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Trump Visits California's Fire-Ravaged Communities; Full Report on Khashoggi Death Tuesday; Netanyahu Faces Calls for Early Election; Families of Sunken Argentinian Sub Crew Demand Answers; Gillum Concedes to DeSantis in Florida Governor Race; Police Shooting of Security Guard Sparks Outrage; U.S. and Allies Still Battling ISIS in Eastern Syria. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired November 18, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Widespread devastation. The U.S. president views it first-hand in his visit to California. We have the very latest on the fires and reaction to the president's visit there.

The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after reports from a damning assessment by the CIA pointing to the Saudi crown prince, the U.S. president says it's premature to say who ordered the killing but information is still coming.

Plus a last-minute effort by the prime minister of Israel working to save his government to avoid an early election.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell. The CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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HOWELL: 4:00 am on the U.S. East Coast.

Donald Trump spent time on California on Saturday seeing destruction there first-hand following these deadly wildfires that have consumed so much of that state. And during his time there he toured communities that have been burned to the ground.

There was also a moment where he was asked about the impact of climate change but the president sidestepped that question and focused on poor forest management as a contributing factor. Listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it change your opinion at all on climate change, Mr. President?

TRUMP: No, no. I have a strong opinion and we can't go through this every year, so we're going to have safe forests and it's happening as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: In the meantime the death toll continues to rise. Officials recovered five more bodies on Saturday. The total number of dead statewide now stands at 79.

The number of names on the missing persons list has also increased. It is now almost 1,300 names on that list. Officials say the list could contain duplicate names as well. So the exact number of people who are unaccounted for at this point still very much unclear.

Joining now to talk more about this is Sadia Quint. She's a survivor of the wildfires.

And Sadia, more than 1,000 missing and your uncle is one of them.

What more can you tell us at this point?

SADIA QUINT, NIECE OF DAVID MARBURY: We really haven't heard anything and we're reaching out to every organization that we can, And we've given DNA just in case we do get a call saying, you know, that he's not with us anymore.

But we are being just really, really patient with all the agencies. I'd just like to say, you know, that the lists that have been coming out haven't been accurate because today and yesterday my uncle hasn't been on the list, which is really frustrating because we actually went down in person and talked to two different sheriffs, one in Butte County or Oroville and another one in Chico, when we went to go give DNA swabs.

And they said they were going to put him back on the list. And then this morning he was on the list and then not on the list.

HOWELL: That's got to be so frustrating, for it to be your burden to go back and forth between officials. And to make sure that your uncle's name is on the list. Say his name, if you would, please.

QUINT: David William Marbury.

HOWELL: OK.

And what is it like for you and your family to hold out hope but have so much uncertainty?

And again you're just trying to make sure his name is on the list.

QUINT: Right. It's just frustrating and kind of surreal. Like I never would have thought that I would be looking for a family member, so it just kind of sucks.

But we're being patient just because we know we're not the only family going through this right now. And everyone's in it together and everyone's being supportive on every single side you could imagine.

HOWELL: What is it like deciding what's next, certainly figuring where family members are, making sure everyone's accounted for?

But then the next steps, moving forward, not knowing whether a home is there or burned down?

QUINT: We already know his house has been burned down and his car was in his garage, so now we're waiting for the sheriff's department to go out there and let us know if his body is there or not.

If he is, you know, he's respiratory issues and he had back problems and he was 66, so I mean --

[04:05:00]

QUINT: -- it's hard to think about him, you know, not being here anymore. But as a family we have accepted, you know, whether we get good or bad news. So we're just prepared for both.

HOWELL: Just for our viewers around the world and also here in the U.S., please say his name again so we get it out there.

QUINT: David William Marbury.

HOWELL: And again, David William Marbury in the Paradise, California, area where the Camp Fire is still burning. Sadia, we certainly hope the best for you in your efforts to find him. We'll stay in touch with you as there are so many families dealing with so much uncertainty at this point. Thank you for your time.

QUINT: Thank you.

HOWELL: And the issue of these wildfires, they're becoming much more common across parts of the Western United States.

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HOWELL: Now to the murder of "The Washington Post" columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S. government is not yet drawing any conclusions there as to who is responsible for his

killing. This comes amid reports of a CIA assessment indicating the Saudi crown prince personally ordered the journalist's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month. The U.S. president says the finding is premature and he will get a complete report out on Tuesday.

CNN live in Turkey, our correspondent, Jomana Karadsheh, is in Istanbul.

We're hearing at the very least an acknowledgement from the U.S. president that the CIA report is forthcoming. He's holding off on making any determinations as of this point but what is the reaction there in Turkey about this?

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the past couple of days there's been no specific reaction from Turkish officials either to the reports that we've heard, U.S. officials saying that the CIA's assessment is that the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered that operation, he had ordered the killing, or these recent comments from President Trump and the State Department, basically saying this was not a final assessment and no final conclusions had been made.

But if you look at Turkey's strategy from the start they have not wanted to confront Saudi Arabia on their own. They've not wanted to go head to head with the kingdom on their own. They've tried to garner more and more support from the international community, sharing evidence, especially the United States, that they feel has a lot of leverage when it comes to the Saudis.

So they've wanted the Western allies and especially America to be at the forefront of this effort to hold Saudis accountable and to achieve justice in this case.

But at the same time, you know, and if you look at what President Erdogan has been doing, George, you know, this is man who never really hesitates to speak his mind.

At no point have we heard the president come out and point the finger at the crown prince or name him specifically but he has said that Turkey believes the orders for this operation came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.

And in that same opinion piece he wrote for "The Washington Post," saying that, he went on to say at no point does he believe that King Salman had anything to do with this, which many took this to mean he was referencing the crown prince there without naming him.

The concern amongst Turkish officials, George, is that there's some sort of stalling tactics being used here by some in the administration and also in Saudi Arabia, hoping that the longer this goes on -- and keeping in mind it's been nearly 50 days since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi -- that the world would move on and just accept this version of an investigation that's coming out of Saudi Arabia.

And there's also the concern that some sort of cover-up is taking place. And we've been hearing a lot of this from Turkish officials here. And that is why they've said that they don't think that Saudi Arabia is capable of a transparent or credible investigation.

That is why they've been calling for the extradition of suspects here to Turkey to face justice here, something the Saudis have dismissed and said would never happen. So I mean, we'll have to wait and see. You know, Turkish officials are saying initially they didn't want an international investigation but the time is coming for an independent international investigation.

HOWELL: With the United States, it may be a mixed message, depending on how the U.S. president views this report, also depending upon how the House views this report. So we'll have to, of course, see which message moves forward. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you for the report.

The prime minister of Israel fighting to avoid a snap election. Find out what's at stake for Benjamin Netanyahu and a live report from Jerusalem ahead.

Plus the mystery of the missing submarine from Argentina. It's now solved but that doesn't ease the grief of crew members' families. Why they are angry at authorities.

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HOWELL: Welcome back.

In France, protests over rising fuel prices have turned deadly. Officials say a driver panicked and accidently ran over a protester near Lyons. More than 200 people had been wounded in demonstrations across that nation. Police arrested dozens of protesters. You see the video there in Paris of the protests there.

Fuel prices have surged 16 percent this year, sparking anger against the French president Emmanuel Macron and his government. The price hike mainly due to higher oil costs.

Protests also sparked up in the capital of Greece. Thousands of people marched through the streets this weekend. Those demonstrations on Saturday were peaceful but after it ended, police clashed with some protesters, who threw rocks and petrol bombs at them. The demonstrations were marking an anniversary of a student uprising in 1973 that helped to topple Greece's military.

Time could be running out for the government of Israel and the prime minister of that nation, Benjamin Netanyahu. His coalition is collapsing in the wake of the latest Gaza cease-fire. His defense minister resigned and there are calls now for an early election.

A source telling CNN a date for a snap vote could be decided soon; we're also expecting to hear shortly from the prime minister Netanyahu. He's supposed to be with his finance minister in a last ditch effort to save government.

Let's go live to Jerusalem. CNN's Oren Liebermann following the story.

Oren, what is the likelihood of the prime minister saving government?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the chances seem slim right now but it's Prime Minister Netanyahu and he's been the biggest name in Israeli politics for a decade. So he still has a few options here.

The key is his finance minister is having that meeting later on tonight to decide how that's going to work and can he keep him in the coalition. And the education minister has demanded the defense portfolio after the defense minister resigned last week.

So there are a lot of pressures on the Netanyahu government. Other coalitions, other parties within the coalition rather, saw a moment of weakness here on the part of Netanyahu and are now putting pressures on the Netanyahu government.

So just to recap the week, first last week, Wednesday, was the resignation of the defense minister and then the education minister demanded the defense portfolio, then two more ministers were ready to call for early elections.

So it certainly seems like it's heading in that direction and yet the next few hours are key.

Can Netanyahu save his own coalition in negotiations with two of his key ministers or his early elections?

HOWELL: The question, can he save the coalition; the other question, can Benjamin Netanyahu continue on as the prime minister?

[04:20:00]

HOWELL: Does he have enough support?

LIEBERMANN: So a couple of the key members of his government have basically said, look, if the country goes to new elections, Netanyahu will still be the prime minister.

The question is what coalition will he choose?

Another right wing coalition; does he try to move towards the center, especially as the Trump administration tries to work on its own peace plan?

All of the polling until now has shown Netanyahu's Likud Party holding onto its seats and in some polls even growing a few seats. That means, as it's been so often here, it's all up to Netanyahu how he chooses to do it.

It is possible that there will be some sort of wild card that will shift the seats, a couple of new parties, perhaps an indictment against the prime minister, which isn't expected that soon?

Sure, it's possible. But right now it looks like Netanyahu will win another election.

HOWELL: Oren, the other question, Hamas, how much pressure is Hamas putting on Benjamin Netanyahu?

LIEBERMANN: So for a right wing government to see what's happening in Gaza with Hamas is tough. Hamas is claiming is victory, not only for the resignation of the defense minister but if this government collapses, Hamas will again claim victory for taking down the Israeli government.

That's difficult and puts pressure on all the political leaders of the parties, especially for Benjamin Netanyahu for his voters, to look at Hamas celebrating a potential collapse of Israeli government.

That's difficult and raises the question of what happens next if there's an escalation between Israel and Gaza before the next election, during what will be campaigning?

What kind of pressures does that put on the government?

Does it mean response will be harsher so Israel can claim victory?

These are very difficult questions to answer right now but Hamas' open victory, crowing about its accomplishments here, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on Netanyahu.

HOWELL: Oren Liebermann, live for us in Jerusalem, thank you for the reporting.

The APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea has ended with no joint communique. The country's foreign minister tells Reuters that conflicting visions for the region got in the way. The prime minister says a formal statement will be released at a later date.

China and the United States traded barbs and pointed fingers at each other during a meeting at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. China's president, Xi Jinping, stressed the need to uphold multilateral free trade.

He said history shows there are no winners in cold wars, hot wars or trade wars. The vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, announced development of a naval base on Papua New Guinea. And on trade, said the days of China taking advantage of the United States, those days are over. Listen.

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MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China has an honored place in our vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. If it chooses to respect its neighbors' sovereignty, embrace free, fair and reciprocal trade, uphold human rights and freedom, the American people want nothing more. The Chinese people and the entire Indo-Pacific deserve nothing less.

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HOWELL: Exactly one year and a day after it vanished, a missing submarine from Argentina has been found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Officials say the wreckage cannot be recovered and that leaves relatives of the submarine's crew demanding answers, closure and justice.

My colleague, Cyril Vanier, has this report.

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Embracing loved ones, grieving relatives comfort each other while reliving a tragedy. After a year of waiting, they're now getting some answers in the disappearance of their family members but not the ones they were hoping to hear.

JUAN ARAMAYO, FATHER OF MISSING SUB CREW MEMBER (through translator): We thought they had other information. We had the illusion they would find them alive.

VANIER (voice-over): A U.S. search team has found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that went missing last November with 44 crew members on board. It was discovered on the ocean floor of the South Atlantic, more than 870 meters below the water's surface.

The Navy says the sub suffered an implosion and none of the crew members could have survived. Now that the wreckage has finally been found, the Argentine government says they can't afford to bring it home.

OSCAR AQUAD, ARGENTINE DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): We do not even have means to go down to the depths of the sea. We also do not have equipment to extract a ship of these characteristics.

VANIER (voice-over): For those who have been waiting to locate their loved ones, this is simply unacceptable.

CECILIA KAUFMANN, PARTNER OF MISSING CREW MEMBER (through translator): They have located it; now they need to deliver our relatives to us.

YOLANDA MENDIOLA, MOTHER OF MISSING SUB CREW MEMBER (through translator): If we don't see it, we can't have closure so we're going to demand that the president find a way to get the remains out because it's possible to do.

VANIER (voice-over): It was an American company hired by Argentina that finally found the vessel after what had been a massive search. Several countries had helped look for the submarine after its disappearance but most gave up before the end of 2017. Argentina's Navy stopped rescue operations --

[04:25:00]

VANIER: -- only two weeks after the sub went missing, one of the reasons families have criticized their handling of the case.

Relatives also faulted the navy for waiting several days after the disappearance to acknowledge a key detail.

In his last communication, the captain had reported a short circuit returning from a routine mission off Argentina's coast. The submarine's maintenance was also called into question.

Although refitted five years before the disaster, the diesel vessel was nearly 40 years old. On Saturday, families of the crew members demonstrated outside the naval base from where the submarine sailed last year, demanding the return of their loved ones and more accountability in this tragedy.

MARCELA MOYANO, RELATIVE OF MISSING SUB CREW MEMBER (through translator): Up to now I kept hoping. It's hard for me to let it go. Now I can only keep fighting and asking the judge that she please work so that they return the submarine.

VANIER (voice-over): Cyril Vanier, CNN.

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HOWELL: Cyril, thank you.

Still ahead here on the broadcast, the U.S. president travels to California to tour the damage there of the wildfires but he dismisses climate change as a factor despite all the evidence that's out there.

Plus, one high profile election in the state of Florida is finally over but another still has no clear winner. We'll explain. Stay with us.

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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.

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[04:30:00]

The U.S. president again flew to California on Saturday. He was on the ground to see the damage first-hand. He met with authorities, local residents, also met with the state's governor and governor- elect. He described the situation as sad but pledged to work with the state. Listen.

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TRUMP: It's devastating to see it. I have to say the government officials have done an incredible job. When you look at this devastation and I guess at this moment there are -- in this area there are three deaths so far, three deaths. It's pretty incredible. It's horrible but also pretty incredible.

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HOWELL: Mr. Trump ducked the question on climate change but implied again that poor forest management was partly to blame. While in California, Donald Trump met privately with some of the families impacted by another terrible tragedy there, the mass shooting of 12 people at the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks earlier this month.

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TRUMP: This has been a tough day, when you look at all of the death from one place to the next and then we leave from here and that was a tragic event that took place. It was a very tough situation. We're working on lots of different things. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on I guess in many respects for far longer than people want to talk about but it's a very sad thing to see.

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HOWELL: Let's talk about the president's trip to California with Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic correspondent for Europe for "The New York Times," live this hour via Skype in Brussels.

Always a pleasure to have you. Let's talk about the president's time in that state. We just saw him spending time in Thousand Oaks, of course, very important to do that, also tour the destruction around Paradise first-hand. This, of course, nearly a week after sending out that tweet, blaming forest management as partly to blame for the fire and threatening to cut federal aid.

We saw Mr. Trump standing side by side with the state's governor and governor-elect, both political rivals. What's your view how that all went for Donald Trump?

STEVEN ERLANGER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, presidents are supposed to do these things. I mean, presidents are supposed to arrive and bring help and succor to people who are in distress.

The California wildfires are horrible. There are a lot of people missing and dead as you've reported. Some people think maybe he should have come sooner. But it is good that the president comes.

And I think Donald Trump, you know, quite sincerely meant to the bring the nation's sorrow and promises of aid. That's important. His views of climate change are another matter. He's held these things for a long time, he thinks it's all a hoax.

He probably didn't want to say that aloud yesterday but he's long believed that. And his notion of forest management, I don't know why he thinks he's an expert on forest management, but this is one of his idees fixe also, even though, as we know, most of the forests in California are controlled by the federal government and the fires didn't start in the forest but in shrublands, so far as we know.

But anyway the president has his views and he's not shy about expressing them.

HOWELL: And one of those views on raking, simply raking the forest ground, Steven, but also Mr. Trump touching on climate change. Let's listen to his response. We can talk about it on the other side.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does seeing the devastation change your opinion at all on climate change, Mr. President?

TRUMP: No, no. I have a strong opinion on what great climate and we're going to have forests that are very safe because we can't go through this every year we go through this. And we're going to have safe forests and it's happening as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So no on climate change, great climate.

ERLANGER: I don't know what he means by that. What does he mean by great climate?

[04:35:00]

ERLANGER: But Trump will bring it to us, that's for sure.

HOWELL: And, of course, that is something that many in California, you know, do believe in climate change, so they were expecting to see the president speak on that. That's why the question was posed.

I also want to talk about what the president mentioned while he was there about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Of course, the CIA report, according to sources, indicating with high confidence the Saudi crown prince ordered the killing of the journalist, though Mr. Trump not drawing any conclusions at this point. Let's listen.

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TRUMP: It's a horrible thing that took place, the killing of a journalist, a very, very bad situation, Khashoggi. And somebody who's respected, it should never have happened. They haven't assessed anything yet, it's too early. That was a very premature report. But we're going to have a report on Tuesday and it'll be very complete. In the meantime we're doing some things to some people we know for a fact were involved and we're being very tough on a lot of people.

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HOWELL: Steven, OK, by calling this report premature, does that buy Donald Trump a little more time?

And after the report is out, come Tuesday, does he have much leeway here with his intelligence agency?

ERLANGER: Well, I think he is not going to blame Mohammed bin Salman for the killing. The CIA may believe that the crown prince ordered it; they don't have his voice ordering it. It is an analysis.

And so the president can choose to make a different analysis. It's quite clear there are a lot of people around the prince who are involved, that's what the president was talking about.

But one of his top National Security Council officials, who was handling Saudi Arabia and had just gone there to push for sanctions on some of those around the prince, resigned on Friday, giving you the sense that there's some controversy inside the White House about how high to go in blaming Khashoggi's death on the Saudi crown prince.

After all, this administration has put a lot of bets on the Saudi crown prince, including Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and the president himself. So -- and the crown prince doesn't at this point seem to be being moved aside by his father, though his powers seem to be tightened a little bit.

So we'll see. I mean, the president does have foreign policy interests at stake. Those are real. Saudi Arabia is an ally and I think he's going to be very, very reluctant to point the finger directly at crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

HOWELL: And one last question, a long lens question, Steven, given that we're past the midterms. Compare if you would pre-midterms Donald Trump to post-midterms Donald Trump. We heard him talk about the possibility of a government shutdown, that could be a good time for that, he says.

We heard a push for more funding for the border wall, essentially drawing a line in the sand for Democrats.

How do you view Donald Trump now?

ERLANGER: Well, I have to say he was a lot grumpier after the midterms than he was before. You know, he had a couple of days of really bad moods, one of which involved your own White House correspondent.

And then he went to Paris and had a particularly grumpy period with other -- with other European leaders, didn't want to go to a cemetery, an American cemetery; didn't want to walk down the Champs-Elysees. So he was in a bad mood which means that the Democrats did better than he would have liked.

But as I say, Donald Trump, you know, lives on drama and he lives on partisanship and he's going to press ahead. And before 2020, he's going to make sure there are very clear lines between the parties.

I don't see him reaching for the consensus particularly with this Democratic Party. Perhaps on infrastructure or something like that but I think he wants to draw sharp divisions between his plans and the Democrats'. And that's something he's going to continue to do, I think.

HOWELL: Steven Erlanger, live for us in Brussels, Steven, thank you.

ERLANGER: Thanks, George.

HOWELL: One more statewide race has been settled in the U.S. midterm elections; 11 days after that historic vote followed by a challenging recount, Democrat Andrew Gillum, seen on the left, conceded Saturday the governor's race to Republican senator Ron DeSantis.

Still undecided, though, the Florida contest for U.S. Senate. Here's CNN's Dan Merica.

[04:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum conceded his gubernatorial contest to Republican Ron DeSantis late on Saturday evening, ending what was a bid to become the first African American governor of the state of Florida.

That leaves all eyes on Senator Bill Nelson, who has yet to concede to Governor Rick Scott in his hotly contested race for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate.

Andrew Gillum, while conceding this race, said the race became more than just winning the governor's mansion but became a fight for voting rights. Take a listen to what he said with regards to his Republican opponent.

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ANDREW GILLUM (D), TALLAHASSEE MAYOR: We said we would fight until the last vote is counted. Obviously we are now closing out the hand recount phase in two of the statewide races. We wanted to make sure that every single vote, including those that were overvotes, undervotes, as long as it was a legally cast vote, we wanted those votes to be counted.

And now that we are rounding that process out, R.J. and I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Mr. DeSantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MERICA: Gillum's concession makes Ron DeSantis, a Republican closely tied to Donald Trump, the governor-elect of Florida. In the Senate race, Bill Nelson will now be forced to come to terms with the fact he is the only top-flight Democrat contending this race at this point and he is separated by about 12,000 votes in his race against Rick Scott, the current governor of Florida.

So far Democrats have frankly not done enough to close that gap. Here in Tallahassee, a federal judge has ruled against Democratic interests multiple times when they were trying to expand the universe of available votes for Senator Nelson.

And in vote counting sites across the state, the machine recount completed on Thursday did not do nearly enough for Nelson to close that gap. Now Nelson is having to contend with the fact he is now alone in the spotlight, with Gillum stepping aside. And he is now forced to come to terms this may be the end of his political career -- Dan Merica, Tallahassee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Dan, thank you.

A family is grieving and a Chicago community is demanding answers after a security guard is being called a hero, who was fatally shot by police while doing his job. Stand by. We'll have this story.

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HOWELL: A story that's getting a lot of attention out of Chicago, Illinois. A family of an African American security guard shot to death by a police officer says he was working extra shifts to buy gifts for his young son. Jamel Roberson was killed last weekend after he pinned down a gunman who had opened fire at the bar where Roberson worked.

A growing number of people want answers from police about what happened to him. CNN Chicago bureau correspondent Ryan Young has this report.

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FATHER MICHAEL PFIEGER, ST. SABINA CHURCH: The problem with Jemel is he was black and this mystery officer needs to be fired.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Demands for more transparency and action in the case of an on-duty security guard shot and killed by a police officer. Around 4:00 am last Sunday, Jamel Roberson was working at Manny's Blue Room in suburban Chicago when someone opened fire, injuring several people.

Roberson was able to tackle and subdue the shooter, preventing more people from being shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a national hero because he saved lives on that night.

YOUNG (voice-over): While police from several departments responded, an officer from the neighboring town saw Roberson, who was black, holding down the shooter. The officer, who was white, opened fire, killing 26-year-old Roberson.

There are conflicting accounts of whether Roberson was wearing clothing identifying him as security and whether or not he followed instructions to drop his gun when police arrived.

A preliminary police report claimed Roberson was not wearing visible security markings. His family and friends paint a different picture, claiming that before Roberson was shot, people inside the bar yelled warnings at police that he was a security guard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect then apprehended right here and everything is under control. After everybody told you that, including his family, people that were out here, you intentionally fired one time. After you fired that one time, you shot my little brother four more times.

YOUNG (voice-over): Family and friends say Roberson had dreams of being a cop and was preparing to take a police exam during the spring. He played the organ for several churches and was working part time at the bar in order to support his 9-month-old son.

AVONTEA BOOSE, MOTHER OF JEMEL ROBERSON'S SON: My baby is not going to have his father for Christmas, his birthday, any holidays anymore.

YOUNG (voice-over): The Midlothian Police Department would not speak on camera, instead offering written statements which, in part, read, "The Midlothian Police Department is completely saddened by this tragic incident and we give our heartfelt condolences to Jemel and his family and friends.

"We view this as the equivalent of a 'blue on blue' friendly fire incident."

The department says the still-unnamed seven-year veteran who shot Roberson has been put on paid administrative leave. Illinois State Police are investigating the shooting and have released a statement which, in part, reads, "According to witness statements, the Midlothian officer gave the armed subject multiple verbal commands to drop the gun and get on the ground before ultimately discharging his weapon and striking the subject."

On Friday, community leaders gathered to demand the officer be fired.

PASTOR LEAUNDRE HILL, PURPOSED CHURCH: Jemel saved lives that night only to lose his life senselessly. So we want answers. We want results and we want them now.

YOUNG (voice-over): Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.

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HOWELL: The U.S. president says that ISIS has been defeated but extremists and their ideology are still a threat. They're still entrenched in Eastern Syria, locked in combat with U.S.-backed forces.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has a look at the fighting. This report features exclusive footage from documentary photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Chaim.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ISIS are more than just ghost sound here in the dust of eastern Syria for top leaders. The last symbolic territory are in a distance, haunted of cover of darkness. Syrian Kurdish fighters pummeled by airpower and pushed back towards the Iraqi border.

Dark means chaos here after the lethal advantage for American technology. That were an apache attack helicopter finding its target. These are rare pictures of the daring night time operation that had taken back suedes of land from ISIS.

It is startling to see how rudimentary the tools are in a fight so essential to a world. How young the fighters are, this one apparently deafened by shelling.

"Can you talk?" they ask him.

The dead, those who survived as walking wounded and those in need of urgent surgery, again, a long journey to better care.

Through a night sky the stilettos of the sound of deaths. Lurking below in this remaining villages could be ISIS leader Abu Baker al- Baghdadi, defended by diehard loyalists and foreigners and car bombs.

The street to street battle was ferocious as before but unseen by a world who have believed President Donald Trump, when he says ISIS is being defeated. They are hold out around the village of Susa, still grip on to what they have, because daytime brings them a new set of challenges.

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WALSH: ISIS mortars close in. Up on the roof, ISIS snipers pinned them down. It is startling how this chaotic and young force loosely in control of their weapons that got so far.

Then the constant in this war, American airpower behind both its advances and mush of its destruction it leads. Trump never disappoints, he says, yet the sheer force can't answer the key question on how to handle the civilians who gave ISIS shelter and members in the long term.

The biggest battle he says, it is going to be frame to people from ISIS's way of thinking. They still think ISIS will come back one day and give them a caliphate again. This family, say they risk arrest by ISIS, they only fled this afternoon. I was in the refugee camp he says, but ISIS surround him and prison. Yet it is impossible to balance their immediate human needs with what their real sympathies maybe.

They asked this old man why didn't he died in the airstrikes.

"It is in the hands of God whether I live or die," he says. And so they returned by thousands and others to camp behind the frontline, where ISIS's victims impossible future flag bearers formed a well of suffering and hatred. They will smolder across these plains for years to come -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN.

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HOWELL: Nick, thank you. And thank you for being with us this hour for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm

George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's do it again. Another hour of news right after the break. Stay with us.