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May: Govt. Will Let Parliament Vote On Brexit Deal; Italy To Miss World Cup For First Time Since 1988; Iran-Iraq Earthquake Kills More Than 450 People. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 14, 2017 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN, ANCHOR: This is CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, Donald Trump's Asia trip is coming to a close as an awkward handshake. The tweet about Kim Jong Un being fat. No mention of human right's violations in the region. Also, a CNN exclusive, hundreds of thousands facing genocide in Myanmar. We'll take you to the front lines of the Rohingya crisis.
And, incredible news from the pitch Italy. Missing out on a World Cup spot of the first time in more than 50 years. Hello. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. Good to have you with us. I'm John Vause (inaudible).
U.S. President Donald Trump's doing a (ph) two week trip across Asia is coming to an end. He's scheduled to leave Manila in just about an hour. He'll return to Washington. Mr. Trump has been taking part in a summit with ASEAN leaders. He had lunch today with his host, the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
U.S. president has spoken about the great relationship he has with Mr. Duterte, a leader condemned by human right groups. So, his controversial war on drugs which has left thousands dead. Currently (ph) both leaders had side stepped questions about human rights in the Philippines.
Let's go now to CNN's Matt Rivers live in Manila. And, Matt, just looking at the schedule what we can expect there was some - we were expecting reporters would be able to cover the opening statements by the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte but no coverage what the U.S. president is saying. Why is that?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well we're not really sure, John, but there is no TV camera access to this particular event. And, there has, I mean, we're not exactly sure why that is but we will be able to hear what he says. We know that East Asia Summit is traditionally used as a way for these leaders to focus really on security issues.
You can expect North Korea to be high on the list today. But really this is - this was a day that wasn't even supposed to happen for the president. The original itinerary had him going home yesterday. He tacked this day on. But this day on but he's really just spending a couple of hours at this summit. He didn't even leave his hotel until 12:30 p.m. local time. And, he's going to be wheels up heading back to the United States in just an hour or two from now. So, really there's not a ton that I think he'll be able to get accomplished other than kind of taking a group photo and having a general discussion about North Korea. But still the fact that the president made his presence here known, that he chose to stay an extra day certainly signals to other countries in the region that this president is taking issues of security quite seriously.
VAUSE: Well, that may be the case. His new bestie Rodrigo Duterte has some human rights issues to deal with and it seems that Donald Trump says that relationship's great.
RIVERS: Yes, I mean, the White House says there's a warm rapport there between two leaders but the big questions going into the Manila stop here, the last stop of this trip, would Donald Trump challenge Rodrigo Duterte on these alleged human rights abuses that he's committed in his ongoing war against drugs.
And, while the White House says that the president briefly raised the issued of human rights in a broader context of talking about illegal drugs here in the Philippines, the Philippine side - a spokesman for the president of the Philippines said that the president didn't raise the issue.
In fact, it was Duterte himself that brought up the ongoing war against drugs and said he was not challenged by the president at all on that. So, we might not know exactly what happened in that meeting but we do know that the president has chosen not to forcefully challenge President Duterte on his war against drugs.
VAUSE: Matt, thank you. Matt Rivers live in Manila. For more on all of this California talk radio host Ethan Bearman and republican strategist Christopher Metzler join us now. OK. So, let's pick up on that issue of human rights, Ethan. This is very conspicuous by his absence from the president.
Not only did he not really get into human rights, but when Duterte was essentially lashing out at the media, Trump was laughing and joking along. So, which is another American value which the president didn't really stand up for on this trip. So, what does this now say about American leadership in the world?
ETHAN BEARMAN, TALK RADIO HOST: Well, clearly when it comes to human rights we are not interested in being the leader right now. At least according to our president and this administration. And, by the way, you forgot to throw in the fact that the President Duterte was singing him a love song, as well.
VAUSE: Is that why (ph)?
BEARMAN: Yes. No, it was beautiful. So, that was a little lovefest. There was no conversation happening about actually judicial killings. Duterte himself admitted so, again, today admitted it. Our president is not interested in that. This is a grave concern to journalists are under attack around the world. They're being physically attacked. They're being assaulted, murdered. Whenever they question an audit
cry (ph) around the world you would think that our president and our First Amendment would matter. That we need truth in this world and sometimes it's not pleasant to get to it.
VAUSE: And, Christopher, this is sort of a departure for the U.S. President Obama refused to with (INAUDIBLE) for example because of his record on exjudicial killing when it comes to his war and rights.
METZLER: Yes, but look, what do we expect the President to you? Do we expect the President to go and embarrass the President of the Philippines on the world stage? Do we expect that the President is going to lecture him sternly? I think it's an unreasonable expectation for the president to be able to do that. I think at the end of the day this is about diplomacy and this is exactly what he was practicing.
We don't know what the private conversations -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haven't other President in the past stood up for human rights in this region without having a diplomatic step?
METZLER: Yes, they may have done that but we're talking about other presidents, we're not talking about this president and I think in this particular case, it didn't come up publically. I don't see and issue with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here we have essentially actions - schizophrenic actions from the president contradicting his our intelligence community saying that Russia didn't do anything so that he can do all of those things to throw a region in the turmoil. He can say horrible things about the North Korean leader while sending three aircraft carriers over there to push us towards the brink of a nuclear war.
But he can't stand up and say look, the way that you're just killing people in your country. Let's figure out a way to attack the drug problem in your country without having to resort to extra judiciary killing.
METZLER: And if he said that, what do you think the result would be? OK --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again good question, I guess we'll never know because he never said it. Of course the president heads back to D.C. waiting for him there is the fallout from the story in the Atlantic. This is the headline, the secret correspondents between Donald Trump Junior and WikiLeaks.
Here's how the current head of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, the man chosen by Donald Trump as CIA director. This is how he sees WikiLeaks.
MICHAEL POMPEO, DIRECTOR OF CIA: It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is, a non state hostile intelligence service often abided by state actors like Russia. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The again, is this a problem for the administration? Especially considering that this contact begin in September of last year before election day.
METZLER: I don't see what the problem is here. The problem is from the stand point of the media creating this script in which - OK, so Donald Trump Jr. said this, there was a direct message between them - blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't see any crime that's been committed so what's the President's problem here? I don't see the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, just to be clear, he's part of the Atlantic's reporting. On the same day that Trump Jr. received the first message from WikiLeaks, he e-mail other senior officials with the Trump campaign including Steve O'Ban and Kellyanne Conway and Trump's Senior Advisor, Jared Kushner. Telling the WikiLeaks had made contact.
Kushner then forwarded the e-mails to campaign communications director Hope Hicks. So even, it would at least raise a possibility that even if Donald Trump wasn't colluding directly with WikiLeaks, others at the most senior levels of the Trump campaign may have been.
METZLER: Absolutely and that's what we're finding out but everybody from General Flynn to Carter Page, all the way through now including apparently Donald Trump Jr. The individual act of communicating with WikiLeaks is likely not a crime but when you start painting the picture, we have Robert Mueller with the investigation happening.
You're painting a picture with a broad set of contacts when there supposedly were none between Russia and the Trump campaign. You could start painting the picture at a minimum of conspiracy maybe something much greater than that. And to somebody like Robert Mueller, this is a big deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not exactly a surprise though that Assange and Donald Trump Jr. have been in direct contact. The New York Times exposed that secret meeting last year between Donald Trump Jr. and the Kremlin linked lawyer. This was back in July of this year the story came out. Assange Tweeted this, Contacted Trump Jr this morning on why he should publish his emails (i.e with us). Two hours later, does it himself.
I mean, Christopher, it's one this for Assange to contact Donald Trump Jr. Is it another thing all together to have them in this back and forth of really only three response from Trump Jr. Again shining before the actual election date. At least it gives the impression of collusion with an organization which is closely linked with Russia.
This is the organization that was trying to disseminate the stolen hacked e-mails for the Clinton campaign.
METZLER: OK, so a couple of things, one opposition research which ever campaign does which appears to me to be happing here. This is opposition research and to the question of collusion and to the question of illegalities, why don't we leave that the special prosecutor to decide rather than this endless speculation as to whether there were crimes committed? You can paint all the pictures that you want; it doesn't mean that they're going to be beautiful pictures or that the pieces of the puzzle are going to align.
VAUSE: Well as far as Russian meddling in the elections, and any elections we're talking about, this is what the British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday, listen to this.
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: So I have a very simple message for Russia, we know what you are doing. And you will not succeed because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies. And to the commitment of western nations to the alliances that bind us. The U.K. will do what is necessary to protect ourselves and work with our allies to do likewise.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
VAUSE: OK. British Prime Minister Theresa May, compare that to what U.S. President Donald Trump said as he walking back, you know, his claims that he thought that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president was genuine and sincere -- sincere in his denials about hacking into the election. This is Donald Trump.
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What is said there is that I believe he believes that and that's very important for somebody to believe. I believe that he feels that he and Russian did not meddle in the election.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
VAUSE: Ethan, why can't the U.S. president take a very similar stance to the one that the British Prime Minister laid out?
BEARMAN: Well, because it would hurt his ego. It might call into question his electoral victory. There's some egoic issue that's happening here at a very infantile level that he cannot admit that something might have happened in our election. Everybody agrees. By the way, what you might not know about me is I've been working I.T. security for a very long time.
Since the commercialization of the internet and Russia's connection to it, they have been hacking our systems. Our infrastructure, our banks, why is it a surprise that our political and electoral system is under attack from the Russians who are not our friend and it is shocking to me how many Republicans actually at this point is very few Republicans that stand by our president in the fact that Russia tried to meddle in our elections.
VAUSE: Well (inaudible) there. Ethan and Christopher, thank you very much. Appreciate it. OK. Another explosive allegation against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore. A woman says he sexually assaulted her when she was just 16 years old, at the time he was 30.
Beverly Young Nelson now 55 spoke out Monday for the first time. She says she was waitress at a restaurant where he then assistant district attorney was a regular customer. He would often flirt with her and compliment her on her looks. She said she didn't not respond, but one night she accepted a ride home from Moore and she says he immediately drove behind the restaurant, parking in a dark deserted area.
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
BEVERLY YOUNG NELSON: 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 putting his hands on my breasts. 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 he said I was stopping, he began squeezing my neck, attempting to force my head onto his crotch. I continued to struggle. At some point he gave up. And he then looked at me and he told me -- he said you're just a child and he said I'm the district attorney of Etawa (ph) County. And if you tell anyone about this, no one will ever believe you.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
VAUSE: Well on Monday evening, Roy Moore and his wife responded to those allegations.
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
ROY MOORE, CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES SENATE: 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. I don't even know where the restaurant is or was.
KAYLA MOORE, ROY MOORE'S WIFE: I have been married to this man for 32 years. We've been together for 33 all together. He has never one lifted a finger to me. He is the most gentle, most kind man that I have ever known in my life. He's godly.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
VAUSE: Well despite all that call (ph) to (ph) growing (ph) within the Republican party for Moore to drop out of the Senate race. Tomorrow (ph), this (ph) we're (ph) joined (ph) now by Jessica (ph) Lovingston (ph) (inaudible) at Loyola Law School. So Jessica (ph), let's just hear from some of those law makers, especially the senators who want Roy Moore to quite this race. What do you think (ph)?
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well you know at some point -- some point you think he'd say it's time to step aside. I hope that's the case, I hope he does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a number of options that are begin considered. But he should not be a United States Senator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suggested it'd be best for him, the state, his family, the GOP and the country if he stepped aside. I just think there is no good outcome for Mr. Moore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, so at this point, legally, what the options for the GOP, the Republican party? Or is this just entirely up to Roy Moore and what he decides to do?
LEVINSON: Legally, there's not much that they can do. I mean, they can -- they've apparently had discussions with people about could you potentially be a write-in candidate and the idea is that that's really not politically feasible. Once he's on the ballot and once the ballots have been printed and they've been sent out, really not much you can do to pull them back.
So this is political. I mean, this is now -- we're outside the legal realm. And it's interesting, because we've crossed the line where he's now so toxic that the establishment is coming out against him. And as we saw from the 2016 election, apparently that line (ph) is really very -- very far away, that you have to be really accused of assault against children and pedophilia for the establishment to say now we've got a problem.
VAUSE: They finally say enough. (ph)
LEVINSON: Now, if he actually is elected to be in the Senate, then they could potentially could try and expel him. Now, that has happened, I believe, 15 times in our history. Fourteen dealt with -- with Civil War situations, people who were sympathetic to the confederacy.
VAUSE: Right. Not that often, right? More recent. (ph)
LEVINSON: Yes. Not that often. And I would say let's hope that this situation doesn't happen that often. Let's not try and normalize this.
VAUSE: OK. You talk about the political realm here. I mean, we've heard from the Republican lawmakers, but the actually party, the RNC, we haven't heard anything from them, especially about cutting their -- their fundraising operations. Reportedly, there are RNC operatives still working on the ground in Alabama with the Moore campaign.
LEVINSON: Yes. And that is -- I mean, as we know, the -- the -- they blood that makes politics work is money.
VAUSE: Yes.
LEVINSON: And if the RNC isn't cutting off the money, it means they're still hoping -- they're still thinking there's a chance that he could win. And so it's really interesting. The people who are going to be up for election again, the Senators are saying we really hope something happens, we don't think that he should stay in. But the RNC -- look, Alabama is a place where the most important thing -- and I'm not saying this just about Alabama.
It's true for most states and cities throughout the nation. The most important thing a candidate can have is whether they have an R or a D next to their name and money. And the RNC knows that.
VAUSE: OK, the Moore campaign issued this statement on their website, essentially going after Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing the latest Moore accuser. Gloria Allred is a sensationalist leading a witch hunt and she's earning around (ph) to create a spectacle. Allred was the attorney who claims credit for giving us Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision on abortion, which has resulted in the murder of tens of millions of unborn babies.
It doesn't matter who this woman's lawyer is. I mean, it could be Saul Goodman. Who cares?
LEVINSON: Well, I think this is what we call the -- a pivot. So when you go from talking -- these are accusations that are very important and very -- you know, vital to whether or not he can be a U.S. Senator. And when you pivot to say the person who's accusing me, I don't like their lawyer and they're responsible for this other thing that you voters really shouldn't like, it kind of shows that there's not a lot to argue.
VAUSE: Right.
LEVINSON: I mean, the old saying is you -- if you have the facts, you argue the facts. If you have the law, you argue the law. If you don't have either, you just argue a lot. And that's what we're seeing here.
VAUSE: OK. Jessica, thank you.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
VAUSE: Appreciate it. Still to come, we have British business leaders sounding the alarm of the (inaudible) Brexit talk. (ph) Our British Prime Minister, Theresa May's government is responding. We'll have that in just a moment. Also, European powerhouse, (inaudible) performs (ph) World Cup for the first time in decades. The latest giant to fall, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. The British Prime Minister, Theresa Mays, says, "the UK will work with the UN and other to try and stop the destruction of Myanmars Rohingya people.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
THERESA MAYS, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: This is a major humanitarian crisis which looks like ethnic cleansing, and it is something for which the Burmese authorities and especially the military must take full responsibility.
(END VIDEOCLIP) VAUSE: Well the tens of thousands of Rohingya who have fled the country are telling stories of murder, arson, and mass rape. CNN's Clarissa Ward traveled to a refugee camp on the boarder of Myanmar and Bangladesh. She spoke with survivors. A warning here - her exclusive report is graphic. It's also very disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: It's just a few hundred yards to safety, but it doesn't take long to see that something has gone very wrong. A woman's limp body is rushed through the no man's land between Bangladesh and Myanmar as anxious families wait to see what has happened.
On this day, it is a husband and wife. The crowd says they were shot dead as they tried to leave Myanmar. There are among more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have flooded this border to escape what the United Nations have called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing."
Each, it seems, has a tale more harrowing than the next. Nurul Haq says he fled a brutal massacre in his village of Tula Toli.
NURUL HAQ, TULA TOLI REFUGEE (through translator): "My sons and daughters were shot on Thursday. I can't find them," he says. "There's no one left."
Haw claims local officials told residents it was safe to remain in the village, but the days later the Myanmar military poured in and carried out a blood bath.
NURUL HAQ, TULA TOLI REFUGEE (through translator): "Please someone, kill me," he cries. "This is God's will."
Others who escaped Tula Toli tell a similar story. Rehana says, "the soldiers rounded them up on the riverbank and separated the men from the women." "We couldn't escape. Many children were shot and they fell on their faces," she recalls. "Those lying on the ground were picked up, chopped, and later they were thrown into the river."
Cell phone footage given to CNN by Tula Tolia residents appears to show the body of three children wash up on the shore as witnesses cry to God for mercy. CNN can confirm the authenticity of the video or verify the many accounts. Access to Rakhine State is heavily restricted.
But we wanted to find out more about what happened in Tula Toli, so we traveled to a sprawling refugee camp along the boarder and met 30-year old Mumtaz. She says that Burmese soldier raped her before setting the house alight with her inside. But the burns that cover body only hint at the horror she survived.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Describe to me what happened to you. What did you see with your own eyes exactly? MUMTAR, TULA TOLI RESIDNET (through translator): My boy was just behind me and they hit him with a wooden stick, and he collapsed to the ground dead. His head was split open," she says. "Then they took my other son from my lap and threw him into the fire."
WARD: She managed to escape with her 7-year old daughter Raziha (ph). All three of her sons were killed.
MUMTAR, TULA TOLI RESIDNET (through translator): "Oh, God," she cries. "Why didn't you take me?"
WARD: But for the survivors of Tula Toli there is no justice in this world. Clarissa Ward, CNN on the Bangladesh Myanmar border.
(END VIDEO)
VAUSE: The spokesman for Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, maintains that local Rohingyas and the military have been targeted by insurgents in Tula Toli saying there were a total of eight attacks by hundreds of terrorists. Meanwhile Myanmar's government has denied the U.N. charges of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State, saying the military took full measures to avoid collateral damage and the harming of innocent civilians, but the U.N. describes wide-spread and systematic persecution, killings and rapes which is says very likely amount to crimes against humanity. And tune in tomorrow for part two of Clarissa Ward's exclusive report, she'll show us the dangerous river crossings; thousands of Rohingya refugees are taking to try and escape the violence.
And musician and actor, Bob Geldof has returned his freedom Of The City Of Dublin award in protest because Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi also has that award.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
GELDOF: This is ridiculous because she sort of left us Dubliners there, and she sent Ireland there because we thought she was one thing and we've been duped. She's a murderer.
(END VIDEO)
VAUSE: Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied claims of ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses against the Rohingya. And if you would like to help the victims of this violence, CNN's Impact Your World has a list of organizations in Bangladesh currently helping Rohingya refugees. Please go to CNN.com/impact and there you can find out how to help.
(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 on his way back to the U.S. from the Philippines. Earlier he attended a summit with Asian leaders in Manila after having lunch with his host, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Throughout his trip to five Asian nations, Mr. Trump called for better trade deals with the U.S. He also warned North Korea not to provoke Washington or its allies.
Another woman has come forward with misconduct allegations against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore. Beverly Young Nelson, now 55 says Moore sexually assaulted her behind the restaurant where she worked as a waitress. She was just 16 at the time, he was a County Prosecutor; Moore denies the accusations.
Our vice president has arrived in the west end province ravaged by Sunday's powerful earthquake; the world's deadliest this year. Hassan Rouhani will oversee rescue efforts. At least 452 people were killed in Iran and Iraq. Thousands have been left injured. Many survivors are sleeping in camps, and the weather is deadly cold.
Syria (INAUDIBLE) shopping at an outdoor market came under attack Monday. A group say three air strikes hit the town of Al-Atarib, killing at least 53 people. It's still unclear if the Syrian regime carried out the strikes on the area which is held by rebels.
The British House of Commons resumes debate in just a few hours on Brexit with over 300 amendments of consideration. And business leaders have met with Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday saying they're extremely concerned about a lack of progress in talks with the European Union. Meantime, ahead of that Parliamentary debate, the government made what it describes as a big concession to lawmakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID DAVIS, UNITED KINGDOM BRITISH SECRETARY: It also means that Parliament will be given time to debate, scrutinize and vote on the final agreement we strike with the European Union. This agreement will only hold if Parliament approves it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, joining me now from London, international political strategist, John McTernan. He's worked for the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also the former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. John, thanks for being with us. First (INAUDIBLE) down vote in Parliament on the -- on the Brexit deal, it seems as a concession but what's the point of voting on a deal after the deal is actually done?
JOHN MCTERNAN, INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Yes. Well, logically, there's no point on verging for a deal once the deal has been done. And normally, legislation in the U.K. is very straightforward. If you send it away, the government thinks again and bring something else back again. So, on the face of it, there's a concession that means nothing. The thing is, I think it goes to the weakness of the government. The government believe they had a majority, they have a majority in the House of Commons, they wouldn't be doing this. And as rebels in the U.K. Parliament know, once you send weakness in one area, you can push in another area. So, I don't think this is the end of the story by any chance.
VAUSE: Well, with that in mind, this Parliamentary debate is shaping up as being a major battle over Brexit. Theresa May is playing a weak hand. What are the chances there will be tears before bedtime for the government?
MCTERNAN: Look, my view is the government side are very unstable. There are 13 Tory MPs from Scotland. The majority Scotland voted to stay in the European Union. Scottish Tories act like a separate party, their leader wishes to be the first minister of the Devolved Parliament of Scotland. You can see there's 13 votes there that may well stand up for Scotland's interest. And the Democratic Union's Party being have to be -- have to be bright into this support for the government with a billion -- a billion and a half pounds of public spending. They may come back for more. There are Tory rebels who put the interest of the country before the interests of their party. And then there are people who think that Theresa May isn't being tough enough, isn't taking us out of the European Union fast enough, thinks that there are no risk to talk to leaving and starting to be a member of the -- of the World Trade Organization, simply trading with everybody on the WTO rules. So, I think it's a weak government, it's one which is being pushed around by Parliament, pushed around by the European Union, and pushed around by its back benches. It's very hard to see this ending well for Theresa May. Actually quite hard to see it ended well for the U.K.
VAUSE: Yes. Well, you wrote an op-ed to CNN with the not so nuanced headline, there is nobody in charge of the United Kingdom right now. You also argue the country has been a global laughing stock, and it's not just because of, you know, the Brexit negotiations and their slow progress and the, you know, the host trading, there been a host of other scandals and controversies, but ultimately, is all this turmoil, do you see it as a result of a government essentially struggling with Brexit?
MCTERNAN: I think it throws off to two things. One, it's definitely struggling with Brexit. If you're a government that had a very clear view on what you want to do, the terms on which you wish to lead, the terms on which you wish to trade, the terms on wish to be standing on your own two feet, you'd be fine. But Theresa May under her chancellor, Philip Hammond, both campaigned and voted against leaving European Union, they're trying to make the country do something they don't believe in. But the second thing is they have a promise weakened by her own hand. She called an unnecessarily early general election. She had a majority in the House of Commons when she called it, she lost her majority. She ran a disastrous campaign which not only threw away her majority, it threw away her authority as a -- as a leader. She hasn't recovered from that. So the combination of no authority for the promise of the country, plus no agenda for the government of the country, it just can't end well.
[02:35:07] VAUSE: I guess -- John, we're out of time. But if Theresa May, you know, does get turf out, who wants that job right now? It must be one of the worst job in the world. John, but good speaking with you. Thank you.
MCTERNAN: OK.
VAUSE: For the first time since 1958, Italy will not be competing in the football's World Cup. The four-time champs were held to a scoreless draw with Sweden on Monday at Milan. That means Sweden goes through an aggregate, Italy goes home. OK. Live to Rome right now, CNN Contributor Barbie Nadeau. So Barbie, only 11 years ago, they actually won the World Cup. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. What happened?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, it's devastating here. It really feels like a national day of mourning. Every paper -- look at this paper. It's the end. You know, Italians really believe it's their rights to be in the World Cup. They're still talking about what happened in 1958. So the idea that they're not going to part of this is devastating to the national psyche at a time when Italy really doesn't need it. There's been a lot of discussion this morning about what happened, was the team too old, were there not enough true Italians on the team, you know, the time right now for blame is upon us but, you know, it really is a sense of devastation. People's summer plans now to attend the World Cup have been tossed aside. This is just not something Italians are used to. They feel they should be there and are disappointed to be onwards that they're not. John?
VAUSE: So, with that in mind, who's getting the blame?
NADEAU: Well, you know, the coach is getting the blame. The players being too old are getting in the blame. You know, the makeup of the team, that's what everyone is talking about this morning. Did they have the right players on the field at the right time, and were they motivated enough? Did they go in a little bit too confident? All of these things, of course, it doesn't matter now, it's easy to be, you know, to analyze what went wrong when they should be celebrating what went right. But you could really feel or hear the silence last night. Usually, in Italy, when there's a national football soccer game like this going on, you can hear people celebrating in the streets, every goal, every wonderful play, and last night in Rome, especially, is was just dead silence. And I think that that really did reflect how the -- how the country feels. It feels like a national failure today.
VAUSE: Barbie, thank you. I should note that the good folk over at CNN Sport told me that Italy hasn't been that good since they won in 2006. So this should not be a surprise. Barbie, thank you for being with us from Rome. Appreciate it.
Still to come here, the world's deadliest earthquake this year. More than 450 people dead. Villages in Iran completely destroyed. Thousands have been left homeless and the climate right now, it is bidly cold. We'll have more on that in just a moment.
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[02:39:58] VAUSE: The world's deadliest earthquake this year has killed more than 450 people, most of them in Iran. President Hassan Rouhani is now in the area of the quake zone, in the northwestern part of the country. The 7.3 magnitude quake hit near the border with Iraq on Sunday. Thousands were hurt and some villages have been completely destroyed. Many survivors are sleeping in camps or in the streets in bidly cold weather. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is following the story from Amman, Jordan. She's with us now live. Jomana, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, the search and operations are almost done. State media even says they may, in fact, be over. This seems to be a very short time given the quake happened just a couple of days ago.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, John, one factor here is the area that we're talking about. We're not talking about heavily populated urban centers, you're looking at villages, really remote villages that pretty much scattered around that area. As you mentioned, an estimated 500 villages, a couple of them at least reportedly completely destroyed. And as you mentioned a short time ago, CNN spoke to an Iranian Red Crescent official who explained that the search and rescue operation is almost done and that's the phase where they are searching through the debris looking for people. And we saw that effort going on throughout the day yesterday after the earthquake. You had eight groups on the -- on the ground. You had government agencies, security apparatus they were using, multiple teams. You had sniffer dogs also going through the destruction.
And what we understand is ongoing right now that is the relief effort, and they expect that to go on for months. The estimate is about 70,000 people may have been impacted by the earthquake and that number could change as more people register for help. And we've seen these social media videos emerging from these areas, John. And of course, as you could imagine, a very desperate situation, people digging through the rubble with their bare hands. Many complaining about the cold weather, the lack of electricity, water, aid, shelter. And, you know, this is something you would expect at a time like this, and they're calling on the government to provide them with help fast. And we heard from President Hassan Rouhani when he arrived in Kermanshah Province a short time ago saying that the government is making every effort and will make every effort to try and solve this problem, especially when it comes to the issue of shelters as fast as they can, John.
VAUSE: Very quickly, though, what is the government's capacity, though, to deal with this disaster? Because as you said -- I mean, there are reports out there that this is not on tents, you know, people sleeping out in the cold.
KARADSHEH: Well, that is the big question, John. You know, we heard from the Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif, saying that they are thanking the international community countries that have offered support but that Iran is capable of doing this. And as you know very well, that country is really used to earthquakes. It sits on major fault lines. Earthquakes there are quite frequent. And so far, they're saying that they are able and capable of dealing with the situation, John.
VAUSE: OK. Jomana, thanks for the update. Jomana Karadsheh there live with the very latest on the fallout from that earthquake. And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Stay tuned now, "WORLD SPORT" is next. You're watching CNN.
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[02:45:23] KATE RILEY, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Welcome along to WORLD SPORT. I'm Kate Riley at CNN Center. We're going to start with the do-or-die match between Italy and Sweden in the World Cup playoff. And it was not good news for the four-time winners, Italy, who will not be going to Russia after losing the two-legged match, 1-0 on aggregate.
Hoping that home advantage at Milan would make the difference, Italy certainly dominated the progression, but they just couldn't get the ball over the line. They needed two goals to win the game but the Azzurri couldn't manage any. And as the game went on, the crowd seemed almost resigned to the fact that Italy would be taking next summer off.
The real disappointment for Italy's fans and at this watching party in Rome, there was sheer disbelief that their team's failure to qualify for Russia. As with their heroes, they will be watching all the action unfold from their couches next summer.
Meanwhile, the Sweden's team making sure that neither Italy nor the Eurosport death or going to the World Cup next summer (INAUDIBLE) The players are clearly overcome with emotion and sheer elation of unlike a famous Swedish (INAUDIBLE) to restore the (INAUDIBLE) furniture was not able to sustain the weight of the Swedish national team. Goodness me. Well, naturally, Swedish players as well as supporters are ecstatic. And this now opens up the possibility of one last hurrah for a supporter who used to be a player, of course. We can only be talking about the one and only Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Manchester United striker who was recovering from injury as 36 years old and retired from international football after the 2016 European Championships. He had previously said that he wasn't interested in a comeback, but come on, let's see if he can turn this one down.
On Sunday, Rafael Nadal was presented with the trophy for finishing the year as the world's number one player, but just 24 hours later, his season was over, the 31-year-old Spaniard has withdrawn from the ATP Finals in London with a knee injury. The 16-time Major champ was forced to pull out of the Paris Masters two weeks ago with the same injury, but hoped he would be able to compete in London, an event Nadal has actually never won. The Spaniard lost his opening round match to David Goffin before withdrawing from the event.
Coming up here on the show, there are plenty of issues swirling around the NFL right now, none more so than the reports surrounding the new contract of Commissioner Roger Goodell.
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[02:50:09] RILEY: If you only have a passing interest in the NFL these days, you might know that the Philadelphia Eagles are the best team with an 8-1 record, or you might know that the game has been consumed by a series of issues that have very little to do with the action on the field. One of the biggest headline magnets is someone who hasn't played for almost a year, Colin Kaepernick. His name has become one of the most visited in sports, having stood up by kneeling during the national anthem. He's become a hero, an icon of the civil rights movement in 2017. There are many, tough, who absolutely despise him and cannot tolerate any kind of debate about whether or not he should play football again.
Well, GQ Magazine has just made its position clear, putting Kaepernick on the front cover of its latest magazine, and declaring him their Citizen of the Year. The former San Francisco quarterback wasn't quoted in the article, he reportedly has grown wise to the power of his silence. Kaepernick did tweet about it, though, writing that he is honored to be recognize as QC's Citizen of the Year.
Meanwhile, we have the debate around concussion in the NFL and how the league should treat players who've been accused or found guilty of domestic violence. And now, there's a new twist, the commissioner Roger Goodell is at the heart of the action today, thanks to a report claiming that he's asking for a massive increase in his next contract from $30 million to an eye-watering $50 million. And to be clear, that's 50 million bucks every single year. And not only that, but he reportedly wants a private jet thrown in for life and some health insurances well. An NFL spokesman has downplayed all of this, but what seems to be clear is that Goodell no longer has the full support of the owners.
[02:50:01] The Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones, the most out spoken after the league punished his star running back Ezekiel Elliott for domestic violence and suspended him for six games. There is so much to discuss here. And earlier, our Don Riddell caught up with contributor Christine Brennan.
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CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's certain not the best timing for that report to come out. And of course, then you would say, Don, well, it's not the best timing for Goodell to be asking for a raise, and as the reports of the private jet for life and, you know, not quite sure what's true and what's not true, but whatever it is, it's not a good look for the NFL. It's certainly not a good luck for Roger Goodell.
He has been a commissioner who has done what the owners want him to do. And we know -- I know we have the Jerry Jones story as well and that issue of Jerry Jones sounding like he doesn't like Roger Goodell anymore, well, that's also a big deal. But by and large, the owners love this guy because he's willing to take all the incoming fire, and there's been a lot of it over the last few years with Ray Rice, domestic violence, obviously Colin Kaepernick. The CTE and concussions, and on and on it goes. And Goodell has been great for the owners in terms of taking all that criticism and basically shielding them from the criticism. And that's why they liked him. Is he worth 50 million? I'm not so sure.
RIDELL: So, why the problem now with Jerry Jones because I agree with you, it looked to me up until very recently that they were all making a ton of money and they didn't really matter who was getting paid, what, because everybody seemed to be happy. But now, there are these fault lines developing between Goodell and Jerry Jones, and perhaps some of the other owners, too. So why -- what is it that they can't agree on?
BRENNAN: Well, with Jerry Jones, there' certainly the big news story is of course Ezekiel Elliott. And I think we would be silly to not include that into the conversation, Don. There has to be some piece of Jerry Jones's anger towards Roger Goodell that is stoked and fueled by Ezekiel Elliot and the way that that was handled. I personally believe Ezekiel Elliott deserves the six-game suspension. Either you're fine with domestic violence and Ray Rice or you're not. And Ezekiel Elliott got preponderance of evidence that the NFL looked at was that he was a perpetrator of domestic violence.
He also, by the way, it's important I think to note, when people are feeling conflicted about Ezekiel Elliott and his suspension, it's important to note he was also caught on camera at a St. Patrick's Day parade pulling down the blouse of a woman and exposing her bare breasts. And the NFL basically just screwed that in as part of it. Any of us with me and talking about this, you probably wouldn't have your job tomorrow if you did something like that in public, such an sexual assault on another human being. So, Ezekiel Elliott, I believe, deserves the six games. But if that's what Jared Jones is mad about. That certainly would be part of the conservation.
[02:54:58] But I think a But I think as well, I think all of these owners -- I shouldn't say all gone but I think some of these owners are getting more and more concerned obviously about the NFL protest story, Donald Trump's insertion in it and basically just exploding it all over again, crash landing into it as Trump did in September. And then the backlash or supportt, whatever it might be of people for or against Kaepernick and the -- and the protest issue.
So, you've got a lot going on with the NFL and understandably the owners are feeling a little queasy about some of this because they do have, as you said, a lot of money at stake. And if T.V. ratings go down even just a little notch. And all T.V. ratings seem to be going down on most things, especially in sports. But whatever it might be, these are unsettling times for the owners of the NFL and Jerry Jones. And I think that's why we're seeing these issues as you said, there's this cracks so to speak in the fault line.
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RILEY: Oh, there has been plenty of interest on what U.S. President Donald Trump has been saying behind closed doors on his five-nation tour of Asia. It's been reported that he personally weighed in to the plight of the three American basketball players held in China. And according to the Washington Post, Mr. Trump asked the Chinese premier Xi Jinping if he could resolve the case for the UCLA players who are arrested on suspicion of shoplifting sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store. The trio including the brother of the L.A. Lakers Lonzo Ball. LiAngelo Ball have been told to remain in the City of Hangzhou. Their teammates arrived back in the States over the weekend.
Now, when you spend much of your life on the high seas, you embrace the ancient maritime traditions. We are in the early stages of the Volvo Ocean Race, but the fleet has crossed the equator on the second leg between Lisbon and Cape Town and that meant that pollywogs has been inducted into (INAUDIBLE) in case some translation is required of pollywog as a sailor you haven't yet crossed the equator. When they do, they have to be introduced into the (INAUDIBLE) by the Shellbacks those onboard with crossings already under their belt.
Now, this final story is just not cricket. The England Cricket Team came face-to-face with of Australia's native animals ahead of their first (INAUDIBLE) against Australia. England cricketers Moeen Ali and Alistair Cook took some time out rather them than me ahead of the first test. The (INAUDIBLE) come as they saw crocodiles and cuddled some koalas. It's a nature sanctuary. We might be karma than facing Australia's quick ballers, that's for sure. Australia will have quite the bite on them. The team, of course, haven't lost a test in Britain since 1988, and that's snappy story brings this edition of WORLD SPORT to a close. CNN NEWSROOM next.
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CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: New revelations about the American President's eldest son and his contacts with WikiLeaks during --
