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At Least 26 People Killed In Indonesia Earthquake; Trump Holds "Thank You" Rally in North Carolina; Softbank Agrees To Invest $50B In The U.S.; Trump Has Vowed To Amend Iran Nuclear Deal; Tech Firms' Database To Fight Terrorist Content; Possible Burqa Ban in Germany. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 07, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, powerful earthquake rocks Indonesia. Buildings have collapsed. And people are believed to be still trapped under the rubble.

The Donald Trump Victory Tour hits its next city. The president-elect claiming strong America military might -- will actually keep the peace.

And Europe's most powerful leader wants Germany to become the latest nation to ban the burqa.

Hello, everybody. Thank you for being with us. I'm John Vause. This is NEWSROOM L.A.

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 26 people in Northwest Indonesia. The Red Cross says many homes and buildings have been damaged in Aceh province. And residents were sent running into the streets. It's the same province hit by the devastating tsunami in 2004, which killed tens of thousands. Right now, there are no tsunami warnings.

CNN's Kathy Quiano joins us on the phone from Jakarta with the very latest. What do you know about the rescue efforts right now and the extent of the damage, Kathy?

KATHY QUIANO, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, rescue teams are working very hard to search and pull out any victims who'll be trapped under the rubble. Scores of homes, shop houses, buildings and mosques were totally or partially damaged by the quake. Some roads have also been cut off. The quake hit the streets of Pidie and (INAUDIBLE) in Aceh which is about past 5:00 a.m. this morning. Residents were preparing for early morning prayers when the quake struck and as you said they panicked and ran out to the streets. Many of them chose to stay there as aftershock continued to hit the area.

The tremor was very shallow, with only a depth of 10 kilometers. And it's happened inland, so that's why we're seeing a lot of damage to infrastructure. The areas hit are not highly urbanized. Most of the structures are low-rise homes and shop houses, and buildings are only a few stories high. The local and national government agencies are working hard together to provide immediate medical assistance, food, and shelter. But the priority right now is to find and rescue any more survivors, John?

VAUSE: Kathy, do we know if the rescue crews have access to heavy machinery and other equipment which they'll need to get to those people who are trapped beneath the rubble?

QUIANO: Well, we're hearing reports that heavy equipment have been able to reach areas. As I said, some roads are cut off, were damaged as well. But we're -- we know that rescue efforts are going on, and that they are able now to use heavy equipment. So, the national government has sent more from nearby provinces. President Joko Widodo has ordered immediate assistance to be sent there. Anything that needs to help, any teams there to try to save more lives, John?

VAUSE: OK, Kathy. Thank you, Kathy Quiano on the line there from Jakarta with the very latest on that deadly earthquake.

Donald Trump's Thank You Tour rolled into North Carolina on Tuesday, one of the swing states crucial in his election win. Trump talked about the greatness of his political movement, claiming it's unlike anything ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDEN-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not know what the page tomorrow will read. But for the first time in a long time, what we do know is that the pages will be authored by each and everyone in this room and in our country, by you. It's going to be authored by you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Back with us now, CNN's Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. You know, we've heard from Trump's aides saying that he loves these rallies. That's where he gets recharged, he gets his energy from. And it looks like these will be some of the permanent fixture of his administration. Is there a problem, though, if he continues to go to the rallies with people cheering then he gets sort of a false impression of the broader opinion of the rest of the country?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure. I mean, you know, it's fascinating. Clearly, he draws strength from this. And it is not unusual for presidents to, you know, campaign and go out and speak to followers and supporters. Well, I think one thing we've seen that's already unusual is that tonight being an exception, Trump has been pretty unscripted. You know, much more unscripted than we typically see a president or even a president-elect be If he continues in that mode as president, that would be a real departure. But the reality is that Donald Trump won the election fair and square. He won the Electoral College, he won the states and they both contested the most heavily Iowa -- I'm sorry. Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. But he lost the popular vote by more than anyone who will ever become president.

Hillary Clinton has an outside chance of coming very close to George W. Bush's margin in the popular vote in 2004, an election that republicans portrayed as a decisive win. Democrats gained seats in the senate, although not enough to take it over, and in the house. So, Trump, I mean, you know, he is looking for validation. He finds validation in these audiences. But the reality is he still has a big portion of the country that is skeptical of him as he takes office.

[01:05:13] VAUSE: Right. Well, I guess if we're looking for a headline from this rally, Trump's pick for Defense Secretary and he also laid out what appears to be a noninterventionist military policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We build up our military not as an act of aggression, but as an act of prevention. We pursue and build up arms not in order to seek conflict, but in order to avoid conflict. We want to be strong. In short, we seek peace through strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: You know, the way he's describing the military there, you can almost envision it as a kind of wall between the U.S. and the world. And in fact, if you think about military engagement and alliance and intervention in other countries, immigration, trade, it's a very consistent theme. I mean, President-elect Trump portrays the world as kind of a dark, dangerous, duplicitous place that is out to kind of get the best of America. And we need to show strength and be tough. But largely take a big step back behind these walls. I mean, the China example is kind of fascinating here. I mean, obviously he's talking tough on China or tweeting tough on China and talking with the Taiwanese President. But he is also stepping back from Asia by abandoning the transpacific partnership, the trade deal that President Obama saw as the principle way of counterbalancing Chinese economic power in the region. So, there's a pretty consistent pattern emerging in the way he talks and acts.

VAUSE: You mentioned, you know, the diplomatic dust-up with China over Taiwan. We are now learning through a number of reports that Bob Dole, Senator Bob Dole, former presidential nominee for the Republican Party was actually paid by lobbyists for Taiwan $140,000 to set that phone call up. I mean, this does seem to be, you know, one of the problems within the Trump team. This sort of if not conflicts of interest, but the appearance of conflict of interest.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. And not only that, but kind of like a lack of a sense of structure that would kind of insulate a president-elect from something like that, who may not have wanted to be insulated. This may have been the direction that he wanted to go. It's an extraordinary story. First of all, it's important to recognize, Bob Dole was the only living republican presidential nominee to actively support Donald Trump. Now, he did so before this contract apparently began in May in The New York Times reporting. In January, he said that Donald Trump would have been a better bet than Ted Cruz. But still, the idea that this was facilitated by a lobbying contract is going to add -- is going to add a lot of questions in the days ahead.

VAUSE: And the other problem within the Trump campaign is Michael Flynn, Jr., son of General Michael Flynn who is the pick for National Security Advisor. Flynn has been -- Flynn, Jr. has been fired because he's retweeting all these fake news stories. And there is this question of whether he actually had security clearance to be part of the White House administration? Jake Tapper pressed the Vice President-Elect Mike Pence about that. And this was the response he got from Mr. Pence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I said this morning that his son had no involvement in the transition. But I've talked to General Flynn, and his son was helping him a bit with scheduling and administrative items. But that's no longer the case. Mike Flynn, Jr. is no longer associated with General Flynn's efforts or with the transition team. And we're focused eyes forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Again --

BROWNSTEIN: They were -- they were trying to -- you know, Jake had to ask him eight times before he got kind of a full answer. And they were trying to minimize it by basically saying, well, he was helping his scheduling on the -- on the transition. There is some indications that they were moving toward having him as a position on the National Security Council itself. But the issue with the son does not end with the son, because many of these same kind of conspiracy theories have been advanced by the father as well on his own Twitter account. And you're having, I think, growing questions and growing challenges to that. He's kept a very low profile during the transition itself. But you can bet there will be more of a bulls-eye on General Flynn in the days ahead by democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) some calls for Trump to dump him, but Trump is very loyal to a point.

BROWNSTEIN: Maybe bulls-eye is the wrong word. If he have, I'd call it ping-pong.

VAUSE: Fair enough.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

VAUSE: Interesting that Trump -- he seems to be out there campaigning making what seems to be a lot of promises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to do a great job. We're going to create a safe country. We're going to create a prosperous country. We're going to have jobs again, great jobs. Not bad jobs, real jobs. Together we will raise incomes and create millions and millions of new jobs. That's going to happen. It's already happening. You see what happened today? We will re-establish the rule of law and defend the constitution of the United States. We will protect the right of every American to live in safety and peace. We will restore and respect, and we will respect people's rights, we will respect constitutional rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I mean, there is a lot of stuff which he promised tonight.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

[01:10:02] VAUSE: And can you make promises as president? I mean, like he is doing as a candidate? Because, you know, surely these now have to be delivered.

BROWNSTEIN: He is pushing against big tides. He won this election primarily because of overwhelming almost unprecedented levels of support among non-college and non-urban white Americans, many of whom have been losing ground economically since the 1970s, from the twin forces of globalization and even more technological change. The ability of a president through policy levers to reverse those kinds of structural forces is limited. And the question will be whether -- how much rope those voters are willing to give him, if he can't ultimately reverse what has been decades of both job loss and in particular income stagnation through the policies that he pursues over four years.

VAUSE: Although, he did take credit for the creation of 50,000 jobs because of the massive billions dollar investment from a Japanese telecom company. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And one of the wealthiest men in the world, you saw it today, maybe, did anybody see it? Masa, right? Masa, great guy of Japan. He's pledged that he's going to put $50 billion into the United States because of our victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Let's bring Andrew Stevens in now. He is CNN Money Asia Pacific Editor. So, Andrew, what more do we know about this deal which seems to be in the works long before Trump was elected?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN MONEY ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Well, what was in the works long before Trump was elected, and it wasn't that long, I mean, it was in October, John, was Masayoshi Son who is the boss of SoftBank in Japan was setting up a $100 billion fund to invest in tech ventures. And the main partner was the Saudi Arabian government, or is the Saudi Arabian government. Now, there's no -- no money has physically gone in yet, but it looks as if the reports -- if the reports are correct that Masayoshi is going to put in $25 billion and the Saudis another $45 billion. And other shareholders will make up the rest. So, Masayoshi Son goes to the Trump Towers, meets with Donald Trump for a private meeting for 45 minutes and comes out with this statement, which we heard from Donald Trump.

So, that's a $50 billion investment to create 50,000 jobs in the U.S. and what looks like in tech companies and mainly start-up companies, John. And creating 50,000 jobs in a start-up companies in the timeframe seems to be four years, that's what he told The Wall Street Journal, that sounds like that's an ambitious target. And Donald Trump was saying that if it wasn't for my election victory or my election victory spurred Masayoshi decision to spend this money, that's Donald Trump's word, and we've got nothing to back that out with.

VAUSE: OK. It seems to be the case on many things with the president-elect. Andrew, thank you. Andrew Stevens live (INAUDIBLE) some perspective there from Hong Kong.

You know, Ron, you know, this is just all sort of smoke and mirrors in some ways. It's like look, I've got these 50,000 jobs where, you know, it's kind of very dubious if he actually created these jobs.

BROWNSTEIN: Look, we've had a lot of job growth over the last eight years. I think the final numbers may be 9 or 10 to 1 under President Obama's term compared to George W. Bush's two terms. But in big parts of the country, they have -- they're feeling as though the job growth has either left them behind or has produced kind of employment that was less -- that offered less of a middleclass lifestyle than they remember from their parents growing up. It's going to be difficult for Donald Trump, as I said, to reverse some of those trends. The question is how far can he get with these big symbolic victories if by no other means -- if I know -- if nothing else, these show that he is concerned about those problems. I feel your pain, as another president said once. That was Bill Clinton.

VAUSE: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: And, you know, how far can that take him in maintaining the allegiance of these voters who were so important in putting him where he is today, even if he can't structurally change what has been decades of decline in places like Youngstown and Gary and Flint.

VAUSE: OK. So, we've had a very substantive discussion over the last couple of hours about military intervention, about jobs, about the economy. We've talked about Trump (INAUDIBLE) then, you know, we all woke up this morning to Trump saying he was going to scrap the deal with Boeing to replace, you know, two presidential planes. This is the reason why Trump gave reporters outside Trump Tower.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The plane is totally out of control. It's going to be over $4 billion for Air Force One program. And I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, this comes out of nowhere. Like the (INAUDIBLE) should be, you know, thrown in jail.

(CROSSTALK) BROWNSTEIN: Right. Well, look, we're seeing -- what we're seeing is a willingness on the part of Trump to go after individual companies in a variety of means, usually around their investment decisions. What we saw in Carrier and others, that he is criticized for wanting to move jobs or build plants in Mexico.

[01:15:01] If this was coming from Barack Obama or democrats in congress, you would hear Paul Ryan and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the business round table with their heads exploding. I think they don't know quite what to do with this from Donald Trump, because on the one hand, he is promising them big cuts in their taxes, big cuts in regulations, a move toward many of the things that they most want in terms of rolling back Washington.

On the other hand, he has shown a willingness to kind of call out individual companies by name in an extraordinary way that we really haven't seen from a president in this detail possibly since John F. Kennedy's confrontation with the steel industry in the early 1960s. So, I think there are a lot of CEOs, C-suites and the equivalents of trade association in Washington that are really wondering how they -- how they're going to calibrate their reaction to this president and this kind of mix of things that they have long wanted that he wants to give them, and yet this other confrontational and unpredictable side.

VAUSE: Unpredictable -- that will be the word for some time to come. Ron, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Well, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he will not let Donald Trump rip up the nuclear deal with the United States. And during his campaign, Trump called the deal one of the worst ever, vowed to renegotiate the terms. But on Tuesday, Rouhani had his own warning for the President-elect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN ROUHANI, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): The U.S., as part of the five plus one, is one of our enemies and wants to pressure us. There is no doubt about that. We have to resist, be steadfast, and find a way to counter it. They may break the nuclear agreement. They have already done so by extending the D'Amato Law. If this measure is actually implemented, then it would be a clear breach of the nuclear agreement, and will cause us to react very harshly and severely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Let's bring in CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst, former CIA Operative Bob Baer, joining us via Skype from Telluride, Colorado. Bob, Rouhani called America the enemy. According to New York Times, the crowds are chanting "death to America." Rouhani is meant to be the moderate. Is this all in response to the incoming Trump administration?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST AND FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, John, I think that they really don't know what's going to happen next, if you look at the Presidents-elect's national security team, they're all strongly anti-Iranian. In fact, a lot of them believe that we should use force against Iran. The Iranians at this point have to be very wary what we're going to do next. They frankly don't understand this administration and they would react very negatively if we withdrew that agreement, the five plus one. It's, you know, we're uncharted waters right here. It could turn very ugly, very fast.

VAUSE: You know, in contrast to Donald Trump, President Obama on Tuesday, he was out talking about the power of diplomacy. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions and ends conflicts and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them, it would be a tragic mistake for us. Just think about what we've done these last eight years without firing a shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He went on to give the example of the Iran nuclear deal as, you know, one of those efforts in diplomacy being successful. Is he right?

BAER: It was a good agreement. The Iranians stopped building a nuclear bomb. They were very close and we rescind -- we take back that agreement, I think they will go ahead and try to make one, and they could do it very quickly. You tightening a couple of screws here and there, and then if they'll test a bomb, and what that will cause is a nuclear arms race. And -- but more than that, diplomacy has essentially kept a, you know, a confrontation in the gulf from happening. It's so easy for an escalation to occur and there have been a lot of close calls over the last few months. If we would turn hostile to Iran, and impose new sanctions, I think this could very easily turn into some sort of armed conflict in the gulf.

VAUSE: Well, the State Department Spokesman Mark Toner, he was talking in glowing terms about that nuclear deal with Iran. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK TONER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Thus far, all sides, all parties have lived up to their commitments under the JCPOA. And it's working. So, you know, we think it's a good deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, the critics point out that's debatable. They say the Iranians, for example, have twice exceeded their limit for heavy water, which is used in some nuclear reactors. It could be used for building nuclear bombs, they've cheated on other U.N. sanctions, not necessarily this deal, and they say, essentially the Iranians aren't living up to their part of the deal. How do you see it?

[01:19:45] BAER: Those are small infractions. There's no, you know, violations to the agreement that could call it into question. You know, this was expected, but by and large, we have brought the Iranian nuclear program under control and under inspection. It's something that was unthinkable 10 years ago, and it was very difficult for the Iranians to give up what they believe is their right to produce nuclear, you know, reactors and the rest of it. They don't understand, for instance, why Israel can have a nuclear bomb or their own reactors that don't come under inspection and they can't. You know, we have a good argument for that. But the point is, this agreement was hard fought, and it's a good agreement, and if it's taken back now, like I said, it's going to turn ugly.

VAUSE: OK, Bob. Appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much. Bob Baer, former CIA Operative in Telluride.

Next on NEWSROOM L.A., how four major tech companies are teaming up to get terrorist videos off the internet.

Millions of people are sharing fake news stories before a hard fought election. Does that sound familiar? Ahead the real world effects of Italy's false news machines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:24:53] VAUSE: Four of the world's biggest tech companies are working together to fight the spread of terrorism online. Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube will share a database to flag and remove what they call violent terrorist imagery, or terrorist recruitment videos like these ISIS propaganda videos. The database will have digital fingerprints of the images and video, which will help the companies identify other terrorist content. Joining me now is tech expert and co-founder of StoryTech, Lori Schwartz. Lori, thank you for being with us.

LORI SCHWARTZ, CO-FOUNDER OF STORYTECH: It is great to be here.

VAUSE: I want to play some sound from President Obama earlier on Tuesday. He specifically mentioned social media as a tool of choice by Jihadi groups.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: For all of our necessary focus on fighting terrorists overseas, the most deadly attacks on the homeland over the last eight years have not been carried out by operatives with sophisticated networks or equipment directed from abroad. They've been carried out by home-grown and largely isolated individualist who were radicalized online.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, how big is this problem right now?

SCHWARTZ: Oh, it's huge. It's tremendous. I mean, there are so many different social media platforms and so many people creating fake account, and so much activity, and it's so hard to track what's going on and where it's coming from. It's decentralized, right? And there are new social media platforms being born all the time, and, you know, messenger platforms and it's just an explosion of tech right now. So, it's very scary.

VAUSE: It's like whack-a-mole in a way.

SCHWARTZ: Yes, it really is.

VAUSE: OK. So, technically, how would this work? Will these big tech companies are proposing, how does this actually, you know, work from a just a technical point of view?

SCHWARTZ: So, basically there's an algorithm, just some software, and that software can basically sort through all of these images and videos, because each of them will have a little digital fingerprint. And they're actually calling it a "hash" but it's just a digital fingerprint. And so, when something gets uploaded, the algorithm goes through it, and finds it, and identifies it. Now, the thing that's interesting about all of this is that Facebook and Twitter and Microsoft and YouTube, aren't going to automatically remove something just because it's on the database. They're each going to sort through against their own rules and judge it by what their platform has decided and it should be removed.

VAUSE: So, you're saying this is where the human intervention comes into play?

SCHWARTZ: Yeah.

VAUSE: Is this where you have to make that decision, is this terrorist propaganda or this is just free speech?

SCHWARTZ: Yeah, exactly, and I -- and I think that there's always going to be pushback from, you know, civil liberties on whether this is the first amendment issue. But the thing about the first amendment is the first amendment is a government issue. You know, Facebook is allowed to say, this is OK to be on my platform or this isn't. You're still dealing with corporations that are determining what's right and what's wrong. And they're businesses who are set up to make money. So, they're going to want to do whatever they can to keep their businesses running, too.

VAUSE: So, Twitter, you know, you don't have the first amendment rights on Twitter. It's like when going into somebody -- someone's home, the person who owns the home decides what can be said and what cannot be.

SCHWARTZ: Right, right, yeah. Often, I say get out.

VAUSE: Right.

SCHWARTZ: To my relatives.

VAUSE: Really? Come over to my place. OK. The tech companies said, in a joint statement, "There is no place for content that promotes terrorism on our hosted consumer services. When alerted, we take swift action against this kind of content in accordance with our respective policies." But European officials have actually been quite critical of tech giants, basically saying, they're not moving fast enough.

SCHWARTZ: You know, that's absolutely right. I mean, Europe has the most -- the most violence, has had the most violence in the last two years around terrorist activity. And they're watching all of these companies move through this slowly while violence is happening. So, they actually had a meeting of the European commission, which is part of the E.U., and they came out with a code of contact. And that code of contact basically said, you know, you have 24 hours to remove hateful language. And again, it's a civil liberties issue, right? Because you can't just say, "This is hateful language." and there's other rules at play. So, it's going to be a real battle, I think, between what these media companies say, what the government says, and what people say.

VAUSE: OK. The companies have used similar databases in the past. For example, they used it to take down the child pornography industry.

SCHWARTZ: Yes, yes.

VAUSE: Could this technology, this database be used, I don't know, to take down those fake news sites?

SCHWARTZ: I think that that is probably going to be looked at. But that's going to have to be looked at very carefully, because, again, who's to say what fake is.

VAUSE: It's pretty obvious. I'd say. Lori, thank you so much.

SCHWARTZ: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Appreciate it.

We'll take a short break. When we come back here on NEWSROOM L.A., burqas in Germany. We'll tell you why the country's leader wants them banned.

Plus, sifting through the politics news online, what voters in Italy found, and how much of it was fake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:33:18] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

With the headlines this hour, at least 26 people have been killed in an earthquake in Indonesia's Aceh province. The 6.5 magnitude tremor struck on Wednesday morning. The Red Cross says it damaged many homes and buildings and residents. Through out in the streets are lined temporary shelters. There are no tsunami warnings as of now. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took his thank you tour in North Carolina on Tuesday. Keep as battleground state in his election win. At the rally Trump formally announced his pick to run the Pentagon, General James "Mad Dog" Mattis.

In the coming hours, the U.S. will commemorate the 75th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The sneak attack killed more than 2,000 Americans, devastated half the fleet of U.S. aircraft, and damaged or destroyed eight U.S. battle ships and led to the U.S. entry into the Second World War.

Some Muslim women in Germany may have to give up their burqas. Chancellor Angela Merkel wants them banned wherever legally possible. She told her party's conference on Tuesday the full-face veils do not belong in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: We have to show our face during personal communication, which is important. And that is why the full veil is not appropriate here. It should be forbidden wherever that is legally possible. It does not belong to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Edina Lekovic is the communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council. She joins us once again.

Edina, it seems unlikely the German Constitution would actually allow for a full ban of the face veil. So it seems a lot of this is about sort of election politics for Angela Merkel. So what's happened?

[01:35:00] EDINA LEKOVIC, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: It's only seems that way to me too. In the sense that a year ago, Chancellor Merkel was allowing for refugees to come into the country and accepted more than any other western country and set a positive tone and leadership about yeah, about our humanity.

And now, we see, as you said, I think it is a political gesture meant to take a more pragmatic role and signal to German voters that she's with them. But I think that fundamentally that this proposal is off the mark because it's targeting just a few hundred women. And by banning something, we generally make things more popular.

VAUSE: Right.

LEKOVIC: Rather than having the opposite effect. And so if the intended outcome is to promote integration of immigrants into Germany, providing language classes, providing job skills, providing education. These are the tools that allow people to integrate and to value the society that they are choosing to adapt.

VAUSE: But this is a going trend around the world. There are many countries now which have either banned or are proposing banning burqas in public or in some parts of public life. Given that so many saw Chancellor Merkel as a defender of liberal values, is there a message that is now being sent a political -- not with this burqa ban? It seems to have an undertone when dealing with I guess a, you know a Muslim immigrant population.

LEKOVIC: I think that fundamentally it sends the message that somehow Muslims are other. When the truth is that they -- that Muslims have been in Europe and been in the United States for centuries, that we are part and parcel of the fabric of our countries. And that -- sure, there always need to be more steps towards integration and coexistence and bridge building. And Europe has the opportunity to do that. I hope that Chancellor Merkel and Germany hold clear on their path towards creating a Germany that has room for everyone, and where the German national identity is bigger than your accent.

VAUSE: OK, well, here in the United States, almost 300 Muslim leaders have written an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump. It happens with this line, "As American-Muslims committed to the values of our faith and the principles that underpin our country's democracy, we write to express serious concerns about policies proposed during your campaign as well as announcements regarding appointments to your upcoming administration."

Do, I guess specific here is that, is there are one or two appointments which is most concerning to Muslims here in this country to the Trump administration?

LEKOVIC: Quite frankly, most of the appointments today are troubling. Individuals like Steve Bannon, like General Mike Flynn have clear track records of making bigoted, hateful comments about multiple groups of people who are protected under our constitution. And appointing those kinds of people to this new administration sends a really troubling tone not just to American-Muslims, but to all Americans who value the constitution and see that all people should be equal before the law.

VAUSE: Have you had a response yet from the Trump transition team?

LEKOVIC: No, we have not. And that's why we have made it a public letter, an open letter, in addition to sending it through to the transition team. I mean clearly people are being paraded through for job interviews. And so the transition team's attention is elsewhere at the moment. But we certainly hope that that President-elect Trump takes a new look at the American-Muslim community because he clearly doesn't know who we are and what we contribute to our country, and that our values and rights are just as important as everyone else's.

VAUSE: Maybe you could all get together a whole great big rally and he'll turn up as thousands of cheering Muslims at a stadium for him.

LEKOVIC: You never know.

VAUSE: You never know. Edina, thank you so much.

LEKOVIC: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Plus up for this is the major issue when critics talk about Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser. As Jim Sciutto reports they want the U.S. president-elect to cut Mike Flynn loose.

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MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Donald J. Trump to be the next president of the United States.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: He's got to be President-elect Trump's closest adviser on the most sensitive threats facing the nation. And tonight there is growing criticism that his inflammatory views make him unfit for the job. More than 50 progressive non-profits ranging from religious to social justice organizations signed a letter asking Trump to dump Flynn.

FLYNN: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion.

SCIUTTO: Citing the former defense intelligence chief's numerous Islamophobic remarks, including tweeting in February that fear of Muslims is rational.

Today Vice President-elect Mike Pence praised Flynn on CNN.

MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: We are so grateful and honored to have General Flynn as our nominee for national security adviser. He brings an extraordinary wealth of experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Flynn.

SCIUTTO: But the groups also raised more substantive allegations. On one occasion while overseeing intelligence in Afghanistan, former government officials tell CNN that Flynn shared classified information from another agency with Pakistan. Flynn told CNN the allegation, "Is not true. Not even close."

[01:40:02] But the incident led to an informal reprimand, though no charges, officials tell CNN. And as Flynn received classified intelligence briefings during the campaign he was lobbying on behalf of foreign clients, among them Turkey. And Flynn is uncritically backed as it has cracked down on domestic dissent.

Trump's transition team told CNN last month that Flynn's dealings with Turkey were within his rights as a private citizen, and that Flynn would sever ties to his consulting firm when he is part of the administration.

FLYNN: I have people in media, mainstream media that say "Oh, that's all a conspiracy. It's a lie."

SCIUTTO: In his public statements, Flynn has repeatedly dabbled in conspiracy theories. Just one week before the election, he tweeted, "You decide, NYPD blows whistle on new Hillary e-mails, money laundering, sex crimes with children et cetera, must read." Allegations that remain entirely unsubstantiated.

Flynn's son Michael Flynn Jr. who served as his aide has been a leading proponent of a bizarre fake news story alleging that a D.C. pizzeria was home to a child sex rape, visited by Clinton campaign staff. The story led an armed man to enter the restaurant this weekend he claimed to investigate the allegations. He was arrested only after firing several shots.

And yet on Sunday, Flynn Jr. was still defending the conspiracy theory, tweeting, "Until pizza gate, proven to be false, it will remain a story. The left seems to forget Podesta e-mails and the many coincidences tied to it."

Today, Flynn Jr. was dismissed from the transition. The decision sources tell CNN coming directly from the President-elect.

I have spoken to Democratic and GOP lawmakers who see General James Mattis' selection as defense secretary as balancing General Flynn. Mattis, enormously respected by both parties, and many I have spoken to note that he outranked Flynn four stars to three when they were in the military. And that kind of stuff matters.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

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VAUSE: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden ran for the top job eight years ago. But will he do it again in 2020? He told, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he is a solid who knows.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I can't see the circumstance in which I would run. But what I've learned a long, long time ago, Stephen, is to never say never. You don't know what's going to happen. I mean hell, Donald Trump is going to be 74. I'll be 77 in better shape. I mean what the hell?

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VAUSE: Coming up later on CNN, Van Jones looks back at what happened during the U.S. election in his new CNN special "The Messy Truth."

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VAN JONES, HOST OF "THE MESSY TRUTH": So here we are in Ohio. As you know, Ohio went for Trump. We're going go to one of the bluest county, Trumbull County which since 1976 has always voted for the Democrat until this year. And they voted for Trump. I'm baffled. I'm bewildered. We got to figure it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And you can see "The Messy Truth" with Van Jones at 6:00 Wednesday night in Hong Kong. Catch it also at 9:00 p.m. in London. And we'll be right back.

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[01:46:30] JOHN VAUSE CNN ANCHOR: Political turmoil continues in Italy after voters overwhelmingly rejected constitutional changes. In the run-up to the referendum, millions shared fake news stories online, a familiar problem which just seems to be getting worse.

Nina dos Santos has details.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Twenty-seven-year-old Giovanni has only ever voted for one party, Beppe Grillo Five Star Movement.

GIOVANNI PIETRANTONIO, MILAN RESIDENT: So this is the page of Five Star Movement and they will put like.

SANTOS: For millennials like these, swirling the ranks of Italian populism, the party's vast online presence is a big draw. And to capture their attention, its media machine must deliver. What makes you click on a story?

PIETRANTONIO: The title and the image. And I will click to read the news.

SANTOS: The trouble is, some of the five-star links have little or no link to the truth. Like these allegations that Ukraine is running concentration camps made by a five-star lawmaker in parliament and broadcast on the movement's YouTube channel.

And this claims that the U.S. is funding the trafficking of migrants to Italy made by the popular pro Five Star blog TzeTze. There is no proof of either of these stories being true, but both were widely shared.

Grillo's blog, with more than 2 million followers is managed is managed by this man, Daddy di Casaleggio (ph).

SANTOS: And it's from these offices in Milan's exclusive fashion district that Casaleggio runs that blog, as well as the network of anti-establishment and click bait websites whose content is then spread via social media.

Also at the same address, a link to organizations set up to source party funds, which runs the official Five Star Movement blog, a site which has also run false articles. Casaleggio declined CNN's request for an interview or comment, referring as to the party and one of its elected officials told CNN.

LUIGI DI MAIO, FIVE STAR MOVEMENT, POLITICIAN, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): When it comes to social media, we are leaders there. We know how to manage this. If there have been errors, we apologize. But absolutely it's not intended and not part of our policy.

SANTOS: And Italy's fake news scourge doesn't end there. Fact checkers at this online journal examined the 10 most shared social media posts in the lead up to Italy's referendum, and found half of them to be inaccurate or misleading. DAVIDE DE LUCA, JOURNALIST, PAGELLA POLITICA: I think it's a problem. In Italy like many other countries, in Italy trusting traditional media is quite low even lower than other countries.

SANTOS: Giovanni knows there's fake news out there and says he tries to be vigilant. But the temptation to share a politician's post before reading it in full is always there.

PIETRANTONIO: Put the like is for example in this image and share.

SANTOS: But you haven't read that yet. You just like the image.

PIETRANTONIO: Yeah of course.

SANTOS: There's about four paragraphs before it. But you haven't read it.

PIETRANTONIO: Yes, sometimes I read it.

SANTOS: And thus the cycle continues.

Nina dos Santos, CNN, Milan.

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[01:49:33] VAUSE: Well, next on NEWSROOM L.A. Why a popular T.V. host is gagging about Madonna latest dance moves.

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VAUSE: Beyonce leads the way at this year's Grammy Awards. The pop superstar picked up nine nominations Tuesday, becoming the first artist to earn nods in the pop, rock, r&b and rap categories in the same year.

Adele is also up for three of the top awards, including record, song, and album of the year. Grammies are in February.

Obviously, Madonna has never been afraid of pushing the envelope, and she is doing it again new twerk-filled performance on late night television. Here is Jeanne Moos.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: James Corden takes Madonna for a spin.

JAMES CORDEN, ENGLISH ACTOR, USA: Do you mind if we listen to some music?

MADONNA, SINGER, USA: Please.

CORDEN: Is that be, OK?

MADONNA: I don't really like riding around in a car unless there's music. MOOS: But Madonna didn't just ride shotgun. She twerked it. It's a wonder she didn't set off the air bag. Well, actually, she did set off an air bag of sorts.

SUSANNA REID, ANCHOR, GOOD MORNING BRITAIN: I love Madonna.

PIERS MORGAN, ANCHOR, GOOD MORNING BRITAIN: Oh, she makes my skin crawl.

MOOS: On Good Morning Britain, former CNN Piers Morgan called 58- year-old Madonna's twerking utterly embarrassing, a train wreck.

[01:54:59] MORGAN: Oh, God, sorry, I feel suddenly nausea. Sorry, does someone have a bucket? Hang on.

MOOS: But Madonna fans are sick of Piers. Madonna is an icon. He is grumpy old man, commented one.

Tweeted another, people don't disappear after a certain age. Look at you, meaning Piers

MORGAN: Put it away, seriously.

MOOS: Responded another Madonna supporter, I didn't know older women weren't allowed to have fun, make fun of themselves, poke around and have a gay old time.

Madonna's rear came to the forefront recently when she twerked with Ariana Grande.

Thank you for showing me your freshly purchased and installed buttocks, Madonna, wrote one commenter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Big booty but you got a big booty, shake that.

MOOS: From J. Lo to Adele, carpool karaoke has featured everyone from Justin Bieber to Stevenie Wonder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Ooh, baby, here I am, signed sealed, delivered. I'm yours.

MOOS: But no one delivered quite like Madonna.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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VAUSE: It's really unfortunate. You're watching NEWSROOM L.A. I'm John Vause. I'll be back with more after the break.

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[02:00:16] VAUSE: This is CNN Newsroom ...