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Trump To Pick ExxonMobil CEO As Secretary Of State; Rex Tillerson Closely Tied To Russia & Putin; Nuclear-Capable Chinese Jets Fly Over South China Sea; Cyclone Vardah Kills 10 People In India; Activist: Regime Forces Executing Civilians; Rio Faces Economic Crisis Instead of Post-Olympics Boom; Political Turmoil in S. Korea's Makes it Target for N. Korea; Questions over Ivanka Trump's Business Practices; Trump Supporters Call for Boycott of New "Star Wars" Movie. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 13, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Hello everybody, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, meet Donald Trump's pick for the U.S. top diplomat, Vladimir Putin, already has.
Plus, East Aleppo's bloody final hours. Activist say women and children are being executed, as Syrian troops moved in.
And later, the heroes of the new Star Wars film prepared to fight the dark side, but some Trump supporters are calling for a boycott - we'll explain why, later this hour.
Hello everybody, great to have you with us I'm John Vause. This is NEWSROOM L.A.
Donald Trump is set to announce Rex Tillerson as his pick for Secretary of State, the ExxonMobil CEO has close business ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin, which critics say is a sign of Trump's plans for relations with Moscow. CNNs' Sunlen Serfaty has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REX TILLERSON, CEO OF EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION: We are the largest American oil company. We're very global -
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rex Tillerson, a career oil man on track to become the Nation's chief diplomat.
TILLERSON: Someone who has spent his entire career in the energy industry.
SERFATY: Tillerson, a 64-years-old conservative Texan has no government or foreign policy experience. He has only held one job in his adult life, working for the last 40 years at Exxon - first hired as a Civil Engineer out of college, working his way up the corporate ladder through the international division and then rising to CEO in 2006.
TILLERSON: The belief in the promise of international engagement and in the potential for global approach is to meeting this nation's challenges.
SERFATY: At the helm of ExxonMobil, Tillerson operated at a high level, internationally. Negotiating on behalf of Exxon's interests with deep relationship in the gulf in Middle East, Asia, and Russia.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He's much more than a business executive. I mean, he's a world class player.
SERFATY: Tillerson having deep ties especially to Russia, in Vladimir Putin. Even receiving the order of friendship in 2012, a high honor bestowed to him personally from Putin.
TRUMP: To me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well. He's does massive deals in Russia.
SERFATY: But, that seen as an asset to President-elect Trump is the problem for some on Capitol Hill.
JOHN MCCAN, UNITED STATES SENATOR: I have obviously concerns of reports of his relationship with Vladimir Putin who is (INAUDIBLE) murderer.
SERFATY: Marco Rubio tweeting quote, "Being a friend of Vladimir is not an attribute I am hoping for from a Secretary of State."
Meantime, Tillerson's views on climate change in opposition to the President he's about to serve.
TRUMP: We will cancel this deal so that our companies can compete.
SERFATY: Tillerson, supported the Paris Climate Change Agreement reached earlier this year, and has declared climate change a problem - at odds with Trump.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS SUNDAY HOST: Where are you on the environment?
TRUMP: I'm very open-minded. I'm still open-minded. Nobody really knows -
SERFATY: While Exxon spent on years denying that burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change - under Tillerson's time, the company softened its stands.
TILLERSON: While there are a range of possible outcomes, the risk posed by rising greenhouse gas emissions, could prove to be significant.
SERFATY: Outside of his work, Tillerson, a father of four, has deep lineage the Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle Scout himself, he served as National President in 2010, and had a big role in moving the organization forward, in allowing the acceptance of Gay Scouts. Sunlen Serfaty, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Joining me now, Democrats strategist, Mac Zilber; and Republican consultant, John Thomas; also CNN contributor and former Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Dougherty in Seattle, Washington; and CNN's Correspondent in Beijing, Matt Rivers. Thank you all for being with us.
Mac, first to you, the U.S. has had a politician or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton - academic. I'm sorry, (INAUDIBLE) Condoleezza Rice, a general, Colin Powell. Why not have a business man?
MAC ZILBER, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, it's not about not having a businessman, but which businessman. Tillerson has not just ties to Putin and Igor Sechin in Russia, which has been widely reported, but ties to hostile regimes all over the world. I mean, ExxonMobil has a rogue's gallery of relationships with foreign governments and a lot of, you know, bad countries in Middle East, and he's been making deals there. This guy has worked for one company his entire life and the notion that he's going to set that aside now, and act in the public interest when his company benefits or falls depending on the decisions he makes as Secretary of State - seems dubious at best.
[01:04:48] JOHN THOMAS, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I mean, I think the idea that he has though with many foreign government is a good thing, he's a businessman - he's a deal-maker which is the kind of thing that Trump likes, and remember when Trump was running for President he's talking about bringing a - what, Jack Welch in the Cabinet. So, this guy has experience with Putin. The fact is, remember when Donald Trump also was running for office, he said that a lot of our foreign entanglements should be all about the oil. That in Iran, that we should be taking the oil - well, who better than a guy who is an oil man to perhaps cut those kinds of deals.
VAUSE: You mean the guy who has been taking the oil to take war of the oil.
(CROSSTALK)
ZILBER: No, we don't take theory of a foreign policy.
VAUSE: I mean, one thing, though, Mac, Tillerson, is that, you know, we're talking about his friendship with Russia, but he has - you know, does a very hard bargaining with the Russians in the past. At one point, I think, they wanted to cancel one of the contracts, he negotiated with them because it was so - it so was tough.
THOMAS: Right. There's a reason why he's been in-charge of Exxon's because - look, the shareholders don't mess around, they want a guy who can get things done and increase shareholder value. Well, Donald Trump wants a Secretary of State who can increase shareholder value - American shareholders. Look, I think he's going to be a good pick and Donald Trump didn't just decide on this on a whim, he went through a long process of interviewing some of the best of the best.
VAUSE: Then there are other issues, though, all those human right issues, you know, there are a whole bunch of geopolitical issues which are common things as secretary of state.
ZILBER: Right. Well, I mean, he went through a long process and then decided on a whim. But I would say that, you know, running a big government bureaucracy is a different job than running a big corporation. They're both difficult, they both take a lot of talents but plucking someone who has no experience in the specific foreign affairs issues, who frankly is not familiar with a lot of the departments - that the department of state manages is not the right choice.
THOMAS: Sound like you're advocating against Donald Trump as President?
ZILBER: I mean, shockingly, yes!
VAUSE: But he was one of the few who speak out against the sanctions that were put on Russia after invaded Kremlin. Let's go to Jill Dougherty who is our former Moscow Bureau Chief in Seattle. So, Jill, could the Kremlin now be expecting maybe some sanctions relief coming out with Tillerson as Secretary of State, this, you know, this obviously is a day of, you know, excitement for many in the Kremlin.
JILL DOUGHTERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's that first thing that you have to look at, because after all the sanctions have heard Exxon Mobil. And so, if you'd look at it objectively - if Mr. Tillerson were to do something that got rid of sanctions, it could be interpreted as he's doing something for himself. So, that is obviously, a tip full.
Yes, that is one thing that Vladimir Putin would absolutely love - that's his priority, to get rid of the sanctions. He continues to say they're not making that much difference. Well, they really are, and you know, the sanctions are really geopolitical, not just economic, because they were introduced because of Russia's incursion in Ukraine, and Crimea. And so, they're all source of implications for keeping the Europeans on board. Many Europeans would like to get out of sanctions, and that kind of cools apart United States and Europe. So, you know, you can begin to see that there's a lot more than just, you know, a deal, an economic deal when you're dealing with foreign policy.
VAUSE: Yeah. Also, some of the more senior Republican Senators have made a lot about his friendship with Vladimir Putin. Our Senator Lindsey Graham said if he's a friend of Putin then we've got some talking to do - that kind of stuff. He did receive his order of friendship award from Putin. So, what is his relationship with Putin and what is that award? Who gets it? How important is it?
DOUGHTERTY: Well, it's a - you know, prestigious but it's not that prestigious. There are some that are very, very high up. But it obviously means that Russian values him, values the relationship that they have, and values the deals that they have had. Now, you know, this - the way that we're using friend of Putin or friendship and everything, I think that is really ridiculously been talked about, because, you have to define what that means. I mean, Putin does have a few friends, from childhood days - but that is about it, there is no way that in the relationship between American businessman, that he is going to -- Mr. Putin -- would change anything because - Gee, my friend, you know, Mr. Tillerson wants something. That's not going to happen, Vladimir Putin is very, you know, cold-blooded and direct about - and transaction, he's almost like Donald Trump in that sense. So, yeah, we're -
VAUSE: Jill, good point there. Stay with us because we're going onto the Russian hacking in a moment. Guys, from that point, about Putin actually, you know, not having a lot of friends.
But you know, so Mac, as far as the Democrats. I could say we've heard about the other Republicans saying, you know, they don't like the fact that he's so close to Putin, regardless of what reality maybe. How the Democrats willing to go to the mattresses to stop this confirmation going ahead because they have to pick their battles, I think.
ZILBER: Look, I think that the Democrats are going to hang this decision around the necks of the Republicans who have been saying up until now that they'll be reasonable and that they'll hold Donald Trump's feet to the fire if he makes a decision like this. You know, this is not on the 48 Democrats who are going to be in the Senate.
[01:10:00] This is on Lindsey Graham, on John McCain, on Marco Rubio, on Ram Paul, and Jeff Flake, and whether or not some of these folks will stand up and say, "You know what, this is one bridge too far" - a guy who has a 20-year-longstanding relationship with Vladimir Putin is one bridge too far. And you know, I think frankly, politically, while the democrats would hate to see this guy confirmed, I think, you know, politically, they also understand that this serves to their benefit because it enhances the narrative about Donald Trump's ties to Russia.
VAUSE: OK. Well, we have Governor Romney who is at one point apparently the front-runner, he was paraded in front of the cameras on a number of occasions, having dinner with Donald Trump, that kind of stuff. He ruled himself out of the job he posted on Facebook, "It was an honor to have been for Secretary of State. My discussions with Trump have been enjoyable and enlightening." A very similar to the statement echoing what he actually had said after he had that great public dinner with Donald Trump last month. Let's go back to that to listen to Governor Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The last few weeks he's been carrying out transition efforts, and I have to tell you, I've been impressed by what I'm seeing in the transition efforts. The people he selected as members of this cabinet are solid, effective, capable people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: John, would Trump have been so calculating as to - you know, cold Romney in, parade him in front of the cameras, have him say nice things. So - without any intentions of getting the Secretary of State because now he's no longer can be considered a credible critic. THOMAS: Yes, I mean, I don't think he's that calculated. I think
Trump really - look, he has no experience in the sense of - he didn't have people coming in saying, "These are exactly who I want to fill my Cabinet." He truly had to go to an honest process figuring out who you wanted in. That's why he's bringing in everybody from Al Gore, right, to Mitt Romney. So, I think it was an honest process that led him to Rex Tillerson.
And by the way, the fact that they say that Rex Tillerson so cozy with Putin, do you think Putin's happy that "Mad Dog" Mattis being part of the Cabinet? You know, it's not exactly like Trump has put together this pro-Russia alignment.
VAUSE: He's not picking every candidate for the cabinet. OK. There is this Russian theme tonight with the news, Donald Trump is disputing the findings by the CIA that Russia actively hacked the election to his benefit, and is the motivation which is the new part of the story. His Senior aid Kellyanne Conway said, "There is no fight here between Donald Trump and the intelligence community." Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP TRANSITION SENIOR ADVISER: I would never paint with such a broad brush to implicate the CIA. We have faith in the Intelligence Community. Donald Trump was asked that question squarely this weekend, do you have faith in the intelligence community? He turned around and said, "I do" - and he does, we all do. So, we're not talking about the CIA here, we're talking about a few people apparently, who are leaking information to journalists maybe to curry favor, maybe they feel like they are affecting the election after the outcome, which, of course, we know they can't do.
VAUSE: Mac, with all due respect to Kellyanne Conway, clearly there is a dispute with the CIA and Donald Trump right now.
ZILBER: Absolutely, you know, Donald Trump and frankly a lot of his team have cast doubt on, you know, the Intelligence Community's findings since during the election. I mean, there is a point where 17 different intelligence agencies all came to the same conclusion and he said, "I know, it could be anybody". And that's been his approach this whole time. I mean, the fact that he is disputing the findings of the Intelligence Community, while refusing to take their briefings, while speaking with Vladimir Putin almost as frequently as he's had his intelligence briefing up until this point, shows a serious mismatch in priorities.
THOMAS: Well, he's not refusing to take intelligence briefings, it's not daily briefings. There's the difference.
ZILBER: He doesn't take them because he's a smart person. Yeah?
THOMAS: Well, he says when they change he can get updates.
VAUSE: Right.
THOMAS: But, the bottom line is - I think the director of National Intelligence did say today, that while they're not disputing what the CIA said, they don't - they disagree that intent was proven, they can't prove intent at this point. So, there isn't some debate, but look, Trump is - this is a fool's errand to disagree with the CIA and the FBI on this front. He won the election, and he might have more to do with fact that Hillary Clinton pulled her advertising from Wisconsin. Perhaps, did make a lot of campaign stops and had no economic message, that might be more why she lost than the DNC being hacked.
VAUSE: OK. The other big issue on foreign policy side is this growing crisis with China. Donald Trump seems to want to use the One China Policy - a bedrock of new relations between communist China and United States for more than 40 years is a bargaining chip. Matt Rivers is standing-by in Beijing right now, because Matt, what we understand from the officials there in Beijing they're flexing their muscles but militarily and in the - in the newspapers - in the editorials.
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, and if we start with militarily, the CNN has learned in the last 24 hours or so from a Senior U.S. Defense Official that China flew two nuclear-capable bombers for the first time on December 7th and 8th over the disputed section of the South China Sea that we've talked about so much on the program, John. That is that area of the South China Sea that China claims as its own sovereign territory, but so many others also claim portions of that area including Taiwan.
[01:15:08] And why this is so interesting, is because the timing of those two flights. Now, remember, the President-elect Trump took a call from the Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen, on December 2nd. And so, that's just a few days later that they fly these nuclear-capable bombers over a disputed area. So, that's on the Military side. And then, in print, you hear often times the communist party get it's positions out in another way using newspaper editorials.
And so, we woke-up this morning here in Beijing to an editorial from the newspaper called the Global Times, which read in part. "The truth is this President-elect inexperienced in diplomatic practices, probably has no idea what he's talking about. He has greatly overestimated the U.S.'s capability of dominating the world and fails to underestimate -- to understand the limitation of the U.S. powers in the current era, and that, of course, coming after from the President- elect's comments on perhaps, not abiding by the One China Policy, a very sensitive topic for Chinese leaders here in Beijing, John.
VAUSE: OK Matt, thank you. Yes, it is an essential issue for China when it comes to Taiwan, but, John, what are the issues that's been raised? You know, when you get alone in the situation room, it is a crisis. And Donald Trump is a - he's inexperienced, I wouldn't mix that. He is surrounded by civilians who are inexperienced, and that kind of leaves the Generals. And that's the dynamic, which could cause problem somewhere down the line.
THOMAS: Yes, it is possible but look, these Generals are not just, you know, fire first, ask questions later. You know, "Mad Dog" Mattis has received praise for being as well read and studied as he is a Military leader. So, I think he's getting good advises to the table. But Donald Trump, I think what he's trying to do is set the table to say, look, we're not going to be bullied, we're going to put America first and it could - look, China's actions are sending a signal clearly, but I would say that Donald Trump is the last guy that you want to push his buttons. So, it's a slippery slope if they keep walking down that road.
(CROSSTALK)
ZILBER: Well, that has scared me if that Donald Trump is the last guy do you want to push his buttons. I mean, when he makes what he thinks is a small gesture because he's not well-read in foreign policy and angers China, and China may respond by doing something symbolic to push back. And Trump is the type of guy who might take tit for tat all the way to nuclear winter. I mean, that I think is what terrifies a lot though.
THOMAS: Against more like Ronald Reagan, peace through strength, but we'll see.
VAUSE: Yes, we'll see. Let's have this more like Ronald Reagan peace through strength.
Mac and John, thank you for being with us also Jill Dougherty, a CNN contributor, former Moscow Bureau Chief there, and Matt Rivers giving us the update from Beijing. Thanks to you all.
And we'll take a short break, when we come back, the Syrian regime looks beyond the brink of retaking Aleppo. Now, activist in the beseeched city are desperately pleading for help.
Also, a powerful cyclone slammed to the Indian East Coast, damaging buildings, flipping cars, and killing a number of people.
[01:20:00] DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hey, I'm Don Riddell with your CNN "WORLD SPORT" Headlines. The big news on Monday was the Champions League draw. The remaining 16 teams now know what their path to the quarter finals is going to look like next year. For some, they will meet familiar foes like Bayern Munich and Arsenal as they played each other three times in the last four seasons. Bayern have advanced every time from the knockout games.
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain match up for the third time since 2013. Meanwhile, the reigning champions, Real Madrid have hurt Napoli, last year's beaten finalist Atletico Madrid have (INAUDIBLE) and (INAUDIBLE) Leicester will take on Sevilla of Spain.
Now, the football news, the draw has also been made for the next stage of the Europa League. 32 teams are left in the competition. And one tie could stir up a bit of sibling rivalry. It's Manchester United and (INAUDIBLE) the French international pool (INAUDIBLE) of course, facing United. His brother (INAUDIBLE) is a defendant for (INAUDIBLE). If they're both picked for the games in February, that would make things pretty interesting.
And finally, perhaps, no surprise, Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2016 Ballon d'Or Award on Monday. The captain Portugal, two European Championship glory, he also won the Champions League again with Real Madrid. He wasn't there to collect the award, though. (INAUDIBLE) in Japan with Madrid preparing for the Club World Cup. And that is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Authorities are reporting at least 10 people are dead after tropical cyclone Vardah slammed into India's east coast. The storm made landfall out of the Bay of Bengal, Monday, bringing powerful winds with (INAUDIBLE) cars and torrential rains which flooded streets. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the very latest on the cyclone. Pedram?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, good seeing you. You know, the storm system actually an unusual one because of the strength when it made landfall. We get a lot of storms in this part of the world. It's certainly not one that comes in with a strong Category 1 strength in Chennai in particular.
Officials saying some 300 trees coming down across town. And you look over at the airport, we know, major travel disruptions across this region as well. That's out of the city airport. You look at the international airport numbers, almost 200 flights either canceled or delayed on Monday. That would be most impact there for it, globally speaking. And we know some of the weather was beneficial. The rainfall aspect of it certainly was for a large area. We've been in an exceptional drought across an expanse of area of the subcontinent.
But the storm system brought in over a month and a half worth of rain in just 24 hours. And if you put that down in a densely populated region. You put winds of 140 or so kilometers per hour in this area, it's a recipe for disaster.
We'll go with foggy conditions on Tuesday. And notice, not much in the way of inclement weather over the next week, but the concern is what is in store once this storm system exits and force its way back out of the Arabian sea.
I still see some rainfall in the western periphery. John, what we're watching carefully is with this storm system to go over a very warm body of water in the Arabian Sea, and then it could form, at this point, the models want to take us potentially strengthening it back up to another tropical cyclone. Yemen, Oman, could be in the track of this sometime late this week into early next week.
John, you might recall that about a year and a half ago or so, we had multiple florid cyclones made landfall across portions of Yemen and also Oman and Somalia as well. So, we're going to watch these carefully as these are some areas certainly that do not want to see weather like this moving in this direction. John?
VAUSE: Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks, Pedram. I appreciate the update.
JAVAHERI: Yeah. VAUSE: Activist say Aleppo, Syria say they're seeing civilians executed in the street. Government forces have been advancing into eastern rebel-held parts of Aleppo and multiple reports claim troops are killing family members of non-rebels, including women and children. CNN producer Tim Lister has been covering the fight against ISIS and the civil war in Syria. He joins us with more on this now via Skype. So, Tim, we have a situation now where it looks like the regime has pretty much taken over of eastern Aleppo, but elsewhere in the country, there are other groups which is still fighting on against Assad. ISIS for instance just recently retook Palmyra. Has any come out of this in a much better position? What's their strategy now?
TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: ISIS is looking, John, for tactical advantage, given what the Armed forces arrayed against it doing. Right now, the Syrian regime is so focused on Aleppo that it has withdrawn and moved to redeploy troops away from areas where ISIS is strong.
However, it has to be said that the Turkey facts are pre-Syrian army factions that are approaching Raqqah presents a real threat to ISIS. So, it's trying to play a game of tactics moving from one tether to another, looking for possible advantage. Palmyra is important because of the presence of oil and gas fields in the area, which would provide ISIS with a much needed boost to its failing revenue.
[01:25:00] So, ISIS is always looking for tactical advantage but in Aleppo itself, you're seeing the regime prosecute this (INAUDIBLE) policy to eliminate the last rebel presence there. And it's almost certain that the groups that are moved from Aleppo will move northwest and west into Idlib where former Al-Qaeda affiliate is very strong. So, it's not the end of the war. It's a major victory of Assad, no question, but it's far from the end of the war. There's just too many players still left active, John.
VAUSE: So, what sort of wasteland will Assad now have under his control?
LISTER: But that's exactly the expression so many people are using, even the head of Britain's intelligence service called this a dessert that Russia and Syria were creating. The World Bank estimated that even just to restore order (INAUDIBLE) that's either the main (INAUDIBLE) in Syria would cost 6 billion. And the old road reconstruction build probably runs north of $100 billion. No one's got that sort of money or even the will power at the moment to continue the kind of repair any of damage that's been done in the last five years of fighting.
So, Assad inherits essentially a corpse. He's (INAUDIBLE) all these cities and homes in Aleppo, Hama, he's reconquered them if you will, but has he actually achieve a part from taking a rump of Syria, where still so much of the country, to the north and the east. Way beyond the regimes control, you mentioned Palmyra, but also across towards the Iraq border you have, places like Deir ez-Zor, still controlled by ISIS. The Kurds still control a massive chunk of Northern Syria as well. Other groups in Southern Syria, around Damascus are still holding firm. So, any thought that winning us - winning Aleppo means bringing us closer to the end of the Syrian civil war seems really misplaced at the moment, John.
VAUSE: And you can add into that, the opposition fighters, those who are still left out in this, you know, devastating defeat in Eastern Aleppo, they vow to continue on with some kind of low-level insurgency against Assad. They still have their backers and the Gulf States. They have the U.S., other western countries. What are the options now for those countries like Qatar, like United States, like the west, those countries which have sort of been backing the opposition fighters now. What do they do now that the opposition has had this huge loss?
LISTER: Well, we know, for example, the incoming Trump administration takes a very different view to Syria than did the Obama administration is looking to cooperate with Russia in defeating terrorism in Syria. And Donald Trump said of the moderate rebels, we simply don't know who these people are. So, the Free Syrian Army that's been backed by the west, the last few years, has particularly bleak outlook, and many of its factions may well find themselves sub-student within the Jihadist movement are still really strong in areas like Idlib. As for the Gulf States, they now looked to what the U.S. wants to do, because it's a very heavy lift for the terrorist who say they will continue to support groups that they've supported in recent years.
It's a really heavy lift for them to counter this massive Russian, Iranian, Syrian alliance with a steamroller in the rebel factions are of places like Aleppo. So, the Gulf countries, they're going to be looking to the U.S. for a lead, but they can't do it themselves. And the (INAUDIBLE) have a very complex set of considerations. Obviously, they want to beat ISIS, but at the same time, they've got an eye on the Kurdish groups that have taken over so much of the north of Syria. An incredibly complex picture, but I think Assad looks at these national environment now, the weakness of Europe and an incoming Trump administration and says that the winds are blowing in my favour, John.
VAUSE: Again, life is on an upswing for President Assad right now compared where he was just a few years ago. Tim, thanks so much. Tim Lister there giving us some analysis of the situation in Aleppo.
We all take a short break. When we come back, Rio de Janeiro had Olympic-size hopes for the benefits of hosting the games, instead, there are now protests in the streets. We'll tell you what went wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:39] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this year.
It's only been four months since Rio Janeiro hosted the Summer Olympics but the hoped-for boom is a bust. There have been violent confrontations between riot police and protects against austerirty measures and low paychecks. Millions of dollars in state tax exemptions are under investigation. Two former governors are under arrest for corruption charges. Crime rates are soaring.
Joining us in Los Angeles with some perspective, David Wallachinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
Been a while. Good to see you.
DAVID WALLACHINSKY, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS: Good to see you.
VAUSE: Let's talk about Rio. The Olympics were never meant to solve Rio's economic problems, but there was this hope there would be an economic boost, which hasn't happened. Now they're paying this huge price. What went wrong?
What went wrong is a lot of corruption, the money was spent in the wrong ways which really didn't help the neighborhoods that needed to be helped. People got contracts that helped a minority of rich people. It just went the wrong way.
VAUSE: In the last few months, there have been a lot of street protests, because many government workers aren't getting paid, there's not the money there, they're broke. Officials have revealed numbers, and there's a big surge in crime compared to last year. Look at this, street robbery up by 50 percent. The homicide rate jumped almost 20 percent. You can't draw a direct line between those numbers and the games but you can blame the financial crisis though caused by hosting the games?
WALLACHINSKY: No, well, I think the financial problems were going to be there one way or the other.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACHINSKY: I'm glad you're even talking about Brazil, because I was afraid as soon as the Olympics were gone we'd forget about the problems they had all along.
VAUSE: Sure.
[01:35:08] WALLACHINSKY: I think the Olympics were just a blip in what was a descent in the hallway of how the Brazilian government is being run, the whole society. I mean, this game is what we anticipated, most of us.
VAUSE: So the Olympic games was really a sideshow is what was a downward spiral already --
WALLACHINSKY: I think so.
VAUSE: -- underway? OK.
What is interesting is the IOC has gone out of its way to talk up Rio, saying they were the most perfect imperfect games. How much has to do with trying to convince future hosts that hosting the games isn't a problem, these games weren't a disaster, stick with us?
WALLACHINSKY: I think -- I was just in Switzerland. I had some meetings. And what they're trying to say is, look, you had all these bad warnings, and they're weren't true. There was no Zika. Nobody got murdered, at least none of the athletes got murdered.
VAUSE: Right. No terror attack.
WALLACHINSKY: Yeah, no terrorists. So, it wasn't as bad as was anticipated. But I think they would really like to avoid another -- how can I put it delicately -- another country that doesn't organize things well.
VAUSE: OK. With that in mind, we're now looking at Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris. Those are the bids for the 2020 Summer Games. First up, which city is best positioned to afford the Olympics? Which is most likely to get the Olympics?
WALLACHINSKY: I think both Paris and Los Angeles were in good position, because like 80 percent of the venues are done. Both have a lot of experience hosting international events. But I think Los Angeles took a real hit when Donald Trump was elected president.
VAUSE: How so?
WALLACHINSKY: Because there's 100 people who vote and that's all. And a lot of them are either Muslim, Latino or women. And there's a big international perception that Donald Trump doesn't like those three groups, or at least doesn't respect them. I think Los Angeles has a real problem. They'll have to say these are the Los Angeles games, not the Trump games.
VAUSE: So maybe keep Donald Trump away from any promotions.
WALLACHINSKY: That's right.
VAUSE: Don't set him out there to campaign.
WALLACHINSKY: That's right.
VAUSE: OK, good advice.
David, thanks for coming in.
WALLACHINSKY: OK, thank you.
VAUSE: Appreciate it.
Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., political turmoil South Korea is making it a target for fresh intimidation coming from north of the border and Kim Jung-Un. We'll explain in a moment.
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[01:40:34] VAUSE: South Korea has strongly condemned the North's recent war games which involved a simulated raid of a mock-up of the Blue House, the official residence of South Korea's residence.
As Brian Todd reports, Kim Jung-Un may be trying to exploit the recent political turmoil in Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An artillery barrage, heavily camouflaged commandos parachute in, storm the compound, take positions around columns as the building burns. these are North Korean Special Forces conducting an attack drill. Their target? A mock-up of South Korea's Blue house, their version of the White House.
LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, FORMER U.S. MILTIARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I think this should be a wakeup call to the South Korean that you have a North Korea that is still bent on the potential destruction of the South.
TODD: The troops practice capturing an enemy, who the North Korea anchor says needs to be put on trial. This drill, according to North Korean media, was personally directed by the country's barbarous young dictator, Kim Jung-Un.
Experts say Kim's forces have good intelligence on the layout of the South Korean leader's residence.
CURTIS MELVIN, JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Here we see a very well detailed reproduction of the Blue House. We have the main facility here, the two auxiliary buildings, even the carport, and even the unique pattern of sidewalks in front of the building. So, they paid very close attention to detail when they build this.
TODD: The North Koreans have staged an actual attack on the Blue House. January, 1968, more than two dozen North Korean commandos infiltrated the South. Armed with these weapons, dressed in South Korean uniforms, they got to within about 350 feet of the Blue House. In a furious gun battle, at least 30 South Koreans were killed, as well as 29 North Korean commandos. One North Korean attack, who was captured, later spoke with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED NORTH KOREAN COMMANDER (through translation): I came to South Korea to kill President Park Geun-hye.
TODD: It was a mission that failed. And that South Korean leader's daughter, Park Geun-hye, is the country's current president. But she's just been impeached in a massive political scandal and had her power taken away.
(SHOUTING)
TODD: Experts say Kim Jung-Un will use the South Korean crisis, the political instability to his advantage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they continue to have a political paralysis, it could be very difficult to deal with the North Koran provocation. We should keep in mind that North Korea has a very savvy sense for drama. They will be trying to get on the radar of the Trump administration.
TODD: It appears now that Kim Jong-Un is already on the president- elect's radar. Donald Trump telling FOX News he needs more help in pressuring Pyongyang. TRUMP: You have North Korea, you have nuclear weapons, and China could solve that problem, and they're not helping us at all.
TODD (on camera): But experts say China is fed up with Kim Jong-Un, tired of his nuclear tests and other provocations, angry with him for not telling them about those tests beforehand. And they're punishing him. China has just suspended coal imports from North Korea, cutting off a major source of cash for Kim Jong-Un. But that suspension is only lasting for a few weeks.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A somber tribute as China remembers the Nanking Massacre. Many stood in the rain to pay their respects, marking December 13, 1937, the day Japanese troops invaded the city of Nanking. After the troops entered the city, an estimated 300,000 people were killed during a six-week-long rampage of rape and murder. Japanese conservatives insist the mass rapes and murders did not happen.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is coming under new scrutiny for some of her businesses practices.
CNN's senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It turns out during that entire campaign when Donald Trump was criticizing --
TRUMP: China's taking our jobs, our money.
China, which has been ripping us off.
We have a trade deficit with China, $500 billion a year.
GRIFFIN: -- daughter, Ivanka Trump, was busy doing business with, yes, China. She sells shoes and handbags made in China. And even in the last three months, the final leg of the campaign, the Ivanka Trump brand was receiving shipment after shipment of merchandise, more than 60 in all, according to records analyzed by CNN.
TRUMP: We owe them. They took everything, $1.4 trillion. How do you do that? That's like a magic act.
GRIFFIN: Trade talk on the campaign trail intrigued Robert Lawrence, a professor of international trade and investment at Harvard. His interest piqued when, early on, Donald Trump found out Nabisco was moving its Oreo cookie bakery to Mexico.
[01:45:13] TRUMP: They're leaving Chicago, which means I'm never going to eat another Oreo again. Nobody -- I'm serious! Never!
GRIFFIN: Professor Lawrence asked one of his assistants to find out where the Trump family makes things. And settled on Ivanka Trump's extensive line of handbags, shoes, clothing, and accessories. Hundreds of products made in China and many other nations.
ROBERT LAWRENCE, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIOANL TRADE & INVESTMENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I think we found something on the order of 600 or 700 products and about half of those were made in China and the rest were imported.
GRIFFIN: Shipments as recently as November have been arriving from China. And in a CNN report earlier this year, we tracked Donald Trump's now-apparently defunct clothing line -- manufacturers in China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.
LAWRENCE: It is certainly at odds with what he claimed was immoral behavior on the part of companies -- other companies, like Nabisco.
GRIFFIN: Which raises a possible conflict within the Trump family. Will Ivanka's products face an increased tariff if the soon-to-be president enacts a soon-to-be-launched trade war? Will Ivanka continue to make her shoes overseas, while her dad tries to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States?
CNN asked those questions to Ivanka Trump. This was the response from her brand's spokesperson: "We have consistently expressed that we share industry leader's interest in bringing more manufacturing opportunities to the U.S. And are looking forward to being a part of the conversation."
Scott Nova, who studies the industry for the Workers' Rights Consortium, says he doubts any clothing jobs will ever come back to the United States, no matter who is president. As he said earlier this year, discussing Donald Trump's clothing line, the industry survives on cheap labor, where, in terms of paying workers, it is a worldwide race to the bottom.
SCOTT NOVA, WORKER'S RIGHTS CONSORTIUM: There is a worldwide search for the countries with the lowest wages and the least regulation.
I'm unaware of any way in which the Trump brand has taken a different approach than the one that is, unfortunately, standard in the industry.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Business as usual?
NOVA: As far as we're aware.
GRIFFIN: Find the cheapest labor for the clothes you're making. It's a business. So, you can make the biggest profit.
NOVA: This is the nature of the global garment industry.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Next on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., some Donald Trump supporters are calling for a boycott of the new "Star Wars" movie. The drama unfolding before the movie makes it to the theater is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:51:38] VAUSE: Fans of certain galaxy far, far away won't have to wait much longer. "Rogue One, A Star Wars Story" had its world premiere in Los Angeles over the weekend. The movie hits everywhere by Friday. But a few rebels and their mission has set off some ardent Trump supporters. They're calling for a boycott of the film because they say the story line is filled with anti-Trump message. It's all about them.
Sandro Monetti joins us now, managing editor of "Entity" magazine.
Nice to have you hear.
OK, may the force be with you.
SANDRO MONETTI, MANAGING EDITOR, ENTITY MAGAZINE: Absolutely.
VAUSE: Let's back up. This started last month when one of the writers for "Rogue One," Chris Weltz, tweeted, "Please note that the empire is white supremacist human organization," to which the co- writer, Gary Whitta, replied, "Opposed by a multi-cultural group led by brave women."
MONETTI: And then the fun began. All through history, when art has been deemed offensive to certain groups, they have protested. Now the online hate group known as Alt-Right have declared that they feel under attack and their values are under attack. They think "Star Wars" is completely biased against Trump. They also protest the fact that it's all male white villains and a multi-cultural group of rebels, led by a woman, no less.
VAUSE: This is a replay of the election.
MONETTI: It is.
VAUSE: But, this time, the woman will win.
We have a statement from a group called Citizens for Trump, posted online. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CITIZENS FOR TRUMP: The writers of the new "Star Wars" movie, "Star Wars, Rogue One," called Donald Trump a Nazi and then spent millions of dollars rewriting their film and changing the ending to bash Trump. Well, we're going to respond. #dumpstarwars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There are so many things wrong about that statement. And it only last 26 seconds. What did he have wrong?
MONETTI: There's been a lot of talk about fake news recently and that is a perfect example of it. But a lot of people believed what he said. And, no, it wasn't rewritten and it wasn't about the election. Because such is the nature of movies, the script was written three years ago, when Disney was developing their whole "Star Wars" program, and filmed over a year ago. So, any suggestion there are any rewrites to do with the election are not true, but a lot of people have jumped on this bandwagon. And, yeah, I think Disney will lose that big Neo- Nazi audience.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: A very lucrative part of the market.
OK, with that in mind, the boss at Disney told the "Hollywood Reporter," "It is not a film that is in any way a political film. There is not political statements in it at all."
Regardless of what the movie was intended to be, has it become political?
MONETTI: I would say "Star Wars" was always political because, if you look at the original in 1977, there were so many in the evil empire. There were so many references to the Nazis. Their soldiers were called storm troopers. The villain's uniforms were based on the S.S. uniforms. And the medal ceremony at the end, George Lucas, the director, admitted was taken from a restyled Nazi propogandist film. And the ice planet was named after a Nazi general as well. There are Nazi references throughout "Star Wars."
VAUSE: That's historical symbolism. They're not commentary on today's politics.
[01:55:04] MONETTI: No, but the point is, those that forget the lessons of history are bound to repeat it. That plays out, not just in the modern world but also in a galaxy far, far away.
VAUSE: Absolutely.
They say all publicity is good publicity. But Disney usually hates this kind of stuff. Is there any concern this could affect the box office with the movie coming out at the end of the week, or is the fan base is so massive, this is -
MONETTI: The fact is, everyone is talking about "Star Wars." They're talking about the plot. So, I think --
(CROSSTALK)
MONETTI: So it's very much in the debate. So, whatever side you fall on, everyone knows the movie is coming out on Friday. The last one was the third-biggest film of all time. Yeah, I'm sure Disney sees dollar signs in their eyes.
VAUSE: And some good reviews -- (CROSSTALK)
MONETTI: Fantastic, wonderful and marvelous, tends to be the early reviews, so we shall see.
VAUSE: OK. Sandro, good to see you. Thank you.
MONETTI: Thank you.
VAUSE: You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
Stay with us. I'll be back with more news after a short break.
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[02:00:08) VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour --
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