led that government. And it looks hike like if an election - if parliamentary election were held in Austria soon, the FPO would be leading the next Austrian government, who will provide the next Austrian chancellor, most probably Heinz-Christian Strache, who is the leader of the party and very much sort of a senior figure to Mr. Hofer.

Now Mr. Hofer as president would have the possibility to perhaps make that happen by triggering an early election. So that would I think really be the most significant outcome of this election.

ALLEN: All right. Well, let's look at Italy now. What is fomenting the no vote against Mr. Renzi's push to help the government become more efficient?

CLIFFE: It's a whole range of things actually and I think this is -- again, there's an interesting local story going on in Italy. I mean, yes, there is sort of Trump-ite, as in Brexit-ite aspect onto the no campaign, very much anti-elites, anti-establishment, anti-Europe, anti-globalization, but there are also other streams that they campaign against Mr. Renzi.

There is, for example, a liberal stream. Their arguments including, I should say, some put by my own newspaper against the reforms out of kind of -- reasons of constitutional propriety. We're concerned that the reforms would pass too much power in the hands of the executive in Italy. And so there are some who are, from very different parts of the political spectrum opposing Mr. Renzi. But overall, there's just a sense that he came to power a couple of years ago, young, dynamic, promising economic reforms, promising to rejuvenate Italy which in many ways has stagnated for decades. And he hasn't entirely delivered on that. So some people see this just as a chance to, you know, give them -- give him a kicking. And perhaps even kick him out.

ALLEN: Right. And then what might that mean if he is kicked out or he says he will quit? And with the economy in such a bad way in Italy.

CLIFFE: He has said he will quit. I mean, he's slightly cooled off on some of that rhetoric in the final weeks of the campaign, perhaps seeing the polls looking pretty negative. So we'll have to see if he does follow through on that. And actually it's important to mention that the Italian president will play an important role if he does lose and he does step down. It will be up to that president, Sergio Mattarella, to decide whether he asks Mr. Renzi to come back and form a new government or whether he appoints a technocratic government or whatever.

But if Mr. Renzi does go, I think that's bad news for Italy. He has the right ideas about reforming Italy and Italy's in a very fragile state at this moment. Its banks have lost about half of their share price over the course of this year. One of them in particular, Monte Paschi di Siena, is on the verge of really failing to find a capsule it needs to stay afloat.

And there are concerns that this could be a domino effect, that Mr. Renzi going with limits investors' confidence in Italy, reduce their willingness to provide the capsule that these banks badly need to shore up what is a lot of toxic debt. And this could see the Italian economy collapse in some way which of course for such a large economy would be really disastrous for the Eurozone.

ALLEN: Absolutely. We'll be watching the developments in both these countries. We appreciate your thoughts.

Jeremy Cliffe of "The Economist." Thanks, Jeremy.

We turn now to California. At least nine people are dead after a fire tore through a warehouse in Oakland, California. It happened as dozens of people were arriving for a music event. And authorities warn the death toll could rise.

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[04:10:08] SGT. RAY KELLY, ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We have recovered nine victims at this point. Those victims have been transported from the scene to lour coroner's bureau. The identification process has begun with those victims. We are rushing their fingerprints to identify them and then notify family members as we get those identifications.

As we continue on here tonight, there have been some good things that have happened, and when I say that, we have been able to put some families' fears at ease by locating loved ones that were believed to be inside here that were actually found to be alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The warehouse contained artist studios. The only way to escape the inferno was via makeshift stairway and -- or windows. Here's what a survivor told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MULE: I really don't think he made it. Just really such a solid dude, you know. Very smart. Really amazing guy. I just ran outside. I just watched this warehouse burn for like, 11:30 to like 4:00 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning. Even when I left, there's still a part of it that was on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Such a catastrophe. Officials say the building's owners were notified last month of violations for hazardous trash and debris.

In just a few hours, the formal funeral for longtime leader Fidel Castro will take place in Santiago. The event is closed to the public, but hundreds of thousands of people took their last chance to say good-bye Saturday night. Massive crowds waved flags and chanted, "Yo Soy Fidel." Cuban president Raul Castro thanked those who came out to celebrate his brother's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL CASTRO, NEW PRESIDENT OF CUBA (Through Translator): Once again, through the impressive reaction of the Cuban children and young people, who affirm their willingness to be faithful successors of the ideals of the revolution's leader, in the name of our people, of the party, the state, the government, and the families, I reiterate my deepest appreciation for the innumerable displays of affection and respect to Fidel, his ideas and his work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Our correspondent there in Cuba Patrick Oppmann was at the memorial. He has more now from Santiago de Cuba.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Raul Castro and other top Cuban officials eulogized Fidel Castro in a massive service in Cuba's second largest city. It capped off days of memorials across the island as Fidel Castro's ashes were transported from the capital Havana to here where I am in Santiago de Cuba. All along the route, people came out into the road to wave, sometimes

with tears in their eyes as Castro's motorcade sped by. The route retraced a similar journey that Castro completed shortly after the revolution swept him to power and many of the people we talked to along the route had been there in 1959 when they waved at the young Cuban leader who promised to clean up the corruption in Cuba and promised to no longer be subservient to the United States.

Of course Castro leaves the revolution at a very delicate point. The economy here is in tatters. Few can imagine how this island can pay for the massive funeral and all the preparations that quickly went into making this event possible, but still Raul Castro has promised continuity, that there will be no major changes to the revolution. That the reforms that he will undertake in his final year in power will be modest, will open the economy slightly. But he will stay true to the revolution and all across this island we saw Cubans swearing an oath of allegiance to Fidel Castro.

Very much the sense that his revolution will continue as he left it, and on Sunday in Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro will be buried. It will end the era of Fidel Castro. But for this leader who changed Cuba and Cubans forever, of course, there will continue to be debate and discussion and controversy over the legacy that he leaves behind.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santiago de Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: New details are coming out about the controversial phone call between the U.S. president-elect and the leader of Taiwan. We'll have a live report about that in a moment.

Also ahead, the Green Party recount effort in Pennsylvania may be headed to a U.S. federal court.

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(SPORTS)

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[04:18:51] ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. We are learning more now about the bizarre break from diplomatic protocol when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke directly with the leader of Taiwan. Friday's phone call, the first one on one contact since 1979, sent shockwaves through the diplomatic world. Trump says Taiwan's president called him. Taiwan says that both sides had already agreed to the call beforehand.

Alexander Field joins us now from Beijing. Well, a little bit of a -- not too much clarity there on how this came about. What more are you learning about the circumstances of this call, Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, it was a phone call that certainly seemed to take the world by surprise. And President- elect Donald Trump was quick to defend himself. He got on Twitter, he said that Taiwan's president had called him and it was to congratulate him, similar to the kinds of conversations, Natalie, that he's been having with a number of world leaders since winning the election.

We're learning more from the spokesperson for Taiwan's president saying that the call had in fact been prearranged. So that basically means it just didn't take the Trump transition team or President-elect Trump by surprise. But that hasn't fended off any of the criticisms.

[04:20:03] There's been a ton of backlash that's been directed at President-elect Donald Trump. Some critics have said that this shows that he doesn't have a clear understanding of the U.S.'s long-standing foreign policies.

The only element of this that was perhaps not surprising was the fact that Beijing responded so swiftly. They did file their official complaint and they were quick to reaffirm the importance of the One China policy. That is the protocol that has governed relations between the U.S. and China for nearly 40 years now.

Under the One China policy, the diplomatic relationship is between Washington, D.C. and Beijing. Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province that is part of China. The U.S. in turn acknowledges that and maintains only an unofficial relationship with Taiwan. So there was an outpouring of reaction across Chinese state-run media after news of this phone call broke.

You had CCTV pointing out the fact that this was such a tremendous breach in a very long-standing protocol. You also had Xinhua News Agency saying that it was important for President-elect Donald Trump to respect the core interest of China which include Taiwan.

So a lot of nerves were rattled here in Beijing. A lot of people looking at the U.S. This certainly fuels uncertainty. Mr. Trump had some fiery words that were directed toward Beijing on the campaign trail. And the decision to accept this call have left some wondering if this could be a harbinger of change to that longstanding policy between the U.S. and China under a President-elect Trump.

But, Natalie, all we really know right now is the fact that this was a phone call, and it was at this point only a phone call. Mr. Trump says it was about congratulations and then he also got on Twitter saying interesting that people feel that he shouldn't accept a call from Taiwan's president given that the U.S. sells billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Taiwan. In that tweet he was of course underscoring what is a close relationship between Taiwan and the U.S., though it is not an official diplomatic relationship, there is certainly a defense relationship there and an economic relationship that he does point out -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Right. Well, was it or was it not just a phone call? I guess that remains to be seen as this story continues to develop and we monitor Beijing's reaction to it.

Alexander Field for us there in Beijing. Thank you.

Well, a vote recount effort in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania has been halted due to the cost. The Green Party dropped the request for a recount after a state judge required a $1 million bond to proceed. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein who spearheaded the effort was furious. In a statement she said, "The judge's outrageous demand that voters pay such an exorbitant figure is a shameful, unacceptable barrier to democratic participation. This is yet another sign that Pennsylvania's antiquated election law is stacked against voters."

Pennsylvania is one of three states won by Donald Trump where the Green Party had hoped to get state-wide recounts. Stein says she will go to federal court on Monday to try to force a recount in Pennsylvania on constitutional grounds.

The outgoing Pentagon chief is voicing support for his likely successor. U.S. Defense secretary Ash Carter calls retired General James Mattis a friend and says he holds him in the highest regard. Mattis is Donald Trump's choice to lead the Defense Department. He's been described as a Marine's Marine.

CNN's Jim Sciutto says he's been hearing positive reaction to the Mattis nomination from both sides of the aisle and he reports the man known as "Mad Dog Mattis" doesn't necessarily agree with all of Donald Trump's political views.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: We are going to appoint Mad Dog Mattis as our secretary of Defense.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mad Dog," the nickname General James Mattis earned leading U.S. Marines in the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war, is Donald Trump's pick for Defense secretary.

TRUMP: And he's our best. They say he's the closest thing to General George Patton that we have and it's about time.

SCIUTTO: Mattis is a seasoned combat commander with 44 years of service in the Marine Corps and key commands in both Afghanistan and Iraq, where he led troops in the 2003 invasion and later in the battle for Fallujah.

GEN. JAMES MATTIS (RET), DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: The U.S. military is quite capable of giving our enemies their longest day and their worst day if ordered to do so.

SCIUTTO: Since retiring at CENTCOM commander after disputes with the White House, Mattis has been critical of the Obama administration.

MATTIS: The next president is going to inherit a mess.

SCIUTTO: Like Trump, Mattis is hawkish on Iran.

MATTIS: The Iranian regime in my mind is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.

SCIUTTO: Still, Trump and Mattis disagree on several key foreign policy challenges. Trump has praised Russia.

[04:25:05] TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually did get along with Russia?

SCIUTTO: Mattis sees Russia and Putin as a threat.

MATTIS: Putin goes to bed at night knowing he can break all the rules and the West will try to follow the rules. That is a very dangerous dichotomy.

SCIUTTO: Trump is in favor of bringing back the illegal practice of waterboarding terrorists.

TRUMP: I think waterboarding is fine.

SCIUTTO: Mattis opposes waterboarding. Trump telling the "New York Times" that during a meeting Mattis told him it is ineffective.

TRUMP: I said, "What do you think of waterboarding? He said, "I've never found it to be useful." He said, "I've always found -- give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture."

SCIUTTO: Mattis is highly respected up and down the military ranks. A Marine's Marine and also a voracious reader and deep military thinker.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY, (RET.): Very dedicated, very focused and the smartest man in the room.

COL. PETER MANSOOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): He carried around with him throughout his career a library of around 10,000 books and he's ready most of them.

SCIUTTO: But his career has not been without controversy. In 2005, he came under fire for remarks in a panel discussion which seemed to make light of killing in combat.

MATTIS: It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling.

SCIUTTO: Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Austria goes to the polls. Just ahead here, and this man could be its next president. How Norbert Hofer may be elected as the EU's first far-right head of state. Plus Italy is voting in a constitutional referendum, and there are fears the results plus the country's banks could trigger an economic crisis. More about it in just a minute.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM here in the U.S. and around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:30:09] ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour.

In Oakland, California, at least nine people are dead after a fire gutted a warehouse. Authorities fear the death toll could rise sharply. The fire began as people arrive for a music event. The building contained artist studios and its owners were notified last month on violations for hazardous trash and debris.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered to remember longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Santiago Saturday night. The leaders of Venezuela, Colombia, South America and several more countries were there to pay their respects. Castro's ashes will be interred in a private ceremony in just a few hours.

Two major votes are going on right now in Europe. Italian prime minister -- seen here -- Matteo Renzi said he will quit if voters don't approve his constitutional reforms in a referendum. Mr. Renzi says making the Senate smaller improves efficiency. Opponents say the changes weakened democracy.

In Austria could elect Norbert Hofer there on the right as the first far-right head of state in the European Union. He's running against Alexander Van der Bellen, a left of center candidate. Mr. Van der Bellen won the election in May, but a rerun was ordered because of voting irregularities.

Norbert Hofer heads Austria's Nationalist Freedom Party. Supporters say he'll put ordinary people first. Critics charge he sells pro-fun, anti-immigrant policies with a smile.

Hannah Vaughan Jones goes in search of the man behind the politician.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A soft spoken aeronautical engineer turned politician who carries a Glock, Norbert Hofer hopes to become the EU's first far-right head of state. Riding the tide of a populist tsunami that could transform Europe's political landscape.

Forty-five-year-old Hofer walks with a cane, the result of a serious hand gliding accident and he carries a .9 millimeter Glock pistol on the campaign trail, signaling his strong advocacy for gun rights.

Hofer's foray into politics began when he joined the Freedom Party of Austria. It's a party with a checkered past. Tracing its roots to just after World War II, it was first led by a Nazi officer. Ten years ago the party was battling for even 6 percent of the vote. But the last decade has seen a political shift in Austria and Europe, partly fueled by one growing concern.

DIMITRIS AVRAMOPOULOS, COMMISSIONER, MIGRATION AND HUMAN AFFAIRS: The world finds itself facing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. JONES: Amid growing unemployment, staunchly nationalist anti-

immigrant campaigns like Hofer's have increasingly won the applause. Hofer promises Austria first, a slogan that sounds similar to one heard recently overseas.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: America first, remember that. America first.

JONES: Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. seems to be signaling right-wing candidates like Hofer that they're on the right track.

NORBERT HOFER, FREEDOM PARTY OF AUSTRIA (Through Translator): Whenever the elites distance themselves from voters, those elites will be voted out of office. It is not even a question of political right or left but rather how close the contact is and whether one is ready to implement things to actually alleviate existing concerns.

JONES: Norbert Hofer's harshest critics accuse him of promoting fascism and his opponent is pushing that image.

The Green Party's Alexander Van der Bellen recently posted this video, which has viewed online millions of times. An 89-year-old holocaust survivor begging Austrians not to elect the far-right candidate. But Hofer says there's nothing to fear.

HOFER: You will see, you have to take a look at me when I'm -- in one or two years. I have to work. And then everybody will see that I'm really OK. I'm not a dangerous person.

JONES: The question is whether Hofer's populist momentum will carry him to victory. And that what would mean for nationalist parties across the continent hoping they, too, can emerge from the fringes.

Hannah Vaughn Jones, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Financial markets are afraid economic trouble could follow if voters in Italy don't approve constitutional reforms. The Italian economy has been limping along for some time and the banking system is really struggling.

Our Nina Dos Santos has more from Italy's prosecco region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Santo Stefano. They make prosecco here. But these days there's little cause of celebration. The reason, a banking crisis that's left the town swimming in debt and wiped out its people's savings.

[04:35:07] Paolo de Bortoli's grandfather was among the first shareholders of Veneto Banca, a memory that is now bittersweet.

PAOLO DE BORTOLI, CO-OWNER, COL VETORAZ (Through Translator): It was a source of prestige to own shares. Just as in this region we have faith in God, we have faith in our bank.

DOS SANTOS: Over the years he and others poured all they had into the company's stock. And they were given credit, lots of it. In 2014, Veneto Banca got into trouble. Paolo's shares were frozen and he lost everything.

DE BORTOLI (Through Translator): I lost 1.308 million euros.

DOS SANTOS: To prevent the crisis from spreading, the government bought Veneto Banca and another lender nearby through a special fund, bringing in new management, but little hope of recovering lost investments.

Among those out of pocket, the mayor of nearby town (INAUDIBLE) who says that he was prevented from selling his $50,000 of stock and instead talked into borrowing more cash.

When I asked how many of his people have been affected, he says many, too many to count. They've lost more than 72 million euros or $76 million.

Fabio, a lawyer, says that he had to buy shares in the bank just to open a current account. He never received the dividends promised and lost more than $4,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): To not be a shareholder or an account holder in the bank, if you are a professional around here was to be missing something. They told me the shares were like cash.

DOS SANTOS: Veneto Banca declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

(On camera): Things may appear calm and tranquil across this valley, but don't be fooled. The economic scars left on this landscape run deep. The failure of the two largest local mutual banks across this part of northeastern Italy has cost 100,000 retail investors more than $5 billion.

(Voice-over): Losses that serve as a cautionary tale to other parts of Europe's most fragile financial systems.

Nina Dos Santos, CNN, Santo Stefano, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Derek Van Dam is here, and we were watching that story, but we're sort of going, ah.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Italy.

ALLEN: We're a little distracted by the beautiful scenery in Nina's report. But --

VAN DAM: And of course there are big changes in Europe so that's the important story there.

ALLEN: Yes, exactly. Well, Derek is here to tell us, look out, Hawaii.

VAN DAM: Yes.

ALLEN: Winter storm warnings are in effect.

VAN DAM: Something you don't get to say every day, right? Winter storm in Hawaii. Well, let's bring you there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[04:40:10] VAN DAM: I'll end with this, because you've got to see this awesome photo from the International Space Station. By the way, this is something that astronauts on the ISS see every 90 minutes. They see 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises each day. But this picture indicates the earth's atmospheric layers there and that think sheet of orange, well, that's the troposphere where our weather actually happens, Natalie. And astronauts always say you can just see how thin our atmosphere is and how fragile and delicate it actually is. So we should look after it.

ALLEN: Really cool.

VAN DAM: Kind of cool.

ALLEN: All right. They can probably see the snow in Hawaii.

VAN DAM: From Hawaii. That would be a cool view, wouldn't it?

ALLEN: Yes. Tell them to get a picture of that.

All right, Derek. Thank you.

VAN DAM: You're welcome.

ALLEN: When we come back here, fans bid an emotional farewell to footballers killed in a plane crash. How Brazilian town mourns its sports heroes. We'll have that coming up.

Plus our Fred Pleitgen speaks with civilians fleeing war town Aleppo in Syria. And he tell us what they are telling him.

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ALLEN: Amid the tears and the rain, fans of Brazil's Chapecoense football club gathered Saturday to honor their team. 19 players and 19 staff were among the 71 people killed in a plane crash in Colombia Monday. The team was its way to a major tournament.

"WORLD SPORTS'" Don Riddell has more from Chapeco, Brazil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They left as heroes, they returned in coffins. The Guard of Honor for the Chapecoense football players. But the last few yards were the hardest. Reflecting the emotion of the day, dozens and dozens of caskets returned in a torrential downpour, as the visceral sight of so many bodies finally made the nightmare real.

[04:45:10] This is a small-town club which had punched well above its weight, capturing the hearts of a nation. The supporters had an intimate relationship with the team, sticking by them through the good times and the bad, but nobody could have ever imagined it would end like this.

There isn't anybody in Chapeco who hasn't been touched by the tragedy, but it's been hardest for the families. Their grief was uncontrollable. But many found solace with the supporters, connecting with them possibly for the last time at this stadium.

For Osmar Machado, the grief is crippling. He's told us that he wanted to commit suicide after learning of his son's death. Defender Filipe died on his father's birthday.

The widow of the beloved goal keeper Danilo emotionally took his picture and placed it in the goalmouth where he stood for every game.

The club must now draw on the strength of its supporters to rebuild the team. And their rich history will no doubt live on in the future. Part of that tradition was evident today. The awful weather conditions couldn't have been more appropriate. Everyone knows that Chapecoense played their best football in the rain.

Don Riddell, CNN, Chapeco, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Fighting continues between government troops and rebel forces in Aleppo, Syria, backed by airstrikes and artillery, regime forces continue to advance in rebel-held districts. Reports say they have now regained over half the area once controlled by rebels in eastern Aleppo.

Civilians fleeing the battle are often caught in the middle, facing dangers from both sides.

Senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen filed this report from a government-controlled village south of Aleppo.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the Syrian government continues to push its offensive in and around the Aleppo area, we've been hearing about the tens of thousands of people who have already been displaced. And many people wonder, where are these people going? Well, some of them are going right here.

We're inside a former cotton factory that's disused and is now being used as a place for many of these displaced people to go. Now a lot of these folks here describe harrowing experiences over the past couple of days as they were trapped inside the eastern districts of Aleppo that of course are under siege by the Syrian military and many of them say that in the past couple of days they haven't had very much in the way of food, of water, of course many of them very traumatized and very weak as well.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD (Through Translator): We were afraid that we would starve to death. We were also scared because heavy bombs were falling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): I wanted to leave with my kids 15 days ago, but the rebels shot at me and said, hey, you bastard, do you want to join the regime?

PLEITGEN: Now if you look here you can see how some of these people have been living since they were able to get out of the eastern districts of Aleppo. You can see some of the mattresses there. We always have to stress that over the past couple of days, of course it's December right now, the weather here has been very, very bad. And so that's something of course that has additionally made life very difficult for some of the folks here.

And if we look around, we can see just how many children are among those who also have been brought here to this shelter for displaced people. Again, many of them in very bad condition. Many of them, of course, very traumatized. And many of them also weak.

One of the things that they are getting here is a warm meal for the very first time in a long time. You can see here some of the groups here are trying to hand out some bread, also some salad as well, just to make sure that these people are able to subsist over the next couple of days as of course they wait and they hope that maybe they'll be able to return back to their houses as a force. At this point in time, that government offensive is still very much going on. We have also been hearing a lot of fighting in and around the Aleppo area.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Jibreen, Syria.

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ALLEN: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

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[04:53:35] ALLEN: And now we have this one for you. Domino's Pizza in Japan is testing a new delivery system and it involves antlers.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has that plus other pizza packing gimmicks.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who needs reindeer? To deliver presents when they can deliver pizza. Domino's in Japan says it's training reindeer at a driving school to deliver pizza in one of Japan's coldest, snowiest regions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): : If a reindeer runs properly it can go as fast as 80 kilometers per hour. It's especially fast on snow. It's always equipped with snow shoes.

MOOS: Yes, well, if reindeer ever delivered pizza at 50 miles an hour, Domino's should expect lawsuits.

The trainers seem to be having trouble reigning in their pizza delivery reindeer. Would be equipped with GPS devices so customers can check on their progress.

(On camera): So how do you say publicity stunt in Japanese?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Publicity stunt.

MOOS (voice-over): Domino's no stranger to marketing ploys. Take the edible box Domino's UK dreamed up for April Fool's. Just last month Domino's in New Zealand demonstrated the pizza delivery drone.

[04:55:03] It flew to the appointed address and lowered a pizza. Company officials in New Zealand say that in the next couple of years drones could make up 25 percent of deliveries, and before the drone, Domino's in Australia presented the pizza delivery robot with a top speed of about 12 miles per hour. It can't take to the highway, but it can chat with customers and dodge obstacles, from high tech to low tech.

Is that tomato sauce making Rudolph's nose red?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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ALLEN: Who eats pizza for the holidays anyway? Most people might bake a cake for the holidays. Well, we have one for you, and a very large one at that. The German city of Dresden kicked off the Christmas season with its traditional cutting of the Stollen cake, a massive rum and fruit bread. This year's Stollen was more than 3.5 meters long, that's 11.5 feet. It weighed a whopping three tons. Sales of the Stollen slices will go to charity for the annual tradition. Yummy.

And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be right back after the break with more news. We'll be live in Milan and Austria on two critical votes in Europe. Thanks for watching, see you in a minute.

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