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Obama Blames Russia for Election Hack; Civilians Rushing to Escape Aleppo; Explosives Traces Found in Egypt Air Plane Crash; Thousands Dead in Philippines War on Drugs; Facebook to Start Combatting Fake News; Past Prequel Legacy Haunts New "Star Wars" Movie. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 16, 2016 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, anytime, anyplace, President Obama fired (ph) into retaliation against Russia, from Moscow's effort to influence the U.S. election.

Emotions running high as civilians rush to escape eastern Aleppo but they may not be safe to the law.

And later, it's a movie which is selling out theaters and dividing the critics, will the force be with the new Star Wars spin off.

Hello everybody great to have with us. I'm John Vause. We're now into the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A.

The U.S. release hacking through in the Presidential Election was so sophisticated. It could have only come from Russia and could have only been directed from the very top. And President Barack Obama says there will be retaliation.

(BEGIN VIDEO-CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDEDNT: I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action. And we will, at the time and of the place of our choosing.

(END VIDEO-CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for more the Russian hacking, CNN contributor and former Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Dougherty, joins us now from Seattle, Washington.

So Jill, how would that threat from President Obama be seen by the Kremlin? JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, it's just -- I think a lot of it depends on what the White House does. What they decide, because you know, if it is a signal that you shouldn't do this. Obviously there has to be a strong enough but it can be too strong. Otherwise we will be in war. So, they had to modulate it just the right way.

But, you know, even as you -- I say that. I think that excluding have to be strong enough that it's going to really get to Vladimir Putin as a very strong message. Which means, that he will react of very negatively, he is not going to like the fact that the United States is retaliating. So, where -- again, we don't guzzle such a lack of clarity about exactly what they will do. They being the White House that it's very hard, this is a lot of kind of fighting under the rug that we can't see.

But this is very serious. This is very personal and, it's very seriously because it deals with cyber which is unchartered territory and, you know, where there's a new ball game. This is very -- that potentially very, very serious.

VAUSE: It is serious. But on the other hand we have a situation where President Obama has one month left in office and the incoming president has made no secret that he is much more friendly to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. So, on the one hand, yes it's a threat. But how realistic is that threat?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I mean he can do something right now. In fact President Obama may already have done something. We just don't know about it. So, that could be happening, it could happen in the next few weeks. That's why they're not being very specific that they are saying we will retaliate. And I think, you know, President Obama just realize obviously. He has very little time left. But he realizes exactly what you were saying, that when Donald Trump gets into office, the likely heard a bad happening that retaliation diminishes significantly.

So if Obama going to send some message, he really pretty much has to either have done it or do it now before he has out of office.

VAUSE: And the U.S. is started linking Vladimir Putin directly to the hacking of the U.S. election. And the Democrats Senator Harry Reid, called out the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO-CLIP)

HARRY REID, (D) NEVADA: I understand the answer is clearly, yes. And he's having been former head of the KGB, does that surprise you? And does surprise anybody today when he denied it?

(END VIDEO-CLIP)

VAUSE: I guess the logic here from Harry Reid and others within the administration is that this operation, you know, it was so fast, it was huge, and has such implications that there was no way that Vladimir Putin would have been left out of the loop. Is that how the Kremlin operates it? He would have been brought in certainly at some point during this operation when the hacking was underway?

DOUGHERTY: You would think so, I mean again, the inner workings of the Kremlin are not very clear to many people outside of Russia or outside of the Kremlin. So, but you'd have to think that's something that serious, something that apparently targeted if only the political system, but perhaps Hillary Clinton to damage her. And as a result Donald Trump to help him. You would have to think that it would come from President Putin himself.

[01:05:08] And he is, as he's pointed out. A former KGB, in fact he was the head of the KGB, he was also KGB officer for quite awhile back in the Cold War days. And he knows this world, he knows how this operates. He doesn't -- he is not a hacker, he doesn't probably know the cyber world as well. But he certainly knows that that is the one of the tools that he has, one of the weapons that he has to use.

VAUSE: And one theory that is out there is that Putin sort of got involved in this because of some kind of feud with Hillary Clinton, that that this was essentially pay back. What's the back story there?

DOUGHERTY: Well, back in 2011-2012, Russia held some Parliamentary Elections that many in people in Russia considered illegitimate. That they were not conducted properly, that there was cheating, et cetera. So, you had people who came on to the streets of Moscow and a couple of other major cities in Russia, and they demonstrate. And they came out in real force.

And so Vladimir Putin personally blamed Hillary Clinton who were at that point was Secretary of State. Blamed her for "giving the signal, giving the sign to those people to come out and demonstrate."

So, you could say that he was really saying that, you know, accusing her of interfering in their election process. So, it gets kind of interesting to that part of it.

VAUSE: Yeah.

DOUGHERTY: But in any case, he -- it would -- either was a lot of anger in his part, we understand. And, this is -- this get serious because the whole idea that Russia has is that the United States wants to interfere in its politics and how that the country works, in order to bring down Vladimir Putin. They are convinced that the United States wants a regime change in Russia. So, this gets very serious. And Vladimir Putin also, it's known a just -- is -- let's say, if somebody crosses him, he has a long memory. So ...

VAUSE: No surprises.

DOGHERTY: ... yeah, and so the idea is in a person who we're looking to who's mind we can't know. But it is believed that he did want to make things really difficult for Hillary Clinton.

VAUSE: OK, Jill Dougherty there in Seattle, Washington with some insight into the mind of Vladimir Putin as best as we can get it. Jill as always, thank you so much. We'll tell you the story for the longer (ph) political commentator, Brian Kelly, is the host of the Brian Kelly Radio Show, here in Los Angeles. Brian thanks for sticking around.

BRIAN KELLY, HOST OF BRIAN KELLY SHOW: Thank you.

VAUSE: This is spot now of the Russian hacking, it's becoming a little political fight between, you know, the outgoing and the incoming presidents. We had Trump tweeting earlier on Thursday, "If Russia or some other entity was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?" And that led to response from the White House Spokesman Josh Earnest. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO-CLIP)

JOHN EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The primary defense, well, first of all it is just a fact. You all have it on tape that the Republican nominee for president was encouraging Russia, to hack his opponent because he believed that that would help his campaign. That's not a controversial statement. I'm not trying to be argumentative. But I'm trying to acknowledge a basic fact.

(END VIDEO-CLIP)

VAUSE: I'm not trying to be argumentative I'd, you know, it does sound like he is trying to be argumentative in some ways. And I guess the question is, will he have come out and he said a lot of strong statements during the White House briefing without the authorization and the approval of Barack Obama to do so.

KELLY: No, customarily, the press secretary is only acting with the talking point that are given him with very -- or her, with very little latitude. So for Josh to go that far, to be that specific, and to be that pointed at Donald Trump is that the niceties are over, we've helped you as far as the transition. But also we need to secure our legacy as far as the Obama Administration before we exit the White House.

VAUSE: Is there a problem here though with Josh Earnest coming out, almost spending there's a part of that issue now. Perhaps made a better response to that question would have been there's ongoing investigation. We believed the Russians are involved, we leave it at that?

KELLY: Absolutely. But that can be said, I'm both in. I mean that the ongoing administration and the incoming administration neither side at this point seems wanted to say, "Hey, we are one White House or one America. And we want to present this issue that we have a united front. And we'll have a continuos, seamless, transition, and also policy towards Russia." And clearly the Obama Administration wants to delineate. We're going to take a hard line stance.

At least for the next 30 days and also make the distinction that Donald Trump has not been a friend to the United States on this issue as oppose to Russia. [01:10:05] VAUSE: And this so much hard (ph) because there used to be a time when the Russians we're the one -- or the Republicans rather were the ones who are really tough on Russia, you know, they always saw the Russians as the enemy and well reversal.

KELLY: Well, I seem to remember Mitt Romney in the 2012 run up was Mitt saying that Russia was our greatest G.O. political foe. I don't know exactly what changed in the past four years. And in fact, President Obama was ding from not taking a strong enough stance against Russia. And now you have a perspective secretary of state and you have other cabinet members with these ties to the Kremlin which says to me that if anything, if there's going to be a conflict because you can't take a hardline stance and also hope for good business with them

VAUSE: OK. We have a situation. Donald Trump, he keeps making this thank you to as he heads out there. He's thanking his supporters. He was in Pennsylvania just a few hours ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT: This is the first time the Republican Party has won the state of Pennsylvania in almost 30 years. We made history together. You propelled the victory a grassroots movement, the likes of which the world has never ever seen. It's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Or yeah, maybe.

KELLY: Or not.

VAUSE: Or not. I mean this fancy (ph) here seems to be from Donald Trump. You know, it's keeping his supporters happy, throwing them the red meat to the base. Keep his critics under fire and then throwing out a couple of distractions ...

KELLY: He is ...

VAUSE: Yeah.

KELLY: He is. It's almost like he still doesn't believe or he's not confident that he won the election and he's trying to reaffirm that he has this mandate or he won by a landslide which actually did not happen.

VAUSE: Yeah.

KELLY: And at this point you would think that he is about ready to assume the office as president as oppose he's trying to convince everyone that he has a higher polling number.

VAUSE: Right.

KELLY: ... than actually does. VAUSE: OK. There's also this questions about what role Invanka his daughter will play and her husband Jared Krushner once that Donald Trump is in the White House. Kellyanne Conway who is a senior to Donald Trump said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: So Ivanka and Jared will make their decision and announcement in due for it. I think that we will benefit tremendously by having them inside the administration and in fact that could happen. And Ivanka is incredibly committed women in the workplace, women in the economy, women entrepreneurs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, there are anti-nepotism laws which basically no public official from the president down to a loyal level manager at a federal agency may hire or promote a relative. Conway seems to think that doesn't applies to cabinet appointees and not she only works in the west wing that's up to the presidents programs.

KELLY: Yeah. It's more even complicated than that because he still have to deal with the financial issues. You're talking about a blind trust and at the same time you're bringing one of your children into the White House. That's almost like a see through curtain at this point. I mean, beyond that we don't know what type of role the person's going to play or the children or the son and law, and beyond that there are so many conflicts of interest even before we get to the anti-nepotism law.

VAUSE: Yeah. There are a lot of complicated factors when it comes to Donald Trump and how this presidency will play out. But good to see you. Thanks for coming in.

KELLY: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: We will take a short break. When we come here back here on NEWSROOM L.A. the evacuation of eastern Aleppo, what is next, the thousands of civilians and rebels in place. Also ahead we'll take a look at what happen to Egypt Air flight which plunged into the oceans there are new clues into that devastating crash which killed all on board.

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(WORLD SPORTS)

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VAUSE: Thousands of civilians and rebels are finally leaving eastern Aleppo. Most of the civilians have taken to Idlib which is controlled by the opposition and has been heed with regime strikes in recent weeks. Others are arriving in western Aleppo. Emotions have been running high as families torn apart by war are reunited.

Jomana Karadsheh is live in Amman Jordan. So, Jomana what is the very latest now on the evacuation, is it all going to plan?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, this is an ongoing process. We understand that the convoys have been moving overnight. Several thousand people have been evacuated so far. This is expected to be a lengthy process. It's going to take some time to evacuate the civilians, the rebel fighters and do wounded from the eastern Aleppo a besiege neighborhoods.

What we understand is that there are about 19 or 20 buses that are being used to evacuate the people. You have about 13 ambulances evacuating the wounded and they're moving on rotations. And no one really knows how many people are left in this neighborhoods, the estimate a few days ago from the United Nations was 50,000. But no one really knows, so that's why the expectations at this process is going to be -- is going to take several days to complete this evacuation.

Now, the people are taken out of eastern Aleppo, they go to the western Aleppo country side that's an area that is under the control of the rebels. From there, people are given the choice. They either move to the near by Idlib province or they are taken also to the Syria-Turkey boarder. That is where Turkey is said it is going to setup these camps to host those fleeing the violence out of Aleppo. This is a very fragile agreement John. The situation of the ground is so volatile with so many different players on the grounds. So there's always that concern that things could go wrong at any point during these evacuations.

VAUSE: And who's guarantying the safety of the club boys?

KARADSHEH: Well, what we've heard from the people who are involved in these evacuations and the United Nations, they say that the Russians have guaranteed that this evacuation will be done safely that there are going to be no incidents taking place as far as they can guarantee.

[01:20:06] But of course as we saw yesterday John about 24 hours ago, we saw that incident where there was this claim of shootings at the convoys, we heard from activists and medics on the ground. And we saw that at least one person was killed and four others were wounded in that first attempted evacuation.

But, since then there has been no confirmed reports of any incidents involving these convoys, they seem to be moving through a regime held territories so far with no major incident reported. But, of course again, its so many different groups involved and that's why there's always that concern about things going wrong.

VAUSE: Jomana thank you. Jomana Karadsheh live in Amman. And as Jomana mentioned, that first attempt of evacuation ended in death. And ITV's Dan Rivers was there.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DAN RIVERS, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Even on the last day of the siege of Aleppo, the despicable violence against civilians didn't stop. For some had barely reasoned when this ambulance was attacked.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: In the front, a man has been hit in the head.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: In the back, children who thought they were about to escape, the gunman had other ideas.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: The ambulance abandoned its rescue and still the sniper tries to pick them off.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: We don't know who is shooting but you can see the effect.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIVERS: A fearing portrait of the last hours of this siege, images that should haunt those responsible. Later, thousands gathered as words spread that the ceasefire was holding and mass evacuation was being organized. They've been targeted for four and half years. But finally these people were preparing to leave. And these very pictures show while fighters were among them, most appeared to be civilians, women, children, the injured, and the vulnerable, all caught up in the catastrophe of this conflict.

Outside, the regime buses were lined up and ready. A solitary vehicle carrying a Red Crescent flag emerged from rebel lines, terms agreed, it was time to end the suffering. The buses traded their way through the debris to stop the evacuation. For two and a half hours, we waited and watched as did the world hoping this would not collapsed into more fighting as it did yesterday.

That smoke bellowing from fires set by rebels hinted at a scorched earth policy to deny the regime the use of anything they were leaving behind. It's hard to imagine there was much left to burn.

The call to prayer cut through the silence as the tensed city held its breath and hoped for peace. Then the first sign, flashing lights, a convoy of ambulances and buses emerging onto Aleppo's ring road.

Well, this is the moment the world has been waiting for. The civilians are leaving their enclave and ignominious defeat for the rebels. But finally, the battle for Aleppo is over.

The occupants of the buses came almost face to face with the men who'd sought to kill them. But they were allowed to leave unhindered. And it didn't take long for President Assad's supporters to stop their celebrations.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel very happy. I feel that this victory will continue to all Syria.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It's a day of great joy. We were waiting for this day minute by minute. We couldn't believe this day would come. I congratulate all the Syrians.

RIVERS: With after so much bloodshed, this shouldn't have been a day of celebration, rather a time to reflect on why this took so long.

Dan Rivers, ITV News, Aleppo.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining us now from Gaziantep in Turkey is Angela Huddleston with World Vision International. Angela, thanks for your time. Are you worried right now that this evacuation plan could still unravel before the last of the civilians are able to get out?

ANGELA HUDDLESTON, WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL: We definitely are. You know, with -- I'm very excited to wake up this morning and to hear that the convoys have continued overnight. And as of now, we know that seven convoys have actually departed from East Aleppo with a total of about 7,000 people.

[01:25:07] We're hoping that we can actually finish evacuating all of the injured. Up to 200 people that are injured that have been to -- that have been in East Aleppo. We're hoping that we can evacuate them today. But it's definitely still a very precarious situation. And as have been mentioned that said there has been some fire on the convoys yesterday. We're just very hopeful that we'll be able to continue and be able to get everyone out.

VAUSE: As supposed to the evacuees are heading from East Aleppo to Idlib until the last remaining rebel stronghold most likely the next target by the Syrian regime. It seems they're going from one war zone to another?

HUDDLESTON: Correct. And where they're heading to is, is a place where there's just thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have actually been displaced multiple times. You know, as I mention is operating were -- our priority is on responding to those that are displaced. But the continual displacement is causing major challenges both for NGOs to be able to keep up with the rapid displacements. As well as, you know, causing such harm for these families who just feel that they have no security, no civility in their life.

But up to 50 families are displaced every hour in Syria over the last five, five to six years. That's an astonishing number of displacements. And many of these, like I said, it's -- there are 56 time (ph) now being displaced and they're just really whizzing out with any materials. They have not -- no household items left. They really do fell like they have nowhere to go and no hope that's left.

VAUSE: This is particularly about Idlib though. It's controlled by hardline Islamist group. One European diplomat told the Reuters News Agency, it was a choice between surviving for a few weeks in Idlib or dying in Aleppo. He then added this. For the Russians, it's simple, face them all in Idlib and then they have all their rotten eggs in one basket. It almost seems that they're all being transported into what will be the next kill zone, that this is some kind of setup in a way.

HUDDLESTON: Well, we're very concerned about that. You know, but as humanitarian organizations our priorities is trying to ensure that basic needs are met. So that the families are -- that are being removed from East Aleppo are being brought to two reception centers. One actually is in the western Aleppo countryside and another one is in Idlib. And we're -- they were able to provide them with some basic humanitarian assistance to at least get them through the night, to make sure that they're not succumbing to the cold weather. And to make sure that they're actually food.

Many of these families came from East Aleppo have been starving over the last two to, you know, two to three weeks and the food has been depleted from Eastern Aleppo. So we're working to make sure that they're actually able to get some -- at least a bit of security. And then we're actually watching as they, as they continue on their path. And most of these that are displaced are moving towards -- to go and stay with other family members in other location.

Over the course of the last five years, we're just been watching as the humanitarian faith has been changing and shrinking. And our ability to be able to respond has been really hindered by this shrinking humanitarian faith. We're seeing much more about -- more displaced are arriving in smaller and smaller locations which is just putting ament pressure on whatever services were available. And putting even more stress on these families that have been displaced and really just feel like they have no hope left.

VAUSE: Well, Angela, for the workers that you have there in Idlib and in Syria, we wish them well. We wish they stay safe and they're doing heroic works. So thank you.

HUDDLESTON: Thanks very much.

VAUSE: After the break here on NEWSROOM L. A., when we come back, brutal anti-drug murders in the Philippines have killed thousands and left one woman without a husband, without a son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a baby on the way. How do you go forward now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I have nothing to do but try to go on with life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:44] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Investigators have found traces of explosives on victim's remains from the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the May. All 66 people on board were killed. Still unclear what caused the crash. Egyptian officials have say a terror attack or technical failures could be to blame.

CNN aviation correspondence, Richard Quest, explains what happens next in the investigation of the EgyptAir crash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: The statement from the Egyptian authorities that explosive debris has been found on the remains now confirms what many have believed and which had been leaked on several occasions by the French authorities. So, the question becomes, when, if indeed it did, did the device get put on the Airbus A-320. Was it at Paris Charles de Gaulle when the air crash was making the return flight back to Cairo, or had the device been out all day as it went to other places, always returning back to the Egyptian capitol. In either case, security clearance will need to be questions, and constantly people will want to know why the play was not checked as regular procedures require it to be done.

Overall, now it is up to the Egyptian authorities to confirm once and for all that a bomb had been put on the plane where they believe it was introduced. Until then, there can be no certainty as to the security situation either at the airline or, indeed, of the airports to which the plane traveled.

Until we get more details from the Egyptian authorities, there are many more questions that need to be answered.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:35:09] VAUSE: A slightly delayed news conference in Tokyo with the Russian President Vladimir and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks set to get underway any moment now. Let's go there and see what they are about to say at this joint news conference. There they are. Mr. Putin is on his visit to Tokyo to try to strengthen economic ties. They're also hoping to resolve a territorial dispute over a chain of islands which are claimed by the former Soviet Union. The Japanese want them back and it's been a sore point for many years. Abe is hoping that that will be part of his legacy as prime minister. Many other Japanese leaders have failed to win that territory back in the past. If he can do it, it will be a big win for Mr. Abe. And maybe Mr. Putin could be in a mood to be generous. He is looking, according to some analysts, to make a pivot towards Asia. And this could just be part of that.

Of course, his visit there comes amid the allegations of Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential election. Of course, that is one question which many people will be waiting to see if it is put to Vladimir Putin, who is being accused of directly overseeing the hacking of the election. We will continue to monitor the news conference, see if Mr. Putin does say anything about those allegations and the threats of retaliation coming from U.S. President Barack Obama.

In the meantime, the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is in Singapore for a state visit. He was greeted by the Prime Minister, and later, he met with Singapore's president. Duterte stressed the importance of countries in the region staying out of each other's internal affairs.

One reason Mr. Duterte might support that butt-out approach, his brutal crackdown on drugs. Thousands have been killed in the drug war, which has been criticized by the United States and human rights groups, and it has often left families devastated.

Here's Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Philippines symbol of a family seeking justice for two lives stolen. Two pictures sit atop the coffin of Francis Munozca (ph), 6 years old, killed in his sleep, lying near his father, Domingo.

"There was a knock on the door," says Elizabeth Navarro. "My husband said, who is that. Then I heard two gunshots."

By the time Navarro realize what was happening, her husband and son were dead. The gunman gone.

She says her husband was an occasional drug user trying to get clean, in what is become open season for anyone suspected of being tied to drugs.

Married for 11 years, this mother of five, now a widow at 29.

(on camera): You have a baby on the way. How do you go forward now?

"(voice-over): I have nothing to do," she says, "but to try to go on with life."

One day after these murders, Philippine President Roderigo Duterte revealed he personally killed drug suspects while serving as mayor of his hometown.

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT: In Davao, I used to do it for so many, just to the guys. If I can do it, why can't you?

RIPLEY: Nearly 6000 people have died in the Philippines in less than six months. Police call more than half of those deaths vigilante-style killings. Many suspect police involvement, often little or no investigation. All of this openly encouraged by President Duterte.

This woman, too afraid to show her face.

"Their killing left and right," she says. "Sometimes they kill 10 or 20 a day. I am scared. These days, you do not know who is your enemy.

(on camera): Public opinion polls show the majority of Filipinos support Duterte's war on drugs. They say it makes their communities feel safer. But here in this neighborhood, we couldn't find a single person who said tis number of killings is justified.

(voice-over): Even this woman, who supports Duterte, is afraid to speak openly.

"I hope that the government will give people a chance to change," she says, "a chance for them to stop using illegal drugs."

Maria Sabia (ph) insists her son, Domingo, was not a thug or a dealer but she admits his use of chabu (ph), or meth. A three-dollar high may have gotten killed.

Just outside, they play cards to raise $900 for the funeral, three times her late son's yearly earnings as a bicycle taxi driver.

This is just one Filipino family out of thousands, and promises by their president of even more killing to come.

Will Ripley, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE:

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:42:55] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Facebook is now moving to try and stop the scourge that has become fake news.

And to explain how this will work, we're joined now by Hermanshu Nigam, an Internet security analyst, and the founder and CEO of SSP Blue, an online safety firm.

Hermanshu, two nights in a row.

HERMANSHU NIGAM, INTERNET SECURITY ANALYST & FOUNDER, SSP BLUE: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: That's a record.

Thanks for coming back in.

OK, so what is happening with Facebook is a two-step process. They're going to rely on their users to identify what looks like a hoax. They'll flag it. Then it gets reviewed by a third party.

NIGAM: Right. And there are also apparently algorithms they are still going to test to see, for example, if somebody's watching a particular article and it is spreading very, very quickly, there must be something there, let's take a look. So, when it does go get flagged by a user, there's a group of people who have voluntarily stepped up and said we will review it, we will analyze whether it is reliable and real news or fake news, and then we will actually write an article explaining the reasons why and Facebook will put a little red mark, saying this has been flagged as fake.

VAUSE: That sounds great, but really, really slow. Seriously, how are they going to be able to keep up with it. There is a lot of stuff on Facebook.

NIGAM: Oh, there's -- I would safely say there's billions of pieces of content on Facebook being spread around every day. And the fact of the matter is I do not think these companies are stepping up and I think ABC news is one of them, which is great for the fact that they are stepping up to volunteer here, but the reality is the amount of content that gets spread, the amount of articles that often can be fake, and you do not know, but somebody flagged, so now have to look, is tremendous. And the questions will be, can they actually keep up with it or are the fakers going to take over --

VAUSE: They'll be overwhelmed.

NIGAM: Yeah.

VAUSE: ABC News, Politifacts.org, and Politico, I think, as well. Facebook took a lot of heat during the election for the spread of fake news, but Facebook wasn't the only social media site which was tainted by fake news, so this move by Facebook, what impact will it have now?

[01:44:59] NIGAM: I think what Facebook is doing, which is great for Facebook and the compliments go to them, is it is redefining its moral compass, as I would call it. In other words, it is saying we want a site that is reputable, that has content in it that is not deceiving, because that is how they're describing fake news, which is designed to deceive, and they are basically saying you know it is time for us to have a site where real people come listen to and read real news, not the deceivers who were taking over during the election. It is going to put floodlights on the other companies unless they start stepping up as well. And in my opinion, what they should be doing is all banding together and saying let's work on this problem as an industry, rather than Facebook, you go first, and let's see what happens.

VAUSE: The interesting thing is, farming out to this third-party group, which is not getting paid, which I find incredible, it is taking away the responsibility from Facebook from making any decisions. It seems like a crafty move.

NAGAM: We'll it's actually a very conscious move, because if you do take it on yourself, people will accuse Facebook of making decisions on what's fake, what is real, what is reliable, what is not, and in essence, they'll say, Facebook, your censorship arm of some organization out there. What Facebook is saying, not us. The decisions made by independent third parties, and they also become a publisher that way, which is another great thing is, from a purely legal point of view.

VAUSE: Quite a turnaround, too, for Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, who initially dismissed the influence of fake news. Obviously, now, they're taking it seriously, which is good thing. Hermanshu, again, thanks for coming in.

NAGAM: Thanks a lot.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, "Star Wars" fans line up to see the latest in the space saga, "Rogue One," but is it any good? We'll check in with the critics in a moment.

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[01:50:32] VAUSE: "Star Wars" fans are ready to head back to a galaxy far, far away. "Rogue One" is set to open in theaters this weekend. A past prequel takes place. He called the original a new hope. The plot, how rebels stole the plans for the empire's super weapon.

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(SHOUTING)

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VAUSE: That was an anticlimax. It looks like we lost the sound byte.

Well, for more, we're joined by L.A. movie critics. We have Amy Nicholson, the chief film critic for MTV News. And also, Lindsey Bahr, from A.P.

Guys, thank you so much for being with us.

Lindsey, let's start with you.

You loved it.

LINDSEY BAHR, MOVIE CRITIC, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I did.

VAUSE: OK, so this is part of your review. "'Rogue One, A Star Wars Story,' is one of the best 'Star Wars' films ever made. Only time will tell if it will surpass 'The Empire Strikes Back' as the franchise standard bearer. There's a compelling case to be made."

That is such a big call.

BAHR: It's a big call.

VAUSE: OK. Better than "The Empire Strikes Back?"

BAHR: I just had an amazing time watching it. I know it has story deficiencies and I know that it is a little flawed. But the fact, like, they have this ridiculous primus, which is let us find this story within the "Star Wars" universe, something we are ready know, and explain -- and real stakes are really created there. And I realized halfway through that I didn't know what was going to happen to the characters and I really cared about all of them. And it is really exciting and kind of dark and edgy. I left with a big smile on my face. VAUSE: Amy, hold your fire, because you hated it.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: Here's part of your review: "The film rewinds back to the beginning, the literal beginning, to bore us with the backstory behind the first three sentences of "Star Wars'" opening crawl. It's for everyone who ever wondered, wait, what was the rebels' first victory against the evil galactic empire, and how did Princess Leia get the plans for the death star. Congratulations, they have scratched that itch and put everyone else to sleep."

Ouch. Tell Lindsey why.

AMY NICHOLSON, CHIEF FILM CRITIC, MTV: I will if she doesn't have a light sabre.

(LAUGHTER)

Here's what makes ""Rogue One" interesting. It is the first summit Disney has done in the "Star Wars" franchise where they won't put a Roman numeral in front of it.

Here's the stand-alone story. You never have to worry about the characters again and we can literally go anywhere with this property. And they go right back to right before the 1970s "Star Wars," a story how we know it's going to end out because we know what happened in the very first film. I couldn't help being disappointed. I want a "Star Wars" movie to take me to a new galaxy. I want to see things I've never seen before. I want to get a look at the future. This felt like a film that took me straight back to the past.

VAUSE: That's one of the problems. If you look at all the movies, so far, they're all pretty much the same.

BAHR: Sure. They all have to do with the death star and --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: And with death star, it's the same problem every single time.

BAHR: This is the original death star with the original problem, you know. There is that. But you understand why they had to go a little bit safer to this one, just to get audiences invested in the idea that you can have non-Roman numeral "Star Wars" movies. So, I think it makes a lot of sense. I was impressed with what they did with it. It really did feel like a war film to me, and I like it outside of the "Star Wars" universe even.

VAUSE: Amy, if it didn't have "Star Wars" in it, if it was just "Rogue One," just a stand-alone story, would your opinion have been different?

NICHOLASON: Probably not.

(LAUGHTER) I think there also a lot of silly, repetitive things with it. The -- actually, maybe yes. Maybe just a 14little bit.

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLSON: I'll backtrack just touch. Because I think part of my frustration watching this was it felt like I had seen the "Star Wars" film before, not even in the original, but even in the "Force Awakens," which came out last year. You have the same orphaned person who becomes the hero, who goes on a quest to find her parents. We've seen that three times now. You have the same comic relief enjoyed. Here, it's this black metal broad looking -

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLSON: "Star Wars" by the numbers. I want to see more.

VAUSE: Lindsey?

(CROSSTALK)

BAHR: I disagree with because I think Jane, in this one, Jane, the protagonists --

(CROSSTALK)

BAHR: I think people might know that one, hopefully.

But she is the one that gets the sort of parental, she gets the backstory, the daddy issues. It's not like another sad guy. I don't know. I like that spin. Even it is semi-familiar, I think they do it in an intricate way.

[01:55:13] VAUSE: Can we find common ground here?

Amy, would you at least admit it's the best of the trequels?

(LAUGHTER)

NICHOLSON: No.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: That awful stuff. That was terrible.

NICHOLSON: Although my dirty secret is I've never seen the prequel. So, will I get kicked off CNN?

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: Except for the fact they were terrible. Nothing could be as bad as the prequels, right? BAHR: Yes, yes. It's so much better than the prequels. I think it's up there with "Empire." I don't know. I'm excited to see it again.

NICHOLSON: I think where we differ is I really did liked the "Force Awakened" and you didn't like it. I feel like there's this back and forth. People who like last year's "Star Wars" didn't like this one.

BAHR: And this one didn't diminished my view of "The Force Awakened." I like when they came out and, yes, it made "The Force Awakened" seem to fantasy, too easy, and this one seemed to have an edge.

VAUSE: We'll leave it at that. Of course, none of this will affect the bottom line. It'll make a ton of money. Disney will be rolling in bucks. They'll be very happy.

Guys, thanks so much.

BAHR: Thank you.

NICHOLSON: Thank you.

VAUSE: Take it into the Green Room.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you very much for watching CNN NEWSROOM life from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

I'll be right back after a short break.

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