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Massive Marches across the U.S. and Worldwide; Trump Attacks Media; Iran's Hardliners React Harshly to Trump Presidency; Europe's Far Right Spurred on by Trump Win; Chapecoense Return to the Field. Aired 2-2:30a ET
Aired January 22, 2017 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A rallying cry across the globe. People in hundreds of cities march for women's rights and against Donald Trump on the first full day of his presidency.
And Mr. Trump extends an olive branch to the intelligence community during his first visit to the CIA's headquarters.
Plus the new White House press secretary attacks the media over crowd size at the inauguration.
Hi, everyone, thank you very much for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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VANIER: Around the world, people anxious about Donald Trump and his agenda marched in favor of women's rights and against the new U.S. president, this during his first full day in office. Law enforcement agencies estimate that more than 1 million people protested across the U.S. That includes massive crowds in Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and here in Atlanta.
But the biggest rally was in Washington, protesters and celebrities there took their message straight to Mr. Trump's front door.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANELLE MONAE, SINGER: Women will be hidden no more. We will not remain hidden figures. We have names. We are complete human beings. And they cannot police us. So get off our areolas.
(LAUGHTER)
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ACTOR: President Trump, I did not vote for you.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHANSSON: That said, I respect that you are our president-elect and I want to be able to support you. But first I ask that you support me. Support my sister. Support my mother. Support my best friend and all of our girlfriends. Support the men and women here today that are anxiously awaiting to see how your next moves may drastically affect their lives.
ASHLEY JUDD, ACTOR: So we are not here to be debunked. We are here to be respected. We are here to be nasty. I'm nasty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: Outside the U.S., thousands of people also joined in rallies and major cities around the world. CNN's Nina dos Santos has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will not be silent.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): Across the globe they flooded the streets. Young and old, women and men, from Berlin to Barcelona, Sydney to Mexico City, protesting the politics of America's new president and urging him not to turn harsh rhetoric into reality.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a sad day yesterday. I was at Barack Obama's inauguration eight years ago and yesterday was just a completely different feel. And I don't want that for my daughters. I want a much brighter, more loving future for them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are afraid of the bigoted rhetoric that is happening within America transferring to Australia and becoming normalized and legitimized. And we don't want that to happen.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Between the signs and speeches, slogans of solidarity and a sea of pink knitted hats.
In Britain, even the pets had a message and women's rights were top of the agenda.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People think of it as a zero-sum game, that if you take more equality, it diminishes somebody else's. A lot of men, as a lot of women, understand that the opposite is true, that gender equality is better for everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here to stand up for equality and against bigotry and hatred. I'm here to show that we can be angry but also funny.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): This may have been a women's march but it was also about so much more. Here in London, people took to the streets, despite freezing temperatures and stayed on them for hours to make their views heard.
Their message to the new U.S. president, we may not have been your electorate but your decisions will affect the whole world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here. Amnesty International is here amongst all of these thousands of other people because we're concerned that rights that have been fought for and rights that we have been used to are under attack now.
So it is hearing President Trump talk about immigrants, Muslims, the way that he talks about women, it is our concerns and our worries about that.
DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Worries that are being echoed the world over as Donald Trump takes his place in the White House -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.
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VANIER: During his first full day in office, president Donald Trump paid a visit to the CIA and speak to several hundred people in front of the Wall of Honor, a place where fallen operatives are remembered. Mr. Trump --
[02:05:00]
VANIER: -- praised the agency but he also used the occasion to complain about the media.
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TRUMP: As you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. And I just want to let you know, the reason you're the number one stop is exactly the opposite. Exactly. And they understand that, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: Former CIA director John Brennan slammed Mr. Trump's speech at the CIA. Brennan's former deputy chief of staff released this statement.
"Former CIA director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes. Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself."
Moving on now to the relationship between the Trump team and the media. It was fraught during the campaign and it looks like things are not about to change now that Mr. Trump is president.
The new White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, attacked the press for, as he put it, "underestimating" the size of the crowds at Mr. Trump's inauguration. Take a look at these aerial photos so you can make your own judgment.
On the right, you see Mr. Trump's inauguration on Friday, just minutes after he was sworn in. Large sections of the National Mall are mostly vacant, showing white protective ground cover.
Compare that with Barack Obama's inauguration eight years earlier on the left. Even though there's no white ground cover visible for contrast, the mall in that same area was clearly full of people for the 2009 event.
But despite the discrepancy, White House press secretary Sean Spicer declared that the crowd in 2017 was bigger.
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SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON: This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.
Even "The New York Times" printed a photograph, showing the -- that a misrepresentation of the crowd in the original tweet in their paper, which showed the full extent of the support, depth and crowd and intensity that existed.
These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. The president is committed to unifying our country and that was the focus of his inaugural address.
This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging, the bringing about our nation together, is making it more difficult. There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable.
And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well. The American people deserve and as -- deserve better. And as long as he serves as the messenger for this incredible movement, he will take his message directly to the American people, where his focus will always be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: Now Spicer tried to back up his claim by citing ridership numbers on Washington's subway system.
CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta found that Spicer's figures were misleading.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We know that the Metro ridership numbers cited by Sean Spicer were not accurate. I believe we have a graphic prepared for this.
Put this up on screen.
According to Washington Metro Service here in the nation's capital, 570,000 riders took Metro on the Inauguration Day yesterday for Donald Trump.
Back in 2013, it was 782,000 and then 1.1 million back in 2009. That is the full day ridership number from Metro.
So Sean came in and he gave -- Spicer came in and he gave numbers that were not complete. And part of the issue that this raises -- granted, this is the first day out for Sean Spicer, giving a briefing in the White House.
But when you're White House press secretary, it really pays dividends in the long run for him, his boss, the administration to have their facts straight.
And to pick this fight with the news media and go after everybody and accuse journalists of falsely representing what actually took place yesterday and then not coming armed with any decent facts to back that up, it just strikes me as just being woefully unprepared.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: Of course, that was CNN's Jim Acosta at the White House.
Of course, the rest of the world is also looking at what the first steps of the Trump administration are going to be in terms of foreign policy.
Well, Sean Spicer confirmed on Saturday that British prime minister Theresa May will visit Washington late this week. It's not clear exactly what day; Spicer first said she would come to the White House Thursday and then he mentioned Friday.
Either way, Ms. May will be the first foreign leader hosted by President Trump.
The U.S. also says it will not send a delegation to Syrian peace talks set to begin in Astana (ph), Kazakhstan, on Monday. Acting U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that due to the presidential transition, a Washington delegation will not attend. However --
[02:10:00]
VANIER: -- America's ambassador to Kazakhstan will represent the U.S. there. He also said that the U.S. is committed to a political resolution to the Syrian crisis.
Also on foreign policy, Donald Trump's presidency is doing little to ease already frosty relations between the U.S. and Iran. The new U.S. leader has threatened to undo the Iran nuclear deal and many hardliners in the Islamic republic still see the U.S. as a major enemy. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on that.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, hardliners at Friday prayers in Tehran were chanting, "Death to America," many saying they expect more animosity from the U.S. commander in chief.
"From the very beginning, America's policies towards Iran have been hostile," this man says.
"It makes no difference which president is in power."
President Trump says he wants to renegotiate the nuclear agreement between the U.S., Iran and several other countries to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.
Iran's president Hassan Rouhani says that won't happen.
We traveled to Colm (ph), one of Iran's holiest and most conservative cities and a main center for the scholarship of Shia Islam.
PLEITGEN: Iran's powerful religious conservatives have made clear that they're willing to take a wait-and-see approach towards President Donald Trump. But they also say they're not going to back down from any of their positions, even if it means further confrontation with the United States.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): At one of Koln's (ph) big religious schools, we even find something like appreciation for the new president's straightforward style.
"Trump seems to be clear," the head of the school tells me. "What he says seems to be what thinks. You can see the animosity in his appearance."
And there are those hoping for better U.S.-Iranian relations. We spoke to Joshua Jabbari (ph) and his wife, Madiya (ph), both from the U.S., who just brought Chicago-style deep-dish pizza to Colm (ph).
JOSHUA JABBARI, AMERICAN PIZZA MAKER: It is a dream that everybody has, that, you know, U.S. and Iran would improve its relations so even trade could increase; you know, Iran has a lot of things that could be exported to Western countries.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While no one would dispute those words, many here in Iran believe that Donald Trump's anti-Iranian rhetoric on the campaign trail will make improving relations between Washington and Tehran all the more challenging -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Colm (ph), Iran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: Coming up, Europe's far right is bullish about the new U.S. president. How Donald Trump is influencing politics on the other side of the Atlantic.
Plus: a crisis averted in Gambia as the country's long-time leader finally comes to terms with his unexpected election defeat.
Stay with us.
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VANIER: Welcome back. Let's look at a powerful earthquake which has struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The 7.9 magnitude quake hit about 40 kilometers west the town of Panguna (ph) late Sunday morning local time.
That is according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A tsunami warning has been issued. Let's get the latest on that with our meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
Derek, what can you tell us at this stage?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The very latest is the tsunami threat officially has passed. And there was indeed a warning issued immediately after the earthquake. But according now to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center the threat has been lifted. And the threat has no longer.
So there is no longer expected a Pacific-wide tsunami threat from the magnitude 7.9 earthquake. Nonetheless, this was a powerful earthquake that struck across Papua New Guinea outside of the boundaries of the Solomon Islands. We'll get to all details here.
First, it was a 7.9 magnitude. It happened locally at about 2:30 in the afternoon at a depth of 153 kilometers. Here is Papua New Guinea. There is the outer reaches of the islands which still encompass this country.
And, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 170,000 people felt very strong to severe shaking, if not more people than that. And you can see that shading of orange indicated really on the west side of this particular island.
So that area is really -- that region resides in structures that are vulnerable to shaking in strong earthquakes like this.
The image behind me I just want to show you. This is actually not from Papua New Guinea. I just want to make that clear. We're switching subjects here because we have so many weather and science related topics to cover we can hardly fit it into the time allotted.
This is now in the United States where we are going through a severe weather round across the southeastern U.S. Unfortunately four fatalities coming out of a small town in Mississippi. This is the Hattiesburg region where you can see some of the damage from the FEF-3 (ph) tornado that occurred and struck (INAUDIBLE) morning across this (INAUDIBLE) town.
Unfortunately, there were dozens injured from this particular storm. You can see the destruction from this storm, winds easily topping (INAUDIBLE) 200 kilometers per hour with (INAUDIBLE) enhanced Fujiya (ph) scale 3 tornado that has actually been officially rated by the National Weather Service.
Unfortunately, the severe weather threat is not yet over. We still have the potential for more severe weather as we head into the overnight period, which is currently ongoing right now in the southeastern United States and for the day on Sunday.
We are going to highlight the areas, really it's across Florida and into southern portions of Georgia, even into portions of North Carolina as well. Currently we still have a tornado watch box in parts of Alabama. These storms are really just taking in some of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
It doesn't take much to get moisture from the ocean and the interaction with the land to spin up a tornado. It is very possible that we continue to see these flash floods and the potential for more tornadoes as we go forward into the day on Sunday.
So even here in Atlanta we have the potential for severe weather.
Cyril, that's the latest we have from the weather center. Back to you.
VANIER: All right, Derek Van Dam, our meteorologist, thank you very much. Always a pleasure to have you on. Thanks.
Europe's political far right is jubilant after Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential race. At a conference of nationalist politicians in Germany on Saturday, they praised Trump's victory as a sign of things to come. CNN's Atika Shubert has more on that.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside, thousands of protesters in Coblenz, Germany, shouted, "Neo- Nazis out."
But inside, swelling music welcomed Europe's nationalist leaders, hoping to emulate President Donald Trump's victory, each trying to ride the Trump's trans-Atlantic coattails: in France for Marine Le Pen; in the Netherlands for Geert Wilders and, in Germany, for Frauke Petry, each contesting elections this year.
A far-right meeting billed as a conference under the banner of "a Europe of nations and freedom," their political bloc in the E.U. parliament. 2017, they claimed, would be, quote, "the year of the patriots and the end of the European Union."
Le Pen led the charge.
MARINE LE PEN, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FRONT: (Speaking French).
SHUBERT (voice-over): "I love Germany because it's German. I love France because it's French," she said to applause.
"I do not love this chimera, this legendary monster, a German body with a Greek heart; three heads, one French, one Spanish and Italian."
She called for an end to the, quote, "anti-democratic oligarchy of the E.U." --
[02:20:00] SHUBERT (voice-over): -- and to close Europe borders to halt immigration, decrying Germany's decision to take in nearly 1 million refugees last year as a, quote, "catastrophe," the same words recently used by Trump.
But it was the notoriously anti-Islam Wilders who spelled it out.
Quote, "Blond Europeans," he said, were in danger of becoming minorities in their own countries.
GEERT WILDERS, FOUNDER, PARTY FOR FREEDOM: (Speaking foreign language)
SHUBERT (voice-over): "Here's the bitter truth," he said.
"Our political leaders have lost the capacity to see and understand the truth. They no longer value our freedom. Our politicians are supporting Islamization."
The enthusiastic crowd was largely from the ranks of Petry's alternative for Germany party.
They chanted, "Merkel must go," cheering Petry on for an election against German chancellor Angela Merkel.
FRAUKE PETRY, CHAIRPERSON, ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY PARTY: (Speaking German).
SHUBERT (voice-over): "We have to be courageous to rethink Europe and Europe's freedom," she said, "for our future, for our children.
"If not now, then when?"
SHUBERT: Now every single party leader here, when they spoke, used the word "patriot" or "patriotism." And that language that President Trump used in his inauguration speech seems to be being used here to usher in a new era of unabashed nationalism in Europe.
SHUBERT (voice-over): The words, the music, the attacks on the press -- some broadcasters were even excluded. And every speech included a glowing congratulations to President Trump.
But just as in the U.S., large counterprotests are also being mobilized. 2017 may or may not be the year of the patriots. But it will certainly be a tumultuous year for Europe -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Coblenz, Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VANIER: More international news: Gambia's former president has finally left the country after agreeing to step down peacefully. Yahya Jammeh boarded a plane for Guinea at the capital airport on Saturday night. That's weeks after losing last month's presidential election. His departure follows tense negotiations with leaders from neighboring countries. The long-time leader had refused to give up power in the wake of his
surprise defeat by this man, Adama Barrow. Troops had moved in from neighboring Senegal and were poised to remove Jammeh by force. Barrow was sworn in on Thursday in Senegal.
He later hailed, quote, " the victory of the Gambian nation."
The rebirth of a football club loved around the world. We're going to take a short break. When we come back, we will tell you about the Chapecoense team that played for the first time since a devastating plane crash. How the team is recovering and honoring those it lost.
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VANIER: Welcome back, everyone.
We want to till you about a football club loved in Brazil and around the world that played its first game on Saturday since an awful tragedy.
In November, almost all of the players and staff of the Chapecoense team were killed in a plane crash. They were on their way to Colombia at the time, chasing their dream of winning a major South American tournament. Our Don Riddell has more.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't how they thought they would be returning to Chapecoense. But these men are lucky to have returned at all.
Nieto, Jackson Follman and Alan Ruschel came home to their football club on Saturday for the most extraordinary trophy presentation. But for everyone involved, it was far from a happy occasion. It was, in fact, a brutal ordeal.
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RIDDELL (voice-over): No shouting, no screaming, no fist bumps or back slaps. Just profound sorrow and grief.
These are the wives, fiancees, girlfriends and children of the victims. And it was not a celebration. In their worst nightmares, none could have imagined that such a wonderful adventure would end like this.
They accepted the medals on behalf of their loved ones, consoled by the few players to have survived November's devastating (INAUDIBLE)
(INAUDIBLE) to their seats, the pain only increased as a new team stepped forward and replaced those who had died. The only ones immune to the suffering were those too young to process it. The Brazilian champions Palmeiras were the opposition, an honor and a
privilege, they said, representing the whole of world football. It was a friendly game and friendlies never usually count for anything.
But this felt different. The fans know they will never get their team back. But they would like one that is just as good.
The early signs are encouraging. Despite the most challenging of circumstances, the players kept their heads. A mentally strong performance and a very credible tour draw, not bad for a team assembled in just a matter of weeks.
Chapecoense will kick off the new season on Thursday with confidence. This club has a new direction. But the past will never be forgotten. In the 71st minute, the game was stopped to remember the 71 victims of the crash. This game will forever be remembered in the extraordinary history of this humble little club -- Don Riddell, CNN, Chapeco.
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VANIER: We thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier. I'm back with the headlines in just a moment.
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