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Trump Attacks Democrats For Questioning Iran Policy; Philippines Bracing For Potentially Violent Eruption; Queen Supports Harry And Meghan's Independent Life; Iran Protests; Critics Rail against Oscar Nominations. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 14, 2020 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio 7 at CNN's World Headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, the ever-changing reason from the Trump administration for risking all-out compensation with Iran and ordering the killing of Qassem Soleimani. At first, imminent threat, now defensive deterrence. What's next?

Backed into a corner. Britain's Queen Elizabeth agrees to Harry and Meghan's demands a step back from Royal duties, but the Royal couple may end up paying a high price for the quiet life. Cue the outrage. The list of Oscar Nominees is out taking a Pavlovian response of anger, outrage and whining complaints on social media. But in reality, the Academy has lifted his game.

When Donald Trump ordered a drone strike to kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, there was always the risk Iran can strike back in such a way it will spark a military confrontation with the U.S. So why exactly was there such an urgent need to risk so much? Well, it depends who you're asking when you ask it.

But don't question the administration because that would be seen as supporting terrorism, such as the state of the White House. CNN's Jim Acosta has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Facing persistent questions about his decision to take out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, President Trump blasted away at Democrats with one of his most offensive social media posts yet.

The President retweeted a photoshopped anti-Muslim image showing how speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in front of an Iranian flag wearing traditional Islamic clothing. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham defended Mr. Trump, doubling down on his false attack.

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the President is making clear that the Democrats are -- have been parroting Iranian talking points and almost taking the side of terrorists and those who were out to kill the Americans.

ACOSTA: The Trump administration is back to ramping up the rhetoric with Iran with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo standing by the decision to kill Soleimani while warning leaders in Tehran to behave themselves.

MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: On the military side, we've warned the Iranians repeatedly, done so personally myself that an attack that took American lives would not be tolerated. If Iran escalates, we will end it on our terms.

ACOSTA: Top officials are still struggling to stay why Soleimani was targeted, with the president claiming the administration's explanations have been consistent.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, I think it's totally consistent. But here's what's been consistent. We killed Soleimani, the number one terrorists in the world by every account. Bad person, killed a lot of Americans, killed a lot of people. We killed him. And when the Democrats try and defend him, it's a disgrace to our country.

ACOSTA: Defense Secretary Mark Esper wavered on the President's claim that there was an Iranian threat to attack four embassies.

MARK ESPER, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I didn't see one with regard to four embassies. What I'm saying is I share the President's view that probably my expectation was they were going to go after our embassies.

I'm not going to discuss intelligence matters here on the show. Let me just say that --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The President did though.

ESPER: He was -- it's the President's prerogative.

ACOSTA: Same for National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien. We know there were threats to American facilities. Now, whether they were bases, embassies, you know, it's always hard until the attack happens.

ACOSTA: The President tried to clean it all up with a tweet insisting the threat by Soleimani was imminent and that his team was an agreement on the decision to strike. Still, State Department officials tell CNN that personnel involved in embassy security were not told about an imminent threat and therefore did not warn embassies.

As demonstrators took to the streets in Iran, protesting Tehran's downing of a Ukrainian airliner, President issued a warning tweeting, "Do not kill your protesters. The USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free. Democrats are accusing the President and his team of misleading the public to justify their actions after the fact. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think they're making it up as they go along

to try to provide cover for the President. I really believe what happened here was it was not about intelligence. It was about opportunity.

ACOSTA: As the president left the White House for the college football championship game, he did not offer any new evidence or intelligence, pointing to an imminent threat posed by Qassem Soleimani. The president only said that the information coming from the administration has been consistent. But the only consistency has been the inconsistency. Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: With us now is Nader Hashemi, an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the University of Denver. Nader, thanks for being with us. You know, protests against the regime in Tehran over the years they've ebbed and flowed, but it seems hard to remember a time when they're actually on the streets chanting death to the Supreme Leader. Here. It is.

[01:05:14]

VAUSE: Add to that, you know, the Conservatives who would normally support the regime had been overly critical. The country's only Olympic medal winner has defected, Iran's most popular actress has criticized the government on social media. I don't generally say this, but is it different this time?

NADER HASHEMI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MIDDLE EAST AND ISLAMIC POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: Well, it seems to be different. I think the level of anger and animosity toward the ruling elites in the senior leadership seems to be at a much higher level now than it was in previous moments. And I think this has to do with the media crisis related to the shooting down of the Ukrainian airplane and the lies that were told.

But it's -- I think, the anger and be in the protest and the resignations are really rooted in 40 years of you know, corrupt, incompetent, repressive rule. And that's what's driving these protests. Whether they'll manifest themselves into some sort of political opening, that remains to be seen. A lot of this has to do with the international context, which actually undermines the prospects for democratic change, because that allows the regime to externalize its problems by pointing to the aggressive policies of Donald Trump.

VAUSE: Yes. We'll get to that in a moment, but just stay with Iran, right now, really not democracy. There are no elections. People have limited rights. No right to protest, for example. So ultimately, where is the influence here? How can this unrest put pressure on the regime? You had this warning from the president not to go out and kill protesters, but in a way -- and we've said it before, if the -- if the regime wishes to, he can sort of shoot its way out of trouble.

HASHEMI: It can. But every sort of repressive regime has to maintain some semblance of political order. There are limits to how far the regime can actually crackdown. About a month and a half ago, in the November protests, the regime sort of overreached. It killed, you know, by some estimates, over 1,000 people. I think the more accurate figures around 600.

And then the regime realized that there was large scale public anger and outrage over what happened and the regime had to backtrack, had to change its narrative, had to start to apologize and acknowledge innocent deaths that had been lost calling for compensation. So every repressive regime has to play this careful balancing act in terms of how far it can repress.

You know, Iran is an authoritarian regime, but it's not North Korea. It does have to maintain some semblance of legitimacy. And if it kills too many people, that will then, you know, result in a in a public uprising and protests. So these are the balancing acts that authoritarian regimes everywhere have to -- have to play in order to maintain power.

VAUSE: Yes. Because before it was a pro-democracy uprising, one of the reasons for the Tiananmen Square protests in China in 1989 was inflation, skyrocketing cost of basic supplies and services. So look at this graph. Over the past three years, the cost of the basic goods in Iran has doubled. Iranians are well-read. Many would realize that it's U.S. sanctions, which were imposed last year after Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, which you know, mostly to blame for that increase. But are we reaching a point when, you know, the blame shifts on to Iran's leadership for not finding a way to ease those sanctions for doing something about it?

HASHEMI: I think fundamentally, yes. You know, I think there's anger at the United States, but there's also anger at the, you know, corrupt leaders that have been in power for 40 years, that refuse to relinquish power or share power. All of the nation's wealth has been spent on these foreign policy adventurisms in places like Syria. And there's widespread, you know, economic discontent.

That economic discontent immediately translates into, you know, who's making the decisions that has brought about this economic misery. So, you know, the anger is, you know, very much directed at those people who have been responsible for making the decisions that has brought Iran to this crisis point. And that's the senior leadership of the Islamic Republic.

VAUSE: Just to circle back to the Trump administration's likely consistency for the reason for going out to General Soleimani and killing him in a drone strike. Forget imminent attack on Monday. It was about deterrence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I do believe that this concept of imminence is something of a red herring. This was a legitimate act of self-defense because it disrupted ongoing attacks that were being conducted, a campaign against the Americans. And it reestablished deterrence. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, the Secretary of State a few hours ago says this is a new policy of deterrence not just against Iran but aimed at Russia and China as well. Given the fragility of the regime right now in Iran, if the Trump administration orders another drone strike, for example, on a senior Iranian leader, military leader, whatever, will that end up again, seeing protesters rallying around the regime in Tehran, if not supporting the regime, at least supporting the flag.

HASHEMI: Well, I think so because what's misunderstood is that, you know, demands for democracy is not the only theme that shapes the Iranian political culture. Iranian political culture results have deeply shaped by a strong sense of nationalism and anti-imperialism.

So in the strike after -- in the strike that took out Soleimani, the regime was able to mobilize those other themes that I just mentioned, anti-imperialism and nationalism, to shift attention away from the demands for democracy and rally people around the flag.

In many ways, the hit on Soleimani actually was a lifeline to the Islamic Republic. It emboldened the regime and strengthened it. And this is one of the big problems with the struggle for democracy in Iran. You have a U.S. policy that inadvertently tends to strengthen hardliners in the Islamic Republic and undermine democratic forces. And I think the events after the Soleimani assassination are perfect illustration of that fact.

[01:10:48]

VAUSE: OK. Nader, thanks for being with us. We really appreciate your insights. Thank you.

HASHEMI: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thousands of people have fled their homes in the Philippines seeking safer ground away from the danger zone -- danger zone of possible volcanic eruption. Ash and steam have been spewing from the Taal Volcano since Sunday. Now lava has started to flow and officials fear a more violent eruption is imminent.

These are live pictures right now. The time there is 2:10 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. State of emergency has been declared for one province. Everyone within a 17-kilometer radius of the volcano has been ordered to evacuate. CNN's Blake Essig is with me now live from Hong Kong.

What kind of situation -- this is one of the active volcanoes in the -- in the Philippines for the most part, but it's been dormant for about four decades. And you know, that (INAUDIBLE) to head back to that region and now millions are at risk.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. 1977 was the last time that this volcano erupted and actually killed people during an eruption in 1965 and 1911. About 1,000 people -- about 1,300 people were killed. Scientists currently believe that this another massive major hazardous eruption is imminent. Well, it could be hours, it could be days.

Today actually though, President Duterte is visiting the affected areas while his government is in the process of telling everyone within that 17-kilometer radius to get out before another hazardous eruption occurs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESSIG: After more than 40 years of relative peace and quiet, Taal Volcano, one of the smallest in the world, started making a whole lot of noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were afraid and in a panic. We're thinking of how we can save our lives.

ESSIG: It all started Sunday afternoon, about 60 kilometers south of the Philippine capital of Manila. A violent eruption sending steam ash in rock roughly 15 kilometers into the sky, raining down on the roughly 25 million people like Noel Suarez living below.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's difficult to get food because it's difficult to move. We cannot use the vehicle since its muddy and we cannot even clean it since there's no water. Almost everything is a problem now, and then you have the volcano spewing again.

ESSIG: And after nearly 150 small earthquakes, Philippine officials believe it's going to get worse before it gets better. Nearly half a million residents have been ordered to evacuate immediately believing another much larger eruption and possible tsunami could be imminent.

ERIK KLEMETTI, VOLCANOLOGIST: Real hazard is that it has the potential for explosions.

That's volcanologist Erik Klemetti. He says that despite Taal's small stature, it's one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, a volcano with a deadly past claiming more than 1,300 lives in 1911, and another 190 in 1965.

KLEMITTI: The people living nearby, the combination of explosions and a large population can really -- are the things that volcanologists really hope don't get combined.

ESSIG: A combination that could be fatal and has already proven to be destructive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are many destroyed houses. It's almost like a desert there because of the thickness of the mud.

ESSIG: Leaving those like Armando Mendoza to wonder what might be left of his community when he returns home, a decision ultimately decided by Taal.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ESSIG: Well, the Philippine government has ordered roughly that half million people to evacuate the area. So far, only about 18,000 people are currently in evacuation shelters. And the Philippine government is urging anyone who has evacuated not to go back home again for the fear of another imminent eruption. John?

VAUSE: Yes. This is going to go on for a while yet. Blake, we appreciate the update. Thank you. We'll head now to Pedram Javaheri for more on this. And Pedram, it's kind of the signs here very crucial to watch because as it moves from -- you know, the lava flows to suddenly this volcanic lightning, these plumes, it was a dark gray steam which comes from the main crater. That's when you know, you're moving into a danger period, right?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. You know, it's not quieting down. It's quite the opposite. And we're beginning to see the lava dome grow, of course, and we're beginning to see the ash levels increase as well and the lava fountain itself also showing increased sign of activity.

So officials taking this very seriously, that 17 kilometers evacuation zone that's in place here also being taken seriously because in 1911 an eruption here that took with it 1,300 lives, it was back then and where they actually made that entire region, an area that was actually a dangerous zone and considered an area you would not want to live.

[01:15:14]

And of course, many, many decades of Quiet continued beyond 1911 in January of 1911, when the 1,300 lives loss. It took about another say 50 plus years for an additional -- for another eruption to take place. And a lot of people had already moved back very close to that volcano after seeing decades of quiet conditions.

And then beyond that, you kind of see the activity pick up in October and November of 1977. 43 years past until this past Saturday, and then the current eruption process now beginning and of course the concern is that is just the beginning of potentially a multi-month, maybe multi-year event in place.

And what has happened so far, the phreatic eruption, which is essentially a steam-based eruption, you take all the hot magma as high as 1,100 degrees Celsius. You take the hot rocks associated with this volcano on top of the lake, you drop them into the lake water and of course, creates instant flash steam.

That is -- a good way to put it, a moderate level eruption. The next level would be a major level. That is what is considered a Pyroclastic eruption, and that's when you take magma and violently ejected out of this particular volcano. That's when it becomes a very, very dangerous scenario for millions of people across this region.

And we are seeing signs of this in the works when it comes to the lava dome growing. You see the progression of this volcano and the lava fountain as it's called here, kind of expanding over the last couple of days. As this occurs, we know the activity is beginning to kind of pick up an intensity, the 200 plus earthquakes certainly playing role in all of this as well.

And I didn't have time to get to it, but I did want to touch on what's happening in Australia, John, because conditions there also has been very hazardous course. But look at the air quality index there in Melbourne, it sits at 330 plus. That is hazardous compared to what is happening in Delhi which is considered unhealthy at 190 or so plus there. So it's certainly a big story across parts of Australia as well.

VAUSE: Yes. What's -- it's amazing how the worst in the world and it was you know, it was even worse every night. We'll see what happens there. Thanks, Pedram. We'll take a short break. When we come back, the British Royal family is trying to resolve a crisis with the Queen's agreement on the future of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, in a moment.

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VAUSE: Well, the final details are yet to be resolved. Britain's Queen Elizabeth is publicly supporting Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and their desire for new independent live. The announcement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex they were stepping back from Royal duties is said to have blindside the monarchy.

And so on Monday, Her Majesty convened in a crisis family meeting in Sandringham. And from there, Max Foster reports.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A huge build-up to this Royal face to face but a positive tone coming out of it. The Queen saying the talks were very constructive and they had agreed to a period of transition for the Sussex's where they'll split their time between Canada and the U.K.

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The Queen is sending a clear and certain message to the country, to her family, and it's we are going to find a solution and it's going to be one that will work. Because the more he feels the story drags on, the more there'll be speculation, rumor, gossip about arguments in the family. That's the last thing she wants.

FOSTER: There was an unusually personal tone to the statement from the Queen. She writes, "My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family." But she also says she would have preferred them to remain full time working members of the Royal family.

There are a few days left before she wants a final decision. What isn't clear at this point is whether or not the couple retain any royal duties at all or are going to break away entirely and forge a private-sector careers effectively cashing in on that very valuable Royal brand.

The Queen says these are very complex matters. And they are. We've got to work out how any of this will be workable, how will they finance themselves, how will they combine private and public financing without being accused of conflicts of interest.

There are lots of things to iron out here but it seems as though they have got over the first hurdle which is all agreeing that the Sussex's are on the way out as working Royals. Max Foster, CNN Sandringham, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Sandro Monetti. He covered the House of Windsor for years as a royal reporter for Express newspapers. He joins us now from Los Angeles. Hey, Sandro. OK, let's start with that statement from the Queen because not once but twice she makes reference to Harry and Meghan. Here's the second time. Harry and Meghan had made it clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives.

Nowhere in that brief statement does she use the titles like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, only refers to them as the Sussex's. She refers to Prince Charles and Prince William. Officials titles are used on official statements. Is this a hint? Are they losing their Royal titles?

SANDRO MONETTI, JOURNALIST AND ROYAL EXPERT: Her Majesty picks her words very carefully. She's got years of experience of doing it. And I think this is the first shot at a negotiating tactic because clearly one of the things still to be resolved is do they keep the titles.

Now, they presumably want to considering Meghan and Harry have trademarked over 100 products under there at Sussex Royal brand, they would argue there is precedent for this because Prince Andrew's daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie do not take taxpayer money. They have their own jobs. One runs an art gallery and the other works in in business, and they are allowed to keep their titles as princesses.

However, what they do -- what they don't do is commercially exploit their Royal ties. Whereas Meghan and Harry, it seems to be are going to go for those big money commercial deals under that brand. If they play it right, they could make millions, hundreds of millions. I think the cash would really roll in and the Queen doesn't want the for sale sign puts on the Royal title.

VAUSE: One of the other issues is the cost of security for the Royal couple especially during this period of transition. The Times reports senior police are concerned that Harry and Meghan's demand to regarded as internationally protected, people could see the Royal bodyguard budget spiral out of control. Former Scotland Yard chief said last night that the couple had not thought out the security implications, and then move only because it's (INAUDIBLE) and had put the Met in an impossible situation.

In the grand scheme of things, how big is this issue of cost? It's not just cost for security, but that's the main thing. But is that where it comes -- is that what it comes down to?

MONETTI: Yes, it's huge and also, I mean, security is going to be key and they're going to need it as well, not least for baby Archie. The British press has a tacit agreement with the Royal family that they do not intrude on -- they don't have photographers of the trees, taking pictures of royal children, something like this. But the arrangements are different when they move abroad.

And so yes, they currently have six permanent bodyguards. But with all this sort of traveling back and forth, this, after all, is the most famous couple in the world. So who is going to foot the bill for their security which is an essential part of their lives?

[01:25:10]

VAUSE: OK, a got a couple of questions to get to -- we're tight on time but you know, Harry and Meghan pushing back. They're blaming first the paparazzi. He's part of an interview Harry he did last year with ITV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: Part of this job and part of any job like everybody means putting on a brave face and turning a cheat to a lot of this stuff. But again, for me, and for my wife, of course, there's a lot of stuff that hurts especially when the majority is untrue. I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It's quite telling in the end. One of the things apparently has him upset is the lack of support from the Crown for Meghan when Meghan was being vilified by the tabloids, exactly the same thing happened to Diana, the Princess of Wales who was vilified and there was no support coming from the Queen either back then.

MONETTI: This is very much on Harry's mind. 2020 is a very emotional year for him. He turns 36 this year. That's the age at which his mother died. And yes -- and also his emotional words there were perhaps driven by the fact that his previous two long term romances broke up when the women involved you know, hated the level of media intrusion that goes along with it.

History shows us that life is never easy for most women who married into this family because of all the life in a fishbowl aspects that goes with it. And yes, it's --

VAUSE: Let me jump in because --

MONETTI: It's not easy.

VAUSE: It's not easy because -- but then, compare the way Meghan and Kate are treated by the British press. Here's some of the headlines from the Express. Kate's morning sickness cure, Prince William gifted with an avocado for the pregnant Duchess. The other one, Meghan Markle's beloved avocado, a link to human rights abuse, and drought, millennial shame.

Another from the Express. Why you can always say it was flowers. And Royal Wedding, how Meghan makes flowers may have put Princess Charlotte's life at risk. And this headline for The Daily Mail read in part, not long to go. Pregnant Kate tenderly cradles her baby bump. And then from Meghan, why can't Meghan keep her hands off her bump.

You know, it goes on and on and on. It is so bleeding obvious. Why is it that you know, Meghan received the nasty end of Fleet Street?

MONETTI: Because there's a perception out there that Kate's baby hasn't put a foot wrong and plays by the rules and Meghan is more of an independent operator. But it's interesting, you talk about sort of managing the press, very difficult to do. But as they move forward into their new lives, and first of all, let's hope they're very happy as they move forward. I think managing their media profile as much as they possibly can, is going to be key to the future of their brand, their income, their perception, and their happiness.

So it's not like they're running away from the spotlight. If they'd said, oh, where we're moving to Botswana or in Africa, somewhere else where they've been very happy in the past, maybe they would. But they're going to be in North America, still in a media fishbowl. So their relationship with the press has to be managed.

And just as they sat around the table with the Queen to hash things out, maybe it's time to sit around the table with the world's leading media organizations and come up with a sense of understanding.

VAUSE: People who didn't buy the papers and the photographs, they wouldn't take them I guess at the end of the day.

MONETTI: Good point.

VAUSE: Sandro, thanks for being with us.

MONETTI: God save the Queen.

VAUSE: From death to America to now death to the Supreme Leader. How the incumbent days of lies and lack of transparency of the shooting down of the Ukrainian airline have exposed the weaknesses of the regime in Tehran. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:17]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for staying with us. Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Officials in the Philippines have declared a state of emergency in the area surrounding the Taal Volcano. It has been spewing ash and steam since Sunday. Experts fear that is a sign that a more violent eruption could be imminent. At least 25,000 people have fled their homes and moved into evacuation centers.

Iran is denying its forces shot at protesters who were demonstrating the military downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet last week. But gunshots can be heard on video from a protest scene and some people appear to have been shot.

The U.S. president is supporting -- his previous support of the protesters, rather, warning Iran not to kill them.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more on the Iranian protests, reporting in from Abu Dhabi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The protests seem to have become more widespread more and more violent, not just limited to the capital but in the north of the country, in the west of the country -- about a dozen different cities affected.

People have been saying that there have been live rounds used by the Iranian police. The Iranian police saying that is not the case. That they've only been firing tear gas. But in videos you can hear people shouting -- they are shooting at us, shooting at us, get down.

On another video, you hear a woman saying, you know, I've been shot in the foot, I've been hit in the foot.

Somebody else appears to have been shot in the leg. People talking about bloody, getting bandages that people have been hit. The images seem to support what we are hearing, that live rounds are actually being used.

The violence does seem to be going up. Police on the streets with large vans arresting numbers of people, taking them away. This does seem to be a situation right now where the Iranians are putting on Monday evening at least going into Monday night, putting additional counter riot police on the streets to try to stop these protests.

This comes in the wake of a senior Iranian military commander saying that he was sorry for the downing of the Ukrainian passenger jet. That it was a mistake. That this was the saddest day of his life, even saying that he would rather he had been on the plane that day.

But the reality seems to be that despite this contrition that we're hearing from Iranian military commanders, from Iranian politicians, that's not the way that it's playing out on the streets. The people in Iran seem to be exceptionally angry at their leadership for not grounding civilian aircraft the night that the Iranian military were firing missiles at the United States bases in Iraq.

[01:34:52]

ROBERTSON: This seems to be, you know, for the crowds on the streets, this seems to be, the Iranian leadership not caring about the people in the country. And this is really bringing, at the moment, this high level of anger and this continuing of what seems to be escalating violence.

Nic Robertson, CNN -- Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: When we come back, would you like some cheese with that wine? Oscar's list of nominations is out and like headless (ph) dogs, the tweeters and bloggers have found reason to moan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Now that the Internet has liberated so many to whine endlessly about anything new or of little consequence, there's nothing quite like the Academy Awards to unite the bloggers and the tweeters, the woke and the broke in common outrage.

To be fair, Hollywood always managed to upset someone somewhere because of who did and did not make the cut for their annual navel- gazing festival of self-congratulations. Only now the offended and outraged are united with a hashtag.

And so it was with this year's list of nominees. Of 20 actors nominated in various categories, 19 are white. Six of the nine nominations for Best Picture are stories about white men. And all but one are directed by white men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And "Parasite" Bong Joon-ho.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did it. I did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations to those men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: "Those men". Joining us from Hollywood, the very epicenter of racism and misogyny, movie critic and Ms. Moviefone Grae Drake. Great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

GRAE DRAKE, MS. MOVIEFONE: Hello, what a pleasure. You know, it's very intense over here.

VAUSE: I can tell.

Ok. We just heard Issa Rae. She was co-host of the morning nominee announcement on Monday. Bit of an eyeroll pointing out the obvious, you know, in the directors category. So let's start with that one.

Here's the thing though. This year, 62 women nominated in major categories more than ever before. That includes four feature-length documentaries directed or co-directed by women.

You know, it feels like there is a bigger story here that progress is being made, but it's kind of being overlooked to be able to complain.

DRAKE: Yes. And that's the fact that Greta Gerwig got left out for not -- she missed out on a directing nomination. And she did get nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Ok.

So you're right. There is progress being made with the academy's 8,000 members, with over 1,000 of them being new. But we need to get the eyes on these major categories. And we -- I'm one of those people -- I think that we need to do more.

VAUSE: Well, there's an argument that you made in terms of racial diversity, because Emily VanDerWerff (ph), a critic with the Web site Vox sums it up with this. "The academy narrowly avoiding an Oscar so White by nominating exactly one performer of color in an acting category. But nominating her for playing Harriet Tubman feels like an on-the-nose joke in an episode of "The Critic". And she is right.

But again, on the other side of the equation, first time ever, a Korean language movie, six Oscar nods including best director. I mean the sixth time ever a foreign language film had been nominated for best film. That again, seems like progress. So it isn't all bad.

Maybe (ph) people like it but the progress is being made.

DRAKE: And that I think is reflective of our world today, certainly. We are moving in the right direction, but the work is not yet done, right.

Now that applies to something as silly as the Academy Awards, where, yes, "Parasite" got six nominations and thank goodness it did because it's a wonderful film.

[01:39:58]

DRAKE: But the fact that Cynthia Erivo is our only performer of color nominated in the women's category, when you have performers like Lupita Nyongo for "Us", who was a sort of critical darling and along with several others performances I could name. It just feels like we have got more work to do.

VAUSE: The other twist though this year which I find interesting is that the films which are being nominated are movies that people actually want to see. Most are doing well at the box office, you know, like the "Joker" grossing more than a billion dollars worldwide. And now it has critical acclaim -- 11 nominations. That means that for director Todd Phillips, he gets the last laugh considering the struggle he had initially to get this film made. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD PHILLIPS, DIRECTOR: We had a really hard time getting that film made which seems insane today. Now seeing how well the movie has done, and we spend a year at Warner Bros. And I saw emails back and forth literally where they said, does he realize we sell Joker pajamas at Target?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that true?

PHILLIPS: Yes. What you're saying -- and you know, doesn't the movie come first, the pajamas come second?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, I thought that last comment about the movie first, pajamas second was really telling. In some way it kind of sums up where Hollywood has actually been in terms of revenue and money and priorities and originality. But that is changing, right?

DRAKE: It definitely is changing. And we've seen movies, "Star Wars" got three nominations because it is a movie unable to be ignored by nerds and by the academy alike, right. We've also got nominations for "Avengers: End Game", one of the most popular movies in all of box office history, right.

And so box office isn't a measure of quality, and so the two don't necessarily meet at the Oscars, right?

For people like me we spend all year long watching these movies. And it's pretty amazing that the Joker has gotten 11 nominations. I did not see that one coming.

VAUSE: That's interesting. I saw it. I like (INAUDIBLE) thought it was going to be an easy one for bagging nominations, but again not 11 which is a pretty high number in the scheme of things.

Speaking of high numbers of nominations though -- Netflix. Not only did it get a big haul, but I thought this was amazing. Nominated for Best Animated Film "Klaus" which ousted Disney's "Frozen 2". 24 nominations for this year's Oscars, and that is, what -- it has its first nomination back in 2014.

And this has been a specific strategy by Netflix to actually go out there and to, you know, basically invest in original content. That's a $2 billion spend coming. Or at least they tried to raise $2 billion worth of debt to get that original content onto its streaming service.

That seems to be a game-changer in many ways. But, you know, will Netflix still be there? Does it have, you know, the pocket and I guess, you know, the heart to stay in there? And what does this mean for the traditional studios?

DRAKE: Oh boy. Studios are running scared because Netflix seems to have at this point, endless ambition and bottomless pockets, right. They are taking on that as a company, but it does seem to be paying off, because they really invested in this award season.

And you see all those nominations that they pulled out of it, so they are doing an A-plus job. And I think that history is going to be talking about this exact moment were streaming becomes the name of the game and Netflix really does dominate and make all that money back plus some.

VAUSE: Good to see you. Thank you very much. DRAKE: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us.

"WORLD SPORT" starts -- up next.

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