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Ending A Civil War in Syria; A Country In Mourning After Deadly Plane Crash; Climate Change Denier To Lead EPA; Pearl Harbor On Its 75th Year; More Judiciary Killings; Drastic Move for Paris. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 08, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Closing in. Syria's president says a victory in Aleppo could be a huge step toward ending the country's civil war. The rebels say they want a ceasefire.
A country in mourning. Pakistan grieves for the victims of a deadly plane crash as the plane's final minutes come into focus.
Also ahead, the Trump transition. The incoming president taps a climate change denier to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Syria's president says giving up Aleppo to the rebels has never been an option. In an interview with Syrian newspaper, Al Watan, Bashar al- Assad said taking back the key city would be a huge step toward ending the country's civil war, but he says the fight against what he calls terrorists in Syria will go on.
Western powers and rebels are now pushing for a ceasefire. Assad says the possibility of that is practically nonexistent, of course.
The Americans, in particular, are insisting on demanding a truce because their terrorist agents are now in a difficult situation.
Well, the Syrian government now has almost total control of Aleppo. Rebels have pulled out almost completely from the old city after days of fierce fighting. Thousands of Syrians are fleeing the city or cramming into the remaining rebel-held spots trying to survive.
Frederik Pleitgen reports from Aleppo.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what rebel desperation looks like during the Aleppo nights, firing the jets in the skies, unable to stop them from dropping their deadly load.
And this is what the rebels' defeat looks like when daylight comes. Thousands of civilians fleeing the old town of Aleppo only hours after government forces took most of it back. Among them, Najua (Ph) with her seven children, one of them her baby (Inaudible). "When we left there was a lot of shelling behind us, a lot of shooting
in front of us and the airplanes above us," she says. "We barely managed to get out."
Most seem weak and malnourished. Some resting, finally in safety in this former school. The smallest, a baby girl Hassal (Ph) is only seven days old, born as the battles were at their worst.
It's really remarkable some of the scenes that we are witnessing here. Hundreds of people have already come across the border crossing between eastern and western Aleppo. And many of them are taking shelters in buildings like this one, carrying only the very few possessions they could take as they fled.
Soldiers take us to the places they recaptured from opposition forces only hours before. We see Syrian troops evacuating weak and elderly. And rebel barricades showing just how intense the fighting was.
Just look at all of the destruction here. We're actually in the old town of Aleppo right now. And this entire area, until a few days ago, was right on the frontline. While this may not be the end of the opposition's fight in Aleppo, many of those fleeing describe the rebels morale sinking and the harrowing conditions in the besieged areas.
"We didn't have any food and barely any bread" this man says, "We were eight people they would only give us two loaves of bread every two days that was it for all of us."
While much of eastern Aleppo has been reduced to rubble one thing expanding was the cemeteries. This one ran out of space as the bodies kept coming. Now that much of eastern Aleppo has changed hands, Syrian soldiers their flag on the runs the place they've just conquered.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.
CHURCH: Thomas Pierret is a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He joins us now from Edinburgh. Thank you, sir, for talking with us.
So, Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad is confident his troops will take Aleppo very soon. And while he believes that won't immediately end the war he said it is a major step in that direction. Do you agree or is it possible that this could continue to be a drawn out civil war?
THOMAS PIERRET, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH SENIOR LECTURER: Well, I mean this is certainly a major turning point. Something that definitely puts an end to the rebels' hope of winning this war. Well, that doesn't mean this war will stop anytime soon.
[03:05:01] It will certainly change in nature, it will become a kind of lower scale insurgency. But I don't think -- I don't think it is getting to an end. We have a group and I think -- I think especially Jihadi groups will be in a good position to exploit the situation. Like -- yes. CHURCH: I do want to ask you, because what about the rebels holding
out? How likely is it that will they accept some sort of a deal and surrender perhaps, or could they retreat to nearby rural areas that they control, the rebels control, to the west of Aleppo, regroup, perhaps and put up a sustained fight against the Syrian regime?
PIERRET: Yes, I don't know what would be eventually decided. It's entirely impossible that they will fight to the death and be evacuated either to Idlib or -- I mean, there were also talks that (Inaudible) they might be evacuated to the Turkish control zone east and also Aleppo.
Because clearly, the Syrian regime is trying to separate between Jihadi rebels and the others -- or I mean, the regime claims they are all Jihadist but that's not true so they are trying to separate them, concentrate, let's say the radicals in Idlib and end others elsewhere. But (Inaudible) will eventually, of course, in the province of Idlib, southwest of Aleppo.
CHURCH: Right. So what, if anything, can achieved in these resumed talks on Aleppo between the United States, John Kerry and Russia's Sergei Lavrov? And is there an effort on the part of Syria and Russia do you think to take advantage of this transition period in the U.S. between Barack Obama and Donald Trump to move swiftly to take Aleppo back before Mr. Trump's inauguration in January?
PIERRET: Well, definitely. Definitely. I mean, the whole point was, you know, not to wait to see whether Mr. Trump would be more or less, you know, favorable to Assad. I mean they don't want to know. They want to create a fait accompli and to shape things in the way that's, you know, considerably, you know, you meet the options for the next U.S. presidents.
And, I mean, the talks now they are just humanitarian, right? It's about, you know, evacuation of fighters and civilians. I don't think they have any political contempt. Because we -- it's much too late now to have political discussions with the regime is just too strong military leaders, basically nothing to negotiate at the political level at the moment. Assad wants a full military victory.
CHURCH: How will those evacuations occur? After all, we pretty much heard from Bashar al-Assad there will be no ceasefire, there will be no truce here and an opportunity to get people out.
PIERRET: Yes, I'm not saying it will happen. I said it's a possibility. Let's say if we see at some point the rebels are able to -- are able to control the neighborhoods and to oppose peace resistance for longer than expected then, you know, both sides might have an interest in negotiating the evacuation of the fighters.
But also we need to distinguish between a truce, which is basically stopping the fighting and allowing the fighters to remain where they are and an evacuation which is basically a surrender, except that the rebels are not taken prisoner but evacuated to another place.
CHURCH: All right. PIERRET: So, a truce, of course, would not happen, but evacuation is not excluded.
CHURCH: All right. Thomas Pierret, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your perspective on this matter. We do appreciate it.
Well, dozens of people are dead in Iraq after air strikes hit an outdoor market. The attack happened in Anbar province on the border with Syria. One member of Iraq's parliament said the strikes hit mostly civilians killing 50 people and wounding 30 more. It's not clear whether the air strikes were carried out by the U.S.-led coalition or Iraqi forces.
ISIS hostage John Cantlie is shown in a new propaganda video. The first time he's been seen alive since July. The British journalist appears gaunt in this video and he talks about how coalition air strikes have harmed residents in Mosul, Iraq.
ISIS has used Cantlie in similar propaganda videos since he was taken hostage in Syria four years ago.
Well, rescuers in Indonesia are racing against the clock to find survivors after Wednesday's powerful earthquake in Aceh province. The 6.5 magnitude tremor rocked Acceh province just as people were preparing for morning prayers. Official say the disaster killed 102 people, including young children.
[03:10:00] We turn now to the deadly crash of flight 661 in Pakistan. And workers are beginning the grim task of transporting the bodies of the victims to Islamabad.
The Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed into the rugged mountains near Abbottabad on Wednesday. The airline said a pilot made a mayday call saying he had lost control of one of the two engines. All 47 people on board were killed.
Muhammad Lila is covering the developments for us, he joins us now live from Istanbul where he is keeping an eye on all the progress on this story. So, Muhammad, what more are you learning about the circumstances surrounding this crash, and the possible cause?
MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Rosemary. And new images overnight of that recovery mission as rescue teams and recovery teams make it to the plane crash site, recover the bodies, of course. We now know there are no survivors.
A big part of this investigation, is now that the black boxes have been recovered, they are going to be analyzing the flight recordings and looking at things like whether there was a sudden drop in altitude, whether the pilot changed course and of course, whether all of the plane's on-board systems were functioning at the time.
We do know as you mentioned that the left engine -- the pilot reported that the left engine had failed. But he did manage to fly for about 30 minutes after that, and then we know what happened after that. There was that mayday call and a plane crash. So they are going to be looking at all of those things. And the investigation is already underway trying to determine the circumstances. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. And Muhammad, the crash has renewed concerns about the safety record of Pakistani International Airlines. What efforts are being made to allay these fears?
LILA: Well, we can actually now confirm, as part of the safety fears that there were actually three pilots on board that plane. One of them was training to fly that specific route. But the chairman, spokesman, rather, for PIA says that all three were experienced pilots, they weren't rookies, they weren't novices. So that may play a factor.
The airline also says that that pilot who was training the route was not behind the controls of the plane when it crashed. But of course that's also something that only the flight data recorder will be able to determine.
Now PIA has come under a lot of criticism in the past for a poor safety record, specifically allegations that it wasn't providing the right amount of maintenance on its planes that it needed in order to make them air worthy or flight worthy.
PIA seems to be taking a preemptive step in that announcing that they have flown the victims of the people on board into Islamabad to help identify the victim's bodies as well as to be there for the funerals.
But they've also done something which maybe a little bit unusual in Pakistan. They've already stepped up and said they are providing a cash payment to the victims' payments of $5,000 U.S. just to help with funeral costs, as well as other compensation that will take place later on.
Now to put this into context, these bodies from this plane haven't even been buried yet and the airline is already talking about compensation. So that's certainly a little bit controversial, a bit of a P.R. move that could backfire on them.
But clearly, PIA says they are taking it very seriously. But we won't know the exact cause of the crash, whether the airline was to blame, until those black boxes have been analyzed.
CHURCH: Yes. Still so many questions. And Muhammad, we are learning that one of the passengers on the flight was former pop star, Junaid Jamshed, the man described as the voice of a generation.
He now -- he certainly had changed his message to people. Talk to us about what sort of loss this is to many people.
LILA: Well, this is a massive loss to Pakistan. Junaid Jamshed was of Pakistan, if not the biggest celebrity in Pakistan. He had more than six million fans on Facebook. He shot to stardom in the early 90's by founding Pakistan's first ever boy band.
In the early 2000, he had what he says was a religious awakening, abandoned that life of pop culture, still continue to sing a new genre of music, which would be classified as Islamic music around the Arab and the Muslim world. They are known as nasheed songs. But what's interesting about Junaid Jamshed is that he had a strong
following from his days as a pop singer but he was also embraced by some of Pakistan's more conservative elements because he became an Islamic preacher.
So, he was one of those people that had a lot of support on both sides of that divide in Pakistan. And both sides right now are mourning his loss because they see him as one of their own. And it's worth noting that Junaid Jamshed was not only popular in Pakistan but all of South Asia, as well.
CHURCH: All right. Muhammad Lila, keeping an eye on all of those developments from his vantage point there in Istanbul. Many thanks to you.
Well, the U.S. president-elect makes a controversial choice to head the Environment Protection Agency. Coming up, his latest appointment.
And why the president of the Philippines says Trump makes him feel like a saint. That is coming up.
[03:15:02] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
In the Champions League on Wednesday, a two-all draw between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund was enough to see the German side finish at the top of the group. Two goals from Karim Benzema were cancelled out by the effort from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus.
The (Inaudible) club had a record breaking group stage scoring a total of 21 goals. The most any side scored at this stage in the competition.
Elsewhere in Group G, Porto hosting groups' winner also Leicester City in a must win from the Portuguese side in order to advance to their knockout stage. It would only take six minutes for the host to break the deadlock. Andre Silva leading the charge with the brace Sunday afternoon as it ends 5-nil.
This makes it the worst defeat by an English club in the Champions League. So what started with 78 teams has been whittled down to just 16. The draw for who will play who will be made on Monday at the UEFA headquarters in Switzerland.
There are will be two seating pods, one made up with the group winners and the other of runners up. Here's a look at the group table toppers. Remember, they will not face the other first place team in the round of 16 but they will face the team from the slot. The group runners up and some big names in there, too. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and PSG.
And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
CHURCH: Welcome back. Well, some of the same people Donald Trump attacked during his presidential campaign are now getting jobs in his cabinet.
And as Sara Murray reports the president-elect is getting advice from an unlikely source as he makes his transition.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Donald Trump may have held a dim view of the generals as a candidate.
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DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT-ELECT: I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.
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MURRAY: But as president-elect he's changing his tune. After selecting retired General Michael Flynn as national security adviser, and retired Marine General James Mattis as defense secretary. A source tells CNN Trump had chosen retired General John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump also announcing he will tap Iowa Governor Terry Branstad to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China.
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TERRY BRANSTAD, IOWA GOVERNOR: I'm proud to have supported Donald Trump for president. I think he's going to make America great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: All of this as Trump puts yet another industry on notice today. After striking a deal with Carrier to keep jobs in the U.S. and warning Boeing about its prices, now Trump may be taking a closer look at pharmaceutical companies.
[03:20:08] Telling Time magazine, "I'm going to bring down drug prices. I don't like what's happened with drug prices." Trump's dabbling in the private sector is all part of the job, he said as he defended his threat to scrap a deal with Boeing to build new air force one jets.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
TRUMP: But you know that's what I'm here for. I'm going to negotiate prices. And it's the planes are too expensive.
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MURRAY: But even though Trump's words, whether on television or on Twitter can now move markets, he brushed aside concern that he is using the social media platform to air grievances on everything from Boeing to Broadway shows to Saturday Night Live.
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TRUMP: I think I am very restrained and I talk about important things.
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MURRAY: And the often unpredictable billionaire maps out plans for his White House he is relying on unexpected source for guidance - President Obama.
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TRUMP: I've asked him what he thinks are the biggest problems of the country and what are some of the greatest assets going forward. And we have a very good dialogue. I really, I do like him. I love getting his ideas.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is responsive to requests and phone calls from the president-elect. So he's certainly pleased that he can offer advice and assistance that may be useful to the incoming administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Today, Trump is basking in his first accolade as president- elect. Time magazine naming him the person of the year, but Trump is already taking issue with their headline.
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TRUMP: I think putting divided is snarky. But again, it's divided. I'm not president yet. So, I didn't do anything to divide.
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MURRAY: And while he may not want to take responsibility for rifts in the nation he is already claiming credit for accomplishments preceding his tenure in the White House.
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TRUMP: I hope I'm judged from the time of the election as oppose to from January 20th because the stock market has had a tremendous bounce and people are seeing very good things for business in this country.
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MURRAY: But Donald Trump is continuing his war in chase of fleshing out his White House. His transition team said he has chosen Linda McMahon, formerly the CEO of the WWE to lead the small business administration. A source familiar with that decision says Donald Trump was impressed with her business experience and felt she would be the right fit for the job.
But in a more controversial pick, Trump senior adviser said that he has chosen Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General, to be the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency. And assigning Pruitt could face some dissenters on the Hill. Democrats are already going after him calling him a climate change denier. Sara Murray, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: And as you would expect, environmentalists are outraged over Pruitt's election to head the EPA. He sued the agency over its regulation of power plants. He is a friend to the fossil fuel industry and in denying climate change Pruitt wrote, "The debate is far from settled even though most scientists agree that climate change is real and humans add to it."
Well, now for more on Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to China, Matt Rivers joins us from Beijing. So, Matt, in recent days Mr. Trump has upset China with his chat with Taiwan's leader, then his tweets accusing China of being a currency manipulator.
But now this appointment of Governor Terry Branstad to be ambassador to China has made Beijing very happy. Hasn't it? What more is being said about this? And is it an attempt to placate China?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly is a 180 from what we've seen out of the president-elect and his team over the last several days. As you have said quite the dilemma there that was unfolding between the United States and China over the president- elect's phone call with the Taiwanese president. That certainly upends decades of pretty well-established foreign policy between the United States and China.
So things weren't going great that well -- or going great at that point, but the appointment of Governor Branstad to this very high- profile position between these two countries can certainly be seen as an olive branch, if you will, between the president-elect and China.
And that is because Governor Branstad has a very strong, and long established relationship with China, and specifically with China's President Xi Jinping. It was all the way back in 1985, when a then 31- year-old Xi Jinping, who was then just a mid-level bureaucrat from Hebei province, a rural province here in China.
He was making his rise up through the communist ranks and he went to Iowa to as part of a delegation to look at agricultural policy. He said that his first impression, his first real impression of Americans came from Iowans and the governor was part of that delegation, Governor Branstad.
And it was again in 2012, as President Xi moved up the ranks then as vice president preparing to take on the presidency of China that he went back to Iowa and back to some of those places that he had visited some two decades earlier.
[03:25:07] So, there's a very friendly relationship between Governor Branstad and Xi Jinping. Both sides calling each other long-time friends. The Chinese government here on MOFA, a ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson saying that they are very pleased with the ambassador's choice and they hope that they -- that this appointment of Governor Branstad could help ease relations, make these relationships better between the U.S. and China.
CHURCH: All right. Matt Rivers, joining us there from Beijing. Many thanks for that live report.
Meanwhile, the president-elect is lashing out at a union leader who criticized his deal with an air conditioning company. Trump said that Chuck Jones has done a terrible job representing workers and then he appears to blame unions for companies leaving the country.
Trump says he kept 1100 jobs at Carrier from moving to Mexico, but Jones accuses him of half way delivering on his promise to save jobs. And he says Trump is overstating the numbers at Carrier.
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CHUCK JINES, UNITED STEELWORKERS 1999 PRESIDENT: And you hear better than 1100 jobs retained in Indianapolis. So those folks probably had to think, OK, I'm keeping my job. Only to find out last Friday, well, no, there's 550 being laid off. Now that never was mentioned by anybody. Trump, Pence or any of them never mentioned about 550 moving to Monterrey, Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And as Trump continues his spat with the labor boss, a former labor secretary is sending him a warning of appearances matter. He compared Trump to former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt who was known for speaking his mind in a series of talks called fire side chats. He said Trump's tweets have a far different tone.
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ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: Well, let me just say, because Donald Trump is probably watching right now, let me just say, with all due respect, Mr. Trump, you are President-elect of the United States. You are looking and acting as if you are mean and petty, thin- skinned and vindictive. Stop this.
This is not a fire side chat. This is not what FDR did. This isn't lifting people up. This is actually penalizing people for speaking their minds.
In other words, what you, Mr. Trump, what you -- what you would like is for no one, not a CEO, nobody on television, no journalist, nobody to criticize you. You take offense at that.
Well, you are going to be president very shortly. You are going to have it your command not just Twitter but also the CIA, the IRS, the FBI. If you have this kind of thin-skinned vindictiveness attitude toward anybody that criticizes you, we are in very deep trouble and, sir, so are you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Tough message there. Reich went on to say over time Trump's Twitter outburst could have a chilling effect on freedom of speech because people may fear becoming one of his targets on social media.
Well, meantime, Wall Street seems to be in Trump euphoria. The Dow Jones index is up more than 1200 points since his election win a month ago. It closed nearly 300 points higher on Wednesday, putting it within striking distance of the pivotal 20,000 mark. The S&P 500 also hit a new record and the NASDAQ just missed one by about six points.
The war on drugs in the Philippines has been bloody and deadly. Up next, a photojournalist shares the horror he's seen up close while covering the controversial campaign.
Plus, Syrian rebels are losing hope as they lose their grip on Aleppo. Coming up, possible next steps for the opposition.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers all across the globe. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to get you caught up on the main stories we have been following this hour.
South Korean lawmakers are expected to vote Friday on a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye. Ms. Park has been linked to a corruption scandal and for weeks opponents have been demanding she step down. Park has denied any wrongdoing.
International teams will help to investigate the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines flight. All 47 people on board were killed when the plane went down in a remote mountainous area near Abbottabad in northern Pakistan. The airline says the pilot made a mayday call, saying he lost control of one of the two engines.
Syrian rebels in eastern Aleppo are asking for a ceasefire with government troops regaining control of the city.
Senior officials from the U.S. and Russia are still trying to broker a truce. But President Bashar al-Assad tells a Syrian newspaper that's not likely.
So, joining us now from Amman, Jordan, is Jomana Karadsheh. Jomana, let's talk about the situation there in eastern Aleppo. Who is left on the rebel side, who is holding out right now?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, with more than 75 percent of eastern Aleppo now captured by the regime, we are told about 20 neighborhoods are now under rebel control.
This small patch of eastern Aleppo is where you have these rebels from these areas but and also rebels who withdrew from other parts of eastern Aleppo as the regime advanced. They are hold up there, under siege from all directions.
And we're being told today that they are putting up more of a fight than we've seen in other parts of eastern Aleppo. But also with them in this small part of eastern Aleppo is tens of thousands of civilians.
People from those districts, but also others who fled the fighting who fled this regime advance. And people we have spoken to, Rosemary, describe really a dire humanitarian situation. They are living under constant bombardment. People are terrified, they are running out of food and they say they are now really not even finding drinking water for their families.
So, it seems that the fate of these civilians is pretty much tied to that of the rebels in these areas.
CHURCH: Yes. It is horrifying to think what those people are having to deal with right now. But how likely is it these rebels would perhaps accept some sort of deal and withdrawal, or is this going to be a fight to the death here?
[03:35:08] KARADSHEH: Well, I think that's the big question right now is what happens next? And if you want to look at the reality on the ground, it does seem right now that the regime and their allies have the upper hand.
They do have the fire power here. And you are talking about these rebels who are now cut off. They don't have any supply routes and they are fighting in these areas.
Are they going to try to fight until the end or are they going to work out a deal? You mentioned earlier they did propose a humanitarian truce that we know that the regime and the Russians are not likely to accept as we heard from President Assad in that interview.
But is there going to be some sort of a deal that's negotiated whereby we see what has happened in other parts of Syria where the rebels agree to a withdrawal? So it's pretty much looking like a rebel defeat at this point is highly likely but how this defeat will shape up, is it going to be a fight until the end, or are they going to surrender these areas and, you know, do what they have done in other parts of the country and allow for civilians to be evacuated and the rebels also to be evacuated to other parts of the country. Rosemary?
CHURCH: As everyone is saying at this point, we are at a turning point as we watch what is happening there in eastern Aleppo in Syria. Jomana Karadsheh, joining us from Amman, Jordan from her vantage point there. It is 10.36 in the morning. Many thanks.
Well, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says that Donald Trump makes him feel like a saint. He's been releasing more snippets of his controversial phone call with the U.S. President-elect. Mr. Duterte says he considers the incoming leader, a friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: President Duterte he said, fix a bad release -- it needs a lot of, you know, you just said something good here. And you are doing great. I know what's your - you're worry about Americans criticizing you. You are doing good. Go ahead. I have this problem in the border of Mexico and America and this (muted).
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Well, President Duterte also said Trump wished him well on his campaign against illegal drugs. During his election, Mr. Duterte promised to kill 100,000 criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay.
Here's how the war on drugs is going, according to a study of 51 police shootings. The police killed 100 suspects, a kill rate of 97 percent. And police say they killed more than 2,000 people in anti- drug operations since July 1st.
A New York Times photojournalist documented a staggering 57 homicide victims over 35 days. Daniel Berehulak has captured wars from Afghanistan to Iraq but says this story is particularly brutal.
We should warn you the photos are graphic.
DANIEL BEREHULAK, NEW YORK TIMES PHOTOJOURNALIST: What is unique about this one, scenes that it seems like a state-sanctioned mass killing that is going on in the Philippines at the moment. And it is ripping through the poorest neighborhoods of Manila and all over the country and to see the scale i'ts happening, it's relentless.
The murders are happening -- I mean, the killings are happening every single day. Seeing the heart break firsthand and you're seeing young Gigi (Ph) 6-year-old grieving for her father and screaming as the coroner's were taking his body away.
It's you know, one thing certainly to see the bodies you had been seeing that (Inaudible)effects that its having in communities widespread over Manila, at least, in terms of what I documented, was definitely the most devastating.
President Duterte offered rehabilitation to people to surrender back in July. So many people surrendered expecting that this would keep them safe from his so-called war on drugs. And unfortunately it hasn't. Even surrenders are victim of the police shootings and killings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Daniel Berehulak speaking there. And human rights groups say many of the victims are innocent or reformed drug users.
We'll take a short break here but coming up next, the remarkable story of a 95-year-old veteran making his first trip to Pearl Harbor since that day that will live in infamy.
[03:40:06] Plus, he beat the odds to win the U.S. presidency but Donald Trump was pretty much a shoe in for his latest notable title. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The U.S. is observing the 75th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Ceremonies in Hawaii honored the more 2400 people who died in that attack. Later this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will become the first
Japanese leader to visit the site since the end of World War II.
Well, at least one former sailor who lived through that faithful hasn't been back to Pearl Harbor until this year. He decided at age 95 to attend Wednesday's memorial.
CNN's Kyung Lah talked to him about the painful memories.
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ask B.C. Wilson the secret to living to age 95 in good health; he'll stay the love of a vibrant hobby like horse racing and a lot of experience in surviving.
Do you think I'm a war hero?
B.C. WILBORN, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: No, no, gosh. You see just the opposite. You think what you could have done or didn't do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor.
LAH: Seventy years ago, Wilborn stood aboard the USS Maryland as the Japanese launched an early morning attack on Pearl Harbor.
Wilborn, just a 20-year-old first class petty officer in the navy.
What did it feel like to be in the middle of that?
WILBORN: I didn't have no fear. I've seen everything happening. Ad it seemed like unreal.
LAH: Daughter Edie and her husband Ron.
EDIE STANTON, WILBORN'S DAUGHTER: They pay a big price for us to be free.
[03:45:02] LAH: How old were you?
WILBORN: I was 24, 25.
LAH: They had pictures and saw their father's Purple Heart. But Wilborn never talked about World War II until, for reasons no one can explain, a few years ago.
E. STANTON: Just started talking.
RON STANTON, WILBORN'S SON-IN-LAW: Just started talking. I'm sad to say I didn`t have a tape recorder to get it.
LAH: And he hasn't stopped talking. Wilborn sharing horrors the men he couldn't save aboard the capsized USS Oklahoma.
WILBORN: And you hear tapping on the wall, people in there I guess thinking they are going to get rescued. After about two days, maybe on the third day, stopped. No more.
LAH: More than 400 men died on the Oklahoma. Seventy years later, you can still recall that sound.
WILBORN: Oh, gosh, yes. And I thought it was about the saddest thing I saw in the Navy. Because I don't know, you seem so helpless.
LAH: Unlike many survivors, Wilborn never went back to Pearl Harbor. That's changing this year, 75 years later, he's returning for the first time since the day of infamy.
What changed? Why did you start thinking about it?
WILBORN: It's a sad day. And but, I don't know. You try to get it out of your mind and it didn't go.
LAH: So this survivor faces one last battle of his own memories.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Collinsville, Illinois.
CHURCH: Extraordinary story there.
Well, still to come here on CNN Newsroom, pollution in Paris is so bad the city is taking drastic measures, keeping many drivers off the roads. We'll have more on that when we come back.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Second to last weekend of autumn. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you.
And as we approach this weekend across portions of the United States, look what happens here with the cold air ahead of us. We get a plunge of some polar air that comes across really the Midwestern and also parts of the northeastern United States.
You put in that cold air over a relatively warmer body of water, the Great Lakes here, and you will notice you will stretches of some lake effect snow cranking up across favorable areas of western New York State. Buffalo, in particular could get some very heavy snowfall over the next couple of days.
And you notice the western United States not much real estate left here for any additional warnings as it relates to winter weather warnings. There is a lot of activity here with snow shower across the higher elevations, rainfall across the coastal communities, and places like Seattle could see a mix of rain and snow.
It looks like the heaviest will remain be locked into the cascade mountain range. And in Portland, we'll finally see temperatures get above freezing. We go with one degree there where high temperature Denver, at minus five. In Chicago, a high of minus four.
And about a week or so those temperatures will seem warm for some folks across the United States as another cooling trend looks to be in store. And pretty quiet conditions across portions of the gulf. We're watching some thunderstorms. But notice around Panama we're looking at a few thunderstorms as well in the region. Managua coming in with a high temperature around 33, Belize City at 29, Havana into the low 30s.
[22:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Last March, Time magazine declared Donald Trump a bully. In August it accused him of having a meltdown. A claim it repeated two months later. But now the tycoon is just weeks away from taking the office as the 45th president of the United States and the publication named him its person of the year. Called it one of the most straightforward choices.
Time magazine's person of the year isn't necessarily the best person of the year or indeed the highest achiever. It's simply the person deemed most influential over the past 12 months. And for this year's selection, Donald Trump, that's good enough.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, it's a great honor. It means a lot. Especially me growing up reading Time magazine. And you know, it's very important magazine. And I've been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year. So -- and last year, but I consider this a very, very great honor.
(END VOICE CLIP)
CHURCH: The man who will be Trump's Vice President, Mike Pence, was also quick to toast his boss. The president-elect stands in solid company. Most U.S. presidents have been named person of the year while other luminaries, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King, Jr. have also topped the annual list.
But the roll call isn't reserved for those widely viewed as upright and admirable. Previous selections include Adolf Hitler in 1938, and Joseph Stalin the following year. The current cover hints that a bumpy road ahead, dubbing Trump president of the divided states of America.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
TRUMP: It's divided -- I'm not president yet. So, I didn't do anything to divide.
(END VOICE CLIP)
CHURCH: Time's Washington bureau chief says the jury is out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SCHERER, TIME MAGAZINE WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: I think he really thinks that right now he's trying to unify. And that's what that message is. I think that's why he is praising President Obama so much. One of the first things he said that his advisers the day after the election was "I want to be the president for all Americans." Why he is taking prosecuting Hillary Clinton off the table.
I think it's a fact that you know, he participated substantially in the very divisive campaign. But I think he is really trying. And you know, in our interview with him last week for the person of the year story, which is for better or worse the most influential person so not strictly an honor.
He was even then moderating a lot of his positions saying, for instance, that he wants, you know, to find some accommodation for dreamers which is not something you would have heard him say on the campaign trail.
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: With a four-year term as leader of the free world ahead of him, Trump's continued influence is not in doubt. But how he uses that will determine how future Time readers look back at the person of 2016.
And Trump may be enjoying his latest accolade but he hasn't always had kind things to say about Time magazine. Three years ago he tweeted the magazine would soon be dead.
Well, Paris is taking drastic steps to battle its worst air pollution in years and that includes driving restrictions. Cars with odd numbered tags were banned Tuesday; even numbers had to stay home on Wednesday.
And smog in Paris is not all that uncommon. We want to turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri to explain more about this. It's interesting looking at Paris having to go through this sort of thing.
JAVAHERI: Yes.
CHURCH: How long will they need to do this?
JAVAHERI: It looks like a few more days at least. You know, and in 20 years of having these driving restrictions, Rosemary, the only time they've had to enforce them was once in 1997, one in 2014, then 2015 and then today and yesterday.
And as you said unprecedented and having multiple days of which this is in place. And a lot of fascinating studies have been done on this. And really it's interesting when you think about this.
Now I just want to show you what we are dealing with across this region of France. Because multiple studies have through one of them released as recently as June saying that across cities like Paris your life expectancy could be reduced by two years if you're exposed to this throughout your entire life of such extreme pollution level of which we talk.
The hallmark pattern here in an area of high pressure that's been camping out over much of France over the past several days. As it sits there it causes the air to sink as it does this it traps all the pollutants at the surface. [03:55:01] And notice the storm system they are riding right up and
over this area of high pressure. So, Paris and much of the country itself, there are France remaining rather quiet. So you have warm air acting as a lid.
The cool air at the surface actually traps all the particulates and the pollutants. That is what you see a smog there that sits in place, very little wind, very little rainfall.
In fact, the air quality index at this hour sits right there at threshold to be considered unhealthy at 151. Now, you take a look at how this all plays out. Every single afternoon as industry wakes up and of course, cars get on the roadways right around lunchtime you'll see it peak which is what we expect again, and this will drop anytime you have significant weather move through the region.
And the forecast as, Rosemary, was asking about it looks something like this was moderate improvement in the forecast over the next several days. So when you think about France in general, we know air pollution is actually the third leading cause of mortality in the entire country.
If you are curious, tobacco is number one, alcohol is number two, and air pollution is number three. We know at least 48,000 people a year lose their lives every single year because of air pollution.
That study I was referring to when it talks about life expectancy. Look at the population of such cities. When you are in a city between 2,000 and 100,000 people, the study found that life expectancy could be reduced by nine months. If you get a greater than 100,000 population city over the 15 months.
And in Paris, a city like Paris, with 14 million people in the metropolitan, Rosemary, over two years of your life is lost. To some that may not sound like a lot but you take a population closes in on 14 million you multiply that by two that's 28 million years of human life lost in a lifetime of an average person.
CHURCH: Unbelievable.
JAVAHERI: So it really is something that needs to be addressed...
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: Yes. Certainly does. It is a wakeup call.
JAVAHERI: Yes.
CHURCH: Thanks so much, Pedram. I appreciate it.
I'm Rosemary Church. Remember, you can connect with me anytime on Twitter. There's more news after the break with Nina dos Santos in London. Have yourself a great day.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
