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Major Cities Boost Security for Celebrations; Law Enforcement Bolsters Security in NYC; New NC Governor Takes Over New Year's Day; British Prime Minister Chastises John Kerry; Past Meets Future in Hong Kong; Muslim Author on Trump; Rock Band Chicago Marks 50 Years of Hits. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 30, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


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[09:30:28] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Martin Savidge, in for Carol Costello. Thank you very much for joining me.

Well, the countdown's on as cities across the globe get ready for the big celebration on New Year's Eve. Used to be the biggest thing you worried about was the hangover. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. This year, police are taking extra precautions in light of recent terror attack. About 7,000 officers are going to be deployed or standing guard at the big apple. That's 1,000 more than last year. New Orleans and Boston also stepping up security. And abroad, London and Madrid will see increased measures, as well.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the preparations.

Good morning, Brynn.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, Martin, good morning. All around the world it's the world we live in right now. But, yes, security here in Times Square, the NYPD actually starts the preparations for this year when the ball dropped earlier this year. And they said, you know, it's an evolving, multilevel security approach that has to change because, again, it's that - now the world we live in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: New York City is on high alert in anticipation of one of the biggest New Year's Eve celebrations in the world. Securing it takes an army, 7,000 NYPD officers are just one part of the enhanced measures being taken to protect the city.

JAMES O'NEILL, NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: This is where everybody's got to be on their toes. I know it's - complacency can set in at times, but certainly not at an event like this.

GINGRAS: In the wake of the ISIS-inspired attacks in Berlin and Nice, 65 stand trucks and 100 blockers will be stationed around the city, most being used as a protective barrier around the perimeter of Times Square to ward off a truck-style attack. O'NEILL: We live in a changing world now. And again, as I said before,

it can't just be about what happens in New York.

GINGRAS: The NYPD is in constant communication with foreign departments, gaining intelligence and sharing police strategy with cities abroad. In London, there is added security at the changing of the guards. Heavily armed police were unavoidable in Berlin as they stood posts behind concrete barriers at a Christmas concert. Czech holiday markets were heavily patrolled and in France the government announced a boost of 10,000 soldiers on the Parisian streets over the holiday period, adding to the officers working around the clock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Where the policeman (INAUDIBLE), we're really giving of ourselves, of our time and at a cost to us and to our families.

GINGRAS: Nearly 2 million people are expected in Times Square. The extra police presence, a noticeable addition to keep New York City safe.

O'NEILL: If you're coming down to Times Square, rest assured that it will be a safe venue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: And even within just the last few weeks, we're told members of the NYPD have been securing parking garages in this area, visiting hotels, talking to the managers and the owners. Also even going to truck rental companies. All keeping their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious. But we should mention, Martin, at this point, the NYPD says there is no credible threat against the ball drop ceremony.

Martin.

SAVIDGE: Good to hear. Brynn Gingras, thanks very much. Good to see you.

While the rest of the country is ringing in the New Year Saturday night, North Carolina's new Democratic governor is going to be taking the oath of office just after midnight in private. And Roy Cooper has had a bitter fight to get to the governor's mansion. State Republicans stuck it to him by stripping him of several executive powers after a race so tight the incumbent refused to concede for weeks.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval joins me now.

And, Polo, what a way to take the office.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Martin, and it seems that Roy Cooper will be taking advantage of his constitutional right to be sworn into office only minutes into the New Year. He will be effectively taking the reins of power from a man that he beat in what was a bitter gubernatorial race this fall.

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ROY COOPER (D), NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR-ELECT: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: A new year means a new governor for the people of North Carolina. Roy Cooper will be sworn in as the state's 75th governor right after midnight Saturday with a private ceremony coming at the end of a turbulent transition for the incoming governor.

CROWD (chanting): Work for us. You work for us.

SANDOVAL: In his final weeks in office, Cooper's predecessor, Republican Pat McCrory, signed into law several bills limiting the powers of his Democratic successor. Political appointments were cut from 1,500 to 425. The governor-elect will be blocked from appointing members of the state's board of education and the Republican- controlled senate must now approve Cooper's cabinet appointees. UNC law professor Michael Gerhardt believes these measures will likely make for a challenging first few weeks in office for Cooper.

[09:35:05] MICHAEL GERHARDT, UNC LAW PROFESSOR: Early on, he's going to try and establish his authority with the people of the state and also remind the legislature that he's there. He's the governor. He's got some discretion. And he's a - he's a player in this system.

SANDOVAL: Limiting the new governor's power is only the latest chapter in what's been a bitter and highly contested race.

CROWD (chanting): Don't come back no more, no more, no more, no more!

SANDOVAL: Cooper beat out his Republican incumbent opponent by only 10,000 votes. McCrory claimed fraud and challenged the outcome before conceding about four weeks later.

CROWD (chanting): Shame, shame, shame.

SANDOVAL: And this month, both sides blamed the other for failing to repeal North Carolina's controversial bathroom bill.

GERHARDT: He may well want to talk to the legislature about any possible revisions to that law, even if some kind of appeal isn't possible. So compromise may be a big term that comes up fairly soon when he's governor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And it seems to be what we hear quite a bit, that compromise will be key there in North Carolina, under this new administration, Martin. And while he is not in office quite yet, Cooper we mean, change is already being made. A source within his administration telling me that they've already begun sending out their initial round of dismissal letters to political appointees under the McCrory administration. Sure, that is relatively normal during a changing of the guard, but the optics could be even more bruising for the outgoing governor.

SAVIDGE: Yes, that they could. Polo Sandoval, thanks very much for that. Still to come, as the U.S. was looking for support from Britain on its

clash with Israel, they won't get it. The prime minister there in response to Secretary Kerry's big speech. That's coming up next.

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[09:40:02] SAVIDGE: Tensions between the U.S. and Israel are having a ripple effect in other countries. The latest country to chime in, Britain. Prime Minister Theresa May is taking aim at John Kerry for his speech this week on Israel. A spokesman for the prime minister saying, quote, "May does not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally," unquote.

Want to bring in CNN correspondent Sara Sidner in Jerusalem to get reaction to all this.

Good morning, Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

We haven't heard anything from Israeli officials about Theresa May's comments, but we have certainly heard something from Benjamin Netanyahu over these past couple of days. The latest thing he put on FaceBook, and a lot of folks checking out social media. He is hip with social media, putting a lot of different comments on, especially after Kerry's speech, and that U.N. Security Council resolution 2334 that basically slapped Israel's hand and said that they are going against international law by allowing settlements to continue both in east Jerusalem and in the West Bank, in Palestinian territories.

What he has later put on FaceBook in the past 20 hours after that speech is an ode to the new administration coming in to the United States. It is very kind words towards Donald Trump. Donald Trump, in the posting, says, in an interview that he did with a local station here in Israel, says that the U.N. has done a lot of things. Most of them have not been helpful. He also talked about the fact that he feels that Israel has been treated unfairly by many, many countries. And to that, you see Benjamin Netanyahu saying, I couldn't have said it better myself.

So it gives you some idea of the expectations of the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump, once Donald Trump is in power. And the expectation that things will be better for Israel and the relationship between the United States and Israel will be better.

SAVIDGE: All right, Sara Sidner joining us there from Jerusalem. Thanks very much. Sorry for that (INAUDIBLE) pause. Good to see you.

Still to come, his rhetoric on radical Islam has sparked controversy, but now one Muslim author says that Donald Trump may be the best thing to ever happen to Muslims when he takes office. But first, we go "Around the World" to one of Asia's most dynamic cities, Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Hong Kong. So we're in the M+ Pavilion. The art scene in Hong Kong is changing so rapidly. It's amazing to see how in a short four years how M+ has, you know, accumulated such an amazing collection. It's practically the one major institution that kind of encompasses art and design from all of Asia. It's almost like Tate and Pompidou combined but very much set in the Asian context.

So we are in the fabric market in the heart of (INAUDIBLE). As you walk down these streets, it feels like nothing has changed in the last 30, 40 years, and (INAUDIBLE) is probably one of the last remaining neighborhoods that still has kind of that old Hong Kong quality that is still largely untouched.

We are in Wan Chai Market, one of the best wet (ph) markets in Hong Kong. As much as we're living in the 21st century, I think there's still kind of that tradition going where there's still kind of that joy of like that routine of going to the market and buying your food. You still have this kind of crazy food street, but in the middle of this whole urban gentrification with like luxury apartments a block away, I think that's part of the charm of Wan Chai.

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[09:47:10] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: You remember that. Probably one of the more controversial aspects of the past campaign. President-elect Donald Trump set off a firestorm early on in his campaign. His Muslim ban, which later shifted to extreme vetting, sparked a national debate. Many calling it racist and xenophobic. But my next guest, Dr. Qanta Ahmed, says Mr. Trump is exactly what Muslims needed. Recently writing an op-ed for "Newsday," "I believe the Trump administration, rather than being anti-Muslim, will come to be seen as defender of Muslims." Quite a striking idea.

Dr. Ahmed is the author of "In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom," and she joins me now live.

Good morning. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

DR. QANTA AHMED, AUTHOR, "IN THE LAD OF INVISIBLE WOMEN": Good morning, Martin.

SAVIDGE: So, OK, you feel that Trump's candor about radical Islam is refreshingly honest. Why?

AHMED: I think the Donald Trump's position is going to be focused on combatting Islamism in a way that we haven't had in the last two administrations, but we also haven't had in many decades. The United States actually has a history for decades of engaging with the European Muslim Brotherhood and other Muslim brotherhoods. That era is over. And because he's committed to combatting Islamism, that benefits Muslims like me, pluralistic Muslims, civil Islam, Muslims that don't subscribe to that view. And he's also taking - assuming the presidency, at a time when the political will to combat Islamism in the Muslim world is extraordinary. In Jordan, in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia. This is a golden moment for him to act.

SAVIDGE: All right. Well let me ask you this, because the man that Mr. Trump has chosen to advise him on these issues is the incoming national security adviser General Michael Flynn. He doesn't necessarily make a distinction between Islam and Islamism. Listen to him in August.

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LT. GEN. (RET) MICHAEL FLYNN, INCOMING NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It - it definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: So my question is, this is the man who has got the ear of the president and will be informing him on issues like Islam. Are you worried he's going to get wrong information?

AHMED: I'm familiar with that clip that you've just shown. I, of course, not - have not met the general. I'm not sure that that expresses the totality of his views. Certainly Islamism is a political totalitarian ideology and in this country, in the United States and in Europe, it strives to be seen as a minority religion. That has to be exposed. If there is further opportunity for the - for General Flynn to speak, I'm sure that he would come up with that. I'm not sure that that one segment captures his mood, nor does it capture, I think, the essence of the Trump administration's position, which is going to be to separate pluralistic Muslims from Islamists who masquerade as religious actors but actually are no more religious a force than communism or even Nazism.

[09:50:39] SAVIDGE: And I do agree with you that a ten-second sound bite does not summarize an entire administration's position, but it does give a kind of troubling potential insight.

But let's move on. To combat Islamism you wrote that, quote, "Trump must empower our enforcement agencies with necessary surveillance methods, targeting Islamist sympathizing behaviors, whether of individuals or organizations." So what does that look like to you and how do you do it without profiling in an open democratic society?

AHMED: So great question, and one that I struggle with daily as I think about these things and write about them. But I think, let's look at what the Muslim world is doing. The United Arab Emirates in 2014 has designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and actually also identified the Council on American Islamic Relations as an arm of it and also designated that in the same status. So there clearly is a mechanism to expose organizations, individuals, institutions that have behaviors that sympathize with Islamists.

The 1993 World Trade Center bomber and also Mohammed Atta, one of the pilots of the (INAUDIBLE) 9/11 attacks were affiliated with Islamist mosques in Munich. Now, the mosque may not have instructed or paid those individuals to do this, but they were very much inspired by the ideology. And we do have to do forensic examination of finances, as well as so-called advocacy groups to see whether they are harboring similar sympathies.

This is something that the Muslim world is scrutinizing. The Muslim world, over 300 million Muslims live in the Middle East and North African area, 1.3 billion live elsewhere. We are, in our own communities, struggling to expose jihadists and Islamists. Muslim armies are at war with this. Muslim politicians are losing their lives fighting this battle. So there's no reason why we are not going to have to do the same scrutiny here in the United States.

SAVIDGE: Point well taken. Dr. Qanta Ahmed, thank you very much for talking to us this morning.

Still to come, an eye for an eye? Not so much. America expels dozens of Russian nationals after those so-called election hacks, but Putin says he's not kicking out any Americans, at least not yet.

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[09:56:10] SAVIDGE: They said rock and roll was just a passing fad back in the '50s. But tell that to legendary rock group Chicago. On New Year's Day, CNN traces the band's windy city roots all the way to the top of the charts in "Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago." Here's CNN's Poppy Harlow with a preview.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After 47 golden platinum records, dozens of charting songs and more than 100 million albums sold -

CHICAGO (singing): I was walking down the street one day.

HARLOW: Chicago, the legendary band, is still rocking today. A brotherhood started with a handshake nearly 50 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a handshake and a jam session.

HARLOW (on camera): Did you ever imagine the success?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. None of us did.

LEE LOUGHNANE, FOUNDING MEMBER/TRUMPET/VOCALS: To have this kind of success for this long is unprecedented.

HARLOW: So, guys, when was the - when was the pinch me moment?

LOUGHNANE: We're still having it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Poppy, do you want to walk up on stage?

HARLOW: Yes. Yes. You -

HARLOW (voice-over): We caught up with Chicago on the final leg of their tour in Omaha, Nebraska.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Omaha, how the hell are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a true band. A band of brothers, yes.

HARLOW (on camera): A band of brothers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERT LAMM, FOUNDING MEMBER/KEYBOARD/VOCALS: We would build these songs and build these albums together. And at some point I realized, and I think we all realized that - that music is, indeed, what we're going to be doing pretty much for the rest of our lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The music talent is amazing. It transcends all ages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't find bands producing this kind of music today. This is it.

HARLOW (voice-over): There have been decades more wild than others, like their years at Caribou Ranch.

CHICAGO (singing): Singing Italian songs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caribou Ranch happened to be very close to a college town. There's a ton of drugs. There are really good drugs.

LAMM: And it ended up just kind of like being a party in the Rockies.

CHICAGO (singing): If you leave me now -

HARLOW: Chicago was flying high, but then came their heartbreak. Original guitarist Terry Kath died suddenly, accidentally shooting himself.

LAMM: That made us all - pulled us short, and we kind of didn't know what we were going to do.

HARLOW (on camera): You've said that you were still working through Terry's death.

LAMM: Yes.

HARLOW: Decades later.

LAMM: I - to be honest with you, I give Terry a look every night when we play "Saturday in the Park."

CHICAGO (singing): Another day -

LEMM: There's a lyric in there that refers to him.

CHICAGO (singing): A man playing guitar, singing for us all.

LEMM: I - I still dream about Terry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was like the musical leader of the band at the time. He would want us to stay together, as well.

HARLOW: You loved him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was very lovable.

HARLOW (voice-over): They did, they say, what Terry would have wanted. They stayed together and kept playing. Chicago has toured every single year of its existence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome, Chicago!

HARLOW: And finally, in 2016, the ultimate honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my honor to finally induct Chicago into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

HARLOW: But no sign these rockers are slowing down. Not even for a second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always contended that - that music - creating music keeps - keeps me in a childlike state that is not too bad.

HARLOW (on camera): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wanted to be as organic as it started out being, and that's why we're still together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:05] SAVIDGE: You can see "Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago," this Sunday. And, yes, I do know what time it is, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, only on CNN.