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President Obama Believes Russia Was Behind DNC Hacks; China Agrees to REturn a U.S. Drone Seized in International Waters; President Obama Gives Candid Final News Conference; Ceasefire in Aleppo Back On Again; Tsunami Warning Issued for New Zealand After 7.9 Earthquake. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 17, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Two said to have facilitated the deadly attacks in Paris last year. But even with the death of many fighters, ISIS has not given up the fight. ISIS has retaken the area around Palmyra and captured Syrian regime weapons.

LT. GEN. STEPHEN TOWNSEND, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA: Some armored vehicles and various guns and other heavy weapons possibly some air defense equipment, possibly.

STARR: The U.S. now watching closely to see if in fact those weapons, possibly including shoulder-fired missiles, will threaten U.S. troops.

Of course there are still plenty of challenges. One of the enduring worries is that ISIS' ideology will still appeal to fighters around the world who may be inspired to stage lone wolf attacks.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

It is 2:00 on the east coast. Thanks for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Fredericka Whitfield.

We start with Donald Trump's last election who (INAUDIBLE) before the holidays. The president-elect set to arrive in Mobile, Alabama in the next hour ahead of a huge stadium rally. This is the final stop on his thank you tour. From there he is expected to head to his Mar-A- Lago estate where he will be spending the holidays.

CNN national correspondent Ryan Nobles is in Mobile.

Ryan, what are we expecting to hear from Donald Trump today?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we expect him to offer up his supporters a big thank you. This is a group of supporters that has been behind his campaign from the very beginning. Of course, it was back in August of 2015 where Trump held a rally here in this exact football stadium and drew 30,000 people.

Now, there are a lot of political experts that have raised their eyebrows that Trump would choose to come to Alabama so far away from their primary, into a deeply red state. But it was at that time we start to really get an understanding just how passionate his support was, especially among working class voters. And so, Trump is going to come here today and say thank you to that group of people in particular for being behind him from the very beginning.

And you know, over the course of this thank you tour, Trump has been all around the country, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. He has taken a bit of a different tone now. He is the president-elect, and he is asking his supporters to change their tone as well. Listen to what he said last night in Orlando, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You people were vicious, violent, screaming, where's the wall, we want the wall. But now you're mellow. And you're cool. And you're not nearly as vicious or violent, right? Because we won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So the question is will this crowd here in Alabama be mellow tonight. They have been here a long time already, about several hours since the gates opened. And these supporters have been streaming in. Not quite a full house yet. But we do have quite a bit of time before the president-elect actually gets here. But we will have to see just what type of crowd he has in store for him when he arrives, Boris.

SANCHEZ: One other note, Ryan, Trump officially announced Representative Mick Mulvaney at his budget director. Mulvaney, of course, calling it a great honor. What sort of reaction to this pick are you hearing?

NOBLES: Well, so far, rank and file Republicans are very pleased with Mulvaney. He is a deficit hawk, someone that wants to cut government spending. And when leading Republicans like Paul Ryan served in the same position that Mulvaney did at one time on the house budget committee, has very supportive of this pick by Donald Trump. He also has supporters in the U.S. Senate, Rand Paul who hasn't necessarily been a fan of all Trump's picks, has strongly put his support behind Mulvaney.

The question will come as to how Democrats respond to someone like Mulvaney. He comes from the most conservative wing of the Republican house conference. He is a member of the freedom caucus. And Democrats generally aren't as interested in deep budget cuts as some Republicans are. So he could receive some pushback in that direction. But there's not expected to be a whole lot of pushback and Mulvaney should easily be put into that position, Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right. Ryan Nobles reporting from Mobile, Alabama. Thank you.

While president-elect Trump continues to dismiss claims that Russia peddled in the election, President Obama is making it clear he believes that Russia was behind the hacks of the DNC. President outgoing as far as to personally warned Vladimir Putin to back off during that the face-to-face meeting at the G-20 summit in China in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In early September when I saw president Putin in China, I felt that the most effective way to ensure that that didn't happen was to talk to him directly and tell him to cut it out, and there were going to be some serious consequences if he didn't. And in fact we did not see further tampering of the election process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:01] SANCHEZ: The Russian government, as you might imagine, is firing back, saying in a statement quote "either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise it all begins to look unseemly."

For more on this now I'm joined by CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward.

Clarissa, the president has vowed retaliation. What might that look like?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a few different options that President Obama could pursue in trying to take revenge or retaliate against Russia for these hacking -- for the hacking of the U.S. election. But first one would be to try to implement further sanctions. There are already U.S. sanctions against Russia. But they could be deeper, they could be wider, they could target the banking industry.

But as we have seen, Boris, so far despite sanctions, they haven't really had a huge effect in terms of curtailing Russian aggression. So that's one avenue the president could explore.

Another avenue the president could look into is more of a sort of tit for tat, taking direct revenge in the same way in the Russians leaked secrets or emails from John Podesta and other end from the DNC, we could do the same. The U.S. could do the same and leak emails from Kremlin leaders, potentially embarrassing details, leak a potentially details such as where they store some of their money or offshore bank accounts, things of that nature.

The third option, which is perhaps the most serious option, would be to retaliate in a measure that is within the sort of cyber warfare realm. And that could manifest itself in many different ways. You could see it, you could turn off the grid in a city of (INAUDIBLE), for example. But the danger you have with that is that of course you really risk escalating this conflict considerably.

The other thing to keep in mind, Boris, is that if and when the president does decide to retaliate or perhaps he already has, it probably will not be made public in the same way that the Russian party line still very much here is, we have nothing to do with this hacking. We resent the insinuation. We find the accusations. They have called them ludicrous nonsense and even gone so far as to call them indecent. So even if the U.S. does decide to pursue a really tough line here and engage in some cyber warfare, we are probably not going to hear about it, Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Clarissa Ward reporting live from Russia. Thank you.

Russia's alleged meddling in the U.S. election will be in focused tomorrow when Jake Tapper sits down for an exclusive conversation with Senator John McCain. Also on the show tomorrow, attorney general Loretta Lynch. Don't miss those interviews at 9:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow only here on CNN.

The Pentagon says China has agreed to return a U.S. drone that it seized in international waters. But not before Beijing accused the U.S. of quote "hyping up the incident." This all started Thursday when China grabbed the underwater U.S. navy research drone from international waters in the South China Sea. The president-elect weighed in, tweeting us out this morning, writing quote "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters. Rips it out of water and takes it to China in an unprecedented act."

I want to bring in CNN's Matt Rivers. He is following the story for us from Beijing.

Matt, what can you tell us about the response so far from the Chinese?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Chinese have come out and said yes, that they did in fact take this drone. But when they took it out of the water, they didn't know that it belonged to the U.S. Navy. And they didn't realize what they had until it was on board. And that's when they made the decision to go through what they would call the proper military channels to return it.

This all happened on Thursday, about 50 miles off the coast of the Philippines, where the USNS Bowditch which is an unarmed research vessel belonging to the Navy was conducting what the Navy was legal military research off the coast of the Philippines. It was being trailed by a Chinese Navy ship. And when the Bowditch went to go get its two unmanned drones back aboard, the Chinese Navy ship launched a smaller boat which went and actually stole that one drone that it then took back aboard. So obviously got the U.S. Navy upset.

The Chinese government came out with a statement late this evening here local time saying that it had come up with a way to return this drone back to the United States, that both sides were engaged in direct communication, Boris.

But it is worth noting here that even though the Chinese say that they took the drone out of the water, what they said was for navigational and personnel safety reasons of passing ships in the area. I think if you talk to most experts they will tell you that when the Chinese did what they did, when they pulled the drone out of the water, I think that most experts would tell you that the Chinese were clearly sending a message to the United States that they are not happy with their naval operations in this part of the world.

[14:10:03] SANCHEZ: You know, we have seen an escalation here. It started with the discovery of weapons on those man made islands this week, then a nuclear armed plane flying in that area and now this. Interesting to see how this is going to play out in a new Trump administration.

Matt Rivers, thank you.

Coming up, the Obamas have arrived in Hawaii for their Christmas vacation. But before leaving, the president held a year-end press conference talking about Donald Trump, Russia, and his own legacy. What did the president have to say? We are live in Hawaii after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:24] SANCHEZ: The Obamas are spending their final Christmas holiday as the first family in Hawaii. But before boarding the flight out of Washington, President Obama gave a candid final news conference in the White House briefing room. He took a hard line against Russia, vowing to retaliate for its interference in the U.S. election. He also opened up about the challenges facing his successor and the multiple conversations that he shared with Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Donald Trump takes the oath of office and is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, then he has got a different set of responsibilities and considerations. And I have said this before, I think there is a sobering process when you walk into the oval office. And I have shared previously private conversations I have had with the president-elect. I will say they have been cordial and in some cases have involved me making some pretty specific suggestions about how to ensure that regardless of our obvious deep disagreements about policy, maybe I can transmit some thoughts about maintaining the effectiveness, integrity, cohesion of the office, our various democratic institutions and he has listened. I can't say that he will end up implementing them. But the conversations themselves have been cordial as opposed to defensive in any way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:15:06] SANCHEZ: Let's go live to Hawaii now. And Athena Jones is traveling with the president in Honolulu.

Athena, I can tell you all of us are very envious of your assignment. On a serious note, though, what do you know about Trump and Obama's relationship moving forward?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Boris. Well, this is a relationship that's been of intense interest. After all these are two men who spent a lot of time saying not very nice things about one another. President Obama of course arguing on the campaign trail that president-elect Trump was not fit to lead, not fit to be president. Of course that all came to an end on Election Day. You saw the two meet up for that 90-minute oval office meeting just a couple of days after the election. And they talked at least a handful of times, according to the White House. The White House is focused on a smooth and professional transition. They say they want to make sure they give the president-elect's team all the information they need, all the guidance they need to try to help their administration be a success.

But what you don't hear is you don't hear people in the White House reading out these private conversations. That's why it was so interesting to hear the president, who did not get into specifics, at least talk about how they have a cordial relationship.

One White House aide tells me their objective is to allow these conversations to remain private so that the two can discuss why keeping many of these policies in place is to the advantage of the American people.

What policies? Well, many of the policies that president Obama championed like for instance the affordable care act. We have already gotten some indication that maybe they are perhaps meeting their objective, at least in small ways. A few days after that oval office meeting we heard from president-elect Trump that he is willing possibly to keep some of the popular provisions of the affordable care act like keeping young people on their parents' plans until age 26 and preventing discrimination against people with preexisting conditions.

So this is a relationship that they are very focused on maintaining a cordial one so that President Obama can have as much influence as possible on president-elect Trump -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right. Athena Jones reporting live from Honolulu, thank you.

From the beautiful weather there in Hawaii to this. Take a look, this is near Springfield, Virginia. Quite a mess this morning with traffic and weather across the northeast. We will talk more about that in a moment.

Also the U.N. secretary general says that Aleppo is a synonym for hell. Just ahead, what is happening to the ceasefire on the fate of thousands of civilians trapped inside that city?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:26] SANCHEZ: The on again, off again ceasefire in Aleppo, Syria is now back on again. There have been multiple attempts holding a ceasefire this week. If it holds this time, it could allow thousands of civilians and rebels to flee area around this Aleppo as Syrian regime troops move in. The U.N. that hundreds of children are trapped in the area and they face almost certain death if they are not rescued. The outgoing secretary of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, says not enough has been done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BAN KI MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: The carnage in Syria remains (INAUDIBLE) in the global conscience. Aleppo is now a synonym for hell. As I told the Security Council three days ago, we have collectively failed the people of Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Fred Pleitgen introduces us to those trying to escape the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): They were supposed to be able to brought to safety. Instead, they are running for their lives once again. A convoy meant to take these east Aleppo residents out of the besieged areas, under fire. This eyewitness says he was part of the convoy, stopped, he claims, by an Iranian militia fighting on the side of Syrian president Bashar al- Assad.

The Syrian government has a very different account. It says rebel fighters in the convoy were carrying concealed weapons and that they are to blame for the violence that reportedly left a number of people dead.

Evacuations that had already succeeded in getting thousands out of eastern Aleppo ground to an immediate halt as the blame game began. Russia making a puzzling announcement, saying it believed the evacuation of east Aleppo was complete and only hard line rebel fighters remained in the enclave.

Turkey, which helped negotiate the agreement, shooting down those planes. The Red Cross and UNICEF, for their part, say tens of thousands of people, including more than 1,000 children, are still trapped inside the war-torn city.

For those that made it out, the anguish was almost too much to bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PLEITGEN: But for those still trapped inside the tiny rebel enclave at eastern Aleppo, the situation is even worse. Stuck in the bitter cold with no food and no medical supplies, left to pray that the violence won't begin again.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Staying in the mid-east, checking top stories, the United States more than doubling the reward for information leading to the capture of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The reward was up from $10 million to $25 million. The state department stays that the threat from al-Baghdadi is now significantly greater than it was when the reward was first announced back in 2011. Meantime, police in Turkey have arrested seven suspects and are

searching for five more in connection to an explosion that killed 13 soldiers and wounded 56 others this morning. Six people are currently in critical condition after a car rigged with a bomb blew up next to a public bus transporting soldiers. Earlier today the Turkish prime minister suggested the terror group PKK was behind the attack.

Meantime, a tsunami warning has been issued for New Zealand after a 7.9 earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Papua, New Guinea. New Zealand officials say that no evacuations are necessary at this time but they were advising people to stay off the beaches. Dangerous waves could also be heading to some South Pacific coastline, including Solomon Islands and Indonesia.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:47] SANCHEZ: It's not all doom and gloom today. Here is an inspirational story about a woman who lost her sight but found a new life in the process from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIELLE UMSTEAD, PARALYMPIC SKIER: Ski racing is an individual sport. But for me, I skied on the mountain with a guide in front of me calling the command. My name is Danielle Umstead. I'm a visually impaired U.S. Paralympic alpine ski racer. I was diagnosed at the age of 13 with a disease call (INAUDIBLE). And that is a retinal degenerative disease. As I got older, my sight was getting worse. And it seemed like my life was just crumbling day by day. And my father calls me up on the phone and he says, we are going to go skiing. And we went down the mountain and my life changed from that moment forward.

ROB UMSTEAD, DANIELLE'S HUSBAND AND GUIDE: I'm Rob Umstead, Danielle's husband and guide when we ski. My job is to be her eyes. I'm basically thinking out loud and telling her everything that's happening.

D. UMSTEAD: Coming out of the 2010 Paralympic games, Rob and I were super excited, winning two bronze medals. In October of 2010, I found out I have multiple sclerosis. I had to learn how to walk again. I was super determined to get back on snow. And the 2014 winter Paralympic games, we won a bronze medal. I didn't start living my life until I started sport. And sport has given me the life that I love and enjoy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: That was Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Truly an inspiring story.

Thank you so much for joining us, I'm Boris Sanchez. More news at the top of the hour.

"THE VITAL SIGNS WITH DR. SANJAY GUPTA" begins right now.