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New Day Sunday

Major Winter Storm Could Bring Dangerous Blizzard Conditions; Mexico Denies Deal with Trump to Keep Asylum Seekers Out; WaPo: Trump Advisers Allege Attempts to Undermine Presidency; U.K. Lawmakers Obtain Documents Facebook Fought to Keep Private; E.U. Endorses British Deal to Divorce from Europe; Family of Man Mistakenly Killed By Police Demand Answers; Dark Matter Hurricane Blowing Past Earth Right Now; France to Return 26 Stolen Artifacts to Benin. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired November 25, 2018 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00] VINCE CELLINI, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The team shielding itself from rock and shattered glass. Some players had to be hospitalized. River Plate throwing things in the street and were met with tear gas. The match was postponed and we'll be played later today. That is simply awful.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.

CELLINI: What a great story, though, Andrew Wood. He can drop those pounds and get in a plane and be a pilot.

PAUL: Good for him.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for bringing those to us.

PAUL: Vince, thank you.

CELLINI: You got it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will close the border. When they lose control of the border on the Mexico side, we just close the border.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is hinting that he may have struck a deal with Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico is like the United States, worried that more caravans will come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Bradford was fleeing the scene and brandishing a weapon and that's when a Hoover police officer working as mall security shot and killed him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody out here is hurting so bad. This is not the way to say good-bye to E.J. Not with a bullet. Not in the back.

SEN. CINDY HYDE-SMITH (R), MISSISSIPPI: For anyone that was offended by my comments, I certainly apologize.

TRUMP: She made a statement, which I know that she feels very badly about it.

MIKE ESPY (D), MISSISSIPPI SENATE CANDIDATE: It's given our state another black eye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

PAUL: Well, good morning to you. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell.

Deal or no deal at the U.S./Mexico border? The incoming Mexican government is denying reports in "The Washington Post" that it's reached a deal that President Trump keep asylum seekers out of the United States.

PAUL: Also, embedded enemies around the president. According to "The Washington Post", former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says the president is surrounded by disloyal staff and, quote, swamp creatures. The new allegations from those in the president's inner circle.

But, first, let us wish you good luck if you're traveling today.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

PAUL: Major winter storm, it's got heavy snow, strong winds, and expected to make a mess for holiday travelers heading home this weekend.

SAVIDGE: And if you're one of them, you want to listen up, because CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the CNN Weather Center with the forecast of what lies ahead -- Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there's going to be a lot of delays today in multiple different regions. That's going to be the key. In the Northeast, you got some small delays from that system that's beginning to exit. In the Southeast, it's dense fog. In fact, you have over 40 million people under a dense fog advisory.

But it's the Midwest. This is where we expect to have some of our biggest problems in the next 24 hours. And that's because of our blizzard that is making its way into this region.

Now, when we talk about, I mean, true blizzard conditions. That doesn't just mean snow. That means incredibly gusty winds as well as very poor visibility. You have over 30 million people under some type of winter weather alert from Colorado all the way over towards Michigan.

But, again, wind is also a factor with this particular storm, even for the areas that are done with the precipitation, you still have wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour that will linger throughout the day today. In terms of how much snow these areas anticipate getting, why pride amounts about 6 inches but there will be some places that could pick up over a foot of snow. Keep in mind this is a very fast moving system. So they could end up getting that foot of snow in, say, 12 hours or less.

Here is a look at the system for today, but then as we push into Monday, it begins to transition more to the great lakes region and then gradually into the northeast. So, say, you live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York. You still want to pay very close attention to this storm because it's likely going to impact your region Monday and then into Tuesday.

So, Martin and Christi, it's not just travel today but it's likely going to be travel tomorrow as well.

SAVIDGE: I'm traveling tomorrow.

CHINCHAR: Sorry, Martin!

PAUL: Good luck.

SAVIDGE: Thanks.

PAUL: Sorry, Martin.

All righty. Let's talk about the pushback on President Trump's overhaul of the asylum process at the U.S.-Mexico border right now. The plan would require asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications process in the U.S. But the incoming Mexican government says it has no reached an agreement with Washington.

CNN's White House reporter Sarah Westwood is with us now.

So, Sarah, is the White House giving any clarity this morning as to the president's version and Mexico's version thus far?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Christi, there's still a lot of uncertainty about where this deal stands. Mexican leaders are signaling that this is still in the preliminary stages, it's still something that's under negotiation.

And President Trump is touting this deal as all but a certainty. He tweeted yesterday that migrants who wish to seek asylum in the U.S., they will have to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed by U.S. courts. He said that there will be no longer be this practice of catch and release where migrants are left out of detention into the United States while they wait for their cases to be adjudicated. He described it as catch and detain. That's a phrase we've seen him used before.

[07:05:02] This deal would represent, if it did come to fruition, a major overhaul of the asylum system. Under current rules, migrants are eligible to request asylum once they are on U.S. soil. The president has already attempted to make sweeping changes to asylum policy.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, he unveiled a proposed rule change that would require migrants if they wish to seem asylum to present themselves at legal point of entry. It denied them the ability to request asylum if they're caught crossing the border illegally. But, of course, a judge blocked that proposed executive action and the president has been fixated on that decision, tweeting about the decision, tweeting about asylum and immigration as he's been spending the Thanksgiving holiday here in West Palm Beach.

So, he'll be wrapping up his travel to his property Mar-a-Lago today and then he'll be heading back to Washington before going to Mississippi on Monday for two campaign rallies in Tupelo and Biloxi, Mississippi. The president will be campaigning on behalf of embattled Republican candidate, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. She's in a runoff race for the Senate in Mississippi and she's drawn national attention for some controversial comments that she's made.

So, the president will be defending Senator Smith tomorrow in those campaign rallies and perhaps those appearances will give him the opportunity to clarify where this deal stands and expand a little more on why the Trump administration thinks this will be beneficial to the United States, Christi and Martin.

PAUL: Sarah Westwood, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: And as Sarah just mentioned, Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde- Smith is facing new criticism over a measure she supported while she was in the Mississippi state senate. It praised that Confederate soldiers to defend its homeland. It is the latest racially charged to plague Hyde-Smith's campaign.

So, this Tuesday's runoff could end up being a referendum on what critics see as her very public missteps.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Senator Cindy Hyde-smith tried to dial back the storm of criticism that Republicans sparked about joking about a public hanging.

HYDE-SMITH: If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row --

SAVIDGE: During Tuesday's debate in a runoff campaign, Hyde-Smith apologized but also accused others of twisting her words for political gain.

HYDE-SMITH: You know, for anyone that was offended from my -- by my comments, I certainly apologize. There was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statements. This comment was twisted and it was turned into a weapon to be used against me, a political weapon used for nothing but personal and political gains on my opponent.

SAVIDGE: Her Democratic opponent Mike Espy said her words weren't distorted by anyone. ESPY: Well, no one twisted your comments because her comments were

live. You know, it came out of mouth. But it calls out state harm. It has given our state another black eye that we don't need.

SAVIDGE: Since the public hanging remarks, a number of corporate donors to the Hyde-Smith campaign have asked for their money back, including Walmart. And a 2014 Facebook post that surfaced Tuesday showing Hyde-Smith posing with Confederate artifacts further fueled critics.

Just how much of an impact the Hyde-Smith controversy is having on voters depends on who you talk to.

JIMMY RHODES, SEN. CINDY HYDE-SMITH SUPPORTER: If people truly are understanding what she is all about, I don't think that will affect them.

JORDAN MALONE, MIKE ESPY SUPPORTER: It made it very clear both to me and to a lot of other black Mississippians that the Republican candidates do not really have our best interests at heart.

SAVIDGE: Espy, who is still considered an underdog in this deeply red state, is counting on an energized black electorate, as well as possible crossover voters now reconsidering their support of Hyde- Smith. President Trump will be in Mississippi to campaign for Hyde- Smith, and Tuesday, he seemed already working damage control.

TRUMP: She made a statement I know she feels very badly about it and it was just sort of said in jest. She is a tremendous woman and it's a shame that she has to go through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And this is a runoff election that takes place on Tuesday and, of course, the question is going to be what kind of voter turnout will there be? That is critical to the outcome here. Many people say they are already just over the whole midterm thing. So, we'll be measuring to see how many people actually show up at the polls, Christi.

PAUL: All righty. Good point to make there.

And CNN political commentator Errol Louis is with us. He's political anchor for Spectrum News. Kelly Jane Torrance, as well, deputy managing editor for "The Weekly Standard".

Thank you both for being here.

President Trump in Mississippi, Errol, how potent do you think he can be for her based on everything we just saw from Marty there?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is going to be her closing argument, frankly. Senator Hyde-Smith has not done very well for herself. She had to sort of stage manage this debate where she didn't have anybody in the room and it didn't get very much coverage. She's really just been saying Trump, Trump, Trump in state he won by a couple of dozen points and he's going to do her a lot of good.

[07:10:07] But, in the end, she's really -- look, in her closing statements, she has made reference more to Trump almost than to herself and her own record, that's how tightly tied she is to the president. She clearly thinks it's a strategy that is going to bring her across the finish line on Tuesday.

PAUL: And the thing is, Kelly Jane, I mean, when we look at Mike Espy, this is a moderate Democrat. He is fiscally conservative as I understand it. What are his chances? And does it come down to him voter turnout?

KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Yes, it's a good question, Christi. You know, Errol is right about how much Cindy Hyde-Smith is tying herself to Trump. And you'll notice, we don't see a lot of clips of her talking to the media. Her campaign actually seems to be keeping her away from media. I suspect they are worried she might have another slip of the tongue as they might claim to call it.

But, you know, Mike Espy has a few of his own problems. It's a very tight race and a lot tighter really than it should be given that President Trump won Mississippi with 58 percent of the vote. So, it's very tight.

But Mike Espy has problems of his own I'm surprisingly not seeing Cindy Hyde-Smith bring up so much maybe because she is busy defending her own gaffes. One of them is that he took three quarters of a million dollars lobbying for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who is accused of inciting murder and rape. So, he's got some unsavory ties himself.

I kind of feel sorry for Mississippians. There's not -- neither candidate is really that great to choose from and that might be one reason why this is such a close race.

PAUL: Well, as Martin just said, Errol, apparently, people are over the midterms but this is the last race of the midterms at the end of all the day. What are the repercussions for Washington based on what could happen there in Mississippi on Tuesday?

LOUIS: Well, you know, it's interesting. I don't know that anything is going to happen in Washington. Espy, I think he knows he has very much of uphill fight to try to flip this particular seat under these conditions.

On the other hand, there is an interesting midterm theme we have seen. The statewide races with black candidates in the Deep South try to do what hasn't been done before in Florida and in Georgia, coming much closer than anybody would have anticipated, showing a path forward, I think, for the Democratic Party if they want to try to make inroads in some of these Republican strongholds. So, at a minimum, I think we're going to see, especially if it's a very close race that Mississippi can be added to the states that are within reach for Democrats if they have the right candidate and the right pitch. PAUL: All righty. I want to switch so the situation with Mexico

here. We just talked to Sarah about that. And president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the folks under him, Interior Secretary Sanchez Cordero did seem to give differing opinions. According to "The Washington Post," Cordero said, oh, yes, yes, this deal is something we are looking at and we are on board. Last night, came out and said, no, no, we're not.

Kelly Jane, is there any indication why Mexico would agree to hold their own people until the U.S. gives them an okay to come across the border?

TORRANCE: Yes. You know, Christi, my first thought when I heard about this deal was that there had to be money involved, that the United States was going to be, you know, paying Mexico for the care and any money they had to spend to take care of these migrants but "the Washington Post" story say it's not the case.

I have to say I'm not sure the reporting that Mexican officials are denying "The Washington Post" report is quite right. Now the statement I saw from the incoming interior minister just said that Mexico will not become a third safe country with an agreement with the U.S. Now, what this means, the United States has this agreement with Canada. That means someone is seeking asylum, they have to seek that asylum in the first safe country they get to so they cannot say entry to the United States and then go to Canada to make an asylum claim or vice versa.

And so, she is saying Mexico is not developing that kind of deal with the United States but we don't need that kind of deal to have the kind of plan that "The Washington Post" reported and, of course, the Trump administration would like. It would still allow Central American migrants to apply for asylum in the United States even if they have already been in Mexico. What it means that deal is that Mexico will house those people and keep them there. They will not be permitted to stay in the United States while their claims are processed.

So, those are two very different things. And, of course, given the incoming Mexico administration is not even in power yet, you can see why they might be a little nervous about making any specific deals and announcing anything specific until they actually are in power.

PAUL: And I only have a couple of seconds. But, Errol, I wanted to ask about that. This is an incoming administration in Mexico.

[07:15:00] What is the possibility that something is already being tainted between the United States and Mexico with this back and forth before they have even taken their posts?

LOUIS: Well, I think the U.S. administration may have spoken too quickly but when the new Mexican administration comes in, there are some economic advantages to having them. There is some Mexican industrials who are saying, look. We have a hundred thousand jobs here and these Central Americans can have them in Mexico.

So, sure if they are waiting for an asylum claim, let's put them to work in the meantime. There is a possibility of a win/win here if we get lucky.

PAUL: All righty. Errol Louis and Kelly Jane Torrance, always appreciate your insight. Thank you so much.

LOUIS: Thank you.

TORRANCE: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: Absolutely.

And today on "STATE OF THE UNION," Senator Joni Ernst and Representative Adam Schiff on the show. Tune today, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

SAVIDGE: According to "The Washington Post", a scathing new book calling out top Washington officials as President Trump's inside enemies will hit the shelves Tuesday. It's alleging dozens of White House insiders are working to undermine Trump's presidency.

PAUL: Also, the British parliament scored a victory over Facebook, obtaining a Senate internal documents the social media giant fought for months to stop from being made public. We'll have details on that for you.

SAVIDGE: Also, right now, hundreds of stars and large amounts of dark matter swirling like a hurricane swirling around the solar system. Holy cow. More on the cosmic phenomenon ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:36] SAVIDGE: There's a new book by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy campaign David Bossie and it's set to hit shelves on Tuesday.

PAUL: Yes, according to "The Washington Post", "Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State is Undermining the Presidency", that's the title, calls out top Washington officials as President Trump's inside enemies. That's a quote. It alleges dozens of White House insiders are working to undermine the president and delegitimize his presidency.

Errol and Kelly Jane are back with us now.

So, here is the thing -- first and foremost, just so people understand what's in this. They target a lot of people in this book. They call Michael Cohen, you know, President Trump's former personal attorney, and Paul Manafort, former campaign manager, rats. They accuse some of, including former press secretary Sean Spicer of being, quote, establishment Republicans who didn't fully support Trump until the day after he was elected when they began angling for powerful government jobs.

And they, quote, use colorful language to dismiss the Russia investigation, calling it, quote, a sweeping work of fiction, so complex, so audacious, so unbelievable that if they gave out awards for bad excuses, the Dems would win an Oscar, an Emmy and maybe even a Heisman Trophy, because they alleged these are excuses they made up for Dems losing in 2016.

Errol, it almost sounds like President Trump wrote this just based on his twitter feed and the things that he said because it's airing all of his grievances. Your take?

LOUIS: Yes. This is straight out of -- I mean, look, these are the truest of the true believers, right? The rest of us look at the president's controversial actions which were, in fact, ratified to a certain extent by the voters in 2016. The controversial actions like the Muslim ban, trying to get funding for a border wall on Mexico.

He is doing what he said he was going to do, that's controversial enough with 39 percent approval rating the rest of us look at that and say, okay, he is trying to do controversial things and not all that popular. We have got a struggle going on. The truest of the true believers look at it very differently and they say, the president is wildly popular and he would be succeeding more clearly if only there weren't these mysterious enemies.

So, it's conspiratorial thinking. It doesn't really square with the facts. There are plenty of people who -- take Sean Spicer.

Yes, he is from a different wing of the Republican Party. He was not a pro-Trump guy from day one. He came on and he did the best job he could and then he was fired.

I mean, that's just the way it is. It's not a conspiracy. It's called democracy.

PAUL: OK. Listen, the president, we need to point out here, according to them, the president did sit down and talk with the two authors in September, September 20th. And, at that time, the president aired some more of his frustration saying this: I should have fired him, referring to Comey, the day after I won and announced please get the hell out. The president also said, congressional Republicans let me down by not fighting harder to secure funding to construct a wall at the U.S./Mexico border.

Kelly, help us understand what is the intention of this book?

TORRANCE: I think one of the keys, Christi -- by the way, I think you're right. I mean, why would people pay money to read this book when they can go on President Trump's Twitter feed for free and see everything it says?

But I think one of the keys is one of the quotations that you read earlier when Lewandowski and Bossie were complaining about establishment Republicans angling for powerful government jobs. Well, Corey Lewandowski is still upset that he did not get one of these powerful government jobs and I think that is a part of the motivation behind this book. He is taking out his frustration that all of these other people got jobs and he didn't.

And, you know, I have to say this seems like such old news. Deep state, this is very 2017 as we are heading into 2019, don't you think? SAVIDGE: Well, I will say, Kelly Jane, it is old news but it's been

effective. This is something that the Trump campaign has used and those that support the president say, hey, elect me because the president needs more people to support him either in Congress or in the Senate.

And so, this is a theme that works very well with those who support the president and those who want to glom on to his appeal.

TORRANCE: Well, that's a very good point. You notice in the interview that he did with Lewandowski and Bossie, what President Trump did. He actually says he thinks that the Mueller investigation has increased his support amongst his base.

He thinks they love -- he used the word love -- him more for it. So, as much as President Trump rails against Robert Mueller, I think you're right, Martin, he actually does see it as something that helps him amongst the base that people that he gets more support from the base.

SAVIDGE: Yes, that's why -- I mean, I find that when I go out and talk in the field.

PAUL: Well, and let's face it, there have been leaks in this administration, so to allege that there are people behind the scenes who are trying to do the president harm is not a stretch by any means.

Errol Louis, Kelly Jane Torrance, we appreciate both of you. Thank you.

TORRANCE: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Sorry, don't mean to step in.

When we come back, Facebook's nightmare, it continues. Now, the British parliament has got hold of documents that Facebook fought to keep private, alleging little regard for user privacy and exposing the lengths they went to, to force rivals out of business. Our Brian Stelter is here to explain.

PAUL: Also, Egypt gives us this first look at an incredibly well- preserved mummy found inside a coffin that is more than 3,000 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:49] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Look who is up early. Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Just saying.

PAUL: And we're glad you are, too. I'm Christi Paul. Thanks for being with us.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: So, the British parliament, right, has scored this victory over Facebook. They've obtained a set of internal documents the social media giant fought for months to start being made public.

SAVIDGE: And, of course, it makes you wonder what's in them. It could include correspondences between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company executives and stems from a lawsuit in California that outlines a litany of allegations against Facebook.

Joining me now is CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.

And, Brian, tell us more about this lawsuit? And how did coming from California end up in the hands of the British?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a remarkable story, because this lawsuit had been going on for a while in California between Facebook and a software developer that Facebook says misused the website. This is software developer 643, it was able to go through the discovery process. You know, normally, in a lawsuit, you have discovery process where each side gets ahold of documents that are going to be helpful for the suit.

So, this software developer, they had internal documents, correspondence for Facebook for this lawsuit in California. Well, the head of the company happened to be in London for a trip. So the U.K. parliament, the British parliament used its legal process to seize the documents. This all unfolded over the weekend.

And now, the British MP who's been leading this inquiry into Facebook says he has more to come later this week. Maybe he is hinting he is going to share some of the correspondence.

And, look, we don't know exactly what is in this accordance, whether there's emails from Zuckerberg and whether they really matter in the grand scheme of things. But it is remarkable to see the British parliament using these really unusual procedures to seize documents from a lawsuit that was happening over in California and it just goes to show how aggressive the Europeans have been about regulation and oversight of Facebook, and other technology companies.

In general, I think it's fair to say the Europeans have been more aggressive than the United States or other countries with regards to trying to police these big tech companies and try to manage what they do and understand what they do and how they affect the public. So, this is another example here in this case the British parliament trying to obtain documents from Facebook and just, once again, turn the screws on Zuckerberg. They have been trying to get Zuckerberg to testify, and they have been trying to do all sorts of things to oversee Facebook and this is one of those examples now.

PAUL: Is it -- is it maybe the first step towards some sort of accountability of social media companies? Not just Facebook, but, I mean, what really are the repercussions here?

STELTER: Right. Google has been under a lot of pressure from Europe regulators. There's been monetary fines and things like that. Now, really, the scrutiny is on Facebook and Twitter and social media giants. I actually spoke with some of these parliamentarians last year. They have been doing this wide-ranging study of fake news and misinformation and how it spreads on the Internet.

So they have been really interested in trying to understand what goes wrong and why it goes wrong on these platforms and how it can be made better. Like I said, I think some of these European regulators are two steps ahead of the U.S., but we are now seeing in America are lawmakers both on the left and the right, a bipartisan interest in regulating Facebook or at least in trying to create some consumer protections for Facebook, because, look, when we say regulation, that could mean one of a dozen different things and think all of that remains to be determined.

But I'm really curious to see when we get a Democratic House in January what it could look like, what some sort of oversight of Facebook, Google, Twitter, et cetera, could look like because for the first time, it does seem there is bipartisan interest in some oversight of these tech giants.

PAUL: Interesting. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: He is not going away. Brian is on his show, of course, "RELIABLE SOURCES" today, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

SAVIDGE: Britain's plan to leave the European Union dubbed Brexit has just been given the go-ahead by the E.U. British Prime Minister Theresa May faces an uphill battle, though, and she is going to try to sell it back home.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is in Brussels where Theresa May just spoke on the issue.

What did she have to say, Erin?

[07:35:02] ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she is making the case for this deal, saying that it's good for the whole of the U.K., appealing directly to the British people.

Take a listen to what she had to say.

Apparently we don't have that sound.

But she essentially says that she plans to make the case for the deal, quote, with all of her heart.

Now, after she made her statement, she did receive some questions from the British press, some of them asking her repeatedly if she would resign. She responded to those questions by saying it's not about me. They pressed again asking her on whether or not her government would collapse if this deal does not get through Westminster. Many Brexiters and remainers, both sides of the aisle, are opposed to this deal. She again, deflected those questions.

Essentially what's been approved here today by the 27th E.U. leaders are two things. The so-called divorce deal, the terms of the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. Also, the framework for the future relationship, sort of what happens after Brexit in terms of the trade talks between the U.K. and the E.U.

E.U. leaders saying they are extremely sad to see the U.K. go, but both sides at this point saying they plan on maintaining a friendship. But again, lots of uncertainty going forward as Theresa May battles to get this through British parliament.

SAVIDGE: Yes, this is a day will be a day remembered in history.

Erin McLaughlin, thank you very much for joining us.

An Alabama family demands answers after police killed their 21-year- old son after mistaking him for the gunman of a thanksgiving night mall shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:10] PAUL: Well, the family of an Alabama man who was shot by police want answers now.

Emantic E.J. Bradford Jr. was killed by a police officer who thought Emantic had shot two people at a mall Thanksgiving night. But police say it later turns out Bradford was not the gunman.

SAVIDGE: Yesterday, dozens of protesters showed up at the mall saying justice for E.J. and Black Lives Matter.

CNN's Natasha Chen has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The initial report was that two men had gotten into a fight of some kind at the mall that resulted in an 18-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl being shot. They were both taken to the hospital.

Now, police said Bradford was fleeing the scene and brandishing a weapon and that's when a Hoover police officer working as mall security shot and killed him.

But, later, Hoover police issued a statement saying Bradford may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation but he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim. So police say there is at least one gunman still at large.

Bradford's family has now retained civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. His office released a statement from the family saying they are heart broken and as we continue to grieve, rest assured that we are working diligently with our legal team to determine exactly what happened and why this police officer killed our son. We will never forget E.J. and ask for your continued prayers during this incredibly difficulty time.

I also talked to a woman at the mall who was there when it happened. She said she hear the gun shots and people ran in panic. She hid in a dressing room with others. She told me she is frustrated at how law enforcement has handled this entire situation. The officer involved with the shooting has been placed on administrative leave. And the Alabama law enforcement agency is now heading up the investigation into the shooting.

Natasha Chen, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Another shooting to tell you about. This happened in the garden center of a Florida Walmart. Police say a man shot his female partner several times after a domestic argument and then he escaped on a bicycle.

SAVIDGE: The woman died at the hospital and police found the suspect David Johnson at the couple's home nearby. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was hospitalized but authorities say he is not expected to survive.

PAUL: Still to come, a cosmic hurricane. We are talking about hundreds of stars and large amounts of dark matter circling around our solar system right now and we are caught in the middle of it. We have more on that.

SAVIDGE: Wow.

Plus, Egypt gives us the first look at an incredibly well-preserved mummy found inside a coffin that is more than 3,000 years old. Look at that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:47:54] SAVIDGE: Well, at the possibility of sounding like a Hollywood thriller trailer, we can't see it and we can't feel it. But right now, our solar system is smack-dab in the middle of a cosmic hurricane.

PAUL: I would go see that movie!

SAVIDGE: According to a report paper, or a recent paper, a swarm of hundreds of stars and dark matter is blowing right past the earth.

PAUL: So, what makes these stars so interesting is they are orbiting our system in the exact opposite direction of normal stars. Don't fear. They are not going to hit us. They're not going to collide.

But retired astronaut Leroy Chiao is with us now.

Leroy, always appreciate having you on.

SAVIDGE: Hi, Leroy.

PAUL: So, this -- it sounds like a fascinating event, obviously, for the space community. But how did scientists even find this?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, in 2013, the European space agency launched the Gaia spacecraft, and it's been producing three-dimensional maps of parts of our Milky Way galaxy. And so, looking at the data, astronomers see stream of stars passing through and this one stream in particular appears to be going in the opposite direction of the spins of the stars in the Milky Way.

And so, what they are seeing is the rotations of these stars in the galaxy, colliding galaxies if you will, and they're able to, you know, calculate how much dark matter there should be. Now, dark matter is kind of a theory. It's never actually been conclusively detected, but basically, astronomers can look at the rotation rates of these galaxies, and then calculate how much mass has to be there.

And sometimes we are seeing factors of five, ten, or even a hundred times less mass than should be there. Or, you know, should able to see more and match where they came up with the idea of this dark matter back in the late 1800s.

SAVIDGE: So, it sounds like really fascinating, but what does it really mean?

CHIAO: Well, it means that we have stars that are -- we're producing more and more detailed maps of these stars and their rotations and we are seeing increased number of black -- amount of dark matter. And hopefully, this increase will allow us to maybe detect it, actually detect either directly or indirectly the existence and prove one way or another, you now, the existence of dark matter.

[07:50:10] SAVIDGE: Yes.

PAUL: Interesting.

All right. So, tomorrow, NASA's spacecraft is going to attempt to land on Mars.

CHIAO: Right, exactly.

PAUL: How excited is the community about this and what is the hope that we're going to learn from it?

CHIAO: Oh, very exciting mission. The Insight Mission, it's a NASA mission with a lot of international collaboration, and it's going to study the inside of Mars. It's going to have sensitive seismometers to measure Mars' quakes and it's also going to measure the heat inside of the planet.

You know, going to Mars is not easy. Less than half of the probes the world has sent to Mars don't make it, historically. And so they describe six or seven minutes of terror. That's because Mars does have an atmosphere, six one-thousandths to the pressure of the earth's atmosphere.

But the spacecraft is going so fast, you need still a heat shield to come down through it, but it's been enough, parachutes can only slow you down so much. These space crafts like the Curiosity, is going to use rocket engines, what we call propulsive landing. So it's not until the spacecraft gets through the upper part of the atmosphere that they'll be able to signal back to Earth and, you know, to let the scientists know that hopefully they survived.

SAVIDGE: Hopefully, it does. It will be fascinating.

Another milestone coming up. For the first time in eight years, I guess the U.S. will be back in the space transportation. Up until now, crews have been going up to the space station on a Russian spacecraft. That's going to change, right?

CHIAO: Right. So, for the last several years, both SpaceX and Boeing have been developing spacecraft to take U.S. astronauts to and from the ISS and the U.S. has not been able to launch our own astronauts to ISS since the space shuttle which retired in the summer of 2011.

So, demo mission one for SpaceX is scheduled in early January. It won't carry a crew but it will launch the dragon spacecraft to dock to the ISS. So, it will be a full test without a crew on board. Later or a few months after that, they're going to test their launch abort system on a live test, on a rocket. If all goes well, hopefully later in the year, we'll see the first NASA astronaut as board both of those spacecraft.

SAVIDGE: Wow, that would be really cool to see.

PAUL: No doubt.

But, Leroy Chiao, thank you so much. Always good to have you here.

SAVIDGE: Yes, joking aside, I love all space stuff. It's really fascinating.

PAUL: And if you ever need somebody to voice a space movie, you know now who you can contact.

SAVIDGE: Please, think of me.

PAUL: Thanks, Leroy.

SAVIDGE: All right. Moving on with our adventure team, take a look at this historic archeological find in Egypt. An incredibly well- preserved mummy revealed inside a sarcophagus never before opened, which is more than 3,000 years old.

PAUL: Look at that, inside this tomb, they discovered five colored masks, about 1,000 statues said to be miniature figurines of servants to serve the dead in the afterlife. You got to serve the dead in the afterlife, really? That's not much of a life in either place.

SAVIDGE: Yes, that won't be easier.

PAUL: Wow.

SAVIDGE: Well, the first family will return to a Christmas decorated White House. The first lady gives us a tiny sneak peek. That will be next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:57:30] PAUL: So look at what's happening at the White House. First Lady Melania Trump, giving us a sneak peek of the decorations. These are photos of volunteers working to help decorate this weekend.

SAVIDGE: She tweeted Saturday saying, quote, thank you to all of the people, the volunteers from across our great nation who are working hard to decorate the White House. Can't wait to view it all tomorrow night, of course, when they return from Florida to get to see it all.

PAUL: Absolutely.

So, France is closing one small chapter of its colonial past by returning 26 works of art to Benin.

SAVIDGE: These works of art were taken from the West African nation more than 100 years ago.

Lynda Kinkaid reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKAID, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some of Africa's most precious cultural treasures are on display in a museum a continent away from where they were created.

The Quai Branly Museum in Paris houses tens of thousands of pieces of African art, looted during France's colonial past. Now, a new report says it's time for them to go home.

French President Emmanuel Macron commissioned the report, which recommends that works taken between 1885 and 1960 should be returned to their country of origin. It's a controversial proposal. It could put pressure on other western museums to follow suit. Experts say 90 percent of African art is believed to be located in Europe. Some visitors say it's about time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It would perhaps mean people who live in those countries could get to know the cultural history of their countries. There's not much to provide a link to their cultural and artistic history because everything is in Europe.

KINKAID: Others have expressed hope that the art can stay where it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Can't we display other works in a reciprocal arrangement in other countries and aren't there western art work which can be displayed elsewhere?

KINKAID: Western museums have often resisted repatriating art, arguing that they can take better care of it. But many countries are now challenging this.

Chile's Easter Island declared this month that it wants a prized sculpture back from the British museum, which has also had a longstanding dispute with Greece over who should own the famous Elgin Marbles. Earlier this month, the British Museum agreed to send some of the iconic Benin bronzes to Nigeria, where they'll be on display temporarily on loan at a new museum.

Lynda Kinkaid, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And that it is for us. Thanks so much for sharing your morning with us.

PAUL: Yes, "INSIDE POLITICS" with Nia-Malika Henderson starts right now.