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Trump Calls Russian Hacking Allegation "Ridiculous"; Trump Choses Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State; China Sends Message to Trump with Bombers; Activists Say Syrian Troops Executing Civilians in Aleppo; Trump to Inherit Control of Voice of America; Trump Supporters Call for Boycott of New "Star Wars" Movie; Calls Russian Hacking Allegation "Ridiculous"; Trump Choses Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State; China Sends Message to Trump with Bombers. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 13, 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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[02:00:08) JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour --
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VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. I'm John Vause. We're now in the third hour of NEWSROOM L.A.
After weeks of speculation and reported infighting within his transition team, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to announce his choice for secretary of state. Sources tell CNN Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is Trump's choice for America's top diplomat. But the oil tycoon's ties with Russia and Vladimir Putin could complicate his Senate confirmation.
Meanwhile, senior Senate Republicans are joining the call for an investigation into Russian hacking into the U.S. election, a claim Trump calls ridiculous.
We get details from Jim Sciutto.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A former senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the inquiry tells CNN the investigation discovered Russian hacking of Republican entities, not just the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's top aide, John Podesta. CNN was told hackers got hold of information from some Republican House members, pundits, a third-party entity that held data for the Republican National Committee and non-profit groups tied to the party.
(CHEERING)
SCIUTTO: Most of the information relating to the Republican Party was not released by hackers. That, in part, led the intelligence to assess that Russia could have been acting to impact the election for Trump. Though it's not clear if this was truly for Trump or just to weaken Clinton.
FBI investigators were not as convinced. Some of the data appears to have been outdated and perhaps of less value to hackers.
Tonight, the White House said it believes it is clear who Russia was trying to help.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The were e-mails from the DNC and John Podesta, not from the RNC and Steve Bannon.
SCIUTTO: This has put President-elect Trump and his team at odds with the U.S. intelligence community over this assessment.
The president-elect himself is questioning the assessment that Russia was involved in any election-related hacking at all.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Once they hack, if you do catch them in the act, you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody.
SCIUTTO: Trump's transition team is also disputing a report that the Republican National Committee was hacked as well, though no information was made public.
SEAN SPICER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: The intelligence is wrong, because they're writing that the conclusion that they came to was based, in part, on those - the RNC was hacked. It wasn't hacked.
SCIUTTO: Though investigators do have evidence Republicans, though not the RNC, were breached.
(on camera): Now Republican officials can credibly say there is no evidence the RNC itself was hacked, but what we now know is that other Republican organizations and individuals were hacked, and at least some in the intelligence community, for them, this gives them greater confidence that the intent of the attack was, if not to help Donald Trump, to weaken Hillary Clinton. It's still not a conclusion they've reached with confidence.
Jim Sciutto, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now, Democratic strategist, Mac Zilber; and Republican consultant, John Thomas. Also, CNN contributor, former Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty is standing by in Washington; and CNN's Matt Rivers is also live this hour in Beijing.
We'll get to the Russian hack story in just a moment.
But let's start with the major news over the last couple of hours that we are now looking at a choice of secretary of state. Rex Tillerson -- John to you -- chief executive, Exxon-Mobil, very successful business, zero experience in public diplomacy, zero experience in government. Friendly links to Russia, Vladimir Putin. What does this say about Donald Trump and the foreign policy he wants to
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Rex Tillerson is a very Trumpian pick. Donald Trump likes successful businesses, people who know how to cut deals. Remember, on the campaign trail, Trump said repeatedly about our foreign entanglements that it's all about the oil. Why are we not taking the oil? I think Rex Tillerson probably knows a thing or two about the oil. I think that's what he is looking for in Rex Tillerson. And, yeah, maybe have a confirmation battle but I think, all that aside, he will be confirmed and be the next secretary of state.
VAUSE: The fact Trump policies are more than oil.
MAC ZILBER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right. Frankly, he's taking oil in violation of international law. I mean, he made deals with Kurdistan, which is not a recognized government, to go after their oil fields.
But the reality is this is guy who doesn't just have business relationships with Putin. He has been personal friends with Putin for 20 years. The man who runs the think tank that Tillerson sits on the board of says Tillerson spent more time with Putin than anybody in the U.S., except for Henry Kissinger. That's a dangerous thing for a chief diplomat.
[02:05:17] VAUSE: Let's get Jill Dougherty in on this.
Jill, your understanding of the relationship between Tillerson and Putin, and also, this must also be a good day for the Kremlin.
JILL DOUGHTERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Definitely. I think we all know at this point that would be good for Kremlin, there is no question, to have a friend as the secretary of state and a friend under the circumstances dealing in a field that is extraordinary important for the Russian economy. So, that's definite.
Now, about the relationship, I think it gets complicated. I would argue that just being a friend -- and you know, a friend with Vladimir is not necessarily a friend friend. It could be a business friends, a very close business friend, but still not bosom buddies. It does not have to be that.
So, what does it mean? It means he knows Vladimir Putin. You could argue that it's useful to know Vladimir Putin. But where I would come down is, what are his priorities? Are his priorities ultimately for his company, because that's the way he's been dealing for 41 years, or will he be able to look at things from a different perspective, and that this different perspective has to go beyond economic fields, something good for oil, and it has to go to, you know, other issues, like human rights, and geopolitics and relationships with other countries in that region, which is very sensitive. VAUSE: OK, Jill, stay with us.
That's a good point. John, can Tillerson switch from his loyalty to Exxon, where he's worked for 40 years, and now make that switch to essentially serving Donald Trump and the American people?
THOMAS: Time will tell if that's the judgment we have to trust that Trump has and has made. And Rex Tillerson is not just Trump's pick that he plucked out of nowhere. He came highly recommended from Bob Gates and several others, so --
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THOMAS: Right. So, it's not as if this guy is a fringe-right character.
VAUSE: Mac?
ZILBER: I think Mitt Romney might argue that he came out of nowhere.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: A lot has been about Tillerson and the friendship he has with Vladimir Putin, particularly receiving the Order of Friendship medal from Putin.
Let's listen to Republican Senator John McCain speaking with Jake Tapper a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), ARIZONA: Anybody who is a friend of Vladimir Putin much disregard the fact that Putin is a murderer, a thug, a KGB agent. This guy is a thug and a murderer, and I don't see how anybody could be a friend of this old-time KGB agent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mac, in case you missed, John McCain says not likeable.
(LAUGHTER)
Could you see Republicans siding with Democrats to try and block this nomination at the confirmation hearing?
ZILBER: Absolutely. John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio have all come out and expressed grave concerns over the fact that Tillerson has ties not just with Putin but also with one of Russia's top security guys. I think that a number of patriotic Republicans may have to ban together to block certain dangerous nominations like this one so they can show that no everything is going to be able to get passed them.
VAUSE: The problem is the Democrats have to pick their battles, don't they? They can't block everything. THOMAS: That's right. By the way, where their real battle is going to be is at the Supreme Court level. So, look, at the end of the day, this is a great discussion. It's a healthy discussion to have about his ties to Putin, whether he should be picked. But I think he'll get confirmed.
People like Marco Rubio, who has spoken out against him, also walked it back and said but I'll vote to confirm.
VAUSE: OK.
Jill, back to you.
Explain to us exactly -- more about this Order of Friendship award. What is it. Who normally gets it?
DOUGHERTY: It's not that high, actually high up in the rankings. The Russians and President Putin give a lot of awards. They did it in the Czarist days and they still do it. It's nice. It's like -- well, we give the Medal of Freedom, which is very serious, but we don't give as many medals. So, they do. This is not particularly high up but it's a nice thing.
VAUSE: OK.
DOUGERTY: And it could probably be because of his business work.
VAUSE: Nice to have but not necessarily a must-have.
So, Romney said essentially he's not getting the job. He posted on Facebook a couple of hours ago, "It was an honor to have been considered for secretary of state. My discussions with Trump have been enjoyable and enlightening."
All of this similar to what he basically said when he emerged from that meeting in New York, that visible dinner meeting with Donald Trump. Let's remind ourselves of what he said back then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The last few weeks, he's been carrying out a transition effort. I have to tell you, I've been impressed with what I've seen in the transition effort. The people he has selected as members of his cabinet are solid, effective, capable people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:10:06] VAUSE: Mac, to you, has Romney been effectively punked? Has he now been sort of muted, taken out of the game as a potential Trump critic moving forward now?
ZILBER: Yeah. It wouldn't be the first time. He has gone from looking like the voice of moral authority of the Republican resistance to Trump to someone who went to him with his hands out and got rejected. Not only that, but one could argue that Trump has helped get Romney's allegiance by appointing, I believe, Romney's niece to a chair in the RNC. I think that will help mute some of that criticism going forward as well.
THOMAS: The fact is Romney was seriously being considered for this position. I think what's unique to Trump is he's new to politics and he's new to D.C. He truly had to go through an exploration process to settle where he did. I think Romney was at the top of the list until about a week or so ago.
VAUSE: You don't think it was that calculated?
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: I don't.
ZILBER: Trump is pretty erratic in how he does this stuff. I think he may have -
(CROSSTALK)
ZILBER: -- and thought, oh, Exxon-Mobil.
VAUSE: Let's go back to 2012. Let's listen to then-presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. He was talking about the dangers of President Obama being flexible when it comes to Russia.
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ROMNEY: These are very unfortunate developments. And if he's planning on doing more and suggests to Russia that he has things he's willing to do with them he's not willing to tell the American people -- this is to Russia -- this is without question the number-one geopolitical foe that they fight every cause for the world's worst actors -- the idea that he has some more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling, indeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mitt Romney, how you were so right back then, but how everyone mocked you.
But, yeah, the point is, John, he's out, replaced with a guy who is getting the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin. What does this actually say about where Trump is heading?
THOMAS: I think Trump is just singularly focused on economics at this point. I think that's what it's all about. Trump is trying to be a jobs president. I think he wants to figure out how he can work with others in the global community to make the U.S. economy stronger.
Tillerson is not a slouch. We have to expect he's going to advocate for Americans first.
ZILBER: But the problem with singularly focusing on economics is that, as president, you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. And if he's going to say I'm going to delegate my whole foreign policy to Moscow because I'm focusing on creating jobs, one way or the other --
(CROSSTALK)
ZILBER: That's what he's doing, not just saying.
VAUSE: OK, we're getting to the other big issue, which could be the first crisis facing the secretary of state, the issues with China. A lot of concerns being raised now that Trump is willing to essentially put the One China policy as a bargaining chip with Beijing. And that's raising concerns here and also in China.
THOMAS: Here's what I think Trump is doing on this. I think he's putting out some bait that he knows all of us pointy headed elites in the media and the Democratic establishment are going to bite at, and then he's going to say they're standing up for China. It's smart politics. It's terrible geopolitics, terrible foreign policy, but he's doing this for a reason, and it's to rile us up so he looks like the guy who is standing up for American, Midwestern over China.
VAUSE: OK, is riling up many people here and many people in Beijing.
Matt Rivers is there this hour, live.
Matt, China sending a message to Trump, flexing some military muscle in the process.
MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Right, flexing their muscle in both what they're doing and what they're writing in Communist-run newspapers. It was on December 7 and 8, according to a senior U.S. defense official that spoke to CNN, that China, for the first time, flew nuclear-capable bombers over the South China Sea, the portion of the South China Sea that China claims as its own territory. It's a territory that has many overlapping claims by many countries, including Taiwan. What's interesting there, John, is those flights on December 7 and 8, came a few days after Trump took that phone call from Taiwan's president, breaking with decades of standing foreign policy tradition.
And moving forward to this morning, we woke up in Beijing with a new editorial with a Communist Party-run newspaper, called "The Global Times," known to be provocative, and talking Trump's apparent non- committal to maintaining the One China policy. The newspaper wrote, "The truth is, the president-elect, inexperienced in diplomatic practices, probably has no idea of what he's talking about. He has greatly overestimated the U.S.'s capability of dominating the world."
So, bold in what they're doing and saying. Very easy to read the messages coming out of Beijing right now -- John?
VAUSE: Matt, thank for the update. Matt Rivers in Beijing.
And, John, to you, besides saying an inexperienced president and unexperienced secretary of state, but it's the number two also, the deputy secretary of state, looking to be John Bolton. He still believes that invading Iraq was a good idea.
THOMAS: Yes, and he hates the U.N.
VAUSE: Yeah.
THOMAS: He thinks the U.N. should be abolished. And he thinks we should be sticking up for Taiwan.
You're right, it is a shift in policy. But the last eight years, we're not better off really on a foreign policy standpoint. This world is a chaotic place. Trump is going in and saying you can't bully us around any longer. And he's taking bold steps even before he's taken office.
(CROSSTALK)
[02:15:13] ZILBER: Over the last eight years, we've ended two wars. But the thing John Bolton did the other day that was unforgivable was when he said this Russian hacking could be a false flag by the American intelligence services. When a prominent U.S. foreign policy figure, with no evidence, just make up the notion that U.S. intelligence is hacking its own people, that is a serious accusation that he's provided no substantiation for.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: Well, Obama said it was a leak, not a hack.
ZILBER: Which is why Rand Paul has said, no matter what Bolton is nominated for, I'm a no.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: Rand Paul is also a fringe on the foreign policy arena.
VAUSE: OK, Republican Senator, who also ran for the nomination, just for those viewers not familiar with Rand Paul.
Thank you, both, Mac Zilber and John Thomas.
Also, we'd like to thank Jill Dougherty, our CNN contributor, and Matt Rivers in Beijing.
Still to come here on NEWSROOM, L.A., Donald Trump reportedly has considered launching his own TV network for years. Ahead, how he might be able to do that with taxpayers paying for it.
Plus, reports of atrocities in Aleppo. Allegations of war crimes as Syrian troops aim to retake the last few rebel-held areas of the city.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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[02:20:12] VAUSE: Syrian forces are converging on the last remining rebel-held parts of Aleppo. Activists say troops are executing civilians, including women and children who are related to rebels. An estimated 100,000 people are still trapped in eastern Aleppo but there aren't many places left to run as the government looks to seize the entire city for the first time since 2012.
Jomana Karadsheh joins us from Amman, Jordan.
Jomana, there was A tweet from the Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, volunteers who go in and offer medical assistance. They said this, "In this moment, we serve as a reminder that humanity will always prevail and defy dictatorship. We will not kneel. #savealeppo."
They also now pleading for the international community to provide safe passage out of Aleppo. Is the international community going to do that? Will it get involved to give safe passage out of Aleppo?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORERSPONDENT: It's looking unlikely this will happen right now. When you talk to people, John, you do feel this is what the people of eastern Aleppo, what is left, feel right now. They say the international community has done nothing so far. And it's unlikely they'll do anything. We've seen these talks between Washington and Moscow fail time and time again, all these talks about possible deals to create safe passage for rebels out of eastern Aleppo and to evacuate the civilians. So far, it has not happened. The Syrian regime right now is on a path to its so-called victory so it is very unlikely we'll see them make any concessions here or reaching any agreements. But all eyes are on eastern Aleppo and wat happens now, especially, John, as we're hearing these reports coming out from different sources on the ground, from activists and from the monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and others reporting these mass executions in public areas in parts of the city that's fallen to the regime. This is raising a lot fears among the people left there and who don't know what their fate is at this point -- John?
VAUSE: Jomana, one person still there is Bana al-Abed, who has been tweeting from Aleppo with help from her mother. Her last tweet says, "My dad is injured now. I am crying." Just before that, her mother wrote, "Final message. People are dying since last night. I'm very surprised I'm tweeting right now and still alive." And this final message, "I'm very sad no one is helping us in this world. No one is evacuating me and my daughter. Good bye."
Do you know anything more about their fate?
KARADSHEH: John, we have been in touch with the family, especially the mother. We have reported over the last couple of weeks since the family's house was bombed, they have been on the run. They have been hiding. They feel they are targets, especially because of the Twitter account and what they have been saying. And yesterday, the mother said the house they were hiding in, taking shelter, was hit. Her husband was injured. It's not a serious injury. But she says the children are terrified after they saw their father wounded. And they had to flee again and hide in whatever territory right now, pockets that are left in eastern Aleppo under rebel control. They have absolutely no way out, she says, and they don't know what they're going to do. This is something we have heard from others. They are trapped in this area. You hear this from so many civilians, John. It is hard TO describe what people are telling us right now. When you talk to those people who are left in eastern Aleppo, there is a sense that they feel it's the end and they have no way out and they're waiting to die. When you talk to people, you hear fear, despair and anger at the international community for doing nothing for them -- John?
[02:25:41] VAUSE: Absolutely.
Jomana, thank you the update. Appreciate it.
To Iraq now. Some government offices in the city of Mosul are starting to open. Many see it as a hopeful sign of a slow return of normalcy, even with much of the city still under ISIS control. Employees will return to work in the liberated areas of eastern Mosul.
The United States' controversial F-35 Stealth jets suffered a slight embarrassment in Israel on Monday. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter was with the Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony to welcome two of the aircraft, the first delivered outside of the U.S. But the jets were delayed by bad weather in Italy. They arrived six hours late. Shortly after, Donald Trump tweeted that the cost of the $400 billion program for the F-35 is out of control.
Still to come, how a provision in a U.S. defense bill could hand Donald Trump control of taxpayer-funded television networks. We'll explain in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this hour.
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[02:30:32] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States officially at war with both Japan and Germany, a small group of radio reporters made this broadcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RADIO ANNOUCER (through translation): This is a voice speaking from America.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (through translation): A voice from America at war.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (through translation): Our voices are coming to you from New York, across the Atlantic Ocean to London, from where they are relayed to you in Germany.
RADIO ANNOUCER (through translation): Today, America has been at war for 79 days.
RADIO ANNOUCER (through translation): Daily, at this time, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or bad. We shall tell you the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was the beginning of what would become the Voice of America, a radio service funded by the U.S. Congress to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II. It did the same during the Cold War against the Soviets. Even now, taking on the propaganda put out by jihadi groups in the Middle East.
Over the years, the VOA has grown. According to its website, "providing news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of more than 230 million people with digital television and radio platforms."
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ANNOUNCER: VOA exports America's most powerful product, freedom of speech.
(HSOUTING)
ANNOUCER: Accurate reporting, reliable reporting, balanced reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For more than 20 years, the VOA has been run by a bipartisan board of governors, four Democrats, four Republicans and the secretary of state. Now that's about to change. And the board will be replaced with a CEO appointed by the president. That would be President Donald Trump.
And there's more. Three years ago, lawmakers lifted a ban on the VOA from broadcasting directly to an American audience at home. All of this is now leading to some suggestions that the VOA could morph into some kind of Trump TV.
For more, we're joined by CNN senior media reporter and host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter.
Brian, as always, thank you for being with us.
There does seem to be this widespread agreement that the board of the VOA was inefficient, something had to be done. But now, without the board there, there would no longer be this firewall between the VOA and the administration. What are the concerns?
BRIAN SGTELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELAIBLE SOURCES: That's right. Some are raising concerns. This bipartisan broadcasting board of governors oversaw the spending of the U.S. government when it came to these sorts of overseas, out the U.S. news outlets, broadcasters, things like that. And this bipartisan board also had a CEO in the past, Andy Lack (ph), for example, now head of NBC News. So, respected journalists have been in charge of this organization in the past.
The question now, as raised by "Politico" and "The Washington Post" and some people within the organization, is what would a President Trump do with the VOA? What will he do with these broadcasting tools, these outlets that reach hundreds of millions of people or has the potential to all around the world.
VAUSE: The Voice of America, for example, right now, it has programs that air in Russia to counter Kremlin propaganda. Could that change under a new Trump-appointed CEO?
STELTER: That's right. That is the question that I'm glad is now being put on the table. This was something that was relatively unnoticed when the House voted to make this change recently. This change will get rid of the bipartisan board, gives more power to the CEO. The CEO would be a Trump appointee. So, assuming that person can pass a GOP-controlled Senate, which should be easy for an appointee, then that person would be running these operations, overseeing the operations, overseeing funding and, theoretically, could be involved in the editorial.
Now, a lot of this is one or two steps down the road, maybe three of four steps down the road. Some of these concerns are theoretical. But already, people within the Voice of America, in the newsrooms, are raising concerns, expressing those anonymously to "Politico" and other outlets, saying what will this look like, what could a President Trump do with these operations.
VAUSE: You mentioned "Politico." The website quoted one staffer as saying this, "On January 21, we'll have a welcoming ceremony for our next CEO, who could be Steve Bannon, Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter."
Many are familiar with Steve Bannon, the White House strategist and former CEO of the very conservative "Breitbart News." The other two names may not be familiar to viewers outside the U.S. Who are they?
[02:35:11] STELTER: Laura Ingraham, a conservative talk radio host, a regular face on FOX News. She's known for being a grassroots conservative. She's been in the running for any number of White House jobs, including press secretary in a Trump administration.
Ann Coulter, a firebrand conservative, highly controversial in the U.S., known for incendiary opinions, anti-immigration positions. She was very supportive of Donald Trump early on, before many others were in the primary season.
Just two examples of folks who are opinion writers or opinion voices on radio, not journalists, per se.
You know, a Trump administration can appoint who it likes to run the VOA, to run these other broadcasting operations. And that's going to be one of the many, one of the thousands of questions about who Trump and his assistants will appoint. It won't be Steve Bannon directly, of course. Steve Bannon will be the chief strategist in the White House.
But it's important that this is being noticed. There are a lot of questions about how a President Trump will treat the press. And that includes U.S. government-funded operations like VOA. VAUSE: OK, Brian, we'll leave it there.
Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate.
Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, the drama of a galaxy far, far away is sparking big drama on social media. Find out why some Trump supporters plan to boycott the new "Star Wars" movie.
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VAUSE: 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 theater 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)
[02:40:12] 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.
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 early 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: Finally here, you may remember Jonathan Hancock, the American Marine and Iraq war veteran. We talked to him last week. He was finishing a walk across the United States. He completed that journey on Monday when he walked into Camp Pendleton in California, more than 9000 kilometers from where he started in Maryland. It all began September 11 of last year, and brought Hancock face to face with snakes, wolves, even a mountain lion at one point. But it also reconnected with Marine Corps brothers, made new friends of families of fallen vets. He did it all to heal himself and also to raise awareness of the struggles still facing many veterans.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
"World Sport" is up next.
And then, at the top of the hour, Max Foster will be with you from London.
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(WORLD SPORT REPORT)
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[03:00:09] MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump is set to name his number-one diplomat. We'll examine what Exxon-Mobil boss, Rex Tillerson --
