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Protests in Iran; Iowa Voters Divided on Impeachment; Iraq Wants U.S. troops Out; Royal Family to Discuss Harry and Meghan's Move. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired January 12, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Outrage in Iran. Protesters call for the supreme leader to step down after the Ukrainian airliner tragedy. The U.S. president standing with the demonstrators. We'll have that.

Also ahead here this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These were living quarters, sleeping quarters. The troops that lived here lost everything.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): An inside look at the wreckage on the U.S. base targeted by Iranian airstrikes. Hear from the troops that were there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN (voice-over): Later, the royal saga continues. A palace source telling us that Queen Elizabeth has ordered an emergency family meeting over the steps now being taken by the royals.

HOWELL (voice-over): All eyes will be on that.

ALLEN (voice-over): Meghan and Harry, yes, sir.

HOWELL (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters, welcome to viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN (voice-over): I'm Natalie Allen. We begin right now.

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HOWELL: In the streets of Tehran, grief turned to outrage after an about-face from Iran, admitting that it shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet by mistake. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL (voice-over): Iranian media report a vigil for those killed turned to a mass demonstration on Saturday. Video of protesters demanding the supreme leader to step down and even death to the dictator. Most of the 176 victims on the flight were Iranian and Canadian.

ALLEN (voice-over): Of course, Iran initially denied it shot down the plane but a top Iranian general now says the jet was misidentified as a cruise missile that came amid tensions with the U.S.

Canada and Ukraine say it's good that Iran came clean but now they want Tehran to cooperate with international investigators and give the families of the dead justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The protests on the streets picking up and international pressure on Iran certainly in play. CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is following it all for us in our Abu Dhabi bureau.

Good to have you with us, Nic. If there was a sense of unity among the Iranians, given the targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani and the downing of this plane and following admission, seems like the public opinion has been turned on its head.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Certainly not what the Iranian leadership wanted. They had the momentum exactly where they wanted it, that Soleimani was a martyr to the ongoing tensions with the United States and this was playing perfectly into the leadership's narrative of focusing anger outside of the country.

What has happened, here under international pressure, the leadership has recognized that they did need to accept because the evidence was being slowly leaked internationally. They did have to accept that it was one of their missiles that did take down the plane.

This is causing them double blowback because the international reaction has not been, oh, thank you very much; good of you to acknowledge that. The reaction has been that is a first step. We need more first steps and accountability and clarity.

And that's what we are hearing from the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and from the Ukrainian president as well, for there to be closure from the victims here, from the families of the victims.

That can only come through this process of thorough international investigation, which gets into all the corners and avenues of what happened. Then the domestic blowback, as you say, the Iranian leadership was very happy with all this public support on the streets for Soleimani.

Now some of that has turned against him at the university yesterday. People shouting death to the dictator. People are angry and frustrated here. We know there's a deep resentment among many parts of the population in Iran to the leadership. But this seems, from two things, one is that so many people onboard

that aircraft were Iranians, that Iran's own military suggests that that civilian aircraft shouldn't fly that night.

And then the leadership should actually accept making a mistake when, for several days they knew that this had happened. This just is now playing very negatively against Iran's leaders.

HOWELL: Nic Robertson with the perspective and reporting in Abu Dhabi. Thank you.

ALLEN: So again, Iran insists the flight was shot down after being mistaken for a cruise missile just hours after it launched missiles at bases with U.S. troops in Iraq. That was a response to the U.S. killing, of course, of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

HOWELL: A senior Iranian military official gave his account, saying that an operator made the mistake to fire on the plane.

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HOWELL: He added this, quote, "It appears that his communication lines had failed. Either it was jammed or the network was overloaded and he was unable to communicate. He had 10 seconds to make a decision."

Goes on to say, "He could either fire or not fire. Under this condition, unfortunately, he makes the bad decision and fires the missile and the plane is hit."

ALLEN: Let's talk about this with Justin Bronk, joining us from London, a research fellow specializes in airpower at the Royal United Services Institute.

Thanks so much for being here, Justin. Good morning.

JUSTIN BRONK, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Morning.

ALLEN: I want to ask you first about what we just heard about that explanation from an Iran general.

What do you make of that?

BRONK: I think a cruise missile is probably the most likely thing that the crew had convinced themselves they were seeing, because they were bracing for potential U.S. retaliation. It's worth noting this was a scheduled flight, one of many from the international airport by Tehran and, B, it's very difficult to see how they failed to see that this was a massively larger radar compact than a cruise missile would have been and behaving in a completely different way.

They would have been able to see that it was at about 8,000 feet and climbing. A cruise missile would be coming in at 250 feet or less and probably diving as well as moving much faster.

ALLEN: What does this say about the Iranian military, that they made a mistake in a situation that should have been obvious that this was not a cruise missile?

To what do you attribute that?

BRONK: Well, I think there's two main takeaways. A, there are some serious gaps in the training on the equipment that they've been using. Iran had the Sa-15 in question for about a decade. They should be pretty familiar with the system.

And that means they were not sufficiently organized (ph) to organize what for example (INAUDIBLE) which should have showed up on their screen.

But it also says that there are really problematic procedural issues because at air defense networks, even quite stand-alone (INAUDIBLE) should always proceed (INAUDIBLE) crosschecking with air traffic control data before they fire anything. So this really shouldn't have (INAUDIBLE) points to both human error but also (INAUDIBLE).

ALLEN: Right. And, also, the fact that the airspace wasn't closed is unusual. So we just heard our reporter say there needs to be clarity.

What do you want to hear from Iran now?

BRONK: So I personally would be lot more comfortable flying into Iran if they said, for example, we're ensuring that all our air defense units have real-time uplinks to civilian air traffic control and that also they will explicitly link at an official level any changes to the rules of engagement for their own defense network with basically air traffic restrictions to prevent civilian airliners moving into a missile engagement when there is any possibility that they will just be fired upon based on (INAUDIBLE).

ALLEN: Justin Bronk, we appreciate your expertise and, as we get more information, we hope to talk to you, again. Thanks for your time.

HOWELL: A group of protesters came together in Tehran to mourn the victims of the Ukrainian Airlines crash. Among the demonstrators were friends and family members who lost loved ones after the crash.

ALLEN: Many vented their anger towards the Iranian government, demanding the country's leaders resign. Angry Iranians have also taken to social media, complaining that leaders have spent more time deflecting criticism rather than sympathizing with the victims.

HOWELL: CNN's Paula Newton spoke with one man who lost three family members in the crash. And she sent us this report.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Canada, they are reeling from the facts of what we have learned; after lying about it for three days, Iran now finally admitting that it is responsible for shooting Flight 752 out of the sky.

They continue to hold memorials, vigils. One of them, the memorial, happening here today. Amir Arsalani must bury his sister, brother-in-law and his 1-year-old

niece. He does not know how to cope with things right now. He's hoping the memorial will give him and all the mourners some comfort.

What he's dealing with is trying to understand the facts of what happened, still unbelievable to him and so many other Canadians. I want you to listen to him explaining what he believes justice would look like for him and his family.

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AMIR ARSALANI, VICTIMS' RELATIVE: We say eye for an eye, I know it's not a possible way. But get them down.

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ARSALANI: The regime has to come down.

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ARSALANI: Enough of people killing. Enough of blood. Enough of young people die for no reason. I lost three people. Three of my best people. And it's not replaceable.

What are they going to do?

Give us money? Give us piece of land? Give us -- put a street under their name? I don't care. I could care less. I want them back. If I can't get them back, they have to leave. They have to go.

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NEWTON: Amir is still trying to deal with identifying his loved ones back in Iran. They have started to collect DNA samples but he has not heard. One of the things he fears most, his parents still in Iran will not be able to get any peace until this family is buried.

They believe they've lost so much and all they want now is a measure of peace and part of that, they say, will come from the investigation. They're calling on Canada and also the United States, all Western allies, they say, to come together to make sure that Iran is accountable and has a transparent investigation -- Paula Newton, CNN, Toronto.

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ALLEN: Well, following a week of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Jake Tapper will speak with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in a live interview in just a few hours. "STATE OF THE UNION" starts at 9:00 am In New York and 2:00 in the afternoon if you're watching from London.

HOWELL: While all of this is going on, one of Iran's top Olympic athletes is defecting.

ALLEN: The taekwondo fighter Kimia Alizadeh kicked her way to bronze in Rio in 2016, that makes her Iran's first and only female Olympic medalist. But she says on Instagram she has left for Europe and did not want to be complicit in what she calls the government's corruption and lies.

HOWELL: She wrote, quote, "They took me wherever they wanted. I wore whatever they said. Every sentence they ordered me to say, I repeated. Whenever they say saw fit, they exploited me. I wasn't important to them. None of this mattered to them. We were tools," end quote.

Much of this comes on the heels of the rising tensions between the United States and Iran over the killing of a top Iranian general. Ahead, a look at the mixed messages about why the U.S. targeted Qasem Soleimani in the first place.

ALLEN: Also a new CNN poll shedding light on how voters in a key U.S. state feel about impeachment and the prospect of re-electing President Trump.

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ALLEN: The U.S. says it will expel more than 1 dozen Saudi servicemen training in the U.S. This news follows an investigation into last month's deadly shooting at an air base in Florida. Authorities say a Saudi air force officer killed three American sailors before police shot and killed him. Some of those being expelled are said to have connections to extremist movements but they're not accused of aiding the shooter.

HOWELL: Questions loom over the justification for the U.S. killing of Iranian top general Qasem Soleimani. President Donald Trump claims there was an imminent threat to multiple U.S. embassies.

ALLEN: But the State Department will not clarify what those threats were. CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond has more on these mixed messages.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been more than a week since President Trump authorized the targeted killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani but the president and his top advisors still seem to be struggling to get their messaging straight as it relates to the operation itself and the intelligence that led up to that operation.

Questions about the specificity of the intelligence, whether or not the administration knew where this imminent attack was being planned. Listen here to the secretary of the state and the president of the United States.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: If you are looking for imminence, you need to look no further than the days leading up to the strike.

TRUMP: We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.

He West looking very seriously at our embassies and not just the embassy in Baghdad.

POMPEO: We don't know when precisely when and we don't know precisely where but it was real.

We had specific information on an imminent threat and those threats included attacks on U.S. embassies.

TRUMP: I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.

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DIAMOND: Now beyond these questions about the specificity of the intelligence and where exactly the Iranians intended to attack the United States, the president saying four embassies, the secretary of state we don't know exactly when or where.

But this key question about imminence, how imminent this threat was to Americans in the region. Now the secretary of state has said both that it was an imminent threat but he also said he did not know exactly when or where.

This is a key question, not just for matters of transparency or for better understanding the rationale they used for this but about the legal justification for this. The Trump administration is saying legally it was authorized to carry out the strike on an Iranian general, something not authorized by Congress, because of the fact that there was an imminent threat.

And that is certainly sparking questions from Congress. Now we are also seeing the president on Saturday, expressing his support for protests that we're seeing happening in Iran.

Protesters there calling for the resignation of the country's supreme leader after Iran mistakenly downed a Ukrainian airliner over the skies of Iran.

The president tweeting, "To the brave, long suffering people of Iran I stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my administration will continue to stand with you. We're following your protests closely and are inspired by your courage" -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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ALLEN: In the race for the White House, impeachment is on the minds of voters as the U.S. presidential primary season is a few weeks away from kicking off in Iowa.

HOWELL: The new CNN poll shows registered voters in the state are split on the matter. Our David Chalian has this from Des Moines.

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DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Critical brand-new CNN/"Des Moines Register" poll numbers about how folks in Iowa are responding to impeachment: 48 percent of registered Iowa voters say President Trump should not be removed from office; 40 percent say he should.

That is certainly welcome news to the White House. Take a look across party lines. Obviously, all the Democrats basically are in favor of removing the president from office. All the Republicans are opposed.

Look at that critical middle line, independents: a slim majority of independents here in Iowa, 51 percent, believe the president should stay in office. Only about a third of independents say he should be removed.

Watch those numbers over the course of the Senate trial. If that 34 goes up and 51 goes down, not just here in Iowa but nationally, that will have political ramifications for things like witnesses and other matters that come up in the trial.

But even though people here in Iowa do not think the president should be removed from office, take a look at this. Majorities across every party say what the president is accused of doing here is not OK.

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CHALIAN: They do not believe, even 59 percent of Republicans say, it's not OK for a presidential candidate to ask a foreign country to interfere in the election, dig up dirt on a rival. That is not OK.

In terms of the president's re-election effort here in Iowa, a state he won by more than 9 points in 2016, look at these brand-new poll numbers. He's got work to do here: 44 percent of registered Iowa voters say they will not be voting for the president. They are not going to consider him for re-election. They're definitely voting for someone else.

Take a look when you look by gender: 50 percent of female registered voters here in Iowa are definitely voting for someone other than the president. He clearly has work to do here in a state that was very much in his corner just three years ago.

Look at the suburban women specifically, a key demographic, fueled the Democratic Party rise in 2018, delivered the House majority to the Democrats. Donald Trump does even worse with them.

Suburban women, 56 percent of them here in Iowa, say definitely not voting for the president. President Trump is clearly going to want to try to win back some of those suburban women if he has any intention of keeping Iowa red in 2020 -- David Chalian, CNN, Des Moines.

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HOWELL: Let's bring in Amy Pope joining us in London, associate fellow at Chatham House.

Good to have you.

AMY POPE, CHATHAM HOUSE: Great, thanks.

HOWELL: Let's start with the mixed messages from the Trump administration regarding there was truly an imminent threat. It has gotten so murky, there seems to be a debate about the word "imminent" and what does it mean. I just Googled it.

"About to happen," an adjective.

Was this truly imminent or was this simply the president taking an action and worrying about the response later?

What is your read?

AMY POPE, CHATHAM HOUSE: All the evidence suggests that it wasn't something that was imminent, according to the textbook definition. And it looks like it was probably no more imminent than what the Obama administration or even the Bush administration had considered and decided against taking out Soleimani.

So this really looks like the president was reacting, that he was not taking the advice of his advisors, that he was concerned about another Benghazi incident happening on his watch and he wanted to demonstrate strength. I don't believe that the evidence is going to show that there was any more imminent threat than that.

HOWELL: Well, the question is, will we ever see any evidence?

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HOWELL: That's the question that remains unanswered at this point.

POPE: There is a committee within Congress that has the security clearances to see that evidence. It doesn't sound like they're getting that evidence. So the president really has a case to make here and he's not made it yet.

HOWELL: We went over a lot of polling data before that. I want to get your thoughts on this key info, the minds of what Iowa voters are thinking about when it comes to their next choice for president.

Asked in the next election, would you definitely vote for President Trump, 42 percent of men said yes and 27 percent of women saying yes and 13 percent of men said they would consider someone else and 12 percent of men saying that.

And 15 percent of women said they would definitely vote for someone else, 37 percent of men said they felt the same way.

On the face of it, as you see those numbers, what do you make of the plus-minus for Democrats and the plus-minus for the president?

This is a trend we have seen going back to 2018. We saw a number of Democrats take House seats that had been traditionally Republican, primarily in the suburbs and largely in part because of the frustration of American suburban women.

And it looks like Trump has not assuaged their concerns within the last two years. We know their key issues are things like education, health care, prescription drug prices.

And this president, instead of fixing those key issues, has been focused on issues like immigration. And, you know, within the last 10 days, he's taken us to the brink of a war in the Middle East and putting more troops there. So I think he really needs to focus on these suburban voters that could make the difference for him in 2020.

HOWELL: Let's focus even more precisely on suburban voters, women.

What do they think, suburban women?

Take a look at this polling data in David's report, as well. 22 percent of women say they will definitely vote for the president; 19 percent say they will consider someone else and 56 percent say they will definitely vote for someone else. So suburban women were critical for President Trump when it came to his election.

How do you see him going into this 2020 race?

POPE: Support for him among suburban women is eroding.

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POPE: And that's been going on for some time. Again, if you look at places like Michigan, like Virginia, places where there are seats that have been held by Republicans for some time and you saw a switch in 2018, it suggests that suburban women do not have a lot of patience.

They don't like the tweeting. They don't like the very bellicose rhetoric. They want him to get things done. And he hasn't demonstrated that he can get done the issues that really matter to them.

HOWELL: Amy Pope with perspective, live from our London bureau, Amy, thank you.

POPE: Thank you.

ALLEN: In a CNN exclusive report, we are on the ground at the al-Asad air base in Iraq just days after U.S. troops hid in bunkers while Iran fired over a dozen missiles in the facility. That story coming up next.

HOWELL: Also later in the show, deadly storms cut a trail of destruction across parts of the United States and hundreds of thousands of people are without power. We'll find out where those storms are headed next.

ALLEN: Plus, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have outlined their exit strategy. The next step is to get the royal family on board.

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HOWELL: Welcome back to viewers here and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our headlines.

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ALLEN: In the hours before Iran shot down that plane, U.S. troops were taking cover from an Iranian missile strike on the al-Asad air base in Iraq.

HOWELL: The strike was retaliation for the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general. CNN senior Arwa Damon was the first journalist to gain access to the base and she spoke with troops about the moments leading up to that attack.

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DAMON: These were living quarters, sleeping quarters, the troops that lived here lost everything. There was very little if anything that was salvageable because there was also a fire that ended up raging here for a few hours after the missile impacted in this particular area.

The reason why no one was killed, not here, not in any of the other locations of impact is because there was advanced warning. We don't know what, we don't know how that is very sensitive information. But we are told that hours before the attack even began, they knew something was happening. They just did not know specifically what it was going to be. So precautions were taken by 11:00 pm.

Troops who could hunker down or hunker down in bunker, some of them in Saddam-era bunkers. Others who had to man their posts because of the security situation. They were still out there. And then the strikes began at about 1:34 in the morning. This is the crater left behind by one of them. There are so many stories that we're hearing of heroic, so many stories that we're hearing a really extraordinary close calls.

Those who lived through this say that it's clear that Iran wasn't that concerned with trying to save us lives. A lot of these impacts did happen in places where they could potentially have caused significant U.S. casualties and this is Lieutenant Colonel Staci Coleman; we've been speaking all day. And I mean, you were telling us what was that night like?

How do you even begin to describe it?

LT. COL. STACI COLEMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: It's very hard to describe it. I will tell you, it was extremely scary. Some of my team and myself were hunkered down and one of those bunkers. And when the first wave started hitting you could feel the shockwave.

And even inside the bunker, the pressure was so strong that we watched our bunker doors sinking towards the inside of the bunker and then escape back out.

About seven of the impacts were in very close proximity to where we will hunker down and like I said, you could feel every last one of the shockwaves it was extremely scary.

DAMON: And very lucky or was it the training, the precautions that were taken that there were no U.S. casualties?

COLEMAN: I'd say it was all of -- I say it was a combination of God looking out for us. It was a combination of, you know, the little bit of Intel and advanced warning that we got. And then it was the smart commanders on the ground making on-spot decisions to get people out of harm's way.

DAMON: And how do you begin to describe or I mean, what this was like? And then, of course, what kind of security precautions you're having to take now given the situation?

COLEMAN: This was -- like I said, we knew something was happening, but we didn't know exactly what. As the time grew closer, we kind of thought we had an indication of what it might be, but we still weren't certain.

So we had advanced warning that there may be some rockets followed by a base incursion. And so we had to keep our security forces out to make sure that that we were safe from that.

So there were a good number of folks out along the perimeter and within the airfield keeping it secure.

DAMON: Out there on the perimeter, keeping it secure while these missiles are coming in.

COLEMAN: Yes, they were outside during every last one of the missile strikes.

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DAMON: Well, it would seem that it was very fortunate. And also as we've been saying because of this advance warning that exist, because of these precautions that were taken, there is this sense that -- well, this phase of what is unfolding has concluded. Everyone here is still very much on high alert -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Al-Asad Airbase, Iraq. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Let's talk more about it with senior international correspondent Sam Kiley, live in Baghdad.

Arwa's piece illustrated how close troops came to being very much impacted by these strikes.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You're absolutely right, Natalie. What they indicate is the power and reach and capability of the Iranian missiles.

Now if you combine that with continuing threats from the Iranian- backed militia groups, two of the main ones designated recently by the United States as international terrorist groups, both of them continuing their demands that the United States withdraw from their military activities here in Iraq.

There are about 5,200 U.S. troops, give or take, in Iraq, partly in a training role and also operating as support rear base operations for the ongoing Special Forces work against the so-called Islamic State in Syria and, of course, providing a liaison and air support for the Iraqis to continue their fight against so-called Islamic State here inside Iraq.

Now that is less of a challenge internally for the Iraqis. But nonetheless, the parliament here has voted by a tiny majority of overwhelmingly hardline Shia parties to demand that the U.S. also withdraw. Many others, Sunni, Kurds, moderate Shia, who do not want to see a premature withdrawal from Iraq not least at a time when tensions are increasing.

If there is going to be the violence that has been threatened by the Shia militia, they are also against American troops here. There is also a strong sense that the so-called Islamic State will exploit that level of tensions and chaos and try to stage a comeback.

There are almost weekly, almost daily, frankly, reports of Islamic State attacks on Iraqi security forces here in Iraq. So that is a problem that hasn't gone away. This country feeling very resentful, indeed, that it is becoming the battleground of a proxy war between the United States and Iraq.

Just as we've seen in Iran, a return to demonstrations there against the government, so we've seen here on the streets in Baghdad, similar demonstrations demanding reforms of the government. The sort of demonstrations we've seen now for some months.

But on top of that, demanding that the United States and Iran stop interfering in Iranian (sic) politics. That was something that was speculation that might go away but now, in fact, it is very much back at the center of the street demonstrations, Natalie.

ALLEN: Right. They're not giving up their demands, despite Iraq being caught in the middle of the situation between Iran and the United States. I want to ask you, what kind of vacuum would take place if suddenly

U.S. troops departed Iraq?

KILEY: Well, the U.S. troops are here, remember, at the invitation, at the request, indeed, of the Iraqi government. Now it is the lame duck Iraqi government that is asking for negotiations for withdrawal.

If they would withdraw suddenly there would be a gap in capability for continued training of Iraqi forces and a significant problem in terms of air force coordination and intelligence gathering, which the Americans provide a great deal of.

It's for that reason, really, that the Trump administration has been pressuring NATO to take a greater role, not just in Iraq but across the Middle East. Donald Trump is keen to see the level of American commitment dial down in a region that he sees as strategically important to the United States but even more strategically important to the European nations, who get the bulk of their oil and gas from this region and, indeed, to Asian nations, questioning why is it the United States has to take the lead here.

So if there were to be a vacuum there would be pressure on NATO to step in. The problem is that, over the years, NATO has been really hollowed out by its dependence on the United States for air supplies and air cover, logistics.

[05:40:00]

KILEY: And it's really questionable whether NATO as an organism could work independently or with a very substantially reduced American presence here. The Iranians know that and that's why they're putting so much pressure by their proxies here for the U.S. to withdraw.

ALLEN: We certainly know Trump's stance on NATO. Thank you for your reporting, Sam. We really appreciate it.

HOWELL: All right. Back here stateside, you probably dealt with some strong storms along the East Coast. When we return, a live report on where those storms are headed next.

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ALLEN: Amid mounting criticism, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is admitting to making some mistakes in his response to the bush fires devastating the country. Here he is.

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SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: There were things that I could have handled on the ground much better. These are very raw, emotional environments. I have got to say that 95 percent or thereabouts of the responses I've had in these cases have been very positive and very appreciative.

But David, these are sensitive environments. They're very emotional environments. Prime ministers are flesh and blood, too, and have an engage (ph) with people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Mr. Morrison said he will propose a national review to the response to the disaster.

HOWELL: The Sydney Opera House lit its famous sails with the images of firefighters, a tribute to them and the ravaged communities they fought to protect. A 60-year-old firefighter died on Saturday while on duty. At least 28 people have now been killed in these fires.

ALLEN: In the United States, a deadly storm front is cutting a path of destruction across the South and it's not done yet.

HOWELL: It's a strong line of storms. Millions of people are under a flood threat.

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HOWELL: And hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are out of power. Take a look at this in College Station, Texas. Winds were so strong they forced a trampoline pole through the roof of this home.

ALLEN: Severe weather tore through Alabama, demolishing buildings. CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the country, especially throughout the South, homes, commercial buildings and lives have been ruined in a matter of minutes by severe storms and tornadoes responsible for at least eight deaths, including two people who are being called heroes in Lubbock, Texas.

FLOYD MITCHELL, LUBBOCK POLICE CHIEF: This is a tragic day for our family. This is a tragic day for both police and fire and the men and women of both of our departments.

CHEN (voice-over): Lubbock police officers and firefighters were responding to a car accident on an icy interstate Saturday morning. While they were there, two more cars slid across the median, one of them hitting the first responders. Lubbock officials say speed on icy roads had everything to do with the fatal accident.

SHAUN FOGERSON, LUBBOCK FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: It was very unnecessary. If people would respect road conditions, things like this wouldn't have to happen.

CHEN (voice-over): The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, had a similar message, to please take the warnings seriously when they shared the news of three people killed in Pickens County, Alabama, another three died near Shreveport, Louisiana, one when a tree fell on his house and the other two, an elderly couple, who were found near their demolished home.

Into the Midwest, strong wind gusts, snow and ice caused the cancellation of 900 flights in and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. More than a quarter million customers across nine states lost power and it's still not over. The storms are expected to reach the Northeast early next week -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

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HOWELL: We'll get a full update on the severe weather in the U.S. in a minute.

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ALLEN: Next here a family meeting for the British royals after Prince Harry and wife Meghan's bombshell announcement throws the palace in crisis.

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ALLEN (voice-over): A heartwarming moment right there for a young boy who has been battling cancer. Six-year-old John Oliver Zippay got a standing ovation when he returned to school last week. He recently finished his last round of chemotherapy for an acute form of leukemia.

HOWELL (voice-over): That is just beautiful to see there. Even though he missed a lot of school over his three years of treatment, he never fell behind academically. His father said he's looking forward to his son getting a chance to do the things that normal kids do.

ALLEN (voice-over): I love that one.

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HOWELL: Just loop that video over and over.

ALLEN: Yes.

HOWELL: Turning now to the British monarchy, the royal family has been in crisis mode over the future of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their stunning announcement last week.

ALLEN: Yes, these developments are being closely watched ahead of talks between the queen and Prince Harry and other senior royals on Monday. It will be quite the meeting. Anna Stewart has more from London.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ever since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their intention to step back as senior members of the royal family, crisis talks have been underway within the royal household.

The queen herself instructing that these happen at pace.

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STEWART (voice-over): But palace sources told CNN that these talks may soon bear fruit. The meeting is set at Sandringham, the queen's estate, on Monday.

It will be attended by Her Majesty, Prince Charles, prince William and Prince Harry. Notably absent will be Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex; she returned to Canada shortly after the shock announcement earlier in the week.

She is expected to be dialing in to this meeting from Canada. A range of possibilities will be discussed at the meeting. Although talks have happened very fast, the implementation of any one of these plans we're told will take some time.

Opinion in the U.K. has been highly divided over the Duke and Duchess' decision. Also the way they communicated it to the public and to the royal family. Critics of the Duke and Duchess say they should not be able to earn money independently and retain royal titles.

Some say they should have to pay rent on their Grace and Favor home in Windsor, perhaps they should also have to pay security costs as well, they're likely to balloon if they live between the U.K. and North America.

Many people also say however that they should do whatever they want and live wherever they like. In the past, any royal family member that has stepped down or stepped aside has been due to scandal or divorce. So we are in uncharted territory here. However the crown appears determined to navigate it and move on -- Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

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ALLEN: That will do it for us.

What do you say, George?

We'll see you later. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell. "NEW DAY" is next and "BUSINESS TRAVELLER" is ahead. We hope you have a great day.

ALLEN: See you later.