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Deadly Train Derailment in India; South Korean President Now a Suspect; Trump Transition. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired November 20, 2016 - 02:00   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): A tragic scene in Northern India right now, where a train derailment has killed dozen of passengers. We'll have the latest on the rescue efforts in just a moment.

South Korea's president under investigation. Park Geun-hye is a suspected accomplice in the corruption scandal that has engulfed the country and her presidency. Two former aides and a long-time friend have been indicted. We'll have the latest from Seoul.

Thank you for joining us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier. We're live from Atlanta.

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VANIER: A horrific train derailment has left at least 95 people dead in Northern India. CNN affiliate CNN News 18 reports the disaster happened near the city of Pukhrayan early Sunday morning. Rescue personnel scrambled to save people from the wreckage.

An official earlier told CNN News 18 that up to 70 people were trapped in the mangled rail cars. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi addressed the derailment in a tweet and said his thoughts were with the victims' families.

For the latest on this derailment, we're joined now by CNN New Delhi bureau chief, Ravi Agrawal, in New Delhi -- Ravi.

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Cyril.

So the death toll just keeps on rising. We've been following this for a few hours now and the latest we've heard from officials is 95 dead.

They still think that this death toll could keep rising because there are a number of people who are trapped under a number of the coaches that flipped over when the train derailed. About 150 people are known to have been injured. Again, that number could vary in the coming hours.

Just to give you a sense of where and when this happened, this is a train that was going from the city of Indore in Central India to the city of Patna in the east of India.

It derailed somewhere halfway through that journey overnight at 3:00 am. It was likely very, very dark at that moment when it derailed. We're also told that it may have been foggy. We don't know if those are the reasons why the train derailed. It certainly would have contributed to more chaos and panic.

There were 22 coaches on this train; 14 of them derailed. Many of them flipped over. You're looking at those images on the scene, on your screen right now. And really this is sort of a crisis panic scenario for the Indian government.

They're saying they have deployed the national disaster response force, which is an army force. Local police and ambulances are on the scene already. And officials we've spoken to have said their priority for now is to try to rescue the people who are trapped under the coaches that flipped over overnight.

The other problem here, Cyril, is that we don't know completely how many people might have been on this train. This is a problem with Indian trains in general. You have the upper class compartments, which have reserved seats and tickets, so they know exactly who was in those coaches.

But for the general category compartments, it's a mystery as to how many people were actually on board because, a lot of times, people travel without reservations; they just get on these trains and they're packed. So this really is a crisis for the Indian railways.

The government is responding in full force. They're saying they're on war footing. And in the coming hours, we'll know more about how many people may have survived, how many more are dead -- Cyril.

VANIER: Ravi Agrawal, live from New Delhi, thank you very much. And, of course, you'll keep updating us on those rescue efforts in the coming hours. Thanks a lot.

Prosecutors say they're now investigating South Korean President Park Geun-hye as a suspect in the major corruption scandal that has engulfed her presidency.

They formally indicted three people on Sunday, the informal adviser and long-time friend of Park, who's been at the center of this scandal for weeks, as well as two former aides. Our Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul.

Paula, this is devastating for the South Korean presidency. Prosecutors are going after not just her confidante and her close aides. After all, that was expected to some extent. But they're saying the president was involved.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say that they found evidence that they believe she had been working with Choi Soon-sil, the confidante who's been indicted on charges of abuse of power, fraud, coercion. And they believe that they have enough evidence that President Park

Geun-hye herself should be investigated as a suspect in this growing scandal here.

Now we were expecting the president to be questioned this week as a witness but this, of course, is a very significant change in terminology. Prosecutors clearly think they may have enough evidence to show that she was in some way involved as far as they're concerned -- and certainly they are very keen to speak --

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HANCOCKS: -- to her as soon as possible. We were, at one point, thinking this might happen last week. This is what prosecutors wanted.

But the Blue House at this point has not given a location, a time. They're also saying this afternoon, this Sunday afternoon, at some point they will have a statement as to what these prosecutors have said as well -- Cyril.

VANIER: And, Paula, I want to ask you -- and I realize it's very early in this investigation process, of course -- but do you think that, politically, the president can survive this?

Her approval ratings are extremely, extremely low.

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. For the third week in a row she's on 5 percent, which is the lowest any South Korean president has been in history.

And you have hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, coming onto the streets every Saturday night as well calling for her resignation. Last week on Saturday, there was close to 1 million, according to organizers, although the police do actually have a lower estimated figure.

But there is growing anger here at what they see, that they believe the president has done. They believe she has no power left, she's lost the trust of the people. There are growing calls for her to step down. This will only increase.

Now she's being treated by prosecutors as a suspect. But there are others as well, those in political office or those experts who don't believe she will actually step down. Opposition leaders saying if she doesn't, then they will try to impeach her.

VANIER: All right, Thank you very much. Paula Hancocks, reporting live there from Seoul, on the possible consequences for the South Korean president.

And, of course, we'll continue to update you on those two major stories today, the train derailment in India and this investigation on the South Korean president in Seoul.

For now, though, let's move on to the rest of world news. Doctors say a quarter of a million people trapped in Eastern Aleppo do not have a single hospital operating at full capacity. Medecins sans Frontieres is demanding Syria stop bombing medical centers in the besieged city. At least 68 people were reported killed there on Saturday alone.

It's the fifth consecutive day of renewed government airstrikes. The U.N. is asking Syria and its main ally, Russia, to greenlight their relief plan. Rebel-held neighborhoods have almost no food or medicine left.

No new cabinet nominations were announced by Donald Trump on Saturday but the U.S. president-elect did hold multiple get-togethers with potential candidates for jobs in the incoming administration.

Of keen interest were the arrivals of two particular individuals. There you see them, Retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, screen left, and former Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, on your right. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on the significance of those meetings.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was one clear meeting that everybody wanted to know everything about here in Bedminster on Saturday. That was the meeting with Mitt Romney.

It wasn't so long that con man and choke artist and all sorts of insults were flying back and forth on the campaign trail. Not anymore. For an hour and 20 minutes, Mitt Romney sat down with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Michael Pence discussing primarily foreign policy. Of course raising the question, is there a potential position in a Trump administration for Mitt Romney?

Well, we haven't gotten any comment on that. But this is how Mitt Romney described their conversation.

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MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OR MASSACHUSETTS: We had a far- reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance. We discussed those areas and exchanged our views on those topics.

Very thorough and in depth discussion in the time we had. And appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect and look forward to the coming administration.

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MATTINGLY: Now it's important to know that Trump transition officials do confirm that Mitt Romney is in the running for something. People have been talking about the potential for a secretary of state slot. But again, we don't have any final answers on that. There was another very interesting meeting that happened on Saturday here as Donald Trump continues to work towards filling out his Cabinet. That was with retired Marine General James Mattis. I'm told from a Trump transition official to give very close eye on General Mattis. That went for more than an hour. Longer than any other meeting but the Romney meeting and a very potential pick for Defense secretary.

Now James Mattis would need a waiver from Congress to actually get that position because he retired in 2013 but it's very likely as Republicans control Capitol Hill that would be in the offing if he was selected. Donald Trump himself saying that he is, quote, "the real deal," and that they had a great meeting.

So, guys, don't just keep an eye on Mitt Romney. Keep an eye on General James Mattis as well.

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VANIER: All right.

And just before we wrap this up, a late autumn storm in England is rapidly intensifying and bringing high winds and heavy rains to much of the country.

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VANIER: He's Derek Van Dam. I'm Cyril Vanier. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is next. Stay with CNN.

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