Return to Transcripts main page
NEWS STREAM
New Protests Against Trump Decision On Jerusalem; Haley: Yemeni Rebels Got Missiles From Iran; Seven Million Yemenis At Risk Of Imminent Starvation; U.S. Regulators Vote To Repeal Net Neutrality; Australia Child Abuse Report Makes New Recommendations; World Headlines; Royal Wedding; Trump White House; "The Last Jedi" Hits Theaters. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired December 15, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Robyn Curnow in Atlanta. Here for Kristie Lu Stout, welcome to News Stream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: And anti-U.S. protests from Jerusalem to Jordan, as fresh anger spilled into the streets over a controversial decision by U.S. President
Donald Trump.
Building a coalition against Iran, the U.S. wants action over what it says is new evidence Iran is arming Houthi rebels in Yemen.
And changing the internet as we know it -- why? A number of major companies are pushing back following a vote by U.S. regulators.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: We begin this Friday with a tense new picture across much of the Muslim world. Protesters are taking to the streets of cities in the Middle
East. Once again over Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
These pictures from Jordanian TV show, thousands of people gathering in the capital Amman. We are covering the story from all angles. Oren Liebermann
is in Jerusalem. Arwa Damon is in the West Bank. Arwa, to you first, what's happening right now?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (OFF-MIKE) -- so we have been seeing throughout the West Bank, throughout Jerusalem to a certain lesser degree
and in Gaza as well.
We've had demonstration like these clashes, like just happening on a fairly regular basis ever since President Trump made that announcement about the
status of Jerusalem. But we are beginning to see them intensify.
We are beginning to see the crowds pick up. We are beginning to see them longer and more determined when it comes to just wanting to try to confront
the Israeli forces. You have become fairly common flash points, this is one of them.
We were at another one earlier in the day. That one was broken up fairly quickly. But this particular location has been fairly regular throughout.
We have these confrontations all the time. You can see the ground -- I don't know if you can see it.
But actually this street is covered with rocks that they -- you see most of the youth have been throwing at the Israeli security forces there,
responding with tear gas, with rubber bullets.
And the concern, of course, amongst the broader population is where do they go from here? They do feel as if they have a certain amount of momentum,
because of the support that they have seen to demonstrations taking place in other parts of the world, in other parts of the region.
There is a sense that there is a certain level of perhaps broader momentum because of the summit that took place in Istanbul that led to the
declaration and recognition by the Islamic Muslim nations that they would consider East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine.
But at the same time, there is also this reality that happens here on a fairly regular basis. Now as I was saying, intensifying over the course of
the last few days, there was a massive call of course from the leaders of various -- from different parties including Palestine (Inaudible) to come
out onto the treats to try to confront the Israelis wherever they can.
But at the same time a lot of people are wondering, where do these kinds of clashes go? How do they actually move forward at this stage and try to
bring about a longer lasting solution and a lot of questions as to whether or not, is that actually possible at all.
CURNOW: OK. Arwa Damon, thanks so much. We'll come back to you if there is any more movement there. Oren Liebermann, you are at by the Old City.
I think you are at Damascus gate. Give us a sense of what's happening where you are.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some 35,000 worshipers parade at Al- Aqsa Mosque, which is staggering high number for what is otherwise an average Friday. Of course, it's not average because of Donald Trump's
announcement last week.
And that is what propelled or compelled all of these worshipers here. The vast many of them left fairly quickly and fairly peacefully. There was
some violent pushing and shoving as Israeli security forces tried to clear out those worshippers as quickly as possible.
[08:05:04] You can see the barriers here in place behind me, in front of the Damascus gate, that was a measure of crowd control to try to keep
people moving in one direction, to try to get them out, essentially to end the tension here as quickly as possible.
Of course, it reins tense. And it will remain tense, especially with what's coming next week. Vice President Mike Pence visiting the region,
expected to visit Jerusalem. So if today was bigger last week, it's very possible that next week will be bigger than this week.
Again, a very high number of worshippers at Al-Aqsa, this is one of the flash points in Jerusalem. And it will remain so as the region itself
remains tense, watching what comes next and what Mike Pence says on his visit may have an impact how big next Friday is.
But as, Arwa, pointed out, we've seen clashes across Jerusalem and across the West Bank because of a continued anger -- simmering anger in many ways
over the announcement of Trump.
CURNOW: Like you say, it certainly gathering momentum. And that is the sense that we are getting from, Arwa Damon, as well. Arwa, back to you. I
think you will be able to take your gas the mask off. And just give us again a sense of what you're seeing on the ground there in the West Bank.
DAMON: You know, you see people's anger and frustration expressed in many different ways. Of course, these scenes, these types of clashes, they're
fairly common here, whatever these issues, this tension rises up to the forefront.
And, of course, that announcement by President Trump about the status of Jerusalem has literally as many here will tell you just throwing not even
gasoline on the fire, an entire oil tanker on the fire.
People to a certain degree feel not only has the U.S. lost it's position as being a potential honest broker and the sort of future peace talks but also
that perhaps President Trump deliberately wanted to try to enflame tensions in the region.
When you speak to the Palestinians, the youth who are out here engaging in these types of clashes, they'll say, look, we don't have anything else to
fight back with. We could go out and try and protest peacefully, but we can't.
We're not allowed to do that, even when we try to do that, it serves nothing and this is the only thing that we have to fight back, with these
rocks that they keep throwing at the Israeli security forces.
They know that they're not going to win this battle. It's not necessarily about trying to win or gain ground. It's about trying to make that
statement. And people really feel as if, at this point they need to make a very strong statement.
Of course speak to members amongst the Palestinian leadership, they are to a certain degree wanting to see things grow and develop into widespread as
peaceful as they can possibly be.
Demonstrations again trying to capitalize as I was saying earlier on this momentum that they feel exist right now because after President Trump made
that declaration, no other country followed suit.
So for the Palestinians, they are taking that to a certain degree as being a reflection of how other nations feel. They feel to a certain degree as
if they are not perhaps entirely on their own at this stage.
But then, of course the question becomes, where do they go from here thus the situation? Do these types of clashes that we are seeing right now,
does this escalate or can this somehow be walked back towards resemblance of a peace process.
Bear in mind too, Robyn, that declarations we have heard from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, various other different leaders, are saying that
they are no longer is a role for the United States when it comes to mediating any sort of potential two-state solution.
We heard from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that now, they are going to be turning towards the United Nations, trying to look for
options for another nation or nations that could potentially try to mediate and begin bringing both sides to the table. But you really have a
phenomenally tense situation right now, these types of scenes playing out on a fairly regular basis.
CURNOW: And as you rightly say the big question, where it goes from here? Arwa Damon, there on the West Bank, thank you and to Oren Liebermann who is
just outside the Old City.
Now Iran denies U.S. allegations that it is arming Houthi militias in Yemen. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations called on international
community to build a coalition and quickly got the backing of Saudi Arabia. Nikki Haley made her case while standing before missile debris. We'll
cover from Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: this evidence is a part of what has led the U.S. Intelligence Community to conclude
unequivocally that these weapons were supplied by the Iranian regime. The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had made in Iran
stickers all over it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:10:00] CURNOW: Well, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says experts are still examining the missile debris. Well, Ben Wedeman, joins
us from Beirut with more details, and also more reaction. Hi, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Robyn. Well, the rocket that Nikki Haley was standing in front of is a Qiam rocket which has about a 750
kilometer range.
Now the Saudis claim that one of those rockets on splay was the rocket fired on the night of the 4th of November from Yemen in the direction of
Riyadh international airport.
However, arms experts say that those rockets that she was showing do not appear to have been intercepted by the patriot missile systems supplied by
the United States that the Saudis say were able take down that missile.
Also it's important to keep in mind that it's not clear when these weapons might have been supplied by the Iranians. Now Ambassador Haley is
suggesting that Iran is in violation of U.N. Securities Council Resolution 2231, which bars Iran from selling, supplying or transferring certain
weapons without the approval of the U.N. Security Council.
But that resolution went into effect in July of 2015 and, of course, the war in Yemen between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition began in March
of 2015. So there are lots of questions about these American claims and lots of doubt as well.
For instance, we did see a tweet from the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who -- in this tweet he puts up a picture of Colin Powell on the
right when in 2003 he went before the U.N. Security Council arguing that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
The other picture was Ambassador Haley in front of that Qiam missile. And he wrote with those two pictures, when I was based at the U.N., I saw this
show and what it begat.
Of course, what it begat, was these false claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which led to the U.S.-led war against Iraq and the
disasters that have followed afterwards.
It doesn't appear that the United States is, as Ambassador Haley said, going to form an anti-Iranian coalition that many of the partners of George
W. Bush's coalition of the willing that fought the war in Iraq would be willing to go that way with the United States.
And also, Robyn, it's important to keep in mind that the United States has supplied hundreds of billions of dollars in advanced weapons systems and
ammunition to Saudi Arabia, which has used quite limberly in Yemen.
In fact, there is a report from amnesty international. I'm just going to read this, which says that countries such as the U.S., U.K. and France,
which continue to supply coalition members, meaning Saudi Arabia, with arms are allowing Saudi Arabia and its allies to flagrantly flaunt international
law and being complicit, engrave -- I don't have my glasses, basically, war crimes.
And keep in mind, of course, that Yemen -- in Yemen according to U.N., nearly 8 million people are at threat of famine. So as the four horsemen
of the apocalypse ride wild in Yemen, it appear that perhaps, allies in the United States would rather see the war in Yemen brought to an end rather
than another war along the lines of Iraq going forward led by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Robyn.
CURNOW: Yes, it is fascinating. And certainly, the amnesty there sort of basically saying, stop calling the kettle black. It will be interesting to
see where this all goes and what that show-and-tell in the U.N. was laying the ground for. Ben Wedeman, as always, thank you.
So years of civil war have taken an enormous toll as, Ben, and all of our colleagues have reported on Yemeni civilians, 7 million people, a quarter
of the population are on the brink of starvation.
Many of them are young children. Our Clarissa Ward obtained rare access to Yemen. She has this exclusive report. You should know the video is
disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is how Ahmed Helmiz (ph) spends his days. Lying on the concrete floor, trying to swat away the flies with what
little energy he has. Looking at his tiny body, ravaged by hunger, you would never guess that Ahmed is 5-years-old.
[08:15:00] His brother died of malnutrition two months ago. "We're in a war, there's no food, no water," his mother Sumaya (ph) says. "Only God
knows our pain."
It's a pain shared by too many here. In the same small village, we meet Abdul Rahman (ph), an overwhelmed father of five. He's worried about his
son Abdul Rahab (ph). There's no doctor nearby and no scale.
But he can't weigh more than five pounds. "The problem is that my wife doesn't have a lot of breast milk," he says. "She's sick, too." And it's
not hard to see why. There's almost no food in it.
(On camera): (Speaking Foreign Language). So, they have some bread. (Speaking Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).
WARD: Some onions. (Speaking Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).
WARD: No meat.
(Voice-over): Hunger has always been a problem in Yemen, but two and a half years of war has starved the country. Three million people are
displaced. Many live in filthy camps where disease and infection are rife and malnutrition difficult to combat.
There is food in the markets. It's just that few people can actually afford it. And that's what's so tough to get your head around about this
crisis. It's not caused by a bad harvest or a drought. It's caused by man.
A Saudi Arabia-led blockade has cut the amount of food and medicine getting into Yemen by more than half. What does come through, is heavily taxed
along the way. Rural clinics struggle to meet the scale of the need.
Ten-month-old Ali has gained seven ounces since his last visit, a welcome improvement, but he is still suffering from severe malnutrition.
"You haven't done anything wrong," the nurse tells his mother. "But he's still weak. So, I really want you to focus on this problem."
For Ahmed (ph), it may be too late. He's been sick for years now. He only speaks when the pain is too much. "He tells me, my tummy hurts, my head
hurts," Sumaya (ph) she says. "He cries."
Hardship and hunger, this is Yemen's story. "My whole life, agony and I are like lovers," this Yemeni song goes. "Why, world, do you only show us
the terrible things?"
But the world doesn't hear his lament, while the silence of starvation tightens its grip on a forgotten people. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Lahej
Province, Yemen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks to, Clarissa, for that very powerful report. Now, the internet as we now know it could be about to change. U.S. regulators have
voted to repeal net neutrality rules.
That means internet providers would be allowed to slow down access to certain apps and websites as they see fit. Now the White House says it
supports the change, while tech companies like, Amazon, Facebook and Netflix are vowing to fight it.
Now much of the debate around net neutrality centers around what's considered a fair and open internet. Well CNN spoke to Andrew Lippman, co-
director of the M.I.T. Media Lab.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW LIPPMAN, CO-DIRECTOR, M.I.T. MEDIA LAB: With respect to the discussions that are going on in the United States, I think it's a great
pity that we didn't trademark the word internet, so that no one could confuse the open, free access associated with the internet with any other
way of delivering information to people.
In particular to distinguish between restrictive cable-like versions of communications and the open internet. My biggest regret is that we didn't
simply trademark the term so that no one could call these options that aren't neutral an internet because they're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: OK. So the vote by the FCC affects how the internet is regulated in the U.S. but what does that mean for net users in the rest of the world?
Lippman, gave his take on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIPPMAN: It's true that there are a lot of places in the world where neutrality of this sort is not really an issue. It's a given. It's taken
for granted and the internet is opened and used by everybody.
But the United States is big and sometimes a bit ahead of the curve and so sometimes a lot of places in the world follow the lead of the United
States.
And it's most concerning in the developing world, not in the highly developed first world, where sometimes there are alternatives.
[08:20:00] And sometimes people can even work with the government to come out with a pretty good solution. But in the emerging world, we really do
care that that world joins the future in a way that promotes the best possible outcome for all of the people in the world.
Not just the corporations, not just one partisan entity. It's a pity that these things dominate the discussion, but that it be for the benefit of
society as a whole.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: So what can people outside the U.S. do if they are concerned about the future of the internet? Here's what, Lippman, had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIPPMAN: Well, it seems like the front line of the battle is here. And this is the place where it's most opened to discussion and 300 million
people have sent notes to the FCC to be concern about it.
So I would love to see that to become an international cause and an international uprising. In the rest of the world, I think one of the
things that we can do that's not so easy to do here is where there are places that lack the robust infrastructure.
We can attempt a lot of technical options that prevent the centrally controlled single infrastructure that can potentially intrude on your
freedom of access and freedom of communication, we have the potential to prevent that from existing at all. And we should devote more energy to
that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Andrew Lippman there, co-director of the M.I.T. Media Lab. Now the net neutrality appeal isn't set to take effect until next year. So the
issue could -- could end up in the courts.
And still ahead here at CNN, a disturbing report on child sex abuse at state and religious institutions in Australia. What investigators say
needs to change to stop the abuse once and for all. We have a live report from Rome.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. You are watching CNN. And in Australia, a five-year investigation into child sex abuse at state and
religious institutions estimates tens of thousands of children have been abused.
Now that final report is making dozens of recommendations, including several focused on the Catholic Church. One calls for an end to mandatory
celibacy for catholic priests. Nearly one in ten Catholic priests in Australia stand accused of abuse inside religious institutions.
Well, joining me from Rome is John Allen, he is a senior Vatican analyst and editor of Crux, an independent website covering Catholicism. John, one
in ten Catholic priests in Australia is now accused of inside religious institutions. It's staggering.
JOHN ALLEN, EDITOR, CRUX: Oh, no question, Robyn, it is a staggering number.
[08:25:00] And it's reminiscent, of course, of the findings of the John Jay (ph) Commission in the United States that examined the pattern of child
sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the United States in 2002, 2003, 2004.
You know, which found that somewhere between four percent and seven percent of all American priest over the last 50 years or so have had credible
allegations of sexual abuse against them. I mean what it demonstrates is that this isn't one off or random problem.
But it is a massive systemic failure in the Catholic Church to adequately diagnose, prevent or respond to accusations of sexual abuse when they
occur. And I suspect you will find that on that front, there is not going to be any pushback from the Catholic Church on that aspect of the Royal
Commission report.
I think this is something the church has known for a while, but debate it's not whether the problem is real, but whether the church has done enough to
respond to it.
CURNOW: That's the point.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Now when it comes to other aspects...
CURNOW: This certainly pushed back and tried to make some difference but it's at seven percent in Australian on average and seven percent of
catholic priest in the U.S. from previous report, we can assume that this continues and children are still vulnerable.
ALLEN: Well listen, Robyn, I mean the Catholic Church today is in a very different place in dealing with this than it was a decade ago when these
reports first began to surface in the United States.
I mean today, zero tolerance is the law of the land in the Catholic Church. The Catholic priest is incredibly accused of abuse, that guy is going to be
removed from ministry immediately. He is going to be reported to the cops and consequences will descend on him like a ton of bricks.
The problem in the Catholic Church today really isn't, in terms of responding to accusations against priests, the problem in the Catholic
Church is what about bishops who covered it up, bishops who dropped the ball.
You know, that's where the work still has to be done. If I may say, you know, one of the issues about the royal commission report is that if they -
- if they had highlighted that issue, that is accountably, not just for the rank and file but for the hierarchy, I think they would have gotten
overwhelming Catholic support.
Now when they start going after things like priest to the celibacy, and one thing you did not mentioned, they also recommended eating away at the seal
of the confessional.
Those are much more controversial issues, quite frankly are unlikely to ever happen, and I think to some extent, the risk here is the royal
commission has muddied the waters between what is legitimate and achievable reform. And what isn't.
CURNOW: So what you say is that there is no way the Vatican is going to listen to the Aussies here. This is going to be put aside and their no way
is they are going to change hundreds and hundreds of years of Catholic traditions when it comes to celibacy and traditional confessional.
So what could be done and what can be done is, it's going to be done. The Vatican is acutely aware of what needs to be done here.
ALLEN: Listen, I mean, what needs to be done is so obvious, Robyn, a blind person can see it. I mean what it comes down to is, what we know now is
that the Catholic Church has strong accountability measures for priests who abuse.
The problem is that those procedures are not uniform. They are extremely strong and effective in places like the United States and part of Europe,
Canada, even today in Australia, where the crisis has been so massive that the church has been compelled to respond. They are not uniform in other
parts of the world.
And that has to happen. And it has to happen now. The other problem we have is that we do not have equally strong ability for bishops who drop the
ball.
You know, if you are a bishop and you are informed of a report of child sexual abuse against one of your clergy, and you don't report that to the
police, you don't take steps to take that priest out of ministry, right now we have no effective procedure that would ensure that that bishop has to
suffer consequences that are not nearly symbolic but real.
Those are fixes that everyone knows have to put in place and that are realistic to expect the Catholic Church might actually adopt. I think what
critics of this royal commission report will say, is that if you would focus on those things, you might have produced real change.
By focusing on priestly celibacy and the seal of the confessional, I mean in effect, Robyn -- you know, when it comes to the seal of the confessional
to say that the Catholic Church ought to eliminate that is like saying that Islam ought to get rid of the Koran or the Judaism out to get rid of its
special identification of the land of Israel. Those are interesting ideas. But they are never going to happen. And so this is wasted energy and I
think some critics may say that this was, because of that, a missed opportunity to promote the case for real achievable change.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST AND CORRESPONDENT: Pragmatic, practical examples. And also the point is when you talk about uniformity, where is the Catholic
church growing? Latin America, Africa, some parts of Asia, and that is potentially where there is no oversight in the way that you see perhaps in
Australia or in the U.S. after these reports.
John Allen, always good to speak to you. Thanks so much coming to us live there from Rome.
Still ahead, U.S. lawmakers, Republican lawmakers are sprinting towards a tax reform vote before the Christmas recess. It could be a huge victory for
President Trump, but there are new signs that it might not come so easily.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow. You are watching "News Stream" and these are your world headlines. Protesters are taking to the streets in the cities across
the Middle East. It was just over a week ago that U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. These pictures from
Jordanian television show thousands of people gathering in Amman in protest.
The British prime minister has thanked E.U. leaders after block gave the green light to start the next stage of Brexit talks. Speaking after
meetings in Brussels, Theresa May says the decision is an important step in ensuring smooth and orderly Brexit, but the E.U. won't set guidelines on
final trade negotiations until March.
And some happy news just into us. We now have a date for Prince Harry's wedding with Meghan Markle. Kensington Palace has confirmed they will tie
the knot on May 19th next year. The couple had said earlier they will get married sometime next May. There you go, put it in your diary, May 19th.
And U.S. President Donald Trump is applauding Disney's $52 billion deal to buy most of 21st Century Fox. The White House says the president
congratulated Fox co-chairman Rupert Murdoch with the sale. But big questions remain about the blockbuster deal such as, what role Murdoch's
son, James, would play? He is currently the CEO of 21st Century Fox.
President Trump is hoping to sign a Republican tax bill into law before Christmas.
[08:35:00] Congressional leaders are planning to unveil their final version in the coming hours, but as Jeff Zeleny now reports, the bill has hit some
unexpected snags.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: OK. One, two, three --
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Trump grabbed a pair of golden scissors today at a White House photo
opportunity on cutting regulations. But beyond his smiles tonight, deep questions remain over the prospects of the signature Republican tax plan.
TRUMP: I think we will get there. It will be in a very short period of time. It will be the greatest Christmas present that lot of people have
ever received. It will be something special.
ZELENY (voice over): The $1.5 trillion tax plan is in its final stages, but still not over the finish line as the White House and Republican leaders
scramble to ease last-minute skepticism. At the Capitol, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida made a bombshell announcement, saying he will vote "no" on
the GOP's tax plan unless it expands the child tax credit. He is the second Republican senator to voice his opposition. The president downplayed the
concerns.
TRUMP: I think he'll get there. He's really been a great guy and very supportive. I think that Senator Rubio will be there.
ZELENY (voice over): But that confidence from the president was not reflected in the raw map of the Senate. Two Republican senators, John
McCain of Arizona and Thad Cochran of Mississippi, are both ill. They have been away from the Capitol all week, making other Republican votes even
more critical.
With with the razor thin margin in the Senate, Vice President Pence said today he would delay a trip to the Middle East until next week so he will
be on hand to break a tie if needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president asked the House and Senate to stay here in Washington and finish this bill even if it means leading into the Christmas
holiday.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are pretty confident that we are going to get there before then, but this is something
that I think both the House, the Senate and the president are all committed to seeing it happen. We are very hopeful that it will take place the first
of next week.
ZELENY (voice over): The White House is making tentative plans for the president to sign the bill into law before leaving for his holiday break at
Mar-a-Lago. He has told aides he wants to sign what would be his biggest legislative achievement in the east room, which is festooned in Christmas
decorations.
But the plan still needs another vote in the House and Senate. The latest version set to be announced Friday is expected to lower the corporate tax
rate to 21 percent, lower the top individual rate to 37 percent, and repeal the individual mandate in Obamacare.
But concerns still hang over the bill, particularly whether it has more benefits for the rich or middle class Americans. A key sticking point, when
the tax cut for individual would expire, 2025 or even earlier. All this amid new questions over Speaker Paul Ryan's future. Some of his close
friends tell CNN he's had soul searching conversations about how long he may serve as the leader of the house Republicans.
At the White House, those reports caused alarm. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president reached out to Ryan, one of his closest partners
on Capitol Hill.
SANDERS: Made sure that the speaker knew very clearly in no uncertain terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it.
ZELENY: That phone call from President Trump to Speaker Ryan indicates the fact that they are close partners. They have, indeed, worked on legislation
throughout the year. This tax plan is a key example of that. The president pushing for a vote on that in the coming days. He would like to sign that
bill into law, which would be the biggest legislative achievement of his first year in office. He hopes to do that by Wednesday, but before then,
many hurdles need to be crossed.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks to Jeff for that report. Now, still ahead here on CNN, a show of force for the "The Last Jedi." Fans and critics alike praise the
latest "Star Wars" film.
[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: You would have to be living in a galaxy far, far away not to notice that the new "Star Wars" film is out. "The Last Jedi" has just hit theaters
in North America and beyond to the likes of dedicated fans. One if them, Frank Pallotta is joining us now from New York. You are standing outside of
movie theater in the cold. And I understand you have seen the movie. What did you think? Hi, Frank.
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNNMONEY MEDIA REPORTER: I saw the movie on Monday. It's a very fun movie. The original movie came out in May of 1977. And right now
standing outside in about 20-degree weather, I wished these movies still open in the summer.
But there is a huge crowd inside of the AMC Lincoln Square in upper west side of Manhattan. We went inside just a little while ago. The first
screening for the movie is already playing. It's completely sold out. It was an 8:00 a.m. showing. It has as you said, a huge show of force for this
movie this weekend.
CURNOW: Also, I mean, the stakes for this movie have been high, particularly because the last film broke records. Could this be making
movie history?
PALLOTTA: It could come close. The original of the last movie "Star Wars," "The Force Awakens," which came out two Decembers ago, was the biggest
domestic opening of all time at $248 million. People, analysts in Hollywood are projecting that this is probably going to be closer to 200 to maybe
even as high as 220. So it will be probably the second biggest opening for a movie ever only behind itself, which is "Star Wars" "The Force Awakens."
CURNOW: OK. Let's talk about all of the films. I mean, fans had to wait a decade for "Force Awakens." now, we have three "Star Wars" films in three
years, two more coming. I mean, is it a dark question, but is that just too much "Star Wars"?
PALLOTTA: I don't think there is ever enough "Star Wars."
CURNOW: I knew you'd answer it like that.
(LAUGHTER)
PALLOTTA: -- "Star Wars" enthusiast. I mean, you are really asking the right guy. Is there such a thing as too much sunshine or joy in the world?
I don't know. But I do understand that to a certain extent, we are going to have another movie, which is a Hans solo prequel in the summer.
And then you're going to get about a year and a half between the next movie and then Episode Nine, which is going to be the sequel to the movie coming
out.
These movies have made $2 billion worldwide for "Force Awakens," a billion dollars for "Rogue One," and this one is probably going to come close to
$1.5 billion worldwide as well. So, people aren't getting tired of this necessarily and Disney has shown that it really has a good grip on this
franchise.
CURNOW: OK. Thanks, Frank Pallotta. As always, great speaking to you. Enjoy. Warm up.
So, that's "News Stream." Thanks so much for watching. I'm Robyn Curnow sitting in for Kristie Lu Stout. Don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with
Christina Macfarlane is next. Enjoy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END
