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Top Diplomats Meet in Paris to Discuss Syria; Trump Skimping on Intel Briefings; Obama Orders Review of U.S. Election Hacking; Russia Dismisses Report on Sports Doping; South Korean Protesters Demanding Resignation of Park; Colombian President to Receive Nobel Peace Prize; Dylann Roof's Massacre Confession to FBI; Giraffe Population Plummets. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 10, 2016 - 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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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Blocked: the United Nations says some civilians trying to escape have reportedly been stopped by rebel fighters in Aleppo. We have a live report ahead.
Out of the running: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said loyalist Rudy Giuliani will not be in his cabinet. We'll have details.
Plus, Russian interference: The U.S. president, Barack Obama, wants a formal review of Russia's alleged involvement in U.S. elections.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: It is 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. Some of the world's top diplomats are meeting right now, hoping to revive the peace process in Syria this week. The U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, and a number of his counterparts from around the world are meeting in Paris this hour, the foreign ministers will discuss stopping the ongoing assault on rebels in Eastern Aleppo and bringing humanitarian aid to the many people who are trapped there.
Another meeting is just about to happen in Syria. It's also set for Switzerland, involving U.S. and Russian officials. The gatherings come as the U.N. warns of a grave human rights situation in the Syrian city.
The U.N. official said Friday hundreds of men may have gone missing after trying to escape rebel-held areas. Family members say they lost contact with them when they headed for the government-controlled neighborhoods.
The U.N. also says rebel groups may be targeting civilians as a regime offensive continues in Eastern Aleppo.
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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.
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HOWELL: 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.
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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. 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.
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.
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HOWELL: Turning now to the American involvement in Syria. The U.S. says that it will now deploy about 200 more troops to Syria to help local forces in the fight against ISIS. The U.S. Defense Secretary, Ash Carter, made that announcement at a regional security conference in Bahrain.
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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 motivated forces to take the fight to ISIL.
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HOWELL: For more about the fight --
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HOWELL: -- across Syria, let's bring in CNN correspondent Muhammad Lila live, following this story from Istanbul, Turkey.
Muhammad, it's good to have you. Let's talk about what we just heard there, Ash Carter talking about sending in more U.S. troops to focus on Raqqah, Syria.
MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, George. It's interesting to see that just as this battle of Aleppo is winding down they're now shifting focus to talk about Raqqah and defeating ISIS in Raqqah.
Just for perspective here, Raqqah is to Syria what Mosul is to Iraq. Raqqah is basically a major headquarters for ISIS in Syria. So the U.S. shifting its focus there, Ash Carter talked about special forces being sent there.
For those of us who have covered special forces, we know typically they're on the front lines, whether you call them advisers or trainers, they're still on the front lines. So the U.S. certain raising the commitment now that the battle of Aleppo seems to be finished, to focusing on ISIS in Raqqah.
HOWELL: Muhammad, we've been monitoring these images coming to us from France, as these leaders, these diplomats come together. Looking to find some sort of a pause in the fighting.
What more can you tell us about these meetings taking place in France and also Switzerland?
LILA: Well, George, it feels like they've been having meeting after meeting with no results, no conclusion. They've been talking about a cease-fire for the longest time. You and I have been talking about how many times they've talked about a cease-fire for so long.
But there finally seems an indication that there may be some sort of cease-fire or evacuation plan worked out today and that's simply because both sides have often been pessimistic but we have indications this week from U.S. secretary of state John Kerry that he came out and said that he's actually hopeful that they'll be able to reach some sort of agreement.
And the agreement itself, from what we understand, would be a way for the rebels to put down their arms and leave the eastern part of Aleppo. Those who choose to not to do that, in Russia's own words, will be eliminated.
HOWELL: Muhammad, also the United Nations indicated that hundreds of men disappeared fleeing Aleppo. We know that the situation right now is that there are many people still trapped and those who decided to leave disappeared.
LILA: Yes, so it's interesting because the U.N. statement talks about possible war crimes on both sides. The statement says that the U.N. has received reports that civilians who -- or men, rather, between the age of 30 and 50, who left Eastern Aleppo -- that's the rebel-held side -- and went to the government-held side, that they disappeared. Nobody knows where they are. The families haven't been able to reach them for a number of days now.
But in the same statement, the U.N. also says that there were civilians in the rebel-held parts of the city that asked the rebels to leave their neighborhoods because they wanted their neighborhoods to be spared and they didn't want any fighting in their neighborhoods.
The rebels, according to the U.N. reports, have responded by abducting and killing an unknown number of civilians. So the U.N. report is very critical of both sides, accusing them both of possibly committing war crimes.
HOWELL: CNN correspondent Muhammad Lila, following this situation, live for us in Istanbul, Turkey. Muhammad, thank you for the reporting. We'll stay in touch.
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HOWELL: Donald Trump has made several controversial cabinet picks this week. But Rudy Giuliani, his top surrogate during the election, will not be part of that team, as CNN's Sara Murray explains.
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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 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.
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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.
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HOWELL: Let's pick up on that last point by Sara Murray, bringing in CNN Politics reporter Eugene Scott, live in Washington via Skype, on the Trump transition.
Eugene, let's talk about this, Rudy Giuliani withdrawing his name from the list of possibilities. This goes along with Chris Christie. It goes along with Newt Gingrich. These are people who have been loyal from the start and now seemingly left out in the cold.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: These are people that certainly wanted to be in the administration. But it appears that they wanted very specific positions and, if not that, perhaps nothing else.
Some of them, at least Rudy Giuliani, our reporting says, was not a finalist or at least a top finalist for the position that they wanted. This does not mean that they will not have any influence. We have seen in past presidencies that, sometimes, some of the biggest advisers are the informal ones.
HOWELL: What about Trump also saying that, as an executive producer on that show, "Apprentice," he would keep that role? His campaign manager defending it also, pointing out that he will do it in his spare time, as he will have the full-time job as being the President of the United States.
SCOTT: Well, critics are saying that that displays quite frankly a bit of ignorance about what the job of being president involves. The idea that there will be enough spare time to executive produce a hit network TV show, a reality show, seems a bit naive.
HOWELL: At the same time, Eugene, I want do want to get some insight from you about the fact that Donald Trump, when it comes to intelligence briefings, is taking fewer than his predecessors at this particular stage; I believe one a week.
What has been the reaction to that?
SCOTT: Well, the CIA website says the current president takes about six a week. And so there's been quite a bit of criticism that the Trump administration is not as prepared as they should be on these issues moving forward.
To be fair, the administration says Mike Pence is getting these briefs. And so they're not as uninformed as some of their critics suggest.
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HOWELL: But Mike Pence -- it's important to point out, Mike Pence is not the President of the United States. Donald Trump would be the President of the United States.
SCOTT: Mike Pence is not the president. And that's why critics believe that Donald Trump, if he's serious about national security issues, would be getting these briefs.
And they also say that many of the things that he has said about North Korea and about Russia within the last few days are coming from the fact that he is not as informed on these issues as he should be.
HOWELL: Eugene Scott, it's always a pleasure to have you on the show to get insight on the --
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HOWELL: -- many lines that we're learning through this transition for President-Elect Trump to soon become President of the United States, come January 20th.
Eugene, thank you so much.
Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Donald Trump doesn't think that the Kremlin is meddling in the U.S. election even though cyber security firms are quite sure of it. And now the President of the United States, Barack Obama, ordering a full review of Russia's alleged hacking into U.S. elections. We'll have that story. Plus, protesters again, flooding the streets in Seoul, South Korea. Why they say Friday's impeachment vote against the president isn't enough; they want her out now. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
The U.S. president, Barack Obama, is ordering a full review into cyber attacks aimed at influencing U.S. elections. Intelligence officials believe that Russia interfered to ensure that Donald Trump would win the election and may have meddled in elections as far back as 2008.
Mr. Trump, in the meantime, doubts Russia's involvement.
Jill Dougherty is a CNN contributor and former Moscow bureau chief for CNN. Live in the Russian capital this hour with us.
Jill, what has been the response from Russia about this?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have both the Kremlin and the foreign ministry weighing in on this, beginning with the Kremlin. The spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said basically, these are not new conclusions.
And he also said that it looks like basically a blame game, having no evidence to be based on and also added that it looks like an attempt to try to influence the president-elect by creating, as you put it, a certain negative image of our country.
And then also, when we asked the foreign ministry, they had a similar statement, Maria Zahadiva (ph), the spokesperson, saying, you know, we are very interested in understanding what they accused Russia of.
Many times the foreign ministry has asked for this information, she says, and Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister, has asked for details. But we never had any response.
So what they're saying is, if you've got the evidence, show it to us, tell us and then we can answer you.
But, George, as we know, that's a very difficult thing for the United States.
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DOUGHERTY: If it does have that information and that data, it would be very difficult for the United States to totally expose how they got that information, the sources and methods, as they're referred to. So it's really kind of a standoff, at least rhetorically at this point, with Russia saying, prove it. HOWELL: And Jill, when we talk about prove it, let's talk about just what we're, you know, the general situation here for our viewers, who may not exactly remember this situation.
So what are the allegations when it comes to Russia's alleged hacking?
What organizations or what groups?
DOUGHERTY: Well, when you take the hacking, essentially what happened was, the Democratic National Committee and some senior officials, like John Podesta of Hillary Clinton's campaign, were hacked. And then those hacks were released. And they were released to some various sites.
But especially to WikiLeaks, that then spread it around the globe. So what the U.S. officials are saying is that they believe this was a Russian operation. And that it was released, not only to -- which had been reported before, to kind of undermine the elections and undermine faith among Americans in their own elections.
But now they're coming out and saying, according to media reports, saying that it was to help Donald Trump get selected. Now President Obama has decided to give an order that he wants to get all of the information collected on exactly what happened and then to make as much of that public as possible.
But some of it, obviously, will not be able to be made public. They could brief members of Congress. But we'll have to see what they come up with. And he has given the deadline; by the time the inauguration happens with the new president, we should have that information.
HOWELL: And at the same time, Donald Trump slamming that U.S. intelligence, saying, you know, essentially, he does not believe that to be the case. Obviously, we'll wait to see the results of this investigation.
CNN contributor and former Moscow bureau chief to CNN, Jill Dougherty, live for us in Moscow, thank you.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has issued a stinging follow-up into allegations of state-sponsored doping by Russia. Investigator Richard McLaren reported more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 different sports benefited in what he calls a centralized doping program and cover-up. The International Olympic Committee now wants to test urine samples from Russian athletes who competed in the Olympics in London in 2012 and Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
Moving on now to South Korea, protesters there are out in full force in Seoul, calling for the president of that nation, Park Geun-hye, to resign. Friday's impeachment vote has not slowed down many demonstrators, who want her to step down now.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is following this story live for us in Seoul, South Korea.
Paula, so lawmakers voted to impeach. That absolutely happened just the other day. The process, though, could take time as this goes to the constitutional courts. And it is not exactly certain what the conclusion will be. Though, these protesters are demanding that the president not wait for the process; instead, to resign immediately?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have tens of thousands on the streets of downtown Seoul, just outside me, the building here. And you can see that they are certainly coming, even though that impeachment has been cleared by lawmakers.
Of course, it could be overturned by constitutional court. And it could take six months. So many of the protesters are saying she's been impeached by lawmakers; she should step down immediately.
Now President Park has said that she'd respect what lawmakers have decided. She would respect the constitutional court decision, suggesting she's not going to step down and she's going to wait it out. Certainly opposition leaders are saying she's just playing with time at this point.
But some of the protesters behind me are also celebrating. They're also saying that they are happy that she's been impeached. At least this part of the process has been cleared.
Now we saw a recent Gallup Korea poll which suggested that 81 percent of those polled wanted to see her impeached. So you have got this sense of celebration behind me as well. We saw some fireworks just a matter of minutes ago -- George.
HOWELL: Paula, also, just to get a sense of the optics here. So you have protesters, you see them by the thousands, quite frankly, there on the streets, just behind you, even in your live report here with us.
And the president will remain in the Blue House, will stay there even though her executive powers have been suspended.
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HANCOCKS: That's right. President Park is still president in name, at least certainly not in duties. Those duties have now gone to her prime minister, Hwang Kyo-ahn. And he gave a speech yesterday, saying it's time for the country to move on, to focus on the economy, on North Korea, on the fact that there's going to be a new President of the United States and they have to work on the alliance between the United States and South Korea.
But for the protesters here tonight, they are focusing on the here and now. They want President Park Geun-hye to step down immediately. It is worth noting these are smaller crowds than we have seen. There's still an estimated tens of thousands outside.
But organizers, last weekend and two weekends ago, said they had 1 million, 1.5 million protesters, although police have more conservative estimates but there's certainly fewer people on the streets now -- George. Paula Hancocks live for us in South Korea, where, again, pointing out that there are fewer people on the streets but people still demanding that the president resign immediately.
Paula, thank you.
So here are the next steps in South Korea's impeachment process now that the prime minister has become the acting president.
The country's constitutional court has 180 days to rule on the validity of the vote. If six of the nine members of the court agree, a new election could be held within 60 days. However, if the court fails to agree, the impeachment vote would then be overturned and Ms. Park would be reinstated as president.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, we take you back to Paris, where top diplomats are hoping to restart the peace process in Syria.
Plus: Colombia's president is being awarded for his part in bringing an end to country's 52 years of conflict. We are live from Atlanta, broadcasting across the United States and around the world this hour. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Around the world, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines that we're following for you at this hour.
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HOWELL: Top diplomats are meeting yet again to discuss Syria's savage civil war. The U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, is meeting with foreign ministers in Paris. And other U.S. and Russian officials are also set to hold a separate meeting in Switzerland. Again, those ministers meeting in Paris.
And let's talk more about the situation with CNN's Melissa Bell, who is live in the French capital.
Melissa, what can you tell us about these foreign ministers and what they hope to accomplish in Paris?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems from a position of weakness very much, and many diplomats here in Paris will tell you that they recognize privately that, of course, the Syrian opposition has rarely seemed so weak.
And yet the 10 foreign affairs ministers are gathered here (INAUDIBLE) France's foreign ministry are lucid on what it is they're trying to achieve. That is, as they back the Syrian opposition. And they do not buy the Russian line.
And they hope that in, as the fall of Aleppo, which appears to be on its way, is something that they now need to take account of, they now need to look beyond Aleppo.
What happens once the second Syrian city falls and how can the Syrian opposition continue to play a part in future negotiations?
The idea of today's meeting is to say, we still believe that a political transition can take place. And we believe Syria's opposition has a part to play in that.
So right now are gathered here in Paris, representatives and foreign affairs ministers, the United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and also five Arab nations, who back that Syrian opposition and want still, despite what's been happening on the ground, despite the advances of the Russian military and the Syrian forces to say this political opposition still counts, still has a voice and must continue to play a part in the idea of any future political discussions on that question of a transition.
HOWELL: Melissa, though, and you point this out, that the meetings are happening. You say that they're important toward the conclusion of the brutal fighting that we see plays out there in Aleppo.
But for many people, they've seen these meetings. They've seen diplomats come together. They've seen inaction.
So what's to say this is any different from those people who, as we know, from our crews on the ground, those people who are dealing with a great deal of violence that's playing out?
BELL: It's very difficult to see what concretely can come out of this, apart from a sort of political statement that they intent to continue having a voice in this matter. But as you said, on the ground, the way things have played out have simply not made this side of the argument heard.
And it's very difficult to see what can come out of today that will enables them to have a greater voice than they've had so far. And since the Russia intervention began more than a year ago, this voice, the one all these foreign affairs ministers gathered here today, on the side of the political Syrian opposition, have grown ever weaker.
Now the question here and, as you mentioned, earlier in Geneva today, between the Russia and American officials, it's a look beyond Aleppo. What happens once that part of Syria that is currently being fought for have fallen to Damascus?
What happens when there are essentially two Syrias that have emerged?
How can the Syrian opposition play a part in trying to make itself heard, as we move towards a new phase in this conflict?
HOWELL: Melissa Bell, on the phone with us, live --
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HOWELL: -- from Paris. Melissa, thank you for the reporting.
The president of Colombia is collecting his Nobel Peace Price in Norway. In the next couple of hours, the Nobel Committee awarded President Juan Manuel Santos the peace prize for his efforts to end Colombia's half-century-long civil war. Mr. Santos called the prize "a gift from heaven."
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JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA: I am very happy to be here in Norway to receive this very, very important prize that uplifts not only me as a Colombian and as a president of Colombia but the whole Colombian people, a country that has been in war for over half a century.
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HOWELL: To talk more about this, let's bring in CNN's Shasta Darlington, live from Rio de Janeiro.
Shasta, let's talk about just the significance, the fact that he's receiving this very important award.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, George. I think you really could say it was a gift from heaven.
I mean, remember, the initial peace deal that the Colombian government and the FARC rebels hammered out was rejected by Colombian voters. And it came as a huge surprise and a huge blow to President Juan Manuel Santos. There was this elaborate signing ceremony. World leaders flew in. So did the U.N. secretary-general. Santos signed it together with the rebel leader known as Timochenko.
All that left was this nationwide referendum and polls showed that the deal would be supported by the majority of Colombians.
And, of course, we now know that just the opposite happened. They voted by a narrow majority to reject the deal. And it looked like all was lost.
But just a couple days later, Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And he says that really gave him the international backing to keep fighting for this deal.
And, so, he sat down again at the negotiating table with the FARC rebels. And they had to really look at the fact that a lot of Colombians were still angry and frustrated.
This was five decades of conflict that had killed more than 200,000 people, displaced some 5 million people. Colombians were frustrated that the rebels were looking not at jail time but house arrest, that they were going to be able to hold office.
And so they did come up with some new details, stiffer sanctions for the rebels. A lot of what the No voters had wanted, they didn't actually achieve. I think the biggest change in the end was that Santos decided not to put the revised deal to a nationwide vote.
So last month, they signed this revised deal. And it went straight to Congress and it was approved right now, at the beginning of December. And the Nobel Peace Prize is the global stage to talk about how they have finally achieved peace in Colombia. This brings peace to the entire hemisphere and how they hope that this can be a model for the rest of the world -- George.
HOWELL: So, again, you point out that this was not put to a vote. We're seeing the president of the nation put on a very well-regarded pedestal for his work on this.
But I'd like to get the sense from you, Shasta, just for people in that nation, how are they feeling about this?
Seeing their leader credited for this but at the same time many of them, as has been seen in the previous vote, many of them are not satisfied with this sort of peace resolution.
DARLINGTON: That's right, George. What we saw with that vote, even though the deal was rejected, is that the country is roughly split in half, with half the country supporting the peace deal and half against it.
What Santos and the negotiators hope is that, with the new concessions, for example, stiffer sanctions on rebel leaders, and the -- while they won't be banned from public office, they can't run for office in the new districts that are being created, which is important. So you don't go from having the rebel stronghold; now he can become governor there.
They can run for office in congress but they can't run for office in these new districts that are being created. There were some concessions made. And I think this is also recognizing that there was a lot of shock and surprise when the No vote won, much like Brexit.
The feeling that this does allow them to go back and maybe try again and achieve what some people wanted but didn't actually put down in their vote -- George.
HOWELL: Shasta Darlington, live in Rio de Janeiro. Shasta, thank you so much for the report.
The Nobel Peace Prizes in medicine, in physics, chemistry and literature and economics are handed out in Stockholm.
Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, Africa's giraffe population: it's falling sharply and it's leading to growing fears that the species could be facing a silent extinction.
Plus, winter weather causing -- [05:40:00]
HOWELL: -- all kinds of problems throughout the United States. We'll have a check on that and the global forecast at CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
In the state of South Carolina, the man who called himself a white supremacist says that he opened fire in an African American church because, as he said, "somebody had to."
Jurors heard Dylann Roof's chilling video confession on Friday. He is charged in the massacre of nine people at an African American church back in 2015.
Roof began shooting when worshippers bowed their head in prayer. You see him there leaving, on that surveillance video, holding a weapon. He said that he wanted to, quote, "agitate race relations."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- make sure I'm clear on this. You've already said if it wouldn't have been black people in that church you would have never walked in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it was because of your belief, you understanding of black people in America and (INAUDIBLE) they're doing to society.
The crimes and everything else. And you wanted to -- it was a retaliation or a...
DYLANN ROOF, AMERICAN TERRORIST: Right, well (INAUDIBLE).
These people, you know, they're in a church, you know, they're not criminals or anything. But that's -- I mean, it's the criminal black people kill innocent white people every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what was the -- what was your point then?
What point were you trying to make by using -- you said right there, these people were in church; they were in innocent.
ROOF: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what was the -- so what was the plan in targeting them?
[05:45:00]
ROOF: Because I just knew that that would be a place where there would be, you know, at least, you know, some of them black people, you know, in one area.
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HOWELL: Even though Roof confessed, there has to be a trial because prosecutors are asking for the death penalty.
Days after conceding defeat in his country's election, Gambia's president is now demanding that voters go back to the polls. President Yahya Jammeh claims that he lost to opposition leader Adama Baro (ph) because of voting irregularities.
He has ruled Gambia with an iron fist ever since seizing power in a military coup back in 1994. His election loss prompted celebrations in the streets of Gambia. The U.S. is criticizing his call for a new vote.
In northeastern Bulgaria, at least four people are dead after a cargo train derailed and exploded earlier in a village. More than 20 people were injured in the situation. The train was carrying LPG or liquefied petroleum gases.
When it went off the tracks, Bulgaria's interior ministry said that emergency teams have rescued 20 people who were trapped in the rubble of the buildings damaged in the blast. They are continuing to search that area.
Now time to talk about this deadly 40-car pileup that claims three lives in Michigan. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here.
Derek, that's your home state. You know that weather well.
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HOWELL: Derek Van Dam, thank you. We'll be right back after the break.
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HOWELL: It is a towering and majestic figure of the African savannah. And it is said to be facing possible extinction. Giraffes have been put on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. CNN's Farai Sevenzo reports from Nairobi.
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FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A trip to Nairobi can bring you face-to-face with one of Africa's iconic creatures, the giraffe. Here at the giraffe center, these giraffes are raised in a controlled environment, where tourists and school kids and adults can learn more about them at close quarters.
Hello, Betty. I love a tall girl.
So you've heard that a bunch of elephants are called a herd and that a bunch of lions are called a pride.
Now what do you call a bunch of giraffes?
They're called a tower. And they certainly make me feel very small.
But scientists have found what they're calling a devastating trend. Giraffe populations have decreased almost 40 percent in the last 30 years, leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature to classify them as under threat of extinction.
These animals, which are so big, so visible, yet their decline has gone largely unnoticed until now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We focus so much on the big species like elephants. Sometimes, the rhinos; sometimes, the lions. And we forget about these tall gentle giants of African savannahs.
SEVENZO (voice-over): A drive through Nairobi National Park entered one reason on the horizon, Africa's urban landscape is changing fast and eating up more of what used to be the giraffe's habitat. All over the continent, cities are growing to cope with increasing numbers of people and the giraffes are running out of grazing space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our planning should put into account that we do have actually wildlife and wildlife that requires big spaces and requires specific habitats. So in the planning is where we are calling for the planners to include wildlife as one of the land uses.
SEVENZO (voice-over): Saving giraffes will not be a simple task.
[05:55:00]
Conflict, habitat degradation, poaching and hunting for bush meat have all contributed to the decline in giraffe numbers.
An ancient fable has it that a long time ago the giraffes were the soothsayers, they could lift their heads to the clouds, look back and see the past, look forward and see the future. But one thing no one, not even the giraffes could have predicted, is that by 2016 their numbers could have dropped and they could be facing what the conservationists are now calling a silent extinction -- Farai Sevenzo, CNN, Nairobi.
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HOWELL: A very thorough description of the problem there, Farai Sevenzo, thank you so much for the report with us.
A vodka distiller wants to toast the people of Iceland with a seasonal greeting. And here's what they did.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Vodka would like to say (speaking foreign language) or happy holidays to everyone in Iceland individually.
(Speaking foreign language).
HOWELL (voice-over): And so the spokesman read out the names, the first names of everyone in the tiny nation, all of them. There are about 4,500 first names in Iceland, where names must be approved by a committee.
It took about two hours to do it, to plow through that list; not necessarily gripping TV but the video has generated more than 100,000 views on Facebook. That's a lot of names.
Thanks for being with us for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. And for other viewers around the world, "THE BEST OF QUEST" starts in a moment.
Thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
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