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Trump And Duterte Avoid Human Rights Questions; 11 Countries Continuing TPP Deal Without U.S.; New Accusations Against U.S. Senate Candidate Roy Moore; U.K. Business Groups Worried Over Slow Pace Of Brexit; Moore Claims Are Assault On Christian Conservatives. Aired 1- 2a ET

Aired November 14, 2017 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte, a great relationship according to the U.S. president as the two leaders avoid any substantial talk about human rights. Plus, the accusations keep coming against U.S. Senate Candidate, Roy Moore. The latest woman to come forward says she thought he was going to rape her when she was a teenager. Also, ahead, Italian shocker: one of the most storied teams in football will miss the World Cup for the first time in more than half a century. Hello, and thank you for joining us. Good to have you with us. I'm John Vause and this is NEWSROOM L.A.

U.S. President Donald Trump is in Manila wrapping up the final day of his Asia trip with a string of events before returning to the White House. This hour, he's attending a summit of regional Asian leaders, and then having lunch with the host, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. President Trump has spoken about the great relationship he has with Mr. Duterte, a leader condemned by human rights groups for his controversial war on drugs, which has left thousands, dead.

(INAUDIBLE) both leaders sidestep questions about human rights in the Philippines. And throughout this trip Mr. Trump has preferred to focus on trade, saying the U.S. has been the short end of bad deals and that is going to change. Matt Rivers is live for us at this hour in Manila. So, Matt, we were maybe expecting some comments from the U.S. president this hour, that looks like it will not happen. It would've been a chance for him to maybe talk about, you know, human rights in the region, which he has not done. But earlier, he (INAUDIBLE) those ASEAN leaders to avoid becoming satellites to anyone, which seems to be a veiled mention of China.

OK. I think we don't have Matt. We lost Matt. But luckily, we have Terry McCarthy standing by, he's the President and CEO the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. Terry, good to see you. Let's pick up on that issue of human rights. Senator John McCain said of the U.S., our values are our interests, and our interest is our values. So, given what's happened over the last 12 days on this trip by the U.S. president, what does it say about the current state of American values?

TERRY MCCARTHY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LOS ANGELES WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL: So, I don't think it's any surprise that President Trump was not coming heavy on human rights. I think a lot of what he's done has been to deference himself from the Obama administration. It's quite clear that with President Duterte, he likes the image of the strong man, the guy who's hard on drug addicts and drug pushers. He -- that plays well with his base. And I think overall, he's tried to pitch a message of uncompromising trade; positions, he really wants some movement on trade. And he will give them a pass on human right for the time being. And I think that was probably pretty predictable.

VAUSE: Terry, just stay with us, because we have Matt Rivers back with us now to bring an update from that ASEAN Summit. So, Matt, we were expecting to hear from President Trump. It looks like he will not be making any remark. But it would've been one last chance for him to say something about human rights, which he seems to have avoided quite conspicuously.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, that's the calculation that President Trump has made. I mean, the big question that we were all looking at yesterday before that one-on-one meeting between Presidents Trump and Duterte was would the president bring up human rights and how forcefully would he do so, and would that include a condemnation as many human rights advocates around the world were looking from the president were looking or hoping to get from the president?

And frankly, John, that just didn't happen. We get slightly conflicting accounts from both sides of the meeting. The White House says that the president briefly brought up human rights in the context of illegal drugs here in the Philippines.

The Philippines' side said that the president did bring up that issue. In fact, it was President Duterte who brought up the drug war himself, brought up the tactics that he's used over the past year or so. And according to the spokesman for the Philippine president, the U.S. President merely nodded along, and the Philippine spokesman took that to mean that the president understood what he called the domestic drug problem here in the Philippines.

So, slightly conflicting accounts, but what we can really glean from all of that is that president did not choose, at least in this setting, to challenge President Duterte on his war on drugs -- on a war that has seen thousands of people killed, and has seen Filipino jails completed overcrowded, not only with drug dealers, but drug users as well. And so, the president has made the calculation that he does not want to challenge the Philippine president on his tactics, John.

[01:05:09] VAUSE: OK. Matt, thank you. Glad we got to you. Matt Rivers there in Manila. Let's go back to Terry. So, you said, Terry, that it should be not a surprise that this a tactic taken by the president, and it's true -- this is something which began back in May in a speech which the president delivered to leaders in the Middle East. He said we are not here to lecture, but to offer partnership. Given that and what's happened over the last 12 days is there now kind of a green light, if you like, for human rights abuses all over the world to act with impunity? MCCARTHY: Well, I don't know about the green light, but clearly the

president has set out a message that I am out for America's interests, I'm not going to be interfering with countries if they don't directly threaten the U.S. interest. And I think that -- to me, the bigger issue here is not so much whether or not there's a green light for human rights, this is more, to what extent does the United States really to want to support Democratic governments or to what extent we're going to give the nod to strongman rule. And we've seen that not just in Asia with Duterte, with President Xi in China, you know, the developments in Malaysia, and in Thailand where democracy seems to be taking a backward trip. But also, throughout the Middle East, the embrace of the new Saudi crown prince.

And I think this is something that we have to be concerned about because, in the short term, these types of strong men can promise a lot of things and maybe deliver some goods. In the longer term, generally, they deliver the goods, and no country should know that better than the Philippines. It's only 30 years ago that people of power kicked out a previous strongman, President Marcos, and installed a democratically elected president. And now, they're going through the same motions again, so it's kind of ironic -- we're back to where we were before.

VAUSE: Terry, it's also the economic side of this equation, though, while embracing the sort of undemocratic strong men around the world, the U.S. president is arguing with democratically-elected leaders of, you know, longtime allies and friends of the United States. So, you know, it's not just embracing the dictators, it's, you know, getting into arguments with those countries which have stood by the united states for a very long time.

MCCARTHY: Indeed. And I think part of that is that some of the strong men are sort of clutching to Trump because they want his support. Whereas some of the democratic leaders have a temerity to criticize him -- and we know very well that President Trump doesn't take criticism very well. And so, I think that that's just the natural outcome of democratic leadership, of critical of some things they're seeing from the United States.

VAUSE: You know, no talk of human rights, but a lot of talk about the trade from the U.S. president on this 12-day trip. He talked about all the deals he's been making, and he'll brief the nation about that later this week. He tweeted on Monday: "We'll be leaving The Philippines tomorrow after many days of constant meetings and work in order to make America great again. My promises are rapidly being fulfilled."

Again, not a lot of detail and the president is also boasting about pulling the U.S. out of the Transpacific Partnership, this huge regional trade deal. Here's something that The New Yorker magazine reported earlier this year: "The Peterson Institute for International economics are reputable but strongly pro-TPP research organization, for instance, estimated that U.S. national income would grow by $131 billion a year by 2030 under the trade deal."

You know, aiming at the economic benefit, is he even close to that? It dwarfs anything that the president has done on these, you know, bilateral one-on-one trade deals. So, if the focus is trade and they're not talking about human rights, can the argument be made that Donald Trump has sold off American values for a bargain-basement price?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think the question remains of whether he's achieved anything on trade, whether he wanted to achieve anything on trade, in the sense that what would he expect? That China would suddenly say, sorry, our bad, that $367 billion of trade surplus, you know, we're going to give it away, and you guys can start selling everything you want in China. That wasn't really going to happen.

I think to want he wanted to do was to put China on notice that, you know, if you guys can't deliver, I'm going to go back to Congress and we're going to start passing some pretty strict laws on, you know, various tariffs and so and so forth. So, I think that's likely what's happened with China. However, the China policy is complicated by a countervailing need, he has to keep President Xi Jinping on board for North Korea.

And I do think that they're serious about trying to get some movement on North Korea. And so, I think his strategy has been can criticize (INAUDIBLE), but I think the strategy has been to try and keep Xi on board personally so he can use that channel for North Korea while sending out a bigger message. And the big speech on trade was not in China, he waited until he left China and he gives that big speech on trade and makes America great again. And that's the threat that is, you know, the hammer is going to fall when he gets back to Washington.

VAUSE: I guess we'll see. Terry, good to see you again. It's been a while.

MCCARTHY: Indeed.

[01:10:03] VAUSE: Well, back in Washington, there is more scrutiny of Donald Trump Jr. after revelations he traded messages with WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. Trump Jr. released the exchanges on Monday shortly after the report by The Atlantic magazine. The correspondence took place in 2016, around that time WikiLeaks published hacked e-mails from senior Democratic officials. U.S. intelligence community believes Russia was behind the hacks -- we're told Congress has had these messages for a while, and Trump Jr. was asked about them during a closed meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee back in September.

So, for more on this, California Talk Radio Host, Ethan Bearman; and Republican Strategist, Christopher Metzler join us now. OK. Donald Trump Jr. has downplayed all of this. He tweeted all the correspondence out saying this: "Here is the entire chain of messages with WikiLeaks with my whopping three responses, which one of the congressional committees says chosen to selectively leak. How ironic."

His lawyers also issued a statement, "Putting aside the question as to why or by whom such documents provided to Congress under promises of confidentiality have been selectively leaked? We can say with confidence that we have no concerns about these documents, and any questions raised about them have been easily answered in the appropriate forum."

But, Christopher, where there is evidence that the president' son was in direct communication before the election with an outlet that laundered these stolen e-mails from the Clinton Campaign, stolen by Russian hackers, it's not a good development for the White House.

CHRISTOPHER METZLER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: So? I mean, from my perspective in this case, so the information's there. We see what has gone on. They've engaged in opposition research. There's no evidence at this point that there's been any crime committed. There's no evidence of collusion. There's evidence that there were e-mails between the two. There is no quid pro quo. There's none of that at this point. So, while this makes for a very interesting media stories, and very interesting media conversation. I don't see them there, there. What is it?

VAUSE: Ethan, it seems to add to a bigger picture by itself, eh, but part of the grander scheme?

ETHAN BEARMAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND TALK RADIO HOST: Yes, exactly, and that's the big issue here. By itself, it might not be a big deal, but in the grander scheme of the stories, Paul Manafort being arrested, we have General Flynn under investigation, we have all of these -- Carter Page. So many people in the Trump inner circle. And remember that the vice president said there was no connection between Russians and the Trump administration. Clearly, there was.

VAUSE: You should mention Donald Trump because there is one interesting tidbit here: within 15 minutes of WikiLeaks sending a direct message to Don Jr. on October 12th, 2016, asking him to talk up the stolen Clinton Campaign e-mails, Donald Trump, then, you know, candidate, actually tweeted this out. This is he said: "Very little pick up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest. Rigged system." Christopher, that is incredible coincidence or is there something more going on?

METZLER: No, I -- it did happen, it's a coincidence, and we move on. I mean, from my perspective, there's really nothing to see here at this point. What we are seeing here, again, is a lot of media gossip, a lot of speculation. Again, I go back to the point that I made earlier, which is: if there is a crime, Mueller will with that. But at this point, we're simply engaging in a lot of gossips. It seems to me that --

VAUSE: We have 24 hours a day. Like, give us a break.

(LAUGHTER)

BEARMAN: I think you're missing the big point here. And it's this -- so, remember President Trump upon election had to remove himself from his businesses. Remember those giants stacks of paper with the lawyer. Well, that just proved that he is talking to his son regularly about things. I would suggest that President Trump is still very much involved in running his businesses well. 15 minutes between WikiLeaks, and furthermore, this actually indicts WikiLeaks: what are they doing having direct communications like this with the president's son? How are they being objective and just, you know, sharing with the world about open government?

VAUSE: And I guess, Chris, it does kind of fit into a pattern with the Trump campaign and Donald Trump the street brawler, who would do anything, who would cross any line, who would attack John McCain, a w hero, who would attack a gold-star family. There are seem to be no boundaries here for this campaign to do whatever they had to do to win. So, it kind of fits in with this pattern, doesn't it?

METZLER: Well, it fits in with the narrative that's been conveniently created. Yes, it fits in with the narrative, but that's about all that it fits in with, is a narrative. That's it. At this point, we have no evidence that crimes have been committed. You could put all of this stuff together if you'd like. It does not make a crime at this point.

[01:15:04] VAUSE: Very quickly, Ethan, you know, apparently in this story, WikiLeaks wanted Julian Assange to be appointed the Australian Ambassador to Washington. You know, is this at least a willingness -- does it show willingness among the senior Trump campaign staff to accept foreign assistance to win the election?

BEARMAN: There's no question whatsoever, and I think this is part of a disturbing pattern that we are seeing out of the Trump administration, the Trump campaign. And I believe Robert Mueller is going to be very interested in how this plays out

VAUSE: OK. Let's move on, because on Monday, again, the British prime minister called out Russia for meddling in elections all over the world. At the same time, she actually offered an olive branch to Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: But this is not where we want to be, and not the relationship with Russia we want. We do not want to return to the Cold War or to be in a state of perpetual confrontation. So, whilst we must beware, we also want to engage, which is why in the coming months the foreign secretary will be visiting Moscow, for there is another way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Over the weekend, President Trump kind of tried to say a similar thing, but not quite. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People don't realize: Russia's been very, very heavily sanctioned. They were sanctioned at a very high level, and that took place very recently. It's now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Christopher, one of these leaders is not like the other, can you tell me why?

METZLER: Well, so, Theresa May has her own problems. She's certainly not Margaret Thatcher by any stretch of the imagination. And Donald Trump is not Barack Obama. So, there you have it.

VAUSE: OK. Ethan, last word.

BEARMAN: Wow!

(LAUGHTER)

BEARMAN: President Trump said nothing -- and, by the way, the world is shattered right now? I'm just -- I'm very confused. But Theresa May said that much more eloquently.

VAUSE: He recognized there's a problem, we know what you did, but we still can work with you amid these a lot of issues to be dealt with.

BEARMAN: That's the way you approach it.

VAUSE: OK. We're going to take a short break here. And Ethan and Christopher will come back in just a moment because we have closer look at the new allegation against the U.S. Senate Candidate, Roy Moore. Will this be the end of his campaign? More on that in a moment.

Also, a shocking loss for one of the most successful teams in World Cup history: not making the cut this time around, oh dear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Another woman is accusing the U.S. Senate Candidate, Roy Moore, of sexual harassment and misconduct. Beverly Young-Nelson, now 55, says Moore assaulted her behind the restaurant where she worked as a waitress -- she was just 16-years-old. He was (INAUDIBLE) at the time. On Monday, Moore denied the accusations just hours after Nelson went public with her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:01] BEVERLY YOUNG-NELSON, ROY MOORE ACCUSER OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: He stopped the car, and he parked his car in between the dumpster at the back of the restaurant, where there was no one. The area was dark and it was deserted. I was alarmed and I immediately asked him what he was doing. Instead of answering my questions, Mr. Moore reached over and began groping me and glean his hands on my breast.

I tried to open my car door to leave, but he reached over and he locked it so I could not get out. I tried fighting him off while yelling at him to stop. But instead of stopping, he began squeezing my neck, attempting to force my head on to his crotch. I continued to struggle. I was determined that I was not going to allow him to force me to have sex with him. I was terrified. He was also trying to pull my shirt off. I thought that he was going to rape me. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. Ethan and Christopher are back with us now. Also joining us, Jessica Levinson, a Professor at Loyola Law School. Thank you all for -- Jessica, for being with us. Thank you, guys, for sticking around. OK. In response to Ms. Nelson coming forward, we should play the Roy Moore denial. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE, REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I can tell you without hesitation, this is absolutely false. I never did what she said I did. I don't even know the woman. I don't know anything about her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ethan, it's getting pretty hard to believe that five women are all lying, are all making this stuff up, especially when you saw her Ms. Nelson just so emotional and recounting in such, you know, fine detail everything that happened.

BEARMAN: Yes, clearly, Roy Moore has a pattern of not only ignoring the law, which is why he got kicked off the Supreme Court of Alabama twice. He has a pattern of abusing women that are demonstrated from these five. Furthermore, his denial just there was refuted by showing her yearbook which Roy Moore had signed. So, this guy is unbelievable. He is wrong for Alabama. He's wrong for the United States. He absolutely should be rejected by everybody and anybody who has a conscience, and for any evangelical who continue defending him is outrageous and they should re-examine their own faith.

VAUSE: Christopher, Republican lawmakers, especially in the Senate are calling for Moore to drop out. But how far is your party willing to go to make sure that Roy Moore is not elected in the first place? Would Republicans, with the Moderate Republicans, for instance, endorse the Democrat in this Senate race?

METZLER: Well, I don't think that the Moderate Republicans are going to endorse a Democrat. And here's the thing, in terms the decision as to whether he gets off of the ballot, that is strictly up to the state of Alabama to decide. I think we're missing the point here. The point is this a decision for the citizens of Alabama to decide. And I understand that there is national outrage over this. I get that. However, at the end of the day, the question is: who does Alabama want to send to the Senate? That's the question.

VAUSE: Let me get Jessica on that. Because Jessica, is this a state issue or does this actually go, you know, to the very heart of U.S. democracy, and who actually gets to be a senator?

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Well, I mean, legally it's a state issue in terms of who actually prints the ballots and when you can try and remove someone's name from the ballot. But in terms of going to the heart of democracy, yes, I think that that's why -- that's exactly why this is national news. So, politically speaking, I think this says everything about who we are and who we want to be as a country.

So, is it the case that party affiliation is so important that it can overcome what even the Republican Party establishment has said are very credible allegations of not just sexual misconduct, which is serious enough in and of itself, but predatory behavior with children. And I think we need to remember that this is on top of the fact that this is a man who was, as Ethan said, thrown off his position on the Alabama Supreme Court because he simply could not follow -- even though he was a judge -- could not follow basic legal edicts.

Like, you need to apply the law regarding same-sex marriage. You need to adhere to the first amendment. And so, I think that, yes, this is a state issue in terms of nobody other than those in Alabama will be voting, but it's a national crisis if this is who we are as a country. If this I one of the very few elite group of Senators, who we say, this is who we are as Americans and this is who represents us.

[01:25:00] VAUSE: Well, among those calling for Moore to drop out is the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you calling for him to step down from that Senate race?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Yes, I think he should step aside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe these allegations to be true?

MCCONNELL: I believe the women, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ethan, McConnell believes these women. During last year's election campaign, why didn't he believe more than a dozen women who accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct a harassment?

BEARMAN: Well, I completely agree with that. Tying that together, and that was a big turning point with those access Hollywood tapes, and the women coming out as well. Yes, this is a big issue for the Republican Party now. Who do we hold accountable for their actions? Furthermore, I just want to throw this is in as well, the Senate should keep Roy Moore out even if he wins the election -- just like the mall did that came out today. We find out that police officer in the mall where he was said he wasn't allowed there because of his behavior.

VAUSE: We haven't confirmed that reporting yet. That's been floating around Alabama for a while, and we're looking into that. So, at this point, it's not confirmed by us, but there are other stories out there. Christopher, if Moore was an establishment GOP candidate and this happened, would we be seeing the same level of outrage for the GOP? METZLER: No. And I think that's the problem here. So, the problem

with Mitch McConnell in this particular case is, remember, Mitch McConnell supported Luther Strange. And so, at this point now, Mitch McConnell is talking about the fact that Moore should step aside, really? I mean, that level of hypocrisy -- if that's what Mitch McConnell is concerned about, he should have said that from the beginning. It's simply not the case. This again, I an issue of anti- establishment politics. That's the issue here.

VAUSE: Jessica, were also seeing no real sign that the Republican Party, the RNC, is withdrawing its support from Roy Moore. They haven't ended the fund -- the joint fund-raising efforts, for instance. And there are reports that, you know, operative from the RNC is actually still working in Alabama. So, if the party is truly outraged by everything surrounding Roy Moore right now, why continue to work closely with him to get him elected?

LEVINSON: Well, I think that those who are going to stand for election and don't want to have to answer to their constituents, and explain why they supported someone who was credibly accused of sexual assault on children are now outraged. But in terms of the RNC, I think that they're making a sadly very rational calculation that this may still be winnable. And if we look at the polls, I think it should feel like a kick in the gut that they're this close.

And it shows us again that we are so polarized as a country and that party affiliation is so deeply important to us. And, you know, at this point, in terms of our morals and our values, we really are prizing certain party ideology over who can truly be a public servant. And I think that that's a sad place to be, but I think to your question, the RNC has made a calculation that this is still winnable. When we know that the RNC thinks it's not winnable, they'll shut off the money.

VAUSE: Christopher, I wanted to get your response to that because, you know, Moore is still up 11 points in the, I think, the last poll I saw despite all of this. Is that the calculation that's going on?

METZLER: Yes, absolutely. Look, at the end of the day, this is a political calculation, and at this point, the party believes this is still winnable. The question, however, becomes if he wins what if any action is the Senate going to take? There is a discussion about having him removed from the Senate. They can't stop him from being seated. They can, however, vote to have him removed -- it requires a two-thirds majority for that to occur. That's going to be the interesting question, but it is at the end of the day a political calculation as most of these decisions.

BEARMAN: A political calculation about an alleged pedophile we're talking about here. A pedophile.

METZLER: Yes, that's politics. And the Republicans are going to stand by and, go, yes, let's get that pedophile away. But it doesn't make a lot of sense.

BEARMAN: It's not only the believable. Values voters? It's absolutely wrong.

METZLER: It's not only the Republicans, it's also the Democrats. These are political calculations. At the end of the day --

BEARMAN: So gross.

METZLER: At the end of the day, it's what the number is.

VAUSE: OK. I don't know about the whole: just because they do it, we should do it too argument. But, you know, part of the strategy from the Moore campaign right now is to go after Gloria Allred, she's the lawyer defending Mrs. Nelson, she's been a celebrity lawyer. She takes up a lot of liberal causes, for instance, and the Moore Campaign, you know, he said that she's taking credit for the (INAUDIBLE), which legalized abortion -- they say it resulted in the murder of thousands of unborn children. So, Jessica, just to bring you in here, how does this strategy play out? Attacking another woman who is defending the woman, who Moore allegedly sexually attacked years ago?

[01:30:00] LEVINSON: Well, I think it's a desperate situation in terms of attacking the lawyer. I mean, look, I'm very much aware that lawyers are not necessarily the most powerful -- or excuse me, the most popular segment of the American public, but this shows that he's trying to change the conversation very quickly. So the conversation is that he's an alleged pedophile and he's pivoting to this is actually about my accuser and this is about my accuser's attorney and this is about an issue that I think you, Alabama voters, really don't like which is abortion.

And now let's also remember that those who are responsible for the Roe v Wade decision are the Supreme Court justices who offered that decision. If you don't like someone's lawyer, frankly, that really is not in any way a response to "I'm not responsible for this" or "Here are the things that I have done in my life." And so it is just classic deflection and pivot.

VAUSE: And we -- at that, we shall leave it. Jessica, Ethan, and Christopher, appreciate you all being with us, thank you so much.

BEARMAN: Thank you.

METZLER: Thank you.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

VAUSE: OK. A short break here. When we come back, the world's deadliest earthquake this year killing more than 450 people. Villages in Iran have been completely destroyed. Thousands have been left homeless in the bitter cold. Details in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour. U.S. President Donald Trump is attending a summit with East Asian Leaders this hour in Manila after having lunch with the host Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte.

This is the final day of U.S president's two-week-long visit to five Asian nations. And throughout this trip he's called for better trade deals for the U.S. He also warned North Korea not to provoke Washington or its allies. And Donald Trump Jr. has released the messages, he exchanged with WikiLeaks in the final weeks of his father's presidential campaign.

A source says Congress had copies of the messages for a while now and the younger Trump was asked about it during a closed meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee in September. Another woman had come forward with sexual misconduct allegation against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore. Beverly Young Nelson, now 55, says Moore assaulted her behind the restaurant where she worked as a waitress.

She was just 16 years old at the time and he was a county prosecutor. Moore is once again denying the accusations. Well, the world's deadliest earthquake this year has left at least 452 people dead. Most of the victims have been in Iran.

The powerful quake hit near the border between Iran and Iraq on Sunday. We have details now from CNN Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:35:05] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can hear its power and see the panic. A 7.3 magnitude earthquake caused in Kurdish, Iraq. With the bright lights of a shopping mall helped guide shoppers outside to safety. And shook this studio live on air as the quake struck just after 9:00.

But it was just across the border in Iran's more remote northwest that darkness amplified the fear and chaos. Hundreds killed, thousands injured, tremors felt in Turkey and Pakistan. I was under the rubble of destroyed wall, he says, it collapsed on my head.

Daylight as ever, made the extent of the losses clear. Iran cursed to sit on the fault between Eurasian and Arabian plates has seen this fore. This quake based 14 miles below the surface was relatively shallow yet suffering acute. Iran declared three days of mourning.

Many of the dead in just this one town (INAUDIBLE) the scale of the task ahead massive, urgent, yet here they have blankets, not stretchers. Nightfall will bring the cold again and complicate yet further the search for those stuck under the rubble of their former homes. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: British lawmakers will resume debate on Brexit in the coming hours with over 300 amendments up for consideration. Business leaders meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday have said they're extremely concerned about a lack of progress in talks with the European Union. For details here is Diana Magnay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been another tricky day Brexit-wise, but Theresa May managed to cause a battle to one side as she gave her annual address to the Lord Mayor's banquet in the City y of London. She spoke of a grand role for Britain post- Brexit about how Britain would continue to uphold the international rules-based order. Spoke of the value of free market economies and upholding living standards around the world.

Spoke, too, of how Britain with its future relationships with European countries and also its transatlantic alliances which serve to active stalwart against those states that tried to undermine them with a particular reference to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Russia has fomented conflict in the Donbass, repeatedly violated the national airspace of several European countries, and mounted a sustained campaign of cyber- espionage and disruption. This has included meddling in elections, and hacking the Danish Ministry of Defense and the Bundestag, among many others. So I have a very simple message for Russia, we know what you are doing and you will not succeed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MAGNAY: Perhaps what that audience was looking for but didn't get was more details on Brexit. Most importantly for them on a transitional phase. Earlier in the day, Theresa May had met here at 10 Downing Street with business leaders from the EU who had said that they wanted to see urgent progress on a move towards trade talks and that they wanted a transitional deal to be agreed upon by Christmas.

In House of Commons, David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, introduced a new piece of legislation, saying that MPs would be allowed to vote on the terms of a withdrawal agreement. But that raises as many questions as it does answers, as MPs heading to discuss the actual EU withdrawal bill itself. It promises to be a long and convoluted process. Diana Magnay, CNN London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, Italian football flag -- fans who were planning on cheering their team in Russia next year, time to make other plans. Italy lost on aggregate to Sweden Monday in Milan. Failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958. CNN's Don Riddell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Oh, it is not easy being a football fan sometimes and right now millions of Italian supporters are really hurting. What would once have seen unthinkable has now actually happened. Italy will not be playing in the World Cup next year. This is a team that's played in every World Cup tournament since the early 1960s. They are one of the most successful in the history of the tournament, winning it four times and their nickname Gli Azzurri is synonymous with football call. But their qualification campaign was pretty average and they've just lost in a two-legged playoff against Sweden.

Hoping that home advantage in Milan would make the difference, Italy dominated possession but they just couldn't get the ball over the line and they lost the tie 1-0 on aggregate.

[01:40:06] The players were absolutely distraught. World Cups come around only once every four years. So some may never get another chance in one and for the legendary goalie Gianluigi Buffon who is playing in his 175th game, this is the end of the road. He has announced his retirement. This is not at all how he would have wanted the story to end.

You know, I don't think these fans really thought it would come to this. You are looking at the aftermath of a watch party in Rome, a scene that would have been repeated in bars, restaurants, and homes all over the country. Just 11 years ago they were best in the world.

They will all have to find something else to do for one month next summer. It's a good job it's so dark in there, hides the tears and there will be consoling those fans. But every football crowd has a silver lining. And actually, Swedish fans were ecstatic.

And this now opens up the possibility of one last hurrah for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Manchester United striker who is recovering from injury is 36 years old and retiring from international football after the 26 European Championships. Now he had previously said that he wasn't interested in a comeback, but come on, let's see if he can turn this down. Back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Don, thank you. Still to come here, more on those claims against Roy Moore, the Senate candidate for Alabama. Another woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by Moore when she was a teenager. We'll tell you how the U.S. Senate candidate is turning to his Christian faith to fight back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEVERLY YOUNG NELSON, ROY MOORE ACCUSER: He said, "You're just a child." And he said, "I am the district attorney of Etowah County and if you tell anyone about this no one will ever believe you."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Very emotional Beverly Nelson there going public on Monday accusing the U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual assault when she was just 16 years old. At that time Moore was in his 30s. She's now the second woman to claim assault. Other women have said they were dated by Roy Moore when he was in his 30s, they were just teenagers.

But Roy is fighting back with his hand firmly on the Bible. CNN's Jason Carroll has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Embattled GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore now says the next chapter in his fight against accusations of sexual misconduct will be a legal one. Moore's wife posting a statement on Facebook saying, "We are gathering evidence of money being paid to people who would come forward, which is part of why we are filing suit." Moore is accused of sexually assaulting Leigh Corfman when she was a 14-year-old girl in 1979.

"The Washington Post" also alleges he pursued relations with three other teenage girls nearly 40 years ago.

[01:45:03] A Corfman family member telling me tonight no money or other inducement has been paid, offered, or promised and none is expected.

But Moore making this fight about something bigger. He said his faith is under attack and called the allegations an assault on Christian conservatives. This in a state where two-thirds of Republicans identified as evangelicals. At Moore's church, parishioner Carolyn Owen says she has known Moore for years and stands by him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLYN OWENS, PARISHIONER: God forgives the foolishness of youth. We make very bad decisions when we're young, and whether or not this is true about Judge Moore does not mean that's the man that he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: But Shalon Hardwicks says her faith led her to the same conclusion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHALON HARDWICKS, ALABAMA VOTER: I think it's a witch-hunt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: A witch-hunt she says Christians should end with forgiveness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARDWICKS: Can we not forgive him for 24 years ago? I mean, who hasn't done something 20 something years ago? We've all been young and we've all been rebellious. We've all done something.

CARROLL: It sounds like you believe the allegations but you're saying he should be forgiven.

(CROSSTALK)

HARDWICKS: No, I don't believe the allegations, because I'm trying to figure out why did you wait 24 years to do it? I mean, come on, let's give him a break. I mean, do I think he's the best judge in the world? No. Am I pro-Judge Moore? No. But I am a person who believes that everybody deserves a second chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Outside the First United Methodist Church, two parishioners who support Moore's opponent say the allegations confirm their decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE WILSON, PARISHIONER: I think our faith informs our decision making and in some ways, I think our faith is under attack by those who claim to be followers of God who are not living according to what we were taught.

CARROLL: I think a lot of people watching this would say, "Well, look, you already support Doug Jones."

PAULA WILSON, PARISHIONER: That's right, I think they would say that, yes. And I do not believe that our faith is under attack. I think we are in a country where we are allowed to worship as we please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Voters weary of the toll the race has taken on their state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN OWEN, ALABAMA VOTER: We just want to be left alone and let us vote and we're going to show the world that Alabama's not a bunch of rednecks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, Gadsden, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, we believe a relationship between a man in his 30s and a much younger teenage girl is predatory and abusive, the courtship of underage girls is not all that uncommon within many conservative religious communities in the U.S. For more, CNN's Religion Commentator father Edward Beck is with us now from Westchester, New York. Father Beck, good to see you.

FR. EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Thank you. Good to be here, John.

VAUSE: So tell me, what is the basis to this belief which seems to normalize a relationship which so many see as being anything but normal?

BECK: There really isn't a religious basis for it, John. I mean, you can say that a lot of fundamentalists or conservative religious traditions believe in virginity before marriage. And that certainly a woman, they would say a man, too, but it doesn't seem like men are always held to the same standards, should not have sexual intercourse before marriage.

So, therefore, they say, "Well, the younger a woman can marry the better so it'll protect her virginity and then her husband will be the first partner for her." So I think a lot of religious traditions who are more conservative in their bent say, "Well, let's get them married sooner so the best the case." And since they're just going to stay home and have children and be homemakers anyway, what's the difference?"

And, of course, this is a very archaic view of women and of marriage and it's not at all the majority, but there are strains in not only Christian fundamentalist traditions but you look at Mormons and you look at the then Orthodox Judaism and other traditions that kind of promulgate this kind of attitude toward women and even toward marriage.

VAUSE: I guess, how does this idea survive for such a long time? Because if you talk to parents, most parents, they -- they'd do anything to protect their teenage daughter from, you know, having a relationship with a man in his 30s, but clearly, that's not the case among some of these religious communities.

BECK: Well, I'm always surprised myself when you hear about certain factions of certain communities where this seems acceptable. I mean, again, it's generalizing but we used to talk about, "hillbilly communities" where they married very young or they married their cousins or it was just part of a culture. And you do have these strains in more rural cultures and especially in the south where this has become accepted normative behavior that for a young woman even in her teens to marry with parental consent and sometimes in older men.

[01:50:12] It just culturally was what was done. And I don't think this is, again, by far, it's not the majority, but you do find strains of it still even in our modern United States and it is surprising but it exists if you look around and you take the pulse of these communities. Again, it's from their perspective, it's the lesser of two evils.

So they're younger. At least they're protected, they're taken care of, they're virgins when they marry. And it's a certain mentality and perspective that has been perpetuated and seemingly exists even today. Surprising as is -- as it is to many of us who think this is such an archaic notion of what women are and, you know, what marriage is supposed to be.

VAUSE: Unchained At Last, which is a group campaign to end child marriage, they point out that the minimum marriage age in most U.S. states is 18 but exceptions in every state allow those younger than 18 to marry. Laws in 25 states do not set a minimum age below which a child cannot marry.

They also looked at marriage licenses across the U.S. between 2000 and 2010 and they found this, the data from 38 states showed more than a hundred and sixty-seven thousand children wed in that decade. That seems to suggest that this happens a lot more than people realize and this also that this isn't actually unique to the American south or maybe unique to Alabama, but it's spread across the country. And maybe it's, what, an issue for Christian fundamentalists mostly? Is that -- is that a fair reading?

BECK: I don't know if it's just Christian fundamentalists. I mean, we've heard stories recently about the sex trade and parents selling their children into sexual slavery. And this is not that, but, again, it's -- marriage is supposed to be a free commitment between two consenting adults. That's what we say marriage is.

And certainly, from a Christian perspective, you have to have consent and the ability to consent. You can make an argument that a teenager does not have that, especially if it's with an older man or an older woman I suppose for that matter. And so I think this is a cultural rather than a religious issue.

And it tends to be yes, with more fundamentalists and conservative strange -- strains of religious traditions. But you see this problem being promulgated in society again, even across religious boundaries I think. It's just -- it's a -- it's a southern thing sometimes and sometimes it's not even in the south. You'll find that some of the statistics are children in other states that aren't in the south are also part of this.

So it's how a person is raised. Sometimes you'll find people who are homeschooled, have a very traditional approach toward marriage and what their children should be. And you'll find strains in the community that say, "Well, we're going to marry them young so they keep these values."

So, again, I don't think we can generalize and say fundamentalist Christians only or evangelical Christians. And, of course, evangelicals and fundamentalists aren't even the same thing. So it's much more complex than just putting a whole strain of people in one box. I think -- I think it's really much more cultural in the religious strains in that culture.

VAUSE: Father Beck, thank you so much. The -- it -- as you say, it's complicated. There's no one easy answer to this and child marriage and I know it lasted for so but it clearly -- it's ongoing and what's happening right now has put a spotlight on. So thank you for being with us.

BECK: You're very welcome, John.

VAUSE: Well, next here on NEWSROOM L.A., possibly the most awkward handshake between world leaders ever. And on cue, the Twitterverse does what it does best.

[01:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Well, it got a little awkward in the Philippines when world leaders took part in the ASEAN Summit ritual, that would be the crossover handshake. Here's Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Audiences, please take your seats. Thank you.

RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR U.N CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't exactly the Thrilla in Manila, but this star-studded international lineup led by President Trump gave the audience something they will never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your majesty, your Excellency, please look at the camera and give us your brightest smiles.

ROTH: But smiles turned to stranger things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now for the ASEAN handshake right over left in 1, 2, and 3.

ROTH: The ritual crossover handshake to express friendship and comfort shook Trump up instead. It was a hand too far with the Vietnamese Prime Minister on his right and the Philippines President Duterte on his left. Twitter erupted.

"What the hell is happening?" wrote one viewer. Another said, "Good luck to whoever has three weeks to get this regional production of Mamamia into shape." Headlines shouted, "Trump was baffled in an awkward group handshake, straining with an odd grimace on his face." It has been called "Truck face" the same grimace he launched in the driver's seat of a big rig at the White House. So, what went wrong?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONYA REIMAN, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: His height made the difference, the spacing between him and the others made the difference, his inability to be flexible enough to move his arms in this position made a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: On this world stage, Trump was outfoxed by Russia whose Prime Minister declined to crossover, proof of no collusion at least on one night in Manila. Richard Roth CNN, New York.

VAUSE: Looks like fun. You're watching NEWSROOM L.A. I'm John Vause. Stay with us, I'll be back with a lot more news after a very short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:10] VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, Donald Trump's Asia visit coming to --