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Iraq Making Progress Against ISIS in Mosul; Critics Question Trump Sources; Pence Hopes to Reassure European Allies; U.K. May Cancel Trump Invitation as Set to Trigger Article 50; New Video of Kim Jong-Nam Assassination; China Moves May Benefit North Koreans. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired February 20, 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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[02:00:43] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.
ROSEMARY CHRUCH, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rosemary Church. Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
ISIS is under attack in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The Iraqi government says it has made progress in its offensive to retake person Mosul. They release third video showing air strikes on ISIS facilities. The targets included factories used for booby trapping vehicles.
HOWELL: Iraq police says on day one of the offensive they killed 79 ISIS fighters. They destroyed weapons facilities and regained control of ten villages but they warned civilians could b, caught in the cross fires in the months to come. The United Nations says as many as 800,000 people still live in Mosul.
Following this story, our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, live in Istanbul.
Ben, good to have you with us.
Looking back the fight for northern Mosul took longer than expected. You've been on the ground. How might the fight for western Mosul be different for these Iraqi forces?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNNS SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fr one thing the geography is different. In western Mosul, you have this old city. You have this market. The alleyways, the passages are much narrower than in the east. And, therefore, for instance, it's harder for tanks and armored personnel carriers to go through. We know that is, for instance, has dug a network of tunnels and passageways and they're had lots of time to do that. They're also increasingly using a tactic we didn't see in the east. That is armed drones which they used to not only observe the Iraqi forces but also attack them. The explosives charges they use are not very large, but they're enough to make it even more difficult as Iraqi forces make their way through the city. So, it will be more complicated. Now, the number of civilians living in the west is somewhat less than in the east. There's somewhere between 650 and 800,000 civilians in the western part of the city, but that on top of all the other complications is going to make this battle certainly as difficult if not more so than the one for the eastern side of the city.
HOWELL: Ben, I want to talk more about that when it comes to civilians living in western Mosul. Leaflets have been dropped to warn them of the offensive. What can they do? Will people try to evacuate?
WEDEMAN: People have been trying to flee as we saw the same thing in the eastern part of the city, but it's difficult. I mean, for instance, I spoke to people who tried to flee the eastern part of the city when that battle was raging, and they said that they had to leave in the middle of the night, go through gullies and sewers, and that when they were seen by ISIS snipers, they were shot at. And in addition to that, those who stayed behind suffer from a lack of food, medicine, safe drinking water, heating fuel, electricity, only runs for a few hours a day. Whether you stay or you go, your life is in danger -- George?
HOWELL: CNN senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, live following this story in Istanbul, Turkey. Ben, thank you for the report.
Following a rough weekend and a rousing rally among his supporters in Florida, Donald Trump will try to turn things around. We're waiting for a new executive order on immigration set to be released this week. He said it will be tailored to the court ruling.
CHURCH: The Trump administration is also expected to release new guidelines allowing for aggressive immigration policies. And Mr. Trump is interviewing candidates for the key position of national security adviser. He could make the final decision this week.
HOWELL: The president back on the campaign trail this week.
CHURCH: It seems that way.
[02:05:11] HOWELL: One of his targets, the media. He's attacked the media. He's questioned the sources that journalists use, but now some are criticizing the sources the president uses himself.
CHURCH: That's after Mr. Trump made a comment about Sweden during a rally in Florida.
Our White House correspondent, Athena Jones, has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president's comments at the rally on Saturday suggesting there may have been some sort of terror incident in Sweden on Friday night left a lot of people all around the world scratching their heads. The president later Sunday tweeting that he was referring to a FOX News report that aired on Friday night. Here's some of what that report had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Perhaps no one on earth is more accepted to. 2016 alone the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers despite having a population of less than 10 million people. Only 500 migrants got jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: That segment went onto include an interview who said the Swedish government was covering up violent crimes supposedly being covered up by refugees. We have no way to back that up. The president is an avid watcher of cable news, but this lack of precision, the fact he said something that made it sound like he was talking about a terror incident, left a lot of people scratching their heads. The former Swedish prime minister took to Twitter to say, "Sweden, terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound."
The president often repeats things that he's heard or read without checking. And this has become a problem. It shows that the president's words matter, and that a lot of people all around the world are listening very closely to what the president says.
HOWELL: Athena Jones reporting for us. Thank you.
The vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, will meet with European Union and NATO leaders. He's hoping to reassure European allies worried about the direction of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump.
CHURCH: Mike Pence spoke at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday and said the U.S. supports NATO and stands with Europe.
Joining me the Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Great to talk with you as always.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Let's start with the comments President Trump made about Sweden when he suggested that immigration had led to an incident in that country Friday night. That had a lot of people asking questions, scratching their head. Then he tweeted Sunday he got his information from FOX News. Now, Sweden says it's looking forward to informing the U.S. Administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies. How embarrassing is something like this not only for the president but for the country?
SABATO: Rosemary, it's very embarrassing for the country. I've come to the conclusion that President Trump cannot be embarrassed. I don't think it's a problem for him. The joke we're hoping will sell in Sweden is having made America great again, he'll now want to make Sweden great again. Look, there's no explaining this. All other modern presidents have had their factual statements checked and rechecked by their staff and hundreds of thousands of people available to them in the Washington government, but Trump just pops off. And he made 13 major errors, misstatements in that one speech according to "Washington Post."
CHURCH: Well, it is interesting. He just seems to get away with it, doesn't he? And his base doesn't seem to be concerned. Then on Friday Mr. Trump also tweeted the mainstream media including CNN was the enemy of the American people. What sort of an impact does a comment like that ultimately have on democracy, an attack on the free press, and how should the Democrats and some Republicans be responding to those comments? We have heard some Republicans, but is that enough?
SABATO: No. I think that is a statement that should be universally condemned as Senator John McCain has done pointing out that it's the beginning of a dictatorship. Dictators take the press and make sure their people and perhaps others no longer pay attention. They shut it down if they can. I think this is disturbing. It's beyond the pale. It's beyond what any president has said in public. Only Richard Nixon has said something like that, and it was in private, and only revealed years after his presidency on the White House tapes.
[02:10:13] CHURCH: And, of course, with the firing of Mr. Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, efforts are underway to find a replacement, although a little bit of a resistance apparently. Many are asking what this means for the relationship between the United States and Russia given Mr. Trump's affections for president Vladimir Putin and his country. They, though, are at odds with how Mr. Trump's defense secretary and U.N. ambassador are responding to Russia. What are we to take of the differences and how confusing is this proving to be for Russians?
SABATO: President Trump is right on the edge of having the worst of both worlds. On the one hand, he had been trying apparently for reset with Russia, and as you point out, Russians have been very concerned by some of the things that not just Mr. Trump but others in his administration have been saying in the firing of General Flynn. Well, it's also true that he does want better relations with Russia, and yet, because of all these controversies, he may not be able to get it. So, it's difficult situation. It's hard for Americans to interpret, and there is going to be a major investigation of General Flynn and other contacts the Trump campaign and government may have had with Russia over the past year or so.
CHURCH: Certainly, confusing and chaotic times for everyone across the United States. Apparently, a lot of confusion in Europe as well.
Many thanks to Larry Sabato for joining us. It's always a pleasure to chat with you.
SABATO: Thank you, rosemary.
HOWELL: Now to the United Kingdom. British lawmakers are set to withdraw the invitation for a state visit. The debate was triggered by a petition.
Also, the House of Lords will be busy debating the bill to trigger Article 50 which will make take the U.K. out of the European Union.
CNN's Max Foster is live in London.
Max, let's first talk act the debate over this petition to withdraw the president's invitation. It reads he should not be invited to make an official state visit because it would cause embarrassment to her majesty the queen.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Today's debate already colorful. All the members of parliament are protected by privilege. They can say what they want without the threat of being take ton court by Donald Trump. I think some of them will use that opportunity to speak against him and his position in the world right now. He does have some supporters, not many. But he does also have support in the fact that many believe this state visit should continue because America is a very close ally to the United Kingdom, and the president should be respected in this country when he comes over, but it's a nonbinding debate. It's really just a talking shop. I think people will use it as an opportunity to event themselves. There is also an idea that perhaps Donald Trump's state visit could be downgraded. Normally a U.S. President would speak to the joint parliament, and parliament does have the power to block that. It can block the invitation. That might come through today. He might end up with a downgraded visit, but at downing street and the government said this visit will be continuing.
HOWELL: I'm sure many people will be listening to the debate. Let's also talk about what's expected to the Brexit bill? Might it be amended? Time is of the essence to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty.
FOSTER: It's possible. This bill went through the House of Commons un-amended and then has to go through the House of Lords. Government doesn't have a majority in the House of Lords. They may choose to make amendments. What the House of Lords doesn't the want to do is come -- take a battle to the House of Commons over the Brexit issue. Lots of lords said they don't want that to happen. Even if they want amendments, they're less likely to push for them.
HOWELL: Max, thank you.
CHURCH: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. The mysterious death of Kim Jong-Nam has sparked an international row. We are seeing video of the moment he was attacked.
[02:14:46] HOWELL: And a blast injures dozens in a Colombian bullring. Police say they're holding suspects in custody. We'll bring you the latest.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Welcome back. We have dramatic new video in from japan. It apparently shows the moment the half-brother of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Un, was attacked in the Kuala Lumpur airport. You see in the highlighted portion, a woman apparently placing something over Kim Jong-Nam's face from behind and then we see her walking off. Kim then can be seen in the gray suit approaching the ticket counter to seek help. An ambulance was called to take him to a hospital but he died on the way.
HOWELL: The death is straining relations between North Korea and Malaysia.
CNN Saima Mohsin is tracking the investigation and the growing diplomatic dispute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:19:37] SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Kim Jong-Nam murder investigation has now taken a diplomatic turn with a back and forth between the Malaysian and North Korean authorities here in Kuala Lumpur. Now, this follows a rather dramatic statement from the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia. He came to the mortuary shortly after midnight Friday and made a statement in response to that. The Malaysian authorities have released a statement saying that the ambassador insinuated the Malaysian government had something to conceal and was colluding and playing into the gallery of external forces. That's a quote from the ambassador from North Korea, and it's the Malaysians say they have acted completely transparently, and because this was a case of sudden death on their soil, it's not only their right but the law in Malaysia to conduct a post mortem examination, and they are according to procedure. They also said the Malaysian government views the criticism as baseless.
Now, up until now Malaysia and North Korea have had very good relations. In fact, they have an embassy in Pyongyang, and as a result of this situation now, the Malaysian government has recalled its ambassador in Pyongyang, and I quote, "to Kuala Lumpur for consultations."
Of course, the post mortem examination and the police inquiry continues. There are several new suspects and people that police want to speak to. Take a look.
MOHSIN (voice-over): Seven new faces, all wanted for questioning in connection with a death of Kim Jong-Nam as police confirm to me today this is now a murder investigation.
These four men are now suspects. They've been identified by police as being North Korean with civilian passports. Crucially, police say they all left the country on the day of the attack. The police wouldn't say where they flew to.
And these three men are also wanted by police to, quote, "assist in their investigation." None are suspects. Two are yet to be identified. The third is a North Korean man. Their whereabouts unknown.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICIAL: Approached an officer at the Malaysian airport. Informing her that to unidentified women had swept or swiped his face with a liquid and that he was feeling dizzy. MOHSIN: Under the keen eyes of the world's media, police gave details
on the murder investigation in a packed press conference.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICIAL: The cause of death is still unknown. We are waiting for the toxicology tests.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MOHSIN (on camera): Malaysian police officials say they'll stick to procedure and won't release the body without formal identification by a next of kin or a DNA test. Well, that's being met by the ire of the North Korean. The North Korean ambassador to Malaysia condemning Malaysian authorities handling of the case saying they won't accept the results of the post mortem examination.
(voice-over): In the meantime, four suspects already under arrest remain in custody. One of them an Indonesian woman apparently thought she was taking part in a prank TV show. And feels duped in taking part in the attack. That's according to the Indonesian national police chief.
Another strange new twist to this already outlandish murder mystery.
(on camera): Now that in total there are five North Korean suspects. One in custody and four wanted for questioning. The South Korean government has held a briefing saying it has no doubt that North Korea is, indeed, behind the killing of Kim Jong-Nam. No response from North Korea on that so far.
Saima Mohsin, CNN, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We heard her reference this, the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia had a news conference criticizing the Malaysian investigation. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANG CHOL, NORTH KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO MALAYSIA: If the death of the citizen named Kim Jong-Nam is not a natural one and is murdered as alleged by Malaysian side, the letter should be responsible to our city in Malaysia. We have right to the investigation results as the victims aside, particularly there is an allegation that the arrested female suspects murdered him by poisoned needles by South Korean media or by dabbing chemicals in the face. We demand for the meeting with such female suspects to review the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: North Korea also getting harsh economic news that actually might have a bright side to it. China says it's cutting off all of it imports of North Korean coal for the rest of the year. That move keeping with a U.N. Security Council resolution against the North's nuclear program. [02:25:11] CHURCH: CNN's Will Ripley is in Pyongyang, and tells us
what would normally be a grim development for the country might benefit many North Koreans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The news out of China that they won't be buying any more North Korean coal for the rest of the year is a blow to this country's government. Selling coal to China is one of the main ways the North Korea generates currency, currency that pays for things like their nuclear program and missile program. Here on the streets of Pyongyang, there may be a silver lining to the announcement. Over the past year since coal exports have been restricted, people have more electricity in the morning when they're getting ready for work, in the evening when they're cooking dinner. If you look at the skyline now versus a year or two ago, you see a lot more lights on than you did before. And so, the fact that there's more coal being kept inside the country may be a good thing in regard to the people's living standards here.
I spoke with a North Korean economist who says China accounts for 70 percent of North Korean trade, but he says the suspension of coal exports will not have a dramatic effect on life in North Korea.
UNIDENTIFIED NORTH KOREAN ECONOMIST (through translation): The sanctions are not slowing down or nuclear and missile develop. In fact, we're going faster, increasing our national defense with nuclear at the core.
RIPLEY: They say this country has lived under heavy sanctions were decades and yet slow economic growth has continued. You look at people on the streets of Pyongyang, they are carrying smart phones. Their living standards are improving. The question moving forward, is this growth sustainable as the economic news continues to tighten. They say nothing be stop them from developing their missile and nuclear programs.
Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Will, thank you for the reports.
U.S. Senators are taking steps to an investigation into the Russian role
into the U.S. election. The Trump administration is responding.
CHURCH: Plus, the guns in eastern Ukraine are supposed to go silent Monday. Russia announced in the cease fire deal. We'll have a live report from Moscow.
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[02:30:42] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A warm welcome back to you. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary church. GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm George Howell, with the headlines
we're following for you this hour.
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CHURCH: U.S. Senators are asking the Trump administration to save any records on Russia. They're hoping to use those documents for a possible investigation.
HOWELL: President Trump denies Russia intervened in the U.S. election on his behalf.
Our Elise Labott has more on this story from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Senate Intelligence Committee is asking members of the Trump administration to preserve all records that could be pertinent to their investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. CNN has been told that about a dozen individuals, agencies, and organizations have been asked to preserve all records. Now, this comes on the heels of closed door briefing between members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the FBI director James Comey after that closed door briefing Senators were very hush hush, but obviously there was a lot of interesting and important information coming out of that briefing. In fact, Republican Senator Marco Rubio after that briefing, tweeted that he was confident that the Senate Intelligence Committee would be conducting a bipartisan investigation of Russian meddling and influence in the 2016 election. Now, the White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said that the administration would cooperate with the investigation, but that that did not mean anything. He said he was confident that the investigation would take place and the committee would issue a report saying that nothing happened.
Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Elise, thank you.
The Trump administration is presenting their time line now leading to the resignation of national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
CHURCH: On Sunday, the White House chief of staff started by explaining what happened after then acting attorney general, Sally Yates, reached out to the White House. She told them Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yates came in, gave a heads-up to the White House council. White House council looked at the matter the day or the day after. The investigation was closed and no longer going on. Then the issue shifted to whether or not something was done that was wrong. The vice president was looped in on the situation and we talked to the vice president about whether or not Michael Flynn was being honest or not. The vice president knew there was an FBI interview, and then ultimately, we decided after about ten days bringing the vice president in that we decided that he wasn't being honest. That's the time line. It happened very quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And CNN's Fareed Zakaria has strong words for Trump performance as president so far.
HOWELL: Zakaria acknowledges that Mr. Trump has dominated the news but he says he hasn't accomplished anything. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:34:56] FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREEZ ZAKARIA, GPTA: Trump issued a series of executive orders with great fanfare, though fewer than Obama at this point q but they're mostly hot air. Reviewing a law, reporting back to him, considering action, or reaffirm some long- standing practice. His one order that did something, the temporary travel ban was so poorly phrased that it got stuck in the court system and will have to be redone. There are two aspects of the Trump presidency, the freak show, the tweets, fights with anyone who refuses to bow down to him, media judges included and the ceaseless self- promotion, but then there is the savvy business person who named intelligent heavy weights like Rex Tillerson and James Mattis to key positions and who has at times articulated a serious reform agenda. For many, it was they would put up with the freak show to get tax reform, infrastructure projects and wise deregulation. That may still happen, but for now, at least reality TV is in overdrive and not much is happening in the realm of serious public policy. The Romans said the way to keep people happy was give them bread and circus. Sustenance and entertainment. So far, all we've gotten is the circus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Fareed Zakaria with that assessment.
It's after 9:00 a.m. in Kiev. A new cease-fire has just begun in eastern Ukraine. Russia has said it would start Monday after a recent spike in violence between Russian backed separatists and Ukrainian armed forces. The Ukraine president has been talking the tough about moves.
Claire Sebastian is live for us in Moscow.
Claire, cease-fires have failed before, and even before this one took effect, both sides were accusing each other of violating the terms. So what chance does this one have? And what are the expectations here?
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. You're right. We've seen this many times before. It's two years this month that they -- since they signed the agreements under the protocol. Despite multiple local and overacting cease-fire agreements they haven't been able to keep to the terms. It has started on the ground now in eastern Ukraine nine and a half hours ago.
We got an update from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. They are the ones monitoring the situation there. Have a listen to what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION, EUROPE: There's large numbers of cease-fire violations this weekend alone, particularly next week, we have counted violations of the cease-fire. Since midnight they have been reduced and we have only seen up to now small arms firing into the region. That's promising, however heavy weapons remain on both sides of the areas where they shouldn't be, and positions of Ukraine armed organizations on the other side are far too close to one another. Ingredients for further flare-ups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: Ingredients for further flare-ups. And certainly, that is also the case politically. On the same day that this cease-fire agreement was reached, President Putin signed an executive order recognizing the passports and other bureaucratic documents. That was met with extreme anger from the Ukrainian side. The president calling it a violation of international law and further evidence of Russian occupation on the ground. And the U.S. ambassador in Kiev tweeting the recognition by Russia of documents of the separatist republics is alarming and contradicts the rules of the Minsk agreement. They say the it is just to protect the rights of those people, but certainly we have a volatile situation where the cease-fire is underway and yet the two sides are accusing each other of violating the terms and spirit -- Rosemary?
CHURCH: And, Claire, with that in mind, how much of this increase in violence in eastern Ukraine and this new cease-fire that's now in effect the is believed to be a test for the new U.S. administration of President Trump?
SEBASTIAN: Yeah. It's fair to say that the U.S. looms pretty large of this conflict. Russia has accused Ukraine from the beginning of this escalation of sparking the violence to curry favor with the new U.S. Administration, and we've seen a hardening of the administration's stance toward Russia in this conflict in recent days. Mike Pence and his speech at the Munich security conference saying Russia needed to be held on account in Ukraine. A similar line by Rex Tillerson when he met with his Russian counterparts. One prominent Russian Senator tweeting over the weekend that the recognition by Russia of these passports from the separatist regions is to show that any pressure on Russia from other parties -- he used an example of that speech by Mike Pence in Munich -- will not yield results. So Russia defiant in the face of this pressure and certainly we look to see how the U.S. will continue to respond. It will certainly make a difference in this conflict.
[02:40:38] CHURCH: I know you will be watching this closely.
Claire Sebastian joining us live from Moscow. It's 10:40 in the morning.
HOWELL: President Trump's Secret Service detail is costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Coming up, we'll break down the striking costs of protecting the first family.
CHURCH: Plus, activists and actor talks about his family's experience 75 years after Japanese-Americans were forced into U.S. internment camps.
We'll be back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back. Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the Annual Day of Remembrance, the day to pay respect to Japanese- Americans forced into internment camps in the U.S. during World War II.
HOWELL: The actor and activist, George Takei, says the immigration policies echo those days when all Americans of Japanese dissent were forced to register. He spoke with CNN about his own family's experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:45:02] GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR & ACTIVIST: We were rounded up by an executive order from the president then, Franklin Roosevelt, which ordered all Japanese-Americans -- innocent people, we had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. We were Americans. My grandparents were the immigrants. My mother was born in California, the capital of California. My parents met and married in Los Angeles. I was born in Los Angeles with any siblings, and yet the sweeping statement, rounding up all Japanese-Americans, saying they're all suspect of either sabotage or spying or activity. And imprisoned in 10 barbed- wire internment camps in 10 of the most hellish places in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Extraordinary.
In an ironic twist, U.S. President Trump's campaign season being applied to one of the countries on his travel ban.
HOWELL: The U.S. ambassador to Somalia had a "make Somalia great again" cap. Now he came a dual U.S. Somali citizen and worked as a civil servant in New York. Somalia is one of the seven Muslim- majority countries on Mr. Trump's travel ban. The U.S. federal court put the ban on hold.
CHURCH: President Trump is wrapping up his third straight weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, a trip that's costing U.S. taxpayers money.
HOWELL: A lot of money. Not only do they have to protect multiple sites at one time, but they have to keep tabs on the Trump's family jet-setting lifestyle. Tom Foreman has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cost of the protecting the jet setting first family could be epic starting with the president, vice president, their lives, kids, over to 20 people from the get go.
NONATHAN WACKROW, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: That's unprecedented. It's not unattainable to protect them, but it's unprecedented.
CNN security analyst, Jonathan Wackrow, says the equation is complicated by the Trump family working out of so many places. The White House, the Mar-A-Lago club in Florida, several private residences in and out of D.C., and Trump Tower in New York which the first lady calls home.
Secret Service director, Joseph Clancy.
JOSEPH CLANCY, SERCRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: When I go into Trump Tower, the restaurant is full, the star bucks is full of people. The challenge is to allow the businesses to continue to operate, but in a secure manner.
FOREMAN: In the works, permanently hiring out a whole floor for security operations.
(on camera): To give you a sense, that would be 13,000 square feet of prime New York real estate had a four-year market value of $6 million. Although the president could give his team a deal.
(voice-over): Another worry? Most of Trump's children are grown and involved in business meaning lots of travel. "The Washington Post" put the Secret Service hotel bill for his son's trip to south America at $100,000. And two sons are opening a golf course in Dubai this weekend.
CLANCY: I would say the most challenging trips for us are the foreign trips.
FOREMAN: Every time a president takes off, up to 300 people go along, teams for personal security, counterassault, intelligence, surveillance, emergency response, military support, transportation, communication, staffing, and more. The price tag is hard to pin, but a three-day trip by President Obama in 2013 cost taxpayers $3.6 million. So, will the total security bill be tens of millions, hundreds?
WACKROW: It's hard to forecast what the cost is going to be.
FOREMAN: Other presidents have raised security challenges with their lifestyles and travel, Bill Clinton's vacations in Martha's Vineyard, George Bush's retreats to Texas, Barack Obama's holidays in Hawaii. And CNN is told just protecting Vice President Biden's family took nearly 50 agents. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Tom Foreman reporting. Thank you.
CHURCH: Coming up, southern California recovers after a deadly storm. How floods could still threaten other parts of the state. That's still to come. Do stay with us.
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