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Evacuations Fail After First Ceasefire Unravels; Short-term Rates Up; Billion Accounts Likely Stolen in Yahoo Hack; Trump Meets with Tech Industry Leaders; Trump's Conflicts of Interest with Business, Children; Was Democrat Hacking Result of Typo; Philippines President's Shocking Admission; Calexit Movement Gaining Momentum. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 15, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:09] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour, the first ceasefire failed within hours but now rebel fighters say they have a new deal to get civilians out of Aleppo.
Hack attack and it's big. A billion Yahoo! accounts may have been breached.
And they call him Duterte Harry for a reason. The president of the Philippines makes another startling admission.
Hello, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. I'm John Vause. We're now into the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A.
The situation in Aleppo, Syria right now is chaotic and unclear. Rebel fighters say there is a new deal with the government one day after the first cease-fire agreement collapsed. And part of the deal should allow thousands of civilians to evacuate the besieged city.
Jomana Karadsheh is live in Amman, in Jordan this hour.
So, Jomana, where do we stand at the moment. Is the cease-fire holding? And more importantly are the buses moving with the civilians on board?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the first part of that deal, which is that halt in fighting, we did see that go into effect late last night and according to people on the ground there has been a cease-fire that's in effect. Now the other part, the critical part, that is the evacuation, that has not happened so far. Some reports suggested that that would begin at 8:00 a.m. local time, which is right now but we're going to have to wait and see if that happens.
As we saw yesterday, this is a critical part and of course this whole deal is so fragile, so complicated with so many different players on the ground. We have to wait and see what happens in the coming hour and hours ahead -- John.
VAUSE: OK. Jomana, thank you. Jomana Karadsheh in Amman. You will be back with us in a moment, Jomana. So thank you. Thousands of civilians are being trapped in eastern Aleppo for months
thought it would all be over by now. That was until the original cease-fire unraveled within hours.
We have details from ITV's Dan Rivers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, ITV NEWS REPORTER: Aleppo thought this would be the day peace would finally prevail. But this afternoon that glimmer of hope was shattered in the most brutal fashion. President Assad's tanks and artillery once again unleashing everything they had including this bright burning substance possibly white phosphorous. For those trapped inside it was terrifying.
MONTHER ETAKY, ALEPPO RESIDENT: There are some families here. We are -- we have families here and that will be a danger for them. I have a family. I have a baby boy, five months, still -- still here. We want to just evacuate out of the city to safe place.
LINA SHAMY, SYRIAN ACTIVIST: Criminal Assad regime and the Iranian have broke the ceasefire and they were back to attack the civilians and to continue the genocide. Civilians are stuck again in the city.
RIVERS: It was a tragic end to a day which had started with such promise. Before dawn more than 30 buses were waiting to evacuate rebels and civilians but the lack of trust between both sides saw the deal break down before a single fighter have boarded.
With the gathering light it was clear the plan to drive them to rebel territory a few miles to the west of the city was in tosses. They made arguments over new conditions imposed by Iran. But for ordinary Aleppons made homeless by the fighting the international wrangling means just one thing, more suffering. Their Aleppo's airport, a warehouse complex is now home to thousands camping out on freezing concrete floors, the inevitable results of a war that's been allowed to rage for years.
This is what it looks like when a city is emptied by war. There are thousands of people in this refugee camp and 500 or so arriving every single day. It is bitterly cold in this warehouse and they are left to huddle around a fire to try and keep warm. You got to wonder where is the international community.
Tonight, the temperature is plummeting well below zero. Some don't even have shoes, grown men are shivering, so how is a baby supposed to survive?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): My grandson is orphaned. His father and mother were killed. We don't have anything to wear. We leave everything behind to come here.
RIVERS: The most vulnerable have been left with nothing, aid workers can't understand why.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about the children. The people here we have so many people, we have to think, and the weather is so cold. They can't handle it with this weather. They can't -- they just need shelter.
RIVERS: But across this ravage city there is desolation that will take decades to rebuild.
[01:05:04] So many homes emptied of families, some of whom will never return.
Dan Rivers, ITV News, Aleppo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me once again is Jomana Karadsheh in Amman, Jordan. Also, Samah Hadid, with Amnesty International in Beirut, and here in Los Angeles, Lucy DerTavitian, a journalist covering the Middle East.
Thanks to all for being with us.
Selma, first to you. Are you hopeful that this second attempt at a evacuation will go ahead according to plan?
SAMAH HADID, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Well, John, we can only hope for a safe evacuation because we've been in touched with civilians on the ground in East Aleppo, and they desperately, desperately need an evacuation. They fear death and they feel trapped. And they feel as though they've been failed by the international community. So Amnesty, along with other organizations, are calling for a safe evacuation of civilians.
We're also calling for U.N. monitors to be deployed on the ground to make sure that this evacuation is safe and civilians are protected from revenge attacks from detention and unrest, because we are also hearing reports that there have been a number of detentions and arrests by the authorities. So we urgently need an evacuation and for U.N. monitors to be deployed on the ground.
VAUSE: Jomana, to you there in Amman, hundreds of protesters gathered outside of the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. They are clearly blaming the Iranians for the first ceasefire unraveling. This is what happened.
So, Jomana, do we know what those conditions were that the Iranians demanded at the last moment and had they been met?
KARADSHEH: Well, as you know, John, Iran is a key player in Syria, a major ally of the regime and a backer of Bashar al-Assad's regime. And they have played a key role on the ground in shifting this battle in favor of the regime. Now while the Russian airpower has been a major game changer, we've also seen that when it comes to Iranian boots on the ground and also Iranian-backed Shia militias, Iraqi and Lebanese. They've also played a key role especially here in the battle for Aleppo.
And what we've heard from opposition sources is that they are saying that it was the Iranians who were unhappy with this deal that was brokered by Turkey, and it was between the Russians and the opposition. And that they did not really have a say in this. And there has a number of demands, amongst them that they wanted included in this deal is avoiding medical evacuations in two Shia towns in Idlib Province, Foua and Kefraya. And they wanted to see fighters, according to these reports that we've been hearing, and medical evacuations to take place.
We're going to have to wait and see if this does happen, and if the Iranians did get their way here. It really underscores how complicated the situation is, with so many different parties involved -- John.
VAUSE: Yes. It is very complicated.
And Lucy, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was interviewed by Russian TV, wasn't just the Iranians who were unhappy with the first ceasefire deal, but the Syrian government was unhappy. This is what Assad said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (Through Translator): There will be no pause because this only happens in an area in which terrorists say that they're prepared to hand in their weapons or leave the area. Only then the military operations can stop. Operations do not stop during negotiations because we do not trust the terrorists because they often say something and do the opposite. They used to ask for ceasefires only to strengthen their positions and obtain supplies consisting of weapons, ammunition, et cetera. That's why we do not allow that. Only when we agree to something specific we do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, OK -- so, you know, we need to find out how committed the Syrian regime is to this deal, not just the ceasefire, but the evacuation. And also what is interesting about that interview is that it seems now that Assad is calling the shots here in a major way.
LUCY DERTAVITIAN, JOURNALIST COVERING MIDDLE EAST: It seems like that, but we have to remember that what's happening on the ground is that Assad forces are tired. They're weak. And another thing that happened that's very important is that they've localized and they're kind of -- his forces have become more regional forces and their interests are more regional rather than those of Assad. So really who's doing the work on the ground, really are the Iranians and the Russians, which means that no matter what, Assad has to balance his ambitions with those of the Iranians and the Russians.
He doesn't have the kind of force that he used to have. And we know now that they're claiming that East Aleppo, it's not going to end there. Right? Even -- once the victory has been fully realized, as Assad called it, the fight is definitely going to be taken to Idlib.
[01:10:04] VAUSE: So what you're saying is when the Iranians say this deal won't go ahead, Assad doesn't have much choice?
DERTAVITIAN: I don't think he does. It doesn't seem like it because the Iranians are the boots on the ground. The Iranians are the ones that are doing the work. And a lot of his forces have, again, they've taken their focus is more of the regional smaller governances that they have to protect. They have to protect their people and the Iranians are the ones that -- the Iranians and the Russians, of course.
VAUSE: Yes.
DERTAVITIAN: Are the ones that are clearing out the rebels.
VAUSE: OK. Samah, to you, the U.N. and other have accused the Assad forces of essentially shooting dead unarmed civilians in the streets. Do you have any evidence which also backs up those claims?
HADID: Well, we've looked into those reports and our research is consistent with those U.N. reports which need further confirmation, and this really underscores the need for investigation but also the need for accountability in this war. We are now reaching nearly six years of war where regime and other parties to the conflict have not been fully held to account for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the six years of this conflict.
So we urgently need the U.N., particularly the U.N. Security Council, to stop blocking action when it comes to these atrocities. To stop blocking action in terms of holding parties to the conflict accountable for these war crimes and these atrocities. And yet we haven't seem that yet. So we're urgently calling on member states and members of the U.N. Security Council to restrain their veto and to allow accountability measures to be in place so that we can prevent these sort of atrocities like the ones reflected in the U.N. report from taking place.
VAUSE: And to Jomana Karadsheh in Amman, we understand the U.K. government is working with other governments to collect evidence of war crimes in Aleppo and other places in Syria. But especially in Aleppo, how can they actually get that evidence in the middle of a war zone like this?
KARADSHEH: Well, as you heard just there from Samah, it is a very difficult situation considering the security situation. It would be very difficult for international investigators to be collecting evidence. But we do know that there are organizations in the past that have trained Syrians to gather this sort of -- this sort of evidence in other parts of Syria. Of course the situation in Aleppo is too volatile, very difficult to say if anything like that is going on in the background. But we do know that there has been a process in the background taking place where they have collected evidence in other parts of the country. It is very complex, very difficult.
We also heard just last month, John, from the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, also mentioning the names, naming and shaming, several Syrian military officials, generals, they say, that are responsible for such crimes. So it would seem that there is something going on in the background to try and collect this evidence for perhaps one day to try and bring these perpetrators of these alleged crimes to justice. VAUSE: OK. And Lucy, finally to you, a lot of people are blaming
everyone for what's happened in Syria. And what was interesting is that Ben Rhodes, who's a senior aide to President Obama, he essentially said that for the United States, there was no good options in this conflict. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN RHODES, U.S. DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The challenge that we face in Syria, even as we've exhausted every diplomatic effort, even as we've been the largest provider of humanitarian assistance for those in need, we have not had a military option that we felt could resolve the situation, could make the situation discernibly better.
You have a brutal dictator backed by Russia and Iran. You have a variety of extremist groups who are fighting on the ground. And really we have not had a military option that we believe could be implemented to resolve the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Was this really a choice between failed diplomacy and a full- scale military option with nearly 50,000 or 100,000 U.S. and coalition troops in Syria? Was there a middle ground?
DERTAVITIAN: I don't know if there were. He's absolutely right. The United States and the international community had no options. And also, let's not forget that the rebels themselves are divided. That's why Assad was able to gain such traction in East Aleppo. And when you're talking about the rebels, a big force of the rebels is al-Nusra Front, which, as we know, is al Qaeda of Syria, so we don't really have -- we didn't have any choices on the ground. But at this point if Assad -- if Assad is smart, what he would is he would work to get a political solution because a military resolution is going to be endless in Syria.
What -- I think the Iranians want a political solution right now as well because this is taxing on the Iranians, this is taxing on the Russians.
[01:15:05] And Syria -- the Syrian forces are worn out. So -- this is the time to gain a political solution.
VAUSE: He's at his strongest feet right now than he has been for just so many, many years.
DERTAVITIAN: Absolutely.
VAUSE: Lucy, thanks so much for being with us. Also Samah Hadid in Beirut and Jomana Karadsheh in Amman, Jordan. Thanks to all of you.
And Paris is showing support for Aleppo. Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday in one of the biggest protests in Paris against the Syrian civil war since it began in 2011.
And the Eiffel Tower went dark on Wednesday night. The mayor of Paris says it's a symbolic measure to call out the international community on the urgency to act.
And you can help Syrians caught up in this brutal civil war. CNN has listed aid organizations helping families to escape the danger, also to receive basic supplies. Please head to our Web site CNN.com/impact and there you will find a full list.
A short break. When we come back ,Yahoo! says there has been another massive security breach and it's likely the largest hack ever.
And Donald Trump loves to tweet so why didn't he invite Twitter executives to big tech summit in Trump Tower?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:05] VAUSE: With the U.S. economy healthy and growing the Federal Reserve has decided to raise interest rates. Fed chair Janet Yellen announced the quarter of a percentage point hike on Wednesday.
We have details from Richard Quest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN MONEY EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The move by the Fed was widely telegraphed and expected so no surprise there. And to some extent, even though this number down 118 on the Dow might suggest it was a rather ugly day, the reality could have been far, far worse, and not only that, volume was low at only 400 million shares. So essentially we can say that the stock market took the quarter point rise in its stride even though, hey, this is probably because they've seen what was happening and they've seen the prospect of up to three further rate raises in 2017.
The Fed almost certainly has now embarked on a data dependent rate raising cycle. The speed of which cannot be determined now largely because it depends on Donald Trump's economic policies.
Now when the Fed chair was asked about Mr. Trump's penchant for tweeting criticisms at companies and even herself she wasn't rising to the bait.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: I'm not going to offer the incoming president advice about how to conduct himself in policy. I'm a strong believer in the independence of the Fed. We have been given the independence by Congress to make decisions about monetary policy in pursuit of our dual mandate objectives of maximum employment and inflation. And that is what I intend stay focused on. That's what the committee is focused on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The one thing of which we can be sure there will be more rate raises in 2017.
Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: There's been another massive security breach at Yahoo! likely the largest hack ever. More than a billion accounts could be affected. The data stolen may include names, e-mail addresses and passwords, but not financial information.
Hemu Nigam joins us now. He's an Internet security analyst and the founder and CEO of the online safety firm SSP Blue.
Hemu, thanks for coming in. Always good to speak with you.
HEMANSHU NIGAM, FOUNDER AND CEO, SSP BLUE: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Even under these circumstances. Hemu, if we look at the information that was stolen, you know, the passwords and you know, e- mail addresses, that kind of stuff, this is personal information, but it's not the financial information, but there's still a big danger here.
NIGAM: There is a big danger because it's not just the e-mail and personal -- even the security questions that were unencrypted were also stolen, and personal addresses and things like that. In essence, a hacker could create a whole new identity and -- mind you, this happened three years ago. So if anything, Yahoo! at this point, I would say gets the gold medal for the greatest hack in history possibly, as well as the silver medal, because the previous one was 500 million.
VAUSE: Yes, OK. So we have this hack which happened in 2013, the 500 million was 2014. Why are we only finding out about the billion hack right now? Why's it taken so long?
NIGAM: Well, the fact that Yahoo! didn't identify it tells us that their mechanisms of figuring out what's happening on their system for security purposes was nonexistent possibly, or most likely. On the other hand, the FBI actually had a source who came to them and said, hey, look what I have over here. This is coming from Yahoo. And they checked it out, they called Yahoo! and they said, you have one billion accounts that were taken or accessed.
VAUSE: Accessed. So who would access these accounts and what's their gain in this? Do they then on sell the information? Do they use it themselves? How does this sort of scam work?
NIGAM: Well, it's both. In the dark net, what you can actually do is go to organized crime and say look, I got access to a billion accounts. What are you going to pay for it? Or break them up into pieces, sell some here, sell some there, and those accounts are then going to be used for further phishing attacks. So the users of Yahoo! could have been getting more e-mails coming to them asking for more information but looking legitimate because they know something about you, so you think, oh, I should trust this individual. VAUSE: Right. OK, so Verizon is in the process of buying Yahoo! for
almost $5 billion. The company issued a statement.
"As we said all along, we will continue to evaluate the situation at Yahoo -- as Yahoo! rather continues its investigation. We will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions."
Could this hack impact that Verizon deal?
NIGAM: Well, if I was inside that evaluation team, I would say it absolutely reduces the value of Yahoo! right now and in fact it's time to renegotiate, and then what Yahoo! should do second is still go ahead if you want to go ahead and do the buy, but come in with better security, better reputation building programs, and really reach out to the customer base and say, you know what, new game in town.
[01:25:01] We're going to do it better, we're going to do it right, and we're going to do our best to put customer security first rather than the way Yahoo! did it.
VAUSE: Yahoo! said a foreign -- a foreign country rather was behind or government was behind the initial hack. What -- the one back in 2014 that we found out about.
NIGAM: Right.
VAUSE: What about this one in 2013?
NIGAM: They actually don't know this one in 2013, which even creates more issues. I mean, at the end of the day, if you really look at what's going on, there was also another attack in 2015 and another one in 2016, all on Yahoo, so that's almost yearly there's something going on. In other words, every door, every window is open. They don't really know how many other hackers may have come in. They only know what they're aware of and they're talking about right now.
VAUSE: They don't know what they don't know.
NIGAM: They don't know what they don't know.
VAUSE: And that seems to be a lot.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: Thanks so much.
NIGAM: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Appreciate it.
We'll take a break. When we come back another bring-your-children-to- work day for Donald Trump. Ivanka, Eric, Don Jr. They're meeting with the top U.S. tech executives along with dad. But some critics crying conflict of interests.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. We'll check the headlines now.
(HEADLINES)
[01:30:17] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: After a contentious relationship during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump wants to make nice with the top tech industry leaders. He welcomed executives from Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, other companies as well, to his gold-plated Trump Tower on Wednesday. The president-elect says he really wants to stay in touch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: You'll call my people, you'll call me, if really doesn't make any difference. We have no formal chain of command around here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining me now is Democratic strategist, Matt Littman, and CNN political commentator John Phillips, talk radio host and political columnist the "Orange County Register."
Thanks for coming back.
Matt, first to you.
This meeting here after such a bitter campaign, most of the tech industry was siding with Hillary Clinton. During the campaign, they talked about net neutrality, a Muslim registry. They didn't raise a word about that during this meeting today with Trump.
MATT LITTMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRAGTEGIST: So let me say, when you say most the tech industry was siding with Hillary Clinton, I would say it's 99 to one of the tech industry, not all the tech industry.
VAUSE: Right. That's the one.
LITTMAN: All the money in the tech industry went to Hillary. I mean, it was really -- the tech companies, what they stand for, the types of employees may have, that is not Donald Trump's target audience.
But on the other hand, if Donald Trump to bring these people what they want, which is tax repatriation, being able to bring their money overseas at a much lower rate, and if he can increase the number of rate of H1B visas for the tech companies, there may be a change of tune for these tech companies.
VAUSE: He could win them over.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Maybe.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: He has made up with Mitt Romney -
VAUSE: You think?
PHILLIPS: He's made up of a Silicon Valley. What is next? Maybe Rosie O'Donnell. She could come to the White House for some Hot Pockets.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
LITTMAN: -- Mitt Romney. We saw Mitt Romney, he was interviewed for secretary of state. Trump demanded an apology from Mitt Romney in order for Mitt Romney to be secretary of state.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: -- so much better at making him secretary of the Veteran Affairs.
VAUSE: They should have listened to Phillips.
LITTMAN: By the way, they should keep Bob McDonald.
VAUSE: Let's move on.
What was interesting was the boss of Twitter didn't turn up. The speculation is because Twitter would not let the campaign do a Crooked Hillary" emoji.
(LAUGHTER)
This is kind of petty stuff, isn't it?
PHILLIPS: Who knows? You can never tell with these sorts of things. The executives that were in there gave money to his opponent. I am sure they said nasty things about them. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, came after him very publicly, multiple times. So, if you can make up with those people, you can certainly make up with Twitter.
VAUSE: What was interesting about this, not just the tech CEOs were in that room about 90 minutes, but also the Trump kids, Ivanka, Don Jr, Eric, were all there. These are the guys, especially Donald Jr and Eric who are meant to be running dad's business. This firewall, may be separating themselves out from the conflicts of interest, shouldn't they have started that by now?
PHILLIPS: Lots of 70-year-olds have their kids in the room when they're talking tech.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK) PHILLIPS: Look, he's still the president-elect. He is not the president. The kids will be running the company. He is going to be running the country. If there is a conflict of interest that comes up, we have divided government, we have separation of powers, Congress will investigate, the media will call him out. It is not like he works in some clandestine industry. He builds huge hotels and puts his name on the top of it. So, I think this is much ado about nothing.
LITTMAN: So I don't.
(LAUGHTER)
So, when we say that the Congress is going to call him out, the Republican Congress, which has basically already said that they don't care about his conflicts of interest, we have Chaffetz who has wanted to investigate Hillary all along, Donald Trump has these conflicts, he could very well be enriching his family members, allowing them into these meetings. That shouldn't happen. There should be a separation that should have already started.
PHILLIPS: He has a very bad relationship with the Republican establishment in D.C., and sometimes were you stand depends on where you sit. And these guys sit in the U.S. Senate, they sit in the Congress, and they do not want him to steamroll them. And there are still plenty of Republicans left in the Senate, including Lindsey Graham, that has a real bee in his bonnet with Trump, Senator Sass from Nebraska and others who I believe would jump at the opportunity if they thought he --
LITTMAN: I only believe that while -- well, I don't agree with that. I believe they'd only jump at the opportunity if his popularity went down. I think if his popularity stays where it is in the Republican Party, they won't be jumping --
VAUSE: It's been revealed that Donald Jr., big hunter, likes to go shooting elephants and lions and tigers and stuff. He had a hands-on role in selecting Ryan Zinke as the interior secretary. Just earlier this year, he said that, you know - Donald Jr said he wanted the job of being the secretary for the interior. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOANLD TRUMP JR, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: Our big inside over Thanksgiving and Christmas, now that this thing has become very real with the presidency, is, hey, Don, the only thing you would be doing in government is actually Interior, so I don't know if I'd be the head of it or just informing them but --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:35:08] VAUSE: OK, so kind of tongue in cheek.
But, John, this is what Democrats and Republicans are kind of worried about.
PHILLIPS: All of it's tongue in cheek. It was a joke. VAUSE: Oh, come on.
PHILLIPS: The kids -- it was well known.
VAUSE: But he does have a hands--on role in choosing --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Yeah, but sometimes the father does, sometimes the father doesn't. They didn't like -- the kids, him and Ivanka, didn't like Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski was the campaign manager. The campaign hits rocky moments and then Corey was removed. And Corey came to work for us here at CNN.
What is the first thing that happened after Donald Trump is elected president, Corey resigned and then went to go take some sort of job with the Trump administration. So, if the kids do not like him, and he is still back in the father's good graces, he certainly not listening to everything that they are saying.
LITTMAN: One of the problems they have isn't just with the influence of Trump's kids. There seems to be nobody who is going to be working in this White House in a leadership position with any experience in politics or in a White House. Priebus, Bannon, these are people -- we're talking about an enormous organization. We're talking about the government. None of these people have any experience.
(CROSSTALK)
LITTMAN: That is a real concern.
VAUSE: To the other conservative Democrats, at least, when it comes to conflicts of interest, is this hotel in Washington, D.C., which the Trump Organization and Donald Trump leases from the federal government. Democratic leader, Elijah Cummings sees that as one of just many conflicts of interest, which is on the horizon. He is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D), MARYLAND: He -- look, and all you have to do is read the lease. It says basically, if you are an elected official, you can't be a part of the lease. Period. I mean -- it's no ands, ifs or buts. And so basically what they told us is that he would have to get out of that lease at some point. And it needs to be done sooner rather than later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There are so many issues that are coming up with the business and the presidency.
Matt, isn't this was the transition should have been doing for months and months and months before it came to this point?
LITTMAN: Yes, but they did not think there were going to win, so that's why they didn't do it. Until that 9:00 on election night, they said, oh, my gosh, wait, what? And we're all going to be moving to Washington. So, it seems obvious that between the family members, Trump paying himself back all this money from the campaign, the hotel where foreign diplomats want to say when they come to town -- which, by the way, I have to say, the outside of the hotel looks very nice. I will not step foot in that hotel.
(LAUGHTER)
But it does look like it did a good job. But there are going to be conflicts of interest all over the place. If Congress was doing its job, these investigations would start pretty quickly.
PHILLIPS: It happens all the time at the state and local level. In the city of New York, Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor, where the financial sector is the economic engine of that city. What type of business did he come from? He gave from the financial sector. He owned a news agency that covered the financial industry. It all worked out. This will work out, too.
VAUSE: We'll hold you to that.
One of two really bizarre twists in the campaign, the hacking of John Podesta's e-mails. It now appears that was the result of a typo. There was phishing email which Podesta received. A tech expert looked at it, in the campaign, an aide, and actually said, "This is a legitimate email, John needs to change his passwords immediately." What he meant to type was, "This is an illegitimate email."
Is it possible, Matt, that that the entire election was actually decided by a typo?
LITTMAN: Who could feel worse right now than John Podesta. I mean, really?
VAUSE: Well, the guy that sent the e-mail.
LITTMAN: Right. This is just horrible. Yeah, it is possible. Listen the bigger story here is not John Podesta. It is the Russians hacking the e-mails. It is whether Congress is to really going to look into this. It is what -- what the Russians -- why did the Russians want Donald to be president? Those are the bigger issues here, not John Podesta.
PHILLIPS: The only angrier person in the United States than John Podesta, is Hillary Clinton.
LITTMAN: Right.
VAUSE: Right.
And on that, thank you.
LITTMAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Appreciate it. The controversial Philippines president is making headlines for a shocking admission about his time as mayor. What he said. That's next on NEWSROOM L.A.
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[01:42:04] VAUSE: New satellite images indicate China has installed weapons systems on all seven artificial islands, which are being built in the South China Sea. A U.S. think tank released the photographs saying they show anti-aircraft guns and other weapons systems that would guard against cruise missiles, all this despite a pledge from Chinese President Xi Jinping that his country has no intention of militarizing the islands.
President Rodrigo Duterte is making a deadly war on drugs in the Philippines. Now he admits that during his time as Davao City mayor, he took a hands-on approach to killing suspected criminals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT: I must admit that a third of the killings really happened during police encounters. And I know it because I am not trying to pull my own chain. But in Davao, I used to do it for so many. If I can do it, why can't you?
I go around Davao on a motorcycle with a big black helmet and I would patrol and looking for trouble or so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Saima Mohsin joins us now from Bangkok in Thailand.
Saima, Duterte has admitted killing before, but this seems to be the first public admission since he became president. What has been the reaction to these extraordinary remarks?
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, nothing short of extraordinary, John, is it? Human Rights Watch has come out immediately with a statement saying that this brings the meaning of state-sanctioned violence to a whole new level. But the justice secretary in the Philippines has actually defended the remarks, saying, look, admitting to killing suspects doesn't mean you violated the law. He says that he must have to kill. Contrast that with Senator Leila de Lima. She, herself, a human rights activist and a lawyer, former justice secretary as well in the Philippines. She says that she believes action needs to be taken against and President Duterte. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEILA DE LIMA, PHILIPPINES SENATOR & HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST & ATTORNEY & FORMER PHILLIPINES JUSTICE SECRTARY: I should say that is unimpeachable offense, that is a culpable violation of the constitution. That is betrayal of public trust and constitutes high crimes, because these are mass murderers. Mass murders certainly fall under the category of high crimes. And high crimes is a ground for impeachment under our constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOHSIN: John, Senator Leila de Lima also told CNN that she doesn't' feel safe often being so vocal in criticizing President Duterte and his on drugs, calling for an end to killing - John?
VAUSE: Saima, also that forum, Duterte admitted to overusing a pain killer, Pentanol. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:45:00] DUTERTE: It's a painkiller. It's being used by patients with cancer. I was only given a scripting. The time -- if I put -- but not no more, because of I -- of course, we learn that -- (INAIDUBLE). And I stopped it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Apparently, he was taking Pentanol because he had had a bad fall and he hurt his back, but it's an interesting admission from a leader who is overseeing a war on drugs. It also raises a lot of questions about his health.
MOHSIN: Yes, it does. In fact, in this forum, he listed a long list of other ailments he suffering from, from links to his heavy smoking, his migraines, et cetera. Then, he came to this, yet again, another extraordinary admission, taking Pentanol. And, John, like you say, an extreme contrast and perhaps a slight hint of hypocrisy. Pentanol is a narcotic medicine, an opioid. And then he admits not only being prescribed, and he was meant to take a quarter, he took the whole script and was forced to stop by his doctor. Irony much -- John?
VAUSE: Yeah, indeed.
Saima, thanks for that. Appreciate it.
For more coverage on Duterte's war on drugs, please go to CNN.com/Philippines. An in-depth look at how the battle is being fought. A look inside the country's overcrowded jails and a whole lot more. Go online at CNN.com/Philippines.
And we'll be right back.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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[01:50:28] VAUSE: Two Japanese journalists had a nerve-wracking reception when they went to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BARKING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Wasn't so much the president that was intimidating, but rather the president's dog having scared the daylights out of them. The 4- year-old Akita is named Youmay (ph). But the Russian president always knows how to bring an angry dog to heel. Youmay (ph) was given a treat, a pat on the head and then performed some tricks. Kind of like Putin's international policies. Putin says the journalists were right to be afraid.
We all know him as television's favorite dad. Alan Thicke died last night at the hockey rink, playing with his kids. He was one of the most favorite dads on TV. And he's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 69-year-old Alan Thicke had a heart attack doing something he loved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at how many hockey shoes you have.
ALAN THICKE, ACTOR: You don't say hockey shoes ever to a Canadian. These are skates.
MOOS: He was playing hockey with his 19-year-old son, Carter, when he felt nauseous and had chest pain.
"Today, I lost my best friend in my idol when the world lost one of its finest," tweeted Carter.
His most famous son, Robin --
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- did not borrow these lines, writing, "He was the best man I ever knew."
Thicke was most known -
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- for the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains."
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You've just got to love him.
THICKE: Well that's fine with me because this girdle is killing me.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: He played a gender-bending role as a stay-at-home psychiatrist and idealized dad.
KIRK CAMERON, ACTOR: I didn't do the stupid drug.
MOOS: The sitcom occasionally covered serious topics, like cocaine use.
CAMERON: Thanks, Dad.
MOOS: The show launched other stars, like Leonardo DiCaprio --
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: You don't trust doctors any more than I do.
MOOS: -- and lasted seven years.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was it about the '80s that kept that show so popular.
THICKE: I think it was a me, Aaron. It was all me. I carried it.
MOOS: He's kidding.
"Growing Pains" saved him from his most painful TV experience.
THICKE: We'll be back in a moment to see what else will have happen.
MOOS: A failed talk show that went up against the Buzzsaw --
(CHEERING)
MOOS: -- of Johnny Carson.
Thicke also composed theme songs to "The Facts of Life" --
(SINGING)
MOOS: And "Different Strokes."
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- and "Wheel of Fortune"
(MUSIC)
MOOS: In his last movie role, Thicke dropped his good-dad persona to play a bad father.
THICKE: It's not my fault. And I don't care anyway.
MOOS: But he sure cared about his wife and his three sons. And his fans cared about him.
THICKE: The final curtain.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
THICKE: Yeah!
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: By the end of the week, election officials in California will officially certify the state's results of the vote count in the presidential election. The official results have Hillary Clinton crushing Donald Trump almost two to one, ahead by more than four million votes. Nationally, Clinton is ahead almost three million votes. One big take away from that, if you take California out of the equation, Trump would have won in a landslide.
This may explain why the California Independence campaign is gaining some momentum. It's being called Calexit.
And the man behind it, the campaign, is Louis Marinelli. He joins us now from in Russia, not far from Siberia, I think.
Louis, you're in Russia. A lot of Americans uneasy with Moscow right now. They're not organizing your campaign for California Independence, are they?
LOUIS MARINELLI, PRESIDENT, YES CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN: Of course, not. Russia's not working on our campaign for independence. We are trying to reach out to the international community to talk about California becoming an independent country, because inevitably out path to nationhood requires the consent and the recognition of our status as a country from the international community.
VAUSE: This started out as soon as the fringe idea, but it is gaining some momentum and it could be on the ballot by 2019?
[01:55:52]MARINELLI: Yeah, our goal is to get on the ballot in 2019. We started about two years ago, and we have been traveling around the state of California the last two years or so and gaining support ever since. And of course, since the election of Donald Trump, a lot more people of people have been giving us more attention. And we have been growing so fast and so significantly that we are having trouble keeping up with the support. We have thousands of unanswered e-mails and we have thousands of registered volunteers that we have to still to activate. So, we're very busy and very confident we will be able to do this and get it on the ballot in 2019.
VAUSE: You have to have 500,000 signatures, I think, for that to happen.
Is this not quite like Brexit, where the U.K. left the E.U.? Is it more like the Scottish independence vote, which failed a couple of years ago?
MARINELLI: It is a mixture of the two, because on the one hand, it's an example of California going to do a Brexit-like vote because we are attempting to secede peacefully and legally from a political union. Whereas the Brexit vote was cessation from the European Union, our challenge will be secession from the American union, so to speak. It's more like the Scottish independence referendum, because we are trying to become our own independent country, whereas the United Kingdom already was its own independent country. So, there is mixture of those two. And we do intend to exactly put out the idea of the Scottish independence referendum, and the same question that they asked their voters is kind of the base of the question that we'll be asking out voters is, should California become a free and independent country. And that's a similar question that the people of Scotland answered a couple of years ago.
VAUSE: Very quickly, a few years ago, when President Obama won, Texas threatened to secede. There were mocked as sore losers, having a temper tantrum. Could the same be said about Calexit?
MARINELLI: Not exactly. Not at all, actually, because our campaign, like I mentioned, started a couple of years ago. It is not about a reaction to Donald Trump, although he has certainly has invigorated the people of California to support our campaign. We've been around for a couple of years. And this not about one person or one election. It is more about a broken system, a broken system that I have witnessed and experienced my whole life. I'm 30 years old, so I'm not that old, but all my life, I have seen political division and political animosity in this country. And to an increasing extent. So, we've basically said, in California, we are giving up on the American system, that it is not working in our best interests, it's not working at all, actually, and we would be better off as independent country. It's not specifically about Donald Trump and the presidential election.
VAUSE: OK.
MARINELLI: It's about political dysfunctional.
VAUSE: Louis, we'll leave it there. But we should mention, you are in Russia teaching English, which is why you are in that very remote part of that country.
Louis, thank you so much for being with us.
MARINELLI: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching NEWSROOM. I'll be right back.
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