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Trump Slams Boeing Over Cost of New Air Force One; rump Takes Credit for Japanese Firm's Pledge; Deadly Quake Strikes Indonesia; Syrian Forces Claim More Gains in Rebel Areas; Red Cross Workers Risk Lives to Help Iraqi Herders; Obama Defends U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy; What Future May Hold for Military Relationships; Possible Burqa Ban in Germany; Public Service Ad Looks at Signs of Gun Violence. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 07, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:14] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, art of the deal. Donald Trump claiming credit for a $50 billion investment from a Japanese company.
Barack Obama trying to defend his legacy by highlighting gains against terrorism despite the growing threat of ISIS.
Also, caught in the crossfire as the fight for Mosul intensifies, we look at the danger facing families as they try to flee.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. We're now into the third hour of NEWSROOM L.A.
Donald Trump is taking a victory lap around the United States. The latest stop on his thank you tour, North Carolina. The battleground state was crucial to his election win. Had a huge campaign-style rally the president-elect formally introduced his choice for Defense secretary. Retired Marine General James "Mad Dog" Mattis. Trump also called for unity among all Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: And we will respect people's rights. We will respect constitutional rights. And for all America we will respect our great American flag again. Believe me. We will heal our divisions and unify our country. When Americans are unified, there is nothing we cannot do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump has also taken time out to slam Boeing over a contract to build two new presidential jets. He says Boeing wants too much money for the new Air Force One and the order should be canceled.
Jeff Zeleny has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump, the businessman president, is singling out another U.S. corporation. Using his bully pulpit to push for a better deal. This time it's Boeing, the nation's largest exporter.
TRUMP: We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.
ZELENY: It started with a morning tweet from Trump. "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents. Costs are out of control. More than $4 billion. Cancel order." Speaking to reporters a short time later, he raised questions about two new presidential planes the Air Force is trying to get ready by 2022 to replace an aging fleet.
TRUMP: Well, the plane is totally out of control. It's going to be over $4 billion for the Air Force One program. And I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number.
ZELENY: Trump didn't explain the $4 billion figure. A Boeing official says the cost can't yet be estimated. The company said it would deliver the best planes for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer.
It's the latest sign Trump intends to be a very public negotiator-in- chief. Firing off a tweet as a starting bid.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence visiting Capitol Hill, where Republicans are bristling over Trump's threat to impose a 35 percent tariff on goods sold by U.S. companies that move jobs overseas.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling reporters, "I don't want to get into some kind of trade war." Speaker Paul Ryan offering a more measured view.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: So we think the real solution here is comprehensive across-the-board tax reform, which is what we're going to be hitting the ground running on.
ZELENY: All this as the son of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Trump's pick as National Security adviser, was removed from the transition team. Mike Flynn Jr. drew attention for promoting a hoax, "Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta ran a sex trafficking ring out of a Washington pizzeria." The false conspiracy prompted an armed attack Sunday.
JASON MILLER, TRANSITION TEAM SPOKESPERSON: The younger Michael Flynn was helping his father with some administration and scheduling duties early on in the transition process, and he is no longer involved with transition efforts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Jeff Zeleny there reporting.
And Trump is taking credit for a major deal with a Japanese billionaire. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says he's ready to invest $50 billion in the U.S. economy and create 50,000 jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MASAYOSHI SON, SOFTBANK CEO: We were talking about it, and then I said, I would like to celebrate his presidential job and commit. You know, because he would allow deregulation. I said this is great. The United States -- U.S. will become great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN Money Asia-Pacific editor Andrew Stevens live now from Hong Kong.
Andrew, what do you know about this deal? It seems to have sort of come as a bit of a surprise.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Yes, we know a lot of headlines and not much underneath it, John. We know that Donald Trump tweeted saying that Masayoshi Son had told him that his election victory had spurred Masayoshi to actually decide to go ahead with this sort of investment.
[02:05:10] We've only got Donald Trump's word for that. But if it is going to go through it is a big one. $50 billion, creating 50,000 jobs. The money's going to be targeting start-ups and tech start-ups at that. And to create 50,000 jobs in tech start-ups is no mean feat.
Masayoshi Son also telling the "Wall Street Journal," John, that the money is going to come from a fund. It's called the SoftBank Vision Fund. This is actually a $100 billion war chest which is making investments in technology companies around the world. And it's funded to a big degree by the Saudis. The Saudi Arabians are putting in $45 billion. SoftBank will put in about $25 billion. And other investors will make up the difference.
Now that's been announced. The money actually hasn't appeared yet. So it wasn't -- we don't -- this fund was already there before Donald Trump was elected. So we don't exactly know what sort of -- how it links in to Donald Trump and that meeting yesterday. But see what you're looking at there.
This is another interesting wrinkle, John. That note you just saw there, which is being waged around by Masayoshi, mentioned Foxconn. Foxconn is the maker of iPhones in China. We know Foxconn is talking to American officials about moving some operations to the U.S. We don't know what they are. But that says there's a sort of $7 billion in the U.S. Is that a Foxconn investment? Is that also going to create another 50,000 new jobs?
This is a bit of an odd one. But certainly it would time with what Donald Trump wants to see about U.S. companies bringing jobs or jobs coming back to the U.S. I said U.S. companies but Foxconn isn't a U.S. company, but it would be bringing jobs to the U.S. if it goes ahead with its plans.
VAUSE: So much mystery. So much yet to be known about all of this. And what do we know about Masayoshi Son? He's this Japanese billionaire. STEVENS: He is. He's a hugely successful entrepreneur. Made his
first million dollars at the age of 20. Educated at U.S. universities. And he began SoftBank in his early 20s as -- really as an investment vehicle for tech companies. And he's made some spectacular investments. He got into Yahoo! very early. Most notably he got into Alibaba very early. And that alone, the investment in Ali is worth tens of billions of dollars.
He's also invested in rivals to Uber in various countries around Asia. So he's a very shrewd investor. And he's reaped a lot. He's now Japan's richest man. And he continues to sniff around the world looking for tech opportunities. So he is in the U.S. You'd have to say he's quite serious about putting a chunk of money in there, seeking out opportunities in the U.S. but certainly, John, he has been enormously successful in doing what he does.
VAUSE: He already has a big stake in the U.S. phone carrier Sprint. Could he be maybe looking for Donald Trump to make good on that promise to scrap a lot of regulations?
STEVENS: Yes. This is fascinating. So this is -- there's chat about this. So Masayoshi, the headline is this $50 billion investment. But two stocks went up on the back of that. That was Sprint, which is 70 percent owned by SoftBank, and T-Mobile, which is actually German owned. Now there had been talk and in fact Masayoshi himself said he wanted to see a merger between his company Sprint and T-Mobile. That would be the third and fourth biggest telco companies in the U.S. so they could take on AT&T and Verizon, people like that. That deal was scuttled early on by U.S. regulators. They said that wasn't going to happen.
Now as we heard in that sound from Masayoshi saying that he's hoping that Donald Trump will be clearing away regulations, so does that mean this deal could be back on? Watch that one.
VAUSE: There are so many things we need to watch right now. It's like drinking from a fire hydrant.
Andrew, thank you. Andrew Stevens live in Hong Kong.
And we have this quick programming note for you. Please catch "THE MESSY TRUTH" in just a few hours. A post-election special presented by CNN's Van Jones. It airs at 6:00 p.m. in Hong Kong. Again at 9:00 p.m. in London.
At least 52 people are now dead after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck northwest Indonesia early Wednesday. Many buildings are toppled and residents were forced from their homes in Aceh Province.
Rosemary Church has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's a region living in the shadow of the deadliest earthquake to hit the planet in decades. The people of Aceh Province in Indonesia are understandably unsettled by this latest tremor, which reduced buildings to rubble and appears to have left hundreds homeless. The powerful quake struck in the early hours of Wednesday, roughly 120 kilometers south of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra.
[02:10:08] This footage from the town of Pidijaya reveals widespread destruction with many residents spilling onto the streets as the injured were lifted to safety on stretchers. Amid the chaos, one minor blessing as officials declared no threat of a tsunami. But fear still haunts this part of the world, where just 12 years ago at least 120,000 people were killed in Aceh Province alone. As the death toll rises from Wednesday's quake, the displaced wait on the roadside for relief and pray that aftershocks bring no further damage.
Rosemary Church, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And now to Syria where the rebels' last urban stronghold appears on the verge of collapse. The Syrian Army says it's gained control of a number of neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo. Clashes between government forces and rebels were reported in some areas, and there's been no letup in the shelling and air strikes.
Jomana Karadsheh is following developments for us now from Amman, Jordan.
Jomana, opposition fighters are set to lose even more territory in the coming hours. This now seems to be a very one-sided war of attrition.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It would seem. And it would seem that the regime, John, does have the upper hand here with the backing of their Russian allies and also other Shia-led militias that are supporting the regime. They do seem to be gaining territory by the day here. The rebels are losing more and more territory by some accounts according to some observers they say that now the regime controls about 75 percent of eastern Aleppo. And of course the concern here remains for the tens of thousands of civilians who remain in these rebel-controlled areas. What happens to them next.
So a lot of concern about that. And of course it does seem that the rebels, their defenses here are collapsing faster than expected over the past couple of weeks, John, we have seen this battle turning very decisive with the regime making all these advances almost on a daily basis.
VAUSE: And given all that, Jomana, what are the possibilities that the rebels might actually just surrender at this point?
KARADSHEH: Well, it's very difficult to find out what is really going on, John. You would hear from some commanders. You would hear from some opposition figures saying that they will not give up Aleppo. I recall a few months back speaking with an opposition figure who said, you know, losing Aleppo would mean that the Syrian revolution had failed for them. But reality on the ground does seem that they have very limited options at this point. Whether we're going to see any sort of negotiations to see something
similar to what we've seen taking place in some of the Damascus suburbs like Dariya, for example, a few months back where they would negotiate an agreement by which the rebels and civilians in those areas would be evacuated, where they would be given safe passage, for example, to Idlib Province. That remains to be seen. But it is also a real possibility right now considering the situation on the ground, John.
VAUSE: And finally, after Aleppo, where will the Russians and the Syrian government turn their firepower next?
KARADSHEH: Well, at the same time while all the attention has been on Aleppo, of course because of the magnitude of that humanitarian crisis, they are -- and the symbolism of a victory in Aleppo if that happens, at the same time we have seen this large-scale military onslaught on Idlib Province where according to activists there, there have been daily air strikes almost taking place according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That monitoring group based in London that keeps track of the violence in Syria.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed over the past month in these air strikes, John. So it would seem that possibly that this will continue to take place in Idlib after Aleppo.
VAUSE: OK. Jomana, thank you. Jomana Karadsheh there with the latest details reporting live from Amman in Jordan.
There is a new front in the Iraqi -- excuse me. A new front in the Iraqi battle to retake Mosul from ISIS. Iraqi forces surged toward the city center for Mosul's southeastern boundary. The offensive against the militants began seven weeks ago. Mosul is the largest city under ISIS control. The U.S. has provided ground and air support to the Mosul campaign.
And the battle for Mosul plays out, about 2,000 people fled a village north of the city. Now they're stuck in the desert between the ISIS and Peshmerga front lines. Getting relief and supplies to those caught in the fighting is difficult at best.
[02:15:03] Christiane Amanpour's report illustrates that with video taken by the International Red Cross in areas too dangerous for journalists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A mercy mission between two front lines. These trucks are bringing life-saving food and supplies to hundreds of people who find themselves trapped in the desert between Kurdish fighters and ISIS.
ABU TIBA, VILLAGER (Through Translator): The situation is really bad. We're in the open air and the cold. And there are families with children. We have cases of kids dying from the cold. 1-year-olds and younger. Also miscarriages. It's tragic. AMANPOUR: Abu Tiba is one of 1,800 people from the village of Tirfuq
north of Mosul. As fighting intensified they were told to leave for their own safety. But those stuck here are cattle and sheep herders and their livestock is their livelihood. So instead of going to camps they've chosen to sit in no man's land along with their animals.
Oma Ali waits in the desert with her son who's eating a banana that's just arrived on an aid convoy. "We sleep on the sand at night," she says. "My son got a fever from the cold. How can you expect us to rest?" She says a few days ago mortar fire killed a woman and her husband. Their son was taken to hospital.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says that over half a dozen people have died here from shelling and from exposure to the cold. Still, they've been running high-risk convoys into the area to resupply these families while they wait out the fighting.
AMRO IBRAHIM, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: They lack the essential needs for survival, water, food, and tents. So for the moment we distributed the shares, 200 or 300 families, in order to help them survive this difficult time.
AMANPOUR: For those on the outside looking in the decision to stay in this no man's land seems senseless. But for Abu Tiba, Oma Ali, and all the others there is simply no other choice.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Libyan forces are back in control of the coastal city of Sirt. A spokesman for the military operation says the last city district has been taken from ISIS and the area is being cleared of mines and IEDs. Libya began the offensive in May backed by U.S. air strikes. Sirt was the only major city outside Iraq and Syria under ISIS controls.
Authorities in Bolivia have arrested the head of Lamia Airlines, the charter airline that owned the plane that crashed last week in Colombia. Two other employees were also taken into custody. 71 people were killed when the plane went down last Monday in Colombia. Many of the victims were football players for the Brazilian Chapecoense club. The plane was apparently low on fuel and was out of power.
Still to come here on NEWSROOM L.A. Barack Obama reflects on his national security achievements over the last eight years and has some advice for his successor.
Also, how the military relationship between the U.S. and some Asian nations may change under Donald Trump's administration.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:21:28] VAUSE: U.S. president Barack Obama warns any plans to scrap his diplomatic achievements would be a win for terrorists. It appeared to be an indirect message to his successor Donald Trump. CNN's Andy Rose reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was just told that was going to be the last "hail to the chief" on the road, and it got me kind of sentimental.
ANDY ROSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his last planned speech on national security Tuesday, President Obama touted anti-terrorism victories.
OBAMA: We should take great pride in the progress that we've made over the last eight years. That's the bottom line. No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And it's not because they didn't try.
ROSE: And struck a very different tone to the campaign trail talk of his soon-to-be successor regarding who is and isn't welcome in the country.
OBAMA: The United States of America's not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special I.D. card or prove that they're not an enemy from within. We're a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination.
ROSE: At times the current commander-in-chief seemed to be attempting to leave sign posts for President-elect Trump when it comes to international diplomacy.
OBAMA: Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions. It would make life easier for them. It would be a tragic mistake for us.
ROSE: The president emphasized that while the danger of terrorism is a long-term one America must stay true to its values in order to defeat it.
I'm Andy Rose reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A President Donald Trump may change the military relationship the U.S. and some nation -- Asian nations. Ivan Watson shows us the winners and the losers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In his campaign to become president Donald Trump raised some serious questions about the future of U.S. Defense cooperation in Asia. So let's take a look at the security umbrella that the U.S. has spread over this sprawling region ever since World War II.
The U.S. has signed collective defense agreements with six regional allies -- Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. The treaties say an attack on one of these countries would be a direct threat against the U.S. and it would be obliged to respond.
To support these treaties U.S. Pacific Command has some 380,000 troops and civilian personnel, around 2400 aircraft, and approximately 200 warships. They are deployed across a network of forward bases to better respond to potential crises including the island of Guam, which is home to 300 different military commands.
For more than half a century the U.S. has also deployed troops at bases in Japan as well as in South Korea. But in his campaign Trump suggested this might be about to change.
TRUMP: At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off frankly if South Korea is going to start to protect itself.
WATSON: So who stands to gain if the U.S. pulls back on its commitments in Asia? First of all, North Korea.
[02:25:01] With its massive army, it periodically tests nuclear weapons and its frequent long-range missile launch tests, which are a direct threat to the U.S. and its allies. And then there's North Korea's traditional ally China, which has a standing military of more than two million active service members. In recent years it laid claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, and it has expanded its military presence there. And don't forget Russia. With its Pacific Navy fleet headquartered in the port of Vladivostok.
For decades the U.S. has provided security guarantees across this vast region. Now both allies and rivals will be closely watching to see if that's about to change.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When it comes to math, science, and reading, Singapore's students are the best in the world. Japan ranks second while world powers like China and the U.S. place lower on the list.
The findings are part of an international education survey given every three years to 15-year-old students in dozens of countries. You can view more of the survey on our Web site at CNN.com.
Time for a quick break. "STATE OF AMERICA" with Kate Bolduan is up next for our viewers in Asia. And next here on NEWSROOM L.A., Angela Merkel has taken heat for her controversial open-door policy toward migrants. Now she wants to pull back the veil on some Muslim women. Quite literally.
Also a mother's heartbreak four years after her child was killed at a grade school massacre. What she is now doing so other parents will not have to go through the same thing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:16] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
At least 52 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 many residents are on the streets who are in temporary shelters.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took his thank you tour to North Carolina on Tuesday. A key battleground state in his election win. At the rally he formally announced his pick to run the Pentagon, it's General James "Mad Dog" Mattis.
U.S. President Barack Obama says America has made progress fighting terrorism in his final national security speech on Tuesday. But he admits the threat is not going away. He did not mention Donald Trump by name, but the president warned his successor not to scrap his diplomatic achievements.
Europe's most powerful leader wants to ban burqas in Germany. Angela Merkel says the full face veils worn by some Muslim women are not appropriate.
Atika Shubert has more on Mrs. Merkel's announcement which seemed to be very well received by her party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was speaking in front of 1,000 members of her Christian Democrats Party, the CDU, and they were meeting to elect her again as party leader. She was elected with 89 percent of the vote. And in that speech she actually made a very impassioned defense of her refugee policy. Germany took in 890,000 refugees in last year, roughly, and she said that this is a lot to ask of ordinary Germans but it is a responsibility the country can and should bear. But she also made a point to say integration has to get better and that German law is the law of the land, above any cultural code, above Sharia law.
And this is when she made her point about banning the full-face veil, saying it should be -- it's not appropriate for Germany and should be banned, quote, "wherever legally possible." Now this is clearly a political concession. A very tiny fraction of the Muslim community here actually wears a full-face veil despite numerous politicians asking for it to be banned. And in her speech she acknowledged that there was a lot of pressure, particularly from anti-immigration far- right groups. But overall it was a defense of her refugee policy.
And also saying -- and also a defense of the sort of liberal ideas of an open Europe. Especially, she said, in the face of a U.S. election when the world seems to need reordering. So it was really a call for stability going forward but also an admission that there was going to be quite a few challenges in the election ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Atika Shubert with that report.
And now several countries across Europe have already banned burqas. France was the first in 2011. The European Court of Human Rights upheld the decision a few years later. Belgium followed with its own ban in 2011 as well. Bulgaria banned women from wearing full-face veils in public in 2016. And several places in Italy, Spain, and Switzerland have also banned the veils.
Still to come here on NEWSROOM L.A., the gut-wrenching public service ad which aims to stop gun violence before the shooting ever starts. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:36:06] VAUSE: OK. This is something we haven't done here before on NEWSROOM L.A. We're about to play a public service announcement in its entirety, just over two minutes. Please stay with us. Please watch to the very end. You just have to trust me on this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Singing) Got some news today from the radio man he spoke the words somber and as softly as he can, the world stood still, and the sky opened up made my way to fill up my coffee cup. Then it occurred to me as the daylight cast on blue today's the day that Johnny met June. He waited a while, he knew he was going to hang around here for as long as he could. The days went by. And hours that passed he was never sure just how long he would last, but there's not much love in a lonely rom. Today is the day that Johnny met June.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a good summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, you must be bored.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the guy that I was writing to in the library.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guilty. So you like to write on desks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. That's what I do.
GRAPHICS: While you were watching Evan, another student was showing signs of planning a shooting. But no one noticed. Gun violence is preventable when you know the signs. Learn them now at sandyhookpromise.org.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Bet you didn't see that coming. And that's the point. The people behind the ad have seen the horror of gun violence firsthand. They're a non-profit, non-partisan group called Sandy Hook Promise, named after the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman murdered 20 children age between 6 and 7 as well as six staff members.
Nicole Hawkley is the founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise. Her son Dylan was killed on that horrible day four years ago this month. Nicole joins us now from Newtown.
Nicole, thank you so much for being with us. So hard to believe it's been four years.
NICOLE HAWKLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SANDY HOOK PROMISE: Yes. It feels like only yesterday and yet a whole lifetime ago to be honest, John. Thank you.
VAUSE: Yes. Everyone I know who has seen this ad has been left with a knot in their stomach, almost speechless. I assume that's been pretty much the same for everyone out there who's had a chance to watch it.
HAWKLEY: Yes. We've had a very positive response in terms of -- it's really opened people's eyes to something that they hadn't considered before and that's exactly the point of doing this PSA.
VAUSE: Hey, gun reform in this country is such a divisive issue but this ad focuses on mental health which I guess is the one area no matter where you stand, you know, there is an agreement. Mental health has to be dealt with.
HAWKLEY: Well, this actually -- this focuses on prevention. What happens in those days, weeks, months, or sometimes even years before someone picks up a firearm or a weapon to hurt someone else or to hurt themselves.
[02:40:07] So this is about mental health and wellness. It's also about access to guns. And both of those warning signs come through the PSA.
VAUSE: Yes. You know, schools they have lockdown drills. They teach kids how to deal with an active shooter situation. Police -- they receive special training. Why has there not been this focus on prevention, on being able to spot those warning signs before something terrible happens?
HAWKLEY: You know, that's a great question. And that's the question that we wanted to answer and that's why we created this PSA. We have a lot of training at the moment and we've certainly seen an uptick in school shooter trainers, active shooter drills in terms of how to deal with imminent danger. That's increased a lot since the Sandy Hook tragedy. But what we haven't seen is a focus on prevention. How do we stop this violence before it starts in the first place? And all of our education says, why don't we start there, why don't we -- why don't we start the conversation there, why don't we start the education there, because there's so much that we can do so that it never gets to that point.
VAUSE: You know, my 12-year-old daughter, she found this ad. She sent it to me. She said, you've got to watch this. She said her friends in Atlanta were actually shown the ad in class. So the message is getting out. And do you think that conversation is now being had?
HAWKLEY: I certainly hope so. I mean, I've been reading some of the Facebook comments and some of the comments on people that have embedded the video and shown it on their sites, and there's a lot of conversation. A lot of wows. A lot of I didn't see that coming. But then a lot of, you know, this is something that I haven't thought about before. And that's the whole point of this. There's so much that we can do in our own schools, in our own families, in our own communities to prevent violence before it happens.
And when you think about any PSA, drowning or heart attacks or strokes or domestic violence, they've all taught us how to recognize the signs of someone who needs help. This is doing the exact same thing, just on a completely different issue.
VAUSE: December 14 is the anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook. How are you and everyone else coping? I imagine this time of year is incredibly difficult.
HAWKLEY: From when schools go back to session through until the end of the holiday season it's kind of a never-ending spiral downwards for me. Everyone deals with grief very differently. So I can only speak to myself and for my family. We don't want to remember 12/14 as the day Dylan died. We prefer to focus on the days that he lived and celebrate that. But that being said, December 14th is going to be a hard day, to know that it's yet another full year since I've been able to hold my boy.
VAUSE: Well, we'll all be thinking of you and wishing you all the very best. And you know, congratulations on this commercial. It's powerful. And let's hope it, you know, makes something change.
HAWKLEY: Absolutely. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I appreciate it.
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. "WORLD SPORT" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(WORLD SPORT)
