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Trump Continues to Irritate Chinses Government; Trump Squares Off against Congress, Intelligence over Alleged Russian Hacking; Civilians Desperate to Escape Aleppo; Kurdistan Freedom Hawks Takes Credit for Terror Attacks in Istanbul, Turkey; IMF Chief Under Investigation in French Fraud Case; Tropical Cyclone Alert in India; Syrian Girl, Family Describe Living in War-Torn Aleppo; Dozens Dead Following Church Collapse in Nigeria; Dying Coral Reefs Spells Disaster for Madagascar; Venezuelan Government Confiscates Toys Ahead of Christmas. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 12, 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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[02:00:07] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

The U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is siding with Moscow over allegations by U.S. intelligence that Russia interfered with the U.S. president election. The Kremlin has vigorously called for the U.S. to come up with any evidence, to show that evidence, while Trump is calling the claim simply ridiculous. We will have more of that in just a moment.

But in the meantime, on another front, Trump continues to irritate the Chinese government. This time, it's with new comments on the One China policy. It's a policy that's been around for decades, with the U.S. only recognizing Beijing diplomatically, and not recognizing Taiwan. On Sunday, Trump said that he doesn't necessarily agree with that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I fully understand the One China policy, but I don't know why we have to be bound by a One China policy, unless we make a deal with China, having to do with other things, including trade. And we're being done very badly by China, with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn't be doing, and, frankly, with not helping us at all with North Korea. You have North Korea, you have nuclear weapons, and China could solve that problem and they're not helping us at all. So, I don't want China dictating to me.

And this was a call put in to me. I didn't make the call. And it was a call, very short call saying congratulations, sir, on the victory. It was a very nice call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So let's start in China where we're starting to hear some reactions to those comments.

CNN's Matt Rivers is live -- Matt?

MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: George, no official reaction from the Chinese government yet. Although, there is a regularly scheduled press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that's scheduled to start in a few minutes.

But in the meantime, as we so often see with situations like this, we're hearing from the Chinese government in a different way, and that would be through state-run newspaper and their editorial pages in China. So, it was a pretty quick turn around by the tabloid newspaper, "The Global Times," and their editorial page came out this morning with negative rhetoric, very negative words about what the president-elect said about the One China policy. I can show you what that said, speaking about the president-elect, the paper wrote, "He is like a child in his ignorant of foreign policy. The One China policy cannot be bought and sold. Only by going through some tough times will he come to realize that China and other international powers are not to be bullied."

So, that is the kind of viewpoint that the state-run newspaper is putting out there. Certainly, that's what we're seeing online with a lot of people here in China tweeting - not tweeting, but using the Chinese version of Twitter -- giving their negative reactions to this One China policy.

And we are expecting to hear an official response from the Chinese government in the next couple of minutes where I think you can expect to hear perhaps not quite so provocative as this state-run tabloid newspaper, but certainly a strict adherence to this One China policy that has been the foundation of U.S./China relations for decades now -- George?

HOWELL: Matt, to talk about the significance of the One China policy, just playing it forward, explain to our viewers around the world what that policy means for China and, if challenged, how might China react?

RIVERS: What the United States has done since the '70s is only have formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, and not Taiwan. On the flip side, they still have a relationship with Taipei and Taiwan by selling them arms. What that has done is kind of allowed both sides to save face. It says it recognizes that Beijing is the legitimate government of all of China, but there still is a government in Taiwan that the U.S. doesn't formerly interact with but does interact with at least on the military basis.

It the United States were to turn away from that policy, really, then, it becomes how does China react. What you can be sure of is that China will not take that lying down. Exactly how Beijing would react is up in the air. Economically, they could freeze out U.S. businesses. You could see hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese businessmen and women be shut out of the Chinese market. That would be certainly very impactful.

And on the military side, could you see China react by going into Taiwan militarily? China has never taken the option of retaking Taiwan by using force off the table. And if the U.S. turned away from the One China policy, could you see China do that? It's an extreme possibility, something I think most people expect wouldn't happen, but it's certainly something that needs to be discussed given what the president-elect is saying -- George?

[02:05:22] HOWELL: And important to point out the U.S. does have an obligation to offer some sort of support, correct?

RIVERS: That's absolutely right. The United States, under the Taiwan Relations Act, has the obligation to assist in the defense of Taiwan in the case of an invasion by the Chinese.

That said, there's some strategic ambiguity there. It doesn't say exactly how they would assist in that defense. But what you have seen, the U.S. sells billions of dollars worth of arms to Taiwan. And if it were invaded by China, which again is an extreme possibility in terms of its unlikelihood, but if it happened, could the U.S. be drawn into drawn in some kind of armed conflict? That's a good question.

HOWELL: Matt Rivers following this story for us live in Beijing. Matt, thank you.

Now to the other matter we were talking about, Donald Trump squaring off against the U.S. intelligence community and congressional leaders over alleged Russian hacking. The word from several U.S. intelligence agencies is that they believe Russians intended to sway the president election in favor of Donald Trump. A group of Democratic and Republican Senators is calling for a full investigation.

The president-elect, though, saying this is all another excuse for the Democrat's loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed someplace. It could be Russia. I don't really think it is. But who knows? I don't know either. They don't know and I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Trump's position on this puts him at odds with not only the U.S. intelligence community, but also some lawmakers, as CNN's Ryan Nobles reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has the potential to be a major show down in the early days of Trump administration. A bipartisan group of Senators calling for a full investigation into Russia's attempt to influence the American election. Among them, powerful Senators like Republican John McCain and Democrat Chuck Schumer.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY), INCOMING SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The fact that the CIA and FBI disagree shows the need for a bipartisan investigation that gets to the bottom of this. The investigation should be tough, strong, and bipartisan, and should have access to all materials, classified and not. A lot of this is now, it seems, is done by governments, foreign governments, and that raises things to a much higher level. And the fact that they hacked and may have tried to influence an election is even more serious. Our election process should be sacrosanct.

NOBLES: Schumer is, of course, the incoming minority leader in the U.S. Senate. And McCain is obviously someone with has a lot of influence. Both say this shouldn't be a partisan issue. It's something that effects all Americans. And McCain making the point that even though it was Democrats that were the victim this time around, it could have easily be Republicans the next time around.

One person who doesn't agree with that assessment? The incoming president-elect. Donald Trump, saying he just doesn't believe the intelligence assessment that the Russians were behind the hack, and he forcefully believes that it had nothing to do with the outcome of the election.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Now to the crisis in Syria. ISIS militants tried once again to seize the ancient city of Palmyra over the weekend. You'll remember the terror group was driven out of that UNESCO World Heritage Site back in March. This propaganda video from the terror group purports to show its attack. Activists report ISIS took nearly all of Palmyra Saturday. Russia, though, said its air force responded, backing Syrian government troops with more than 60 air strikes. ISIS was forced to withdraw, but reportedly still lurks on the outskirts of that city.

In the meantime, the Syrian and Russian assault continues in east Aleppo. Russia said more than 700 rebel fighters have surrendered in the last day. But similar reports have been denied by activists in the past. Activists will confirm, however, the Syrian regime and its allies have just wrested control of yet another east Aleppo neighborhood.

Despite the often-conflicting reports, there is one thing that is certain, this is a city that has been battered by air strikes and has been battered by artillery.

As our Fred Pleitgen shows us from inside Aleppo, civilians there, they're desperate to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSION) [02:10:00] FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is as close as journalist can get to Aleppo's southern front line. Air strikes, artillery and gun battles, the shrinking opposition enclave is getting pounded by Bashar al Assad's forces.

(EXPLSOION)

PLEITGEN: For tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside, the only escape is to walk right through this front line.

And a situation where the rebel area is so bad, and many are, an exodus under fire.

(on camera): There is a massive almost avalanche of people trying to make it to safety. As you see, there are people who are carrying their children, but also a lot of children left to make the trek themselves. It's so difficult for many of them. Of course, they've been under seize for such a very long time.

(voice-over): This is what total exhaustion from starvation and war looks like this.

This woman was wounded when her house collapsed during the fight.

"It is indescribable inside," she says, "Hunger, suppression, it's everything bad you can imagine. No medicine. We have nothing. Literally, we could not get any treatment for our injuries."

(on camera): All of this, of course, as the rebels continue to lose control of those eastern districts of Aleppo. And also, while the fighting is going on, we're hearing constant barrages of artillery. We're hearing rockets being fired. It's a very dangerous trek that these people are making. And it's a trek into a very uncertain future.

(EXPLOSION)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): We found this family about half a mile from the front line, too tired to walk any further.

"I left my house," the father said. "I don't want my house. I want to be safe. I want my children to be safe."

(EXPLOSION)

PLEITGEN: And thousands like them are also risking their lives, going through one of Syria's most-violent front lines hoping somehow to reach a safe place.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo.

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: They continue to walk as they continue to hear the bombing around them, all around them.

Terror rocks the city of Istanbul, Turkey, once more. Who is claiming responsibility for this deadly bombing? We'll have that for you next

Plus, Egypt mourns after a bombing at a Coptic Christian church. What one of the country's top Muslim leaders says about this attack, still ahead.

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(SPORTS REPORT)

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[02:16:19] HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN. I'm George Howell.

As Istanbul mourns another deadly terror attack, the Kurdish military group TAK is taking credit, also known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks). They splintered from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or the PKK, years ago. The attackers triggered two explosions near a football stadium Saturday. They left 38 people dead and 155 more wounded. In response, Turkish fighter jets targeted PKK positions in the Kurdistan region over the weekend. Officials say they carried out 24 strikes in all.

CNN's Muhammad Lila is following this story near the site of one of the blasts.

Muhammad, what more can you tell us about the strikes>?

MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: George, the strike happened over night. 24 separate air strikes in 12 locations in northern Iraq targeting Kurdish separatists. We also know that here within Turkey, more than 100 pro-Kurdish activists have been detained. We don't know the status of whether or not they've been formally charged. But all of this was to be expected after this group, the TAK, the Kurdish Freedom Hawks, came out and claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is not the first time that this group TAK has attacked Turkey in this manner. In February, there was an attack in Ankara. And in March, another attack in Ankara targeting a military barracks. Dozens of people were killed in those attacks as well.

Now TAK came out and said in their statement, their claim of responsibility that they were not directly targeting civilian as part of this attack, but they were trying to target the police. But we do know there were many civilians that were killed. So, on the one hand, they're saying they're only trying to target military or security installations, but the reality on the ground is that civilians were killed. And there is a lot of anger right now here in Istanbul at these groups for doing these heinous acts of terror.

HOWELL: What more can you tell us about this group TAK that is taking responsibility, claiming responsibility? LILA: They were initially part of a group called the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, but they splintered away from the group. And the PKK has disavowed itself from anything having to do with TAK. TAK is active in the western parts of the country. They've shown, this year, with those two attacks in February and March that they're able to pull off coordinated and sophisticated attacks in major urban centers. And in both of those attacks, there were in Ankara. In both of those attacks there were at least 30 people or around 30 people that were killed in those attacks. Again, interestingly enough, on the attack, in the attack here in Istanbul, again, we had 38 people killed and, of them, 30 of them were police officers. So, they've proven that they can strike in Turkey's biggest cities.

And some of what we've seen over night with the air strikes as well as these detentions is the Turkish establishment's response to that and showing that Turkey can take steps in response. We've talked about this before. We know Turkey's President Erdogan promised swift and fast revenge on these groups.

HOWELL: Just to talk about this from a personal perspective, in fact, Muhammad, you and your team, you guys were nearby when this happened. You experienced a bit of this. We're thankful that you and your team are OK.

But wanted to get a sense from you, how are people reacting, given what happened and given that there's been so much violence over the last year?

LILA: George, thanks for the kind words. We really do appreciate it. Our thoughts go out to the people that were very close and people that are still in the hospital right now. Some of them may still be fighting for their lives.

Turkey has come out and declared yesterday a day of mourning. But if you take a look behind me, you'll see a flag that's half mast. And that's because there are flags at half-mast right across the city. So, the official one day of mourning might be over, but I think officially it's still going on. And that will probably continue as people in hospitals continue to be treated. There are formal funerals that are going to be coming up over the next couple of days and you'll see more outpouring of emotion and, certainly, George, patriotism. We're seeing many more Turkish flags on the street that is an indication of some elements of this country trying to unite together.

[02:20:36] HOWELL: Muhammad Lila, live for us in Istanbul. Muhammad, thank you for the reporting.

It has been a deadly weekend in Egypt, as well, after an explosion at a Coptic church in Cairo. It's unclear who is responsible for Sunday's bombing. State-sponsored media reports that blast killed 25 people and injured dozens of others. The church sits next to St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, a key site for Coptic Christians in that country. Egypt's president has called for three days of national mourning. The country grand mufti condemns the explosion as, quote, "a deplorable terrorist attack." International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde is standing trial

for alleged negligence in a major fraud case. The acquisition stem from 2008 when she was the French finance minister. Prosecutors say Lagarde gave a supporter of then-President Nicholas Sarkozy preferential treatment in awarding a massive settlement. She denies any wrongdoing.

Our Melissa Bell has more now from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the man at the heart of Christine Lagarde's troubles, Bernard Tapie. Never far from the limelight or controversy, he's been a singer, politician and businessman, most famously saving the sportswear giant Adidas from bankruptcy in the early 1990s.

In 1993, he sold Adidas for 318 million Euros. By 1994, the company sold again, this time for 533 million Euros. The big winner was the bank, who had not only overseen the sale, but profited from it. Bernard Tapie sued the bank, which was by then in state hands, and won, 135 million Euros. The award was overturned, which was where things stood when Nicholas Sarkozy took over as new economy minister.

The problem became Christian Lagarde. She decided to put the matter through arbitration rather than leaving it into courts. A few months later, the arbitration panel awarded Bernard Tapie 293 million Euros before interest, an award of taxpayer money that raised questions in parliaments at the time about the highest echelons of power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In France, people are focused on Barnard Tapie than on Christine Lagarde, to be honest, because now that she left for Washington, she's very popular, but not that famous. I mean, people would rather ask themselves, OK, can somebody prove that Nicholas Sarkozy gave money back to Bernard Tapie. She is just there somehow.

(CROSSTALK)

BELL: The last time Christine Lagarde answered questions on the matter in 2013, she was just a witness. This time, the head of the IMF will be in the dock herself, accused of negligence in her decision to hand the case to arbitration. Lagarde denies any wrongdoing.

(on camera): It is inside this building that the special jury of three magistrates and 12 parliamentarians will be delivering their verdict on the question of Christine Lagarde's negligence. If they find her guilty, she risks up to a year in jail and a fine of up to 15,000 Euros. But perhaps more than that, there's a question of what a guilty verdict would mean for her future at the helm of the IMF.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Millions of people are on alert across east India as a tropical cyclone pushes in. Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here to tell us about it.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is a storm system that was forecasts to go farther to the north, to a city of 10 million it. Making land fall at this hour. When you take a look at the location and the storm system; Over the past several decades we've had storms come close, but none in particular with the one that we're seeing right now as far as the strength of concern. A healthy category one equivalent storm system moving in shore again at this hour. 10 million people living in this metro population, very densely populated region. Any time you talk about an urban environment, a tropical cyclone, it is a recipe for disaster when it comes to flooding, of course, flash flooding in particular. Take a look. Highest population, just south of the city center. You work your way farther inland, the population drops sharply. But a storm system that I think will cause significant damage across the region, which is why officials have put up some 200 relief camps across the city right now. Train service on Monday have been halted across this region. We know business and school shutting down as well. The rain fall forecast, really tremendous. We're talking about 150 to 250 millimeters of rain fall. This is the city whose reservoirs, lakes are only of 10 percent of capacity, meaning 90 percent less water than they should have it. Beneficial, certainly. I think too much of a good thing quickly becomes a bad thing. You take a look at the deficit they've had. We know 2016 was forecast to be in the surplus department. It was in the red. It came in the negative area. Deficits existed in 2014 and 2013 as well. You go back only a couple of years, really, in the past six years we've been in the green. We've received more rain fall than we expected. The rain fall is going to be beneficial. And the storm system, as they move in, quickly it can fall apart over the next 24 or so hours.

[02:26:00] Also watching what's happening in northeastern Asia. We have cold air beginning to filter in, not only some snow showers but expect to some higher latitudes. Our friends about to really see a quick transition here from what is the final week of autumn across the northern hemisphere of what will feel like winter here. And the temperature dropping off into the single digits. A lot of people across in world, at least in the northern hemisphere are going to see autumn go out with a bang when it comes to big-time change in the temperatures.

HOWELL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

Get ready.

Pedram, thank you so much.

JAVAHERI: You bet. Thanks for having me.

HOWELL: Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a young Syrian girl caught the world's attention with tweets about Aleppo. She and her family speak exclusively to CNN about life in that war-torn city, ahead.

Plus, dozens of people are dead after a church collapses in Nigeria. What might have caused it and who may be to blame.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:11] HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It's good to have you with us. I'm George Howell, with the headlines we're following for you.

(HEADLINES)

HOWELL: As the Syrian regime offensive continues around her, a young girl living in eastern Aleppo has grabbed the world's attention and she is now speaking to CNN with the help of her mother. &-year-old Bana has been tweeting about life in that terrible city. But as the government assault continues, as an intensified last month, Bana's Twitter account was deactivated. She has now returned to Twitter, but now lives in hiding.

On Sunday, Bana and her family spoke exclusively to CNN's Jomana Karadsheh via skype.

Jomana, she joins us now live in Jordan.

Jomana, I have to admit, I was worried when her account was deactivated. The world was concerned, I'm sure. So, it is good to see you've re-established connection.

What did the family have to say to you?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: George, we've been in touch with the family over the past week. But they have been keeping a low profile. They are still in eastern Aleppo. They feel that they are a target, so there have been concerns about their safety.

But there have been so many questions about their fate, also skeptics who have raised questions about the authenticity of the account. So, Bana's mother, Fatemeh, decided she wants to speak to us because she wanted to answer these questions.

Here is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BANA AL-ABED, 7-YEAR-OLD LIVING IN WAR-TORN ALEPPO: Hello, my friends. How are you? This is Bana, in Aleppo.

KARADSHEH: The 7-year-old captured the world's attention as her mother, Fatemeh, tweeted almost daily about Bana's life under siege in eastern Aleppo.

(EXPLOSION)

KARADSHEH: Then, this chilling tweet came last month: "Tonight, we have no house. It's bombed. I got in rubble. I saw death and I almost died." With a photo of a shell-shocked Bana covered in dust."

As regime forces advanced and captured their neighborhood, the family disappeared for a while and rarely tweeted.

FATEMEH AL-ABED, MOTHER OF BANA: Hi.

KARADSHEH: On Sunday, Bana and her mother spoke exclusively to CNN from an undisclosed location in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

FATEMEH AL-ABED: I feel that we are really targeted by the regime people, so I can't tell anymore. Even my parents doesn't know where I live really.

KARADSHEH (on camera): Tens of thousands of people have left east Aleppo and they've gone out. Why are you still there?

FATEMEH AL-ABED: I am afraid to lose one of my kids if I flee with all of the people because they think I am work against the regime. I don't belong to any side. I am just what I was speaking about the civilian people, about children.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Fatemeh said she decided to speak to us because some have accused them of being an anti-regime propaganda tool, something she denies.

But she admits helping her daughter articulate their messages to the world. Fatemeh says she feels doing it in English is more effective.

FATEMEH AL-ABED: Bana can speak a little English. I help Bana to make sure that her voice reach to a lot of people in English.

KARADSHEH: Bana's answers in English are short. And her mother, in the background, helps her. We switched to Arabic. She clearly is more comfortable.

BANA AL-ABED: (SEPAKING FOREIGN LANGJUAGE)

[02:35:24] KARADSHEH: Bana says she missing school, she misses her home. And with barely any food available, she often misses fruit.

Two months ago, Fatemeh told us she would never leave Aleppo. Now all she wants someone to evacuate them to safety.

Bana sings her favorite song.

(SINGING)

KARADSHEH: A 1980s song about children of war.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH: And, George, Fatemeh says that Twitter not only gave them this ability to send their voices out to the world from eastern Aleppo, they also receive a lot of messages. They have about a quarter of a million Twitter followers almost. And they receive so many messages of support that Fatemeh says it cheers her family up and gives them hope that maybe someday they'll will have a better life outside of Aleppo.

HOWELL: Presently living in hiding there.

Jomana, again, good to see you've established connection.

We'll continue to follow her on Twitter as she and her family deal with the situation in that city.

Jomana, thank you.

In Nigeria, officials they are investigating what caused a church to collapse during a crowded service. As many as 50 people are thought to be dead there. But it is still unclear how many people were inside when the building caved in. Rescue workers are still pulling bodies from the rubble. They're using cranes to lift these missive chunks of steel you see there. The governor is calling for the arrest of the contractor responsible for that church's construction.

Farai Sevenzo is covering this story live in Nairobi, Kenya.

Farai, let's talk about the contractor who was arrested, and any cause, the reason for this church to have collapsed. Do we know anything?

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN NAIROBI CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, it seems that hundreds of people have gathered for the consecration of the bishop, and 20 minutes into the service, the iron girders supporting the roof suddenly gave way and crushed hundreds of people that were attending the service.

The governor, as you say, has called for the arrest of the construction worker. But it seems that reports are suggesting that the workers were rushing to finish the church in time for the ceremony. And the numbers of dead keep climbing, as I speak to you now. Someone at the university hospital in the capital has put the figure at 160 in the morgues and many more injured.

HOWELL: And the process continues. You say they're still looking for people at that rescue effort?

SEVENZO: The rescue effort is still going on, George. At the same time, questions have to be asked about construction all across Africa. You may remember, way back in April, in Uganda, a six-story building collapsed. In Nigeria, in Lagos, a building belonging to a tenant evangelist collapse, again killing six to seven people.

When we go back to where this building collapsed over the weekend, it's built on marshy ground, on gravel and sand. And it is absolutely true that construction workers are cutting corners to try and recovery from the cost of building this material. I think there are many more questions to be answered in terms of the morality of the construction industry throughout Africa. Where they cut corners, lives are lost. At the same time, while the governor is saying that the construction

people must be arrested, there's no doubt about it, they were rushing to finish this, so that the bishop could be consecrated and the people within the building could have their day. But, absolutely, they could have done it in a tent. But that's the reality of construction in Africa.

HOWELL: It was described earlier in a report that I did, about 24 hours earlier, where they described that church as sort of a makeshift area where they were trying to get people under, trying to get people in. You say that construction -- these situations are problematic. What's being done? What can be done or is being done to prevent things like this from happening?

SEVENZO: In reality, it's the people at the construction companies are being urged to use real building material. For example, instead of using steel, they use scrap metal. Instead of making sure the foundations are strong, they use anything they can to cut the costs of building.

What's being done for the government throughout Africa, whether it's in Uganda or Kenya or Nigeria, they need to be far more rigorous in applying the law as far as construction is concerned. This is just the second church of this type has collapsed in the last two years.

[02:40:33] HOWELL: Farai Sevenzo following the story in Nairobi. Farai, thank you so much for the reporting. We'll stay in touch with you as that rescue effort continues.

Coral reefs in Africa are in crisis. And the communities that depend on them know that if the reefs die, so do they. That story is next.

Also, as Venezuela faces rampant inflation, the president there makes a currency move that critics say is unrealistic.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

Extreme heat this year has caused massive damage to coral reefs around the world.

John Sutter visits a community of Madagascar whose very survival depends on the health of those reefs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN SUTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a tiny fishing community off the coast of East Africa. It's home to only a few dozen people, and among them are Hari (ph) and Lydia (ph), who are raising six children.

(SHOUTING)

[02:45:00] SUTTER: This family knows this reef better than anyone. Until recently, they never saw coral this damaged.

Extreme heat this year has caused coral all around the world to start to suffocate and turn ghostly white. The aftermath looks like a disaster zone or the ruins of an ancient city. No one here can make sense of it.

Scientists do know what's going on. Divers surveyed these waters during a heat wave in April and they say about 70 percent of the reef was damaged by high temperatures. This is a clear sign of climate change. We're causing this damage by burning fossil fuels, heating up the oceans and making them more acidic.

But Lydia has only been in a car once in her life. She may not understand the science, but she knows what she sees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SUTTER (on camera): The family's response to the vanishing coral? Work harder. Hari (ph) and his sons cast lines deep into the ocean while Lydia walks the reef flats in search of octopus.

These skills are passed between generations. Hari (ph) and Lydia are Basu (ph), and that name means "at struggle with the sea." It's hard to imagine a people more connected to the water.

(SHOUTING)

SUTTER: When Basu (ph) children are born, their umbilical cords are placed in a shell like this one and that's tossed into the ocean as a sort of offering. Right from birth, they are a part of the reef.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SUTTER: There's no fresh water, electricity, or school out here. There's no plan B. It's too expensive for Hari (ph) and Lydia to give their kids an education off the island, so the kids must simply learn to fish and sail.

But climate change is putting all of this in jeopardy. Thousands of miles away, we continue to burn fossil fuels, which is heating up the oceans and making them more acidic. That's killing the coral, which 275 million people depend upon for their survival. And here is where they feel it most.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SUTTER: I told Lydia that scientists expect coral reefs worldwide to disappear by 2050 because of climate change. That's about when her children will be grown. She looked back at me and said she's thinks of the white coral almost like curse, one sent from my people to her people.

Before we left, Lydia asked a question about our visit: when we went back home, we would teach people about Madagascar, she asked. Would we tell them about the little kids and their toy boats, about how much they need the reef and this ocean. Will people to see the harm they're causing? I told her, yes, but, honestly, I worry those of us causing the coral to vanish won't care enough to stop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Real problems that people are really dealing with.

Biologists say that the planet is on the verge of the sixth era of extension. That means three-quarters of all species could disappear over the next couple of centuries if we don't make drastic changes now.

Elephants, amphibians, coral reefs, bees and birds, we explore five stories of endangered species in our special program "Vanishing: The Sixth Mass Extension." It airs Tuesday, 5:30 in London, 12:30 p.m. in New York, only here on CNN.

The timing couldn't be worse. Why millions of toys are staying in a Venezuelan warehouse this Christmas.

Stay with us.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:52:57] KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, CNN HEROS: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE: Ladies and gentlemen, the 2016 CNN Hero of the year is Jeison Aristizabal (ph).

ANDERSON COOPER, CO-HOST, CNN HEROS: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE & CNN ANCHOR, A.C. 360: Jeison Aristizabal (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

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HOWELL: HOWELL: CNN'S Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripe announcing the 2016 hero of the year. The 33-year-old grew up in one of the poorest parts of Colombia and he has battled cerebral palsy his entire life. He created a foundation out of his parent's garage to help provide free medical care and services for more than 1000 disabled young people. He will receive $100,000 in order to continue that work.

You can watch the entire "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," Monday at 10:00 a.m. in London, 6:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, right here on CNN.

Venezuela's government is replacing the country's highest denomination bank note. Venezuelans have just 72 hours, just three days, to trade in the 100 bolivar bills for coins. President Nicolas Maduro announced the switch in a televised statement on Sunday. He said the purpose is to prevent mafias from smuggling the bills outside the country. Venezuela is in an economic crisis with triple-digit inflation.

And another move by the Venezuela government has parents outraged. Two weeks before Christmas, nearly four million toys are off the shelves.

Rafael Romo explains why.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN-AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boxes upon boxes of toys stacked up to the ceiling in this spacious warehouse. It's not the North Pole. The warehouse belongs to Venezuela's largest distributor of toys. All of this merchandise was confiscated by the Venezuelan government.

Venezuela's chief of consumer protection said the government confiscated nearly four million toys. The government accuses them of hiding them to sell at highly inflated prices during the Christmas season.

[02:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We have found the case of hording of four million toys, so the children of our community's neighborhood and government committees will, for sure, have their toys for Christmas thanks to our laws. This is like reinforcement for Baby Jesus.

ROMO: Venezuelan tradition says that Baby Jesus, not Santa, brings the toys.

(on camera): According to authorities, the operation targeting the toy distributor began Thursday. But law enforcement officials were still at the warehouse over the weekend. The toys, the government says, will now be made available at under-market prices to families with children in impoverished neighborhoods.

(voice-over): Some consumers are calling President Maduro the Grinch that stole Christmas. Now many stores won't have any toys for the Christmas season.

Business leaders go further, saying this is nothing less than thefts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): This is against our rights and due process. This is part of the constant attacks that we business people have endured in Venezuela over the last 15 years, which have caused a loss of 60 percent of all companies in Venezuela.

ROMO: And while many children in poorer neighborhoods will get some of the toys, for other families elsewhere in the country, their only hope now rests with Baby Jesus.

Rafael Ramos, CNN.

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HOWELL: We thank you for being with us for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More news just after the break. Stay with us.

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