Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Top Diplomats Meet in Paris to Discuss Syria; South Korean Protesters Demanding Resignation of Park; Trump Skimping on Intel Briefings; Russia Dismisses Report on Sports Doping; Happy Holidays to Icelanders. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired December 10, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Blocked: the U.N. says some civilians trying to flee have reportedly been stopped by rebel fighters in Aleppo. A live report ahead.

And out of the running: U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump said loyalist Rudy Giuliani will not hold a position in his cabinet.

Plus, Russian interference?

Barack Obama wants a full review of Moscow's involvement in the U.S. election.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta. And CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

VANIER: Some of the world's top diplomats are hoping to jumpstart the peace process in Syria this week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and a number of his counterparts around the world are meeting in Paris right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER (voice-over): We are looking at the latest pictures from the French capital. The foreign ministers will discuss stopping the ongoing assaults on rebels in Eastern Aleppo and bringing in humanitarian aid to the people who have been trapped there.

That looks like a diplomatic American vehicle pulling in to the French foreign affairs ministry building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Another meeting about Syria also set, this one in Switzerland and it involves U.S. and Russian officials. The gatherings come as the U.N. warns of a grave human rights situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo. A U.N. official said on Friday hundreds of men may have gone missing

after fleeing rebel-held areas. Family members said they lost contact with them when they headed for government-controlled neighborhoods. The U.N. also says that rebel groups may be targeting civilians as the regime offensive continues in Eastern Aleppo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the last two weeks, Fattah al-Sham Front (ph), formerly known Al-Nusra Front and the Abu Amara (ph) battalion are alleged to have abducted and killed an unknown number of civilians who requested the armed groups to leave their neighborhoods in order to spare the lives of civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday the Syrian army stopped fighting in Aleppo and was focused on evacuating civilians. As Frederik Pleitgen saw firsthand, the violence is continuing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): This is what the Syrian army's alleged halt in fighting looks like in Aleppo, the call to prayer pierced by explosions of gunfire as Bashar al-Assad's forces continue to pound the rebels.

Aid groups like the Red Crescent working around the clock to try to provide help for the growing tide of displaced.

PLEITGEN: Of course, the volunteers from the Red Crescent are doing their best to try and keep up with the massive demand for aid here in this district after it was taken back by the Syrian military. But there are so many people lining up, that it's impossible to meet all the needs.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Tens of thousands have already fled Eastern Aleppo, many with only a few belongings they were able to grab, trying to get out of the crossfire, now left with almost nothing.

"These are the blankets they gave us," this woman says "but we're 10 people.

"Do you really think that one blanket per person will be enough?"

These could be the rebels' final days in Aleppo as the Syrian army continues to hit them hard, bringing more weapons like tanks and artillery into position, a senior general telling CNN he believes his forces could take the entire city soon.

"It won't be long until we get it back," he says. "It might be a matter of weeks but not more than that."

As the international community continues to try to broker a truce for Aleppo, the reality on the ground shows an escalation in the fighting, the Syrian army so close to achieving their goal, seemingly unwilling to back down -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: All right, you've seen how things are moving fast on the Syria story. The diplomatic meetings taking place in Switzerland; in Paris, the fighting that continues in Aleppo itself. There's a third part of the story and it's this, that American involvement in Syria is growing.

The U.S. says it will deploy about 200 more troops to Syria to help local forces in the fight against ISIS. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter made the announcement at a regional security conference in Bahrain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I can tell you today that the United States will deploy approximately 200 additional U.S. forces in Syria, including special operations forces, trainers, advisers and explosive ordnance disposal teams.

These uniquely skilled operators will join the 300 U.S. special operations units already in Syria to continue organizing, equipping and otherwise enables --

[03:05:00]

CARTER: -- motivated forces to take the fight to ISIL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: For more on all these developments in Syria and the battle for Aleppo, let's join our CNN correspondent, Muhammad Lila, who is joining us from Istanbul, Turkey.

First of all, what's the significance of the new U.S. troops, 200 extra U.S. soldiers on the ground?

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Cyril. They are very significant. What is interesting about this is the timing. This comes as Aleppo, the city of Aleppo that the rebels have held onto for so long, has more or less almost fallen. It is almost game over there.

The rebels have been asking desperately the international community for help for months now. That help never came. Instead now, once the battle has been launched, the United States is sending special ops troops not to help Aleppo or to those rebels but focus specifically on Raqqah, which is the last ISIS stronghold in Syria.

The Secretary of Defense made that statement, that he us sending special ops forces. Well, anyone who's ever covered special ops forces know that they are often at the front lines of the conflict. They are not people that stay at the back.

So certainly very significant and it could mean that the battle of Raqqah will be set to begin in the next coming months.

VANIER: Now before that begins, if indeed that is the case, just tell me more about what is going in Aleppo on right now. The Russians have been saying that more than 90 percent of what was until recently rebel-held territory there in Eastern Aleppo has been taken by the Syrian military.

Are you able to make out how much territory the rebels still hold?

LILA: Our teams on the ground have been put that question. Our answer was that it's not 90 percent or 93 percent like the Russian ministry of defense says but something more like 80 percent.

At that point we are really just getting into semantics. Whether it is 80 percent or 90 percent, the fact of the matter remains that Syrian troops are on the verge of taking over the entire city.

VANIER: What about the meetings, the diplomatic meetings taking place in Paris and Switzerland today?

We have seen countless meetings since this conflict began. They have been ineffective, to say the least.

Do you expect anything to come out of these talks?

VANIER: The mood is actually a little bit different today. The reason why is that the U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, came out earlier and actually said that he was hopeful and confident. We are getting similar messaging from his counterpart on the Russian side, that both sides are hopeful.

The thing to remember is those rebels that are trapped in the eastern part of Aleppo, it's very unlikely now that they will win. It's very unlikely now that the rebels will hold on to Aleppo, just given the sequence of events that have happened.

So it is almost like a last-ditch play for those rebels who want to leave, to be able to put down arms or escape or evacuate and then those hardcore militants that refuse to leave, Syria will deal with them -- unfortunately, probably with a big massacre.

VANIER: All right. Muhammad Lila, reporting live from Istanbul in Turkey. Thank you very much.

Protesters are out in force in Seoul, South Korea, calling for President Park Geun-hye to resign. Friday's impeachment vote hasn't slowed down the many demonstrators who want her to step down now.

Let's join our Paula Hancocks. She's following these protests in Seoul.

There have been weeks of protests, Paula. And I suppose there could have been some kind of an expectation that perhaps it would die down after the impeachment vote on Friday but that's not the case. PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Cyril, it will be interesting to see how many people turn up tonight. Obviously the first protest, the first candlelight vigil since she was impeached by lawmakers. Many people who are on the streets already, though, there are thousands that have already gathered, don't want necessarily an impeachment because they know that it could take six months and they know that in the end the constitutional court could actually overturn it and say they want to reinstate President Park Geun-hye.

What they want is Park Geun-hye to resign and to resign now. That is the charge you hear over and over again, Park Geun-hye, resign. Really. it's a far more immediate demand that these protesters are asking for.

VANIER: You have already explained to me in previous shows that she holds the key as far as the resignation. She can't be pushed out until the constitutional court rules one way or the other on the impeachment procedure.

So bearing that in mind, are those protesters feeling emboldened?

Do they think they can push her over the cliff, politically speaking, or where do they -- what do they believe their power is right now?

HANCOCKS: This corruption scandal has been going for a couple of months. These rallies have been going for seven weeks as well. This is the seventh Saturday in a row. Just yesterday, the president --

[03:10:00]

HANCOCKS: -- of this country was impeached by lawmakers. She's no longer in charge of this country.

I think many protesters can only be emboldened by that. The fact that it is relatively quick. Two months may not feel quick to many but the fact that we have gone from the corruption scandal being exposed, the allegations against Park Geun-hye herself, to seeing lawmakers overwhelmingly vote in favor of impeachment is quite spectacular.

The people power of South Korea is certainly going to embolden many of those who feel that she should still step down immediately. They have told me many times that they will continue to come here every single week until she steps down.

Of course there are very few experts who think she will do that. She has already said through her ruling party leader, who made an announcement, that she will wait and see what the impeachment process will be and wait and see what the constitutional court would say. Opposition leaders say she is simply playing for time.

VANIER: Live from Seoul, South Korea, Paula Hancocks, thank you very much.

We're going to take a short break now. The U.S. president-elect doubts it, even though cybersecurity firms are sure of it. Now President Obama is ordering a review of Russia's meddling into U.S. elections.

Plus a new report alleges Russia engaged in systemic state-sponsored doping that benefited its athletes at the Olympics and in other competitions. How the Kremlin is responding -- next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

VANIER: Donald Trump has made several controversial cabinet picks this week. But one name not on the list: Rudy Giuliani, his top surrogate during the election. Sara Murray explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's secretary of state option down one with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani withdrawing his name from contention for that or any other cabinet position.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NYC: My desire to be in the cabinet was great but it wasn't that great. And he had a lot of terrific candidates. And I thought I could play a better role being on the outside and continuing to be his close friend and adviser.

MURRAY (voice-over): But sources say that Rudy Giuliani didn't voluntarily withdrawal his name from the mix. He was informed he wouldn't get the State Department position.

This as CNN has learned that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson's stock is rising for the State Department post, that as Trump faces fresh questions about his business empire.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump easily shrugged aside his business interests, insisting the allure of the White House was far more important.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. It is nice when you don't have to care. But I don't care. What I care about is making America great again. That's much more important.

MURRAY (voice-over): But now the president-elect is showing little sign of stepping back from his corporate --

[03:15:00]

MURRAY (voice-over): -- calling and yet another potential conflict of interest, sources say Trump will remain an executive producer for NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," even as he serves as President of this United States.

Trump hosted 14 seasons of "The Apprentice" but in 2015, NBC said it was cutting ties with Trump after his controversial remarks about undocumented Mexican immigrants.

TRUMP: I have a big chunk of that show. And I could have done it for another five years if I wanted to. But I don't know, there's a lot of pressure in Arnold because Arnold's got, you know, it's the number one show. And I did it for 14 seasons. I have a big stake in it.

MURRAY (voice-over): Now one of Trump's top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, is defending Trump's decision, saying he will remain involved in the show in his free time.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president?

I mean presidents have the right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time.

MURRAY (voice-over): Of course Trump and other Republicans were sharply critical of the time President Obama spent on the links.

TRUMP: And he gets on this plane, flies to Hawaii. He is there for a long time. Golf, golf, golf, golf, more, more. Learning how to chip, learning how to hit the drive, learning how to putt. Oh, I want more.

MURRAY (voice-over): The latest news on Trump's business dealings comes days before he is slated to hold a press conference on who will run his company once he heads to the White House.

Although there is little indication Trump will fully divest from his business. And Trump is using his thank you tour to defend the cabinet picks he's already made, which include a number of business titans with little government experience.

TRUMP: By the way, some of the people I put on to negotiate, you have been noticing, are some of the most successful people in the world. Now one newspaper criticized me.

Why can't they have people of modest means?

Because I want people that made a fortune because now they are negotiating with you.

OK?

MURRAY (voice-over): That road show continues today with an evening rally in Michigan as well as a stop in Louisiana to campaign for Republican Senate candidate. But before he left Trump Tower he squeezed in a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is putting aside his past criticism of Trump in favor of a show of unity instead.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: We are very excited about getting the work and hitting the ground running in 2017 to put this country back on track.

MURPHY: Now with Rudy Giuliani out of the mix, it appears that some of Donald Trump's earliest staunch supporters, Rudy Giuliani, New Jersey governor Chris Christie and even Newt Gingrich won't end up in a Donald Trump administration.

And already some early loyalists and even former Donald Trump campaign staffers have been grumbling that, maybe in the long run, loyalty won't be rewarded after all -- Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: U.S. President Barack Obama is ordering a review into cyber attacks aimed at influencing U.S. elections. The government has blamed Russia.

But the Kremlin denies these claims and saying in part, "We are also very interested in understanding what they accused Russia of. Many times the ministry of foreign affairs and foreign minister Lavrov has asked Americans to provide full information but we never had any response."

Now Jim Sciutto has more on what's behind the president's move and how the president-elect factors into it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind this is new intelligence further corroborating the intelligence community's view that Russia hacked the U.S. election. The administration also under enormous pressure from Democrats to make up more intelligence about the hacking.

And today, the White House said such a release of information could come after this new investigation and review is complete.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): It was an unprecedented cyber attack ordered by senior Russian leadership on the U.S. election, hacking the e-mails of Democratic officials, then released to the public virtually daily by WikiLeaks.

Now President Obama is ordering the intelligence community to conduct a full review of Putin's meddling and all cyber attacks connected to U.S. elections going back to 2008.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a major priority for the President of the United States. He directed his intelligence community and national security officials to take this on. He expects that report to be issued to him before he leaves office.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): The question is, how will his successor react?

TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually did get along with Russia?

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Trump repeatedly praised Russia during his campaign and denied that the Kremlin interfered in the election despite the public assessment of the U.S. intelligence community.

TRUMP: I mean, it could be Russia but it could also be China, could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? And he's continued to express doubts, even now that he has access to top U.S. intelligence as the president-elect, telling "TIME" magazine this week, "I don't believe they interfered. That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point.

[03:20:00]

SCIUTTO (voice-over): "Anytime I do something, they say, 'Oh, Russia interfered.'"

Trump's skepticism of the intelligence community comes despite his own limited appetite for intelligence briefings. So far, Trump has only had four presidential daily briefings; on average, one per week.

CNN has learned he has requested a more focused briefing on the threat from North Korea. Former CIA director Leon Panetta telling CBS News that is not nearly often enough.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If you're President of the United States, you'd better be in touch on a daily basis with your intelligence briefers so that you have an understanding as to what are -- what's happening in the world.

What are the crises you have to pay attention to?

And what steps do you have to take in order to deal with those crises?

LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN, TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The next president of the United States.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): One source for such crucial guidance will be his national security adviser, retired General Michael Flynn. But Democratic and Republican critics are questioning Flynn's judgment, based in part on his affinity for fake news and conspiracy theories.

FLYNN: I've had people in the media, mainstream media said, oh, that's all a conspiracy, that's a lie.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): In an August radio interview with Breitbart News, Flynn claimed that Arabic signs were present along the U.S. border with Mexico to guide potential terrorists into the U.S.

FLYNN (voice-over): I have personally seen the photos of the signage. They're like way points along that path as you come in. Signs that say, you know, in Arabic, "This way. Move to this point." I mean, it's unbelievable.

SCIUTTO: A CNN "K File" review of available information, however, could not corroborate Flynn's claim.

Flynn, the Trump campaign and the Border Patrol all declined to comment to CNN.

SCIUTTO: On President-Elect Trump's intelligence briefings, he is getting them less frequently than previous presidents-elect; however, his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, told CBS today that the number of those briefings will increase as we get closer to his inauguration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: The World Anti-Doping Agency has issued a stinging followup into allegations of state sponsored doping by Russia. According to investigator Richard McLaren, more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 different sports benefitted from this.

The doping program was described as large scale and unprecedented along with a systematic cover-up. The International Olympic Committee now wants to test urine samples from Russian athletes who took part in the Olympics in London -- that's in 2012 -- and as well the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

The Kremlin for its part says it will examine the report in detail. But for now it is refraining from making a, quote, "emotional response" to the allegations. Jill Dougherty has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Russian media and some sports officials here in Russia are dismissing and criticizing this report, saying essentially there's nothing new, there's no evidence and there are no names included in it.

Essentially what they're saying is everybody does it, athletes from other countries do it and, besides, it's a common evil. Now the Kremlin has weighed in, the spokesperson for President Putin, saying they're going to study this report but they're not going to react, as Dmitry Peskov put it, "emotionally."

Peskov said they will look especially at that Internet website from the McLaren report, looking at all the details from that but they will not respond emotionally to allegations of a state conspiracy.

The Russian ministry of sports insists that there is no state- sponsored program of doping. They said they continue their fight against doping from a zero tolerance position.

They also say that the security services in Russia have been investigating that first McLaren report that came out in July and they're urging them to do the same now with this second report.

And then, finally, the ministry of sports saying we're ready to cooperate with any international organization that is fighting doping -- Jill Dougherty, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: We are joined now live by our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, from the CNN International Weather Center -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are tracking winter weather across the United States at the moment. Unfortunately, this caused a massive car pileup across my home state of Michigan. You have to see this, Cyril, 40 cars and trucks involved in this particular pileup. Unfortunately there have been at least three fatalities. This is in Fowlerville, Michigan, near the center of the state. This is really scary because when these snowstorms move in, they often reduce the visibility to less than 2-3 meters in front of you. This can happen in a matter of seconds.

I have been in these snow squalls before. It can be very, very, very dangerous to be on the roadways. You can see how thick the snow was. I can only imagine at the time of the accident it was even less visibility than that. So winter driving, it is difficult to say the least.

[03:25:00]

VAN DAM: But people need to be aware that this is becoming more frequent as time goes on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VANIER: Before we wrap up the show, sometimes we like to look at some of the quirky stuff that's going on around the world. So unusual holiday stuff this time that's attracting a lot of attention, especially online, possibly also I have to say driving some people to drink. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Vodka would like to say (INAUDIBLE) or happy holidays to everyone in Iceland individually.

(Speaking foreign language).

VANIER (voice-over): So this guy is the spokesman for an Icelandic brand of vodka. And he read out the first names of everyone. I mean everyone in Iceland, all of them. There are 4,500 first names in Iceland. That's basically what the stunt was because that took about two hours to read out.

You know, that was the brand's -- that's how they got attention. So 45,000 names, two hours. That has generated more than 100,000 views on Facebook.

VAN DAM: Can you imagine, everybody lining up their vodka shots, waiting for their name to be called off?

(CROSSTALK)

VANIER: Derek Van Dam, thank you very much for joining us here on the set.

Thank you for watching. I'm Cyril Vanier. I will be back with the headlines in just a moment. You are watching CNN.