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Nigerian Church Collapse; Dozens Killed in Istanbul Bombings; Battle for Aleppo; Trump Risks Adversarial Relationship with Intel Agencies; "SNL" Pokes Fun at Trump. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired December 11, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Days of mourning, dozens are feared dead after a church collapses on worshippers in Nigeria. We'll bring you the very latest on this developing tragedy in just a moment.

And twin bombings rock a football stadium in Istanbul, killing 29 people and wounding more than 150. Police were targeted but no one has claimed responsibility yet.

Plus, Trump versus the CIA: the U.S. president-elect's team slams the spy agency over reports that Russia may have tried to help him win the White House.

Hello, everyone. A very warm welcome and thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier, live from Atlanta. And CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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VANIER: First, a search for answers in Nigeria. Government officials say that they will investigate Saturday's collapse of a church to try to determine how it happened. There is no official death toll yet but it is feared that dozens of people inside the church were killed when the building's roof came tumbling down on top of them.

Rescue efforts are ongoing and searchers have been combing through the debris, looking for survivors. Let's get the latest now from CNN's David McKenzie, he's following developments from Johannesburg in South Africa.

David, what is the latest?

I understand that you've been able to speak to an eyewitness.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. I spoke to a student, who was on the scene right after this roof and part of those steel girders rapidly collapsed during the ceremony to consecrate a bishop at that Reigners Church in the southern part of Nigeria in Uyo.

He said that there were terrifying scenes as he approached the area; people were managing to come out, climb out of the wreckage. Several people, he said, had severe injuries from the steel girders, the supports of this kind of stadium-like church, falling on top of them.

But he said that there were many dead on the scene. And already the question being asked locally and by the Nigerian authorities is how could this happen. There has been a history of collapses of buildings and churches in Nigeria.

Because this church was under construction or being refurbished by a construction company, there were large cranes on the scene in the early minutes of that disaster. They were used, says this witness, to pull off some of those steel girders from the area of the collapse to allow some other people to get out.

But certainly a tragic incident, the full details and death toll still unclear at this point -- Cyril.

VANIER: All right.

David McKenzie, what do we know about the rescue efforts that are ongoing?

MCKENZIE: Well, the rescue efforts were happening just from those people who had been at the church, trying to get the other parishioners, their loved ones out.

Unfortunately, local hospitals appear to be at times overwhelmed by the number of injuries. I've seen some horrific witness accounts of bodies were taken and just laid on the floor of the local teaching hospital.

These were, of course, the nature of this kind of collapse, would have been really horrific trauma, injuries that people would have sustained.

The governor of the state was at the church for the ceremony at the time. He said that he was involved in those rescue efforts. But at this stage the question is being posed, were too many people in that church at the time and why were they there if construction was ongoing. That's certainly what that student said when I spoke to him, a level of anger and bewilderment in Uyo this morning.

VANIER: David McKenzie, reporting live from Johannesburg. Thank you very much. We will continue to get more details from you as you get them. Thanks a lot.

Now Turkey's deputy prime minister says the PKK, quote, "seems to be responsible" for Saturday's deadly bombings in Istanbul. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, a left-wing rebel group, has carried out attacks of this nature before.

But there's no evidence yet that they were behind these recent blasts. Earlier the same official called the attacks "heinous."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): A car that was passing by the

stadium was remotely detonated; 45 seconds, later a man was stopped, where policemen were standing and that person blew himself up. Turkey faced two heinous bomb attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: That was the first indication that the attacks targeted police officers, who make up almost all of those killed; 10 suspects have been detained since the explosions but no group, including the PKK, has claimed the bombings.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the country has once again --

[03:05:00]

VANIER: -- witnessed "the ugliest face of terror." Our Muhammad Lila was near the blast site in Istanbul.

Muhammad, can you describe the moment?

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, good morning to you, Cyril. The moment was very loud. It was so loud and so powerful that it shook the floor of the room that we were in. It shook the walls and it shook the windows. We knew instantly that it was a very large explosion.

Let me just set the scene for you, Cyril, and let you know where we are right now. You can see over my right side, that is the Besiktas Vodafone arena, that is the location where these two explosions went off, both in very close proximity.

One went off towards one of the exits to the stadium. Another went off in the park that's next to the stadium. You can see the tree line of some of that park behind me.

And we do have new numbers that we can report this morning as well. We know that of the 29 people that were killed, 27 of them were police officers and two were civilians.

The latest numbers we have are that there are 155 people who were wounded, currently being treated in hospital, and many of them are in critical condition, being treated in intensive care.

So this was certainly a very major attack here, given the scale of how many people were killed, how many people lost their lives and how many people right now are still fighting for their lives in hospital.

VANIER: All right. Tell us a little bit about the accusations that the Turkish government is making this morning. They are laying, pointing the finger of blame towards the PKK. It is hardly the first time that they've singled out the PKK when these attacks happen.

LILA: Well, that's right. You know, the Kurdistan Worker's Party has been waging a low-level insurgency here, not just in Istanbul but right across the country for several years now. But a couple things to keep in mind.

One is that the PKK have not come out and officially claimed responsibility. And the second is, even though the deputy prime minister came out and said that the early indications seem to suggest this is the PKK, they've not offered any evidence for who was behind this.

Of course, politically, you have to remember that the PKK is not the only enemy of the Turkish government or Turkey itself. Of course, there's ISIS as well and ISIS has launched attacks here in Turkey.

Of course there's a lot of frustration about the Gulenist movement, who the government believes was behind the coup in July. So Turkey has no shortage of enemies in this region. And it remains to be seen which of those groups claims responsibility and what evidence there is for who exactly was behind this.

VANIER: There is regularly criticism of the Turkish government along the lines that it uses these attacks to actually justify its continued fight against the PKK.

LILA: Yes, well, you know, I know those accusations are out there and there are also accusations that, when attacks like this happen, the Turkish government uses them as a pretext to clamp down more either on media organizations or civil society groups.

What I can tell you today right now the mood in the city is that the government has declared an official day of mourning right across the country, so flags are flying at half mast and there are still lots of victims right now that are fighting for their lives in hospitals.

So I think a lot of the mood in the country right now is focused specifically on that and, of course, getting to the cause of why all of this happened, why those two explosions went off yesterday.

VANIER: Muhammad Lila, in Istanbul, reporting live. Thank you very much.

At least 33 people are dead after a fuel tanker crashed in Kenya. It happened on Saturday, near the town of Naivasha, north of Nairobi. Authorities say the tanker carrying highly flammable gas lost control and started rolling downhill, slamming into several vehicles and bursting into flames.

At least 11 vehicles were burned as well and many people are reported injured.

Staying in Africa, in Somalia, the death toll has risen to at least 15 in a car bomb attack at the capital's port area. The Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab have claimed responsibility on the group's radio station. Somalia authorities say a loud explosion was heard at about 7:30 in the morning local time, when a vehicle packed with explosives rammed into the main entrance of Mogadishu's largest airport.

Police say the blast was followed by heavy gunfire. Let's look at the various developments in Syria now. After losing ground to the Syrian government last March, ISIS may be back on the attack in the ancient city of Palmyra. There are reports that hundreds of Syrian troops withdrew on Saturday after intense fighting in the city's outskirts.

Now CNN has not been able to confirm the developments but activists say that ISIS has once again seized neighborhoods in Palmyra's north. Fighting is also reported near Palmyra's historic Citadel.

Meanwhile, most of the attention is focused north of there on Aleppo, where time may be running out for Syrian opposition fighters.

Let's take a look at the battlefield and look at the map of Aleppo. Around the city limits there, that yellow line, you see that sea of red. That's the regime controlled area. The regime advance has --

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VANIER: -- actually taken about 80 percent of what used to be rebel controlled areas.

It is believed that about 100,000 people continue to live in that area. And in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top diplomats are once again calling for a ceasefire and asking the Syrian government to let opposition fighters leave the area unharmed.

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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Fighters who are being bombed and who have been mercilessly prosecuted by the Assad regime in ways that, as we all know, defy the laws of war, don't trust that, if they indeed agreed to leave to try to save Aleppo, that, in fact, it will save Aleppo or that, in fact, they will be, in fact, unharmed and free to move and able to go to a destination where they also will not be immediately attacked.

The choice for many of them as they think about it today is die in Aleppo or die in Idlib, but die. That's the way they see the choice.

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VANIER: Andrew Tabler joins us now. He's a senior fellow at the Arab Politics program of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He's also the author of "In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria."

Mr. Tabler, it seems there's really no doubt now that the territory that rebels still control in Eastern Aleppo is going to fall. They're going to lose that territory. They're going to lose the battle for Aleppo.

What is the consequence going to be for the wider Syrian conflict?

ANDREW TABLER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: A very good question. Of course, there's going to be -- and there is tremendous suffering in and around Aleppo. It depends on whether -- what forces or what civilians can get out of that pocket that's been surrounded by the regime and bombarded by Russia and the regime for the last few weeks.

In terms of the overall conflict, very interesting; a lot of manpower the regime's devoted to Aleppo. And, at the same time, Aleppo's falling, ISIS retook a number of areas around the central city of Palmyra.

So it shows that the regime's manpower is very limited, which raises the question, where would the regime try to go next?

And can the regime go elsewhere and try to recapture territory from those of the rebels or of ISIS or the Al Qaeda affiliate?

VANIER: But ISIS is one thing. But the rebels who are fighting in Aleppo -- and I realize it's not a homogenous, obviously, coalition of fighters; very different agendas, different groups.

But the anti-regime fighters, the more moderate wing, can they still weigh in, can they still have a voice in this conflict, can they still have any impact in Syria?

TABLER: They have a -- the moderate forces, backed by the Western countries, are particularly prevalent in the southern part of Syria and the northwestern part of Syria; over time, those groups remain.

But the Al Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, has grown in strength as Russia has bombarded areas and Western countries have refused to intervene militarily to support the moderates.

So, you know, bad news overall. Now there is one exception. There's a Turkish-held pocket. They call it de facto safe zone north of Aleppo, which has been growing.

And the territory that they have been able to capture recently contains a number of moderate elements. And that could be a lifeboat, an unexpected lifeboat, for the moderate opposition going forward.

VANIER: With the regime regaining control of Eastern Aleppo, is there any incentive left for the regime to sit down and have negotiations, stop the civil war and have peace negotiations?

TABLER: I think that there is an incentive and a lot depends on Russia's next move. I think Russia knows very well the regime's limited capabilities. So I expect that, after Aleppo falls, they will try and push the regime into a political process.

Now what terms that political process takes place under is a good question.

Would it be on that of the regime?

Probably.

But there's this real question if the regime will go along with it at all and what groups would be willing to go along with such talks, knowing that the deck is stacked in Assad's favor. So lots of questions and not very many answers as the Aleppo campaign winds down.

VANIER: All right. Andrew Tabler, thank you very much for your insights and for fielding our questions. Thanks a lot.

TABLER: My pleasure.

VANIER: After the break, move on, says the Trump team. The president-elect pushes back against reports that Russia helped him win. What the Kremlin is also saying, coming up next.

Plus, winter weather paralyzes parts of Japan.

How a powerful snowstorm --

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VANIER: -- shut down one city.

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VANIER: Welcome back.

Donald Trump is at odds with the U.S. intelligence community six weeks before his inauguration. The president-elect's team has mocked a CIA report that Russia tried to steer the election toward a Trump victory. This is what they said.

"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. It's now time to move on."

A source says that a review of foreign hacking ordered by President Obama will not actually look at whether Russian interference affected the outcome of the election; rather, the source says, it is solely about lessons being learned. More now from CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott.

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ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President-Elect Donald Trump's comments, questioning the quality of the intel provided by the intelligence community about Russian hacking, could set up an adversarial relationship with a commander in chief, who's going to rely on the intelligence community to make monumental decisions about U.S. national security.

If it's an isolated incident, it could be worked out. It seems as if President-Elect Trump is very sensitive to any charges that he didn't win the election fair and square when, in fact, the intelligence community is really only looking at whether Russia did try to interfere in the U.S. election.

And about 17 intelligence agencies did conclude that they did with high confidence.

If there's a larger question about whether Donald Trump does not have confidence in the intelligence community, in the intel that he's getting in his daily briefing, that could set up a much larger issue.

Now the investigation that the Obama administration is engaged in is not about whether Russia affected the outcome of this election. Administration officials tell me it would be impossible to know what swayed a voter.

The investigation is really about looking at past practices of all foreign states, not just Russia, but other foreign actors, perhaps in 2008, 2012 and in the 2016 election, to see what kinds of techniques they used in their hacking, in cyber attacks, to use that as a lessons learned for the next administration.

But it would also give credence to any measures that the Obama administration could take on its way out the door. Officials tell me that there are a wide range of measures being considered against Russia, such as sanctions, other types of cyber measures that we probably wouldn't know about.

But if this incontrovertible proof is made public, it would be --

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LABOTT: -- very difficult for President-Elect Trump, once taking office, to question that.

And if President Obama does impose measures and Donald Trump overturns them, that could -- he could face a lot of heat from members of Congress, not just Democrats but Republicans, who are very skeptical about Russia and say they're going to lead investigations.

As one senior administration official said, there would be a real price to pay once the president-elect takes office -- Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.

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VANIER: And a spokesman for the Republican National Committee also doubts that Russia meddled in the election.

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SEAN SPICER, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I don't think, Donald Trump doesn't think, no one thinks that a foreign entity should be interfering with the U.S. elections, bottom line, full stop, I said it. Now let's get to the next thing.

What proof does anyone have that they affected the outcome?

Because I've heard zero. OK?

So show me what facts have actually shown that anything undermined that election. Donald Trump won with 306 electoral votes, 2,300 counties, 62 million Americans voted for him.

So what proof do you have or does anyone have that any of this affected the outcome of this election?

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VANIER: The Kremlin, for its part, is also brushing off the claims, saying, in part, these are not new conclusions. And, again, it seems like naked blaming, having no evidence to be based on.

Also it may look like another attempt to try to influence the president-elect by imposing a certain negative image of our country.

More on the Trump transition now. Donald Trump's likely choice for secretary of state is sparking some concern over his ties to Russia. CNN's Ryan Nobles reports on Rex Tillerson, a major name in the oil industry, who may be America's next top diplomat.

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's looking more and more like President-Elect Donald Trump is leaning toward ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state.

CNN's John King reporting that Tillerson left a meeting on Saturday at Trump Tower, feeling confident that he would be named to the post; Trump telling Chris Wallace from FOX that Tillerson's global business interests and his ties with countries around the world make him a very strong candidate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you about Rex Tillerson.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of ExxonMobil.

Why does a business executive make sense as the chief diplomat?

TRUMP: Well, in his case, he's much more than a business executive. I mean, he's a world-class player. He's in charge of, I guess, the largest company in the world. He's in charge of an oil company that's pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. It's been a company that's been unbelievably managed.

And to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, for the company.

NOBLES: Now some of those same attributes that Trump views as positives have some concerned, including Republicans like Senator John McCain. McCain told me that he would want answers from Tillerson about his ties to Russia and his view of the world as it relates to the country before he gives him his vote in a confirmation process.

Republicans hold only a four-seat majority in the U.S. Senate. So Donald Trump will likely need almost all those votes if he is to get Tillerson confirmed -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Baltimore.

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VANIER: Our favorite meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, joins us now --

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VANIER: -- with more on severe weather around parts of the globe. We're going to start with severe winter weather in Japan.

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VANIER: And finally, Walter White is back from the dead. "Breaking Bad"'s infamous meth cook was resurrected by Bryan Cranston as "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at who else but Donald Trump and his cabinet picks.

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BECK BENNETT, COMEDIAN, "JAKE TAPPER": We have some breaking news tonight. President-Elect Trump has just made his choice for head of the DEA, the federal drug enforcement agency. And it's a high school science teacher from New Mexico named Walter White, who joins us now.

(APPLAUSE)

BRYAN CRANSTON, ACTOR, "WALTER WHITE": Hello, Jake.

KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN, "KELLYANNE CONWAY": Walter is amazing. He came highly recommended by Steve Bannon.

"WHITE": Oh, yes. Steve's the best. We've had some times.

"TAPPER": Where did Mr. Bannon find you?

"WHITE": In the comments section at Breitbart.

(LAUGHTER)

"WHITE": And I'm really surprised he tracked me down because I've kind of been off the grid for a while.

"TAPPER": And you're a high school science teacher?

"WHITE": Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

"TAPPER": Now do you know anything about drug enforcement?

"WHITE": Oh, trust me. I know the DEA better than anyone, inside and out.

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VANIER: All right. You also saw "SNL's" Kate McKinnon here in her impression of one of Trump's top advisers, Kellyanne Conway. She's quickly become a favorite with viewers over the past few weeks.

I don't know what Kellyanne Conway thinks of the impression. We know that Trump doesn't like his character.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we already do know that very well. I'm sure she nails it though.

VANIER: All right. He's Derek Van Dam. I'm Cyril Vanier. You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM. We're back after the break with your headlines.

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