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House Judiciary Impeachment Hearings Begin December 4; U.S. Severe Weather; War in Syria; California Officials Issue Debris Flow Evacuation Warning; Albania Earthquake: At Least 24 Killed, Hundreds More Injured; Baltimore Men Freed 36 Years After Wrongful Conviction; Melania Trump booed at youth opioid summit in Baltimore. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 27, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM: the date is set for the next phase of the impeachment hearings and President Trump is lashing out at the process, despite what new polls are saying.
A travel nightmare in the United States: severe weather making a mess of things around the Thanksgiving holiday and the busiest travel days of the year.
Plus, CNN goes inside northern Syria, where U.S. allies abandoned by President Trump's pullout are being forced from their homes and into camps.
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CHURCH: Good to see you.
Well, if you want to see the next round of public hearings in the Trump impeachment inquiry, mark your calendars for December 4th. House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler says his committee will call a panel of expert witnesses to discuss the constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment.
He has invited the president and his legal team. A White House source says it is under consideration.
Meanwhile, President Trump is in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. At a campaign rally Tuesday night, he said Americans think impeachment is a hoax.
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TRUMP: And now the same maniacs are pushing the deranged impeachment. Think of this. Impeachment. A witch hunt. The same as before. And they're pushing that impeachment, witch hunt and a lot of bad things are happening to them because you see what's happening in the polls?
Everybody said that's really bullshit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, despite the president's claim, the latest CNN poll shows half of Americans think Mr. Trump should be impeached and removed from office; 43 percent disagree. The president's talking points on why he withheld military aid for Ukraine continue to fall as well.
"The New York Times" reports Mr. Trump had already been briefed on the whistleblower's complaint when he released the aid in September.
Also, a top budget official testified he struggled to find out why the aid to Ukraine was frozen. But no one at the White House told him it was because other countries were not paying their fair share, as the Trump administration has claimed. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on the timeline.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The House Budget Committee released a two-page summary document laying out a more explicit detailed timeline of the hold the Office of Management and Budget put on the Ukraine aid, specifically the idea that the official hold letter actually was released on July 25th.
What else happened on July 26th?
Well, the phone call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, also on July 25th, according to the testimony, public testimony of a Pentagon official, at some time in the afternoon, two different emails were sent from Ukrainian officials to the State Department inquiring about this state of the aid.
It was just a couple of hours later that that hold was officially placed. Now going through the transcript, we're just trying to get a look at the 181-page transcript from Mark Sandy, the career OMB official.
And one thing is made clear. One, the concerns that career officials had at OMB about the potential illegality of holding aid, this idea of going against the Impoundment Control Act by holding aid that had been allocated and appropriated by Congress for longer than they were supposed to, that was a concern that they had.
But also, the idea that Mark Sandy, this career official signed off on the initial letter holding the aid.
[02:05:00]
MATTINGLY: But he did not sign off on future letters holding the aid. His portfolio was essentially taken over by a political appointee. That was a concern from a lot of lawmakers. One thing Democrats who released the summary documents today said, is that it was basically an egregious abuse of power by the OMB to implement this hold. It's one of the open questions we've had throughout the course of this process.
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CHURCH: CNN's Phil Mattingly reporting from Washington.
With the next round of public hearings set for next week, Democrats are renewing their calls for top administration officials to testify. CNN's Jim Acosta has that.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any response to Jerry Nadler?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Living the White House to spend Thanksgiving in Florida, President Trump ignored questions about what's waiting for him after his holiday break, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler's plans for new hearing in the impeachment inquiry.
While acknowledging in a tweet that he stalled military aid to Ukraine as part of that alleged deal to get dirt on Joe Biden, the president indicated he is not ready to allow top officials to testify in front of House Democrats tweeting that his former national security adviser, "John Bolton is a patriot and may know that I held back the money from Ukraine because it is considered a corrupt country.
"Likewise I would like to have secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and many others testify about the phony impeachment hoax."
But the president said he doesn't want future presidents to be compromised. Pompeo refused to be pinned down on whether he would testify.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president tweeted just a short while ago that he encouraged you essentially to testify in the impeachment investigation.
Is that something that you're considering?
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: When the time is right, all good things happen.
ACOSTA: Bolton who has also been dodging the issue tweeted, "It probably goes without saying that our country's commitment to our national security priorities is under attack from within. America is distracted. Our enemies are not. We need to make U.S. national security a priority."
One big reason that they're all skirting the issue is that they would be asked about European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland's testimony that the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was orchestrating a quid pro quo deal with the Ukrainians.
GORDON SONDLAND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: Mr. Giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky. Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing the investigations of the 2016 election, DNC server and Burisma.
Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the president of the United States and we knew these investigations were important to the president.
ACOSTA: A new CNN poll finds public support for removing Mr. Trump from office remain steady at 50 percent and that more than half believe the president used his office to gain political advantage. Add to that, a key Republican who initially said he believed the president's bogus conspiracy theory about Ukraine meddling is now changing course.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, (R) LOUISIANA: I was wrong. The only evidence I have and I think it's overwhelming is that it was Russia who tried to hack the DNC computer.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: That's what the consensus is.
KENNEDY: I've seen no -- yes, I've seen no indication that Ukraine tried to do it.
ACOSTA: The president is trying to find some humor in his foul predicament.
TRUMP: They've already received subpoenas to appear in Adam Schiff's basement on Thursday. It's true. Hundreds of people have. It seems the Democrats are accusing me of being too soft on Turkey. But bread and butter, I should note that unlike previous witnesses, you and I have actually met.
ACOSTA: As for John Bolton's tweet, the U.S. national security priorities are being attacked from within. A senior official here replied, "Bolton is going to Bolton."
But the White House is not likely to change its posture when it comes to giving the green light to top officials testifying. All of that likely means more presidential stonewalling in the days to come -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
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CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about this is Larry Sabato. He's the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Great to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.
So Larry, "The New York Times" is reporting that President Trump already knew about the whistleblower's complaint when he released Ukraine's military aid in September.
How significant is this and how does it move the needle forward on the whole impeachment thing?
SABATO: These are important details because that, plus a number of other revelations, tell us that this was a plan and plot that extended over months, that most of the actions that we heard about at the time were self-serving revelations by the White House or by the Office of Management and Budget or some other individual.
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SABATO: And when you look at all of them in sequence, you can understand why things were done when they were done.
Trump was releasing that aid because he knew that people finally knew about the call to the president of Ukraine and what was up. And so he wanted to have an opportunity to take action before it was even more widely known.
CHURCH: So is this the smoking gun that the Democrats were looking for?
SABATO: Oh, I think there are a whole bunch of smoking guns. This is by no means alone.
CHURCH: The Republicans don't think so.
SABATO: The Republicans don't believe that there's any smoking gun or that any of it matters. I think that's very wrong.
But what they're doing is working. They're keeping Republicans together, not just in the House and Senate but in the country as a whole. And without a bipartisan coalition, they'll never get 67 votes to oust Trump in the Senate.
CHURCH: And House Democrats released two more transcripts Tuesday, one revealing that a top budget official struggled to find out why the Ukraine aid was frozen in the first place.
Why is that important, in your opinion?
SABATO: Again, it's important because this was an ongoing controversy for months. It wasn't just a phone call on one day between Trump and another head of state. It's also important because it reveals that there were people within the Office of Management and Budget, who believed that the withholding of aid was illegal under an act that was passed during the Nixon era, because Nixon was doing the same thing.
He was impounding funds that Congress had already appropriated and had directed should be spent. That's illegal.
CHURCH: And, Larry, the president calls the impeachment inquiry a hoax. But CNN's latest poll shows there's still 50 percent of voters calling for his impeachment and removal, as opposed to 43 percent who disagree with that. Those numbers haven't actually changed since last month.
What do you make of them?
SABATO: What's important is that half of the American public doesn't just want him impeached; they want him ousted. That's what's significant about the question that CNN asked.
Some people don't ask it that way. That's important because it means the country is behind the effort that the Democrats are undertaking in the House.
It's also significant because, as long as 43 percent or anywhere in those -- in that area in polls believe that Trump should stay in office, it will be impossible to actually oust him. So there's an in- between judgment here. And we'll see what the default mode is for Republicans in the Senate.
My guess is they're going to say that, while this was terrible and it was wrong, it doesn't rise to the level of ousting a president. That's really the only defense they have left if you look at the facts. The problem is millions of people aren't looking at the facts.
CHURCH: Right. And the House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler has notified the president in writing that his committee will hold public impeachment hearings starting next week. And he invited President Trump and his counsel to take part by asking witnesses questions. Now they apparently are considering that.
How likely do you think they will accept that invitation?
SABATO: There are advantages to it. Obviously Trump wouldn't put the questions together. That would be done by legal counsel. And they would probably be good and sharp questions that would reinforce Republicans' belief in Trump.
I don't think it's going to change the impeachment vote. I think people have seen enough, whether they're in Congress or out of Congress.
The schedule they have is quite good, Rosemary. They're still on track to get this done by the end of the year so that the Senate can take it up early in the new year. I think that's the right way to handle it so that Congress, whatever they do in the case of President Trump, can get back to what matters with the election being next November.
CHURCH: We'll keep watching it with all the twists and turns. Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: A travel nightmare might be in store for the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. More than 20 million people are under some kind of winter weather advisory from California to Michigan.
Oregon is getting pounded with snow in parts of the state as well as California could see strong winds and rain in the coming days.
Farther north in Washington State 60 to 70 cars crashed on an icy highway. A state trooper said they ran out of tow trucks trying to clean up the mess.
And a storm system has dumped heavy snow in Colorado before moving to the Midwest. Lucy Kafanov has the latest now from Denver.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Talk about a travel nightmare, this is not the kind of weather you want if you're trying to get out of town to see family. Minneapolis could see the biggest snowfall in nearly a decade. Parts of Wisconsin could be affected, too.
Here in Colorado, it has been one of the worst snowstorms the state has seen in recent years. We are in the downtown Denver area. I just want to show you some of the snowfall that we've experienced here, nearly a foot of snow, trying to dig down to the roof of this car. That is how much snow piled down here.
We've had plows. Obviously the city is used to dealing with a heavier snowfall. Up north in the foothills of the mountains, more than two feet of snow. The National Weather Service telling folks to stay off the roads. Portions of Colorado completely impassable, driving just too dangerous. Major highways have been shut down.
A lot of the schools have been shut down. And in terms of airport travel, that's been the really difficult part in Colorado. Denver airport canceling nearly 500 flights, more than 1,000 people having to spend their night at the airport on Monday.
And that is the system that is moving towards Minnesota. We know that the major airlines have issued travel waivers so folks can rebook their flights for free here in Colorado. The same thing is happening in Minnesota.
If you're planning on traveling, if you're planning on flying out, the advice is call the airline, check with the airport and maybe come up with some backup travel plans because this is an unprecedented storm in some parts of the States. A lot of folks say they expect something like this around Christmas time. But around Thanksgiving, that's something new.
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CHURCH: Well, another fast-moving fire threatens homes in California. But as firefighters work to control it, the weather might finally be on their side. That is still to come.
Plus Kurds say they are being forced from their homes and their land in Syria. Why they blame the United States. Back in a moment.
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CHURCH: ISIS remains a threat in northern Syria and other parts of the Middle East. News agencies report the top U.S. general there says America will pick up the pace against what's left of the terror group.
But when U.S. troops were ordered to pull back from the north, Washington's Kurdish allies were left at the mercy of a Turkish offensive and they say they feel betrayed. CNN's Clarissa Ward has more from northern Syria on civilians paying the price for the U.S. exit.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Class should be in session now but here in Hasakah, the school has become a temporary shelter for displaced people.
In one classroom, we meet Ibrahim Hassan. The Kurdish father of five tells us he was forced to flee his home in Ras al-Ain with his children when the Turkish military operation began.
This is what remains of his house. Ibrahim says it is one of many in his Kurdish neighborhood that was deliberately ransacked by Turkish- backed forces.
IBRAHIM HASSAN, DISPLACED SYRIAN KURD (through translator): They took everything and after they took all our belongings they set it on fire and burned it all.
WARD (voice-over): Just days before the offensive began, Ibrahim's children had posed smiling with U.S. troops patrolling the area. He says America's presence gave him a false sense of security -- then suddenly, they were gone.
HASSAN (through translator): Since America betrayed us, every time I look at these photos of my children with the Americans, I want to erase them.
WARD (on camera): Do you feel that you trust the Americans, still?
(Speaking foreign language).
HASSAN: Bialtabe la.
WARD (on camera): Bialtabe la -- definitely not.
HASSAN (through translator): Now we hear and we see on television America saying that they're only here for the oil. Why did Trump do this?
You have betrayed all of the people. WARD (voice-over): It's a sentiment we found shared by many here. Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced by Turkey's offensive. Hundreds of their homes have been damaged or looted.
Local authorities are now trying to move them out of the schools so that class can start again and into hastily-built camps like this one. Conditions are bleak and resources are scarce.
[02:25:00]
WARD (voice-over): Because of the security situation, international aid agencies have had to pull out, leaving the Kurds with no one to rely on but themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (on camera): So she's saying it's really difficult here because it's very cold, especially at night. They don't have enough food, they don't have electricity and the water is not good.
WARD (voice-over): Camp organizers say there are 3,000 people living here now with more arriving every day.
WARD (on camera): Almost everyone in this camp is from the town of Ras al-Ain and Ras al-Ain used to be around 75 percent Kurdish.
Now though, we're told there are just a handful of Kurds left. And the people here believe that the ultimate goal of this Turkish offensive is to essentially push the Kurds out of this area completely and change the ethnic makeup of it forever.
WARD (voice-over): Turkey has done little to alleviate their fears. As the Kurds have poured out of these areas, Arabs have been bused in -- Syrian refugees, who Turkish authorities claim are originally from these areas.
After more than eight years of civil war, this part of Syria is full of stories of people forcibly displaced. In the Christian village of Tal Nasr, we find more families from Ras al-Ain sheltering in the ruins of a destroyed church.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (on camera): Will you try to go home, I asked these women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (on camera): There's no home to go to, they reply.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
WARD (voice-over): ISIS cleansed this area of Christians when it was on control. They have yet to return. Now the village provides refuge for another people forced from their homes with no sense of a possible return -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, northern Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, a storm is headed toward California, helping firefighters battle the flames in Santa Barbara. But the rain could lead to another dangerous situation.
Also, the ongoing search for survivors in Albania after Tuesday's powerful earthquake.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church.
An evacuation warning has been issued near a burn area in Central California for possible mud or rock slides. A storm is moving through the area, and that could help firefighters battle the Cave Fire. There is concern the rain could weaken the ground, causing it to give way.
The fire has burned 17 square kilometers, almost 4,300 acres, and it's 10 percent contained. Thousands had to leave their homes as flames came right to the edge of the road. But many have now been able to return.
Daniel Bertucelli joins me now on the line. He's with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. Thank you so much for talking with us.
CAPT. DANIEL BERTUCELLI, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, what is the situation on the ground right now, with this fire? And what impact will the storm likely have on it, do you think?
BERTUCELLI: Well, right now, the situation with the fire's looking really good, compared to how it was looking 24 hours ago. Twenty-four hours ago, we had a wind-driven fire being pushed by 50-mile-per-hour winds with very low relative humidity.
The fire was being pushed from up on top of the -- what we call the Camino Cielo, southward down into the populated areas of the city of Santa Barbara and city of Goleta, and the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County. The fire was burning through neighborhoods that were -- that had a lot of houses.
Engine companies did structure defense and night-flying helicopters did a lot of drops last night, and we're happy to say that we did not lose any residents in this -- in this fire. Right now, there's been a change in the weather. We have a Pacific storm that's coming in right now, and we're anticipating a couple of inches of rain tonight. The community --
CHURCH: This is --
BERTUCELLI: I'm sorry. Go ahead.
CHURCH: I mean, this is all great news, isn't it? So, how might this storm impact not only firefighting efforts now, but of course, fire risks going forward?
BERTUCELLI: Well, it's going to impact our firefighting efforts right now and it's going to be a positive impact for us. It's going to diminish fire activity. Relative humidity is going to go up, rain's going to fall from the sky and mother nature's going to help us put this fire out. In fact, I just drove the fire about two hours ago, and there's very minimal fire behavior right now. So, that's a very good sign.
There is a concern, though, you know, when you have a freshly burned mountainside and then it gets hit with rain, we have the risk of debris flows. We've seen that in our areas in the past and we're preparing for that, if that was to happen in the future.
So, we do have some resources that are upstaffed and they're available to assist in the event of any debris flows that might occur from tonight's incoming storm.
CHURCH: Right. That's a very important point. And I did want to ask you, Daniel, just how tough has this fire season been, so far, on firefighters and residents?
BERTUCELLI: You know, the last month and a half has been a pretty busy month and a half for firefighters. We had a pretty decent rain year last year and we had a late rain year. So, in May, we got some good rain, so our fire season actually started kind of slow. But it really ramped up in September and October and into November, primarily October and into November.
You know, fire crews in California, as well as other western states, are pretty taxed right now, but we're fully committed to doing what we have to do to ensure that any of these wildfires that break out, that we take care of them as quickly as possible.
CHURCH: Right. And we salute all your efforts. Daniel Bertucelli, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.
BERTUCELLI: You're very welcome. Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Rescue teams are still searching for survivors of Albania's powerful earthquake. At least 24 people died and hundreds more were injured when the quake struck early Tuesday. The epicenter was 36 kilometers from the capital Tirana.
Buildings collapsed, sending panicked survivors onto the streets. At least 45 people have been rescued. And the prime minister's office says more than 650 have received medical treatment.
[02:35:09] Well, Auron Tare joins us now. He is the co-founder of Our Own
Expeditions, and he felt the force of this quake. Auron, good to have you with us. So, you were actually at the Tirana International Airport when it hit. So, you join us from Prague, right now, but tell us what happened when this earthquake struck at the airport.
AURON TARE, CO-FOUNDER, OUR OWN EXPEDITIONS: Good morning to you. Actually, we're just preparing to leave the airport. I'm just on a prearranged meeting here in Prague. So, it was almost 4:00 in the morning, when this huge force just shook the area. A lot of panic by people there. And everybody started calling home. It was something that we've never felt before.
Although, there was another earthquake in 21st September, which sent a lot of people in panic, but this has been something that we have not, in our lifetime, have experienced.
CHURCH: And Auron, when we look at all of the pictures of the various buildings, we see some structures were still left standing, almost untouched, others were totally destroyed. What might that reveal about building standards in the area?
TARE: Well, for you to understand, the earthquake has hit an area very close to the coastline, which is rapidly built in the last 20, 30 years. So, of course, some of the standards of building has not been to sustain this kind of magnitude of earthquakes. And there also have been buildings in area that should not be built before.
So, that shows that the need for stronger, I would say, regulations in building codes, because, as you said, some of the older buildings have survived. But, unfortunately, the more modern one, more like the hotels or sort of tourist villas, have totally collapsed and has been, you know, a major thing for people in Durres.
So, we're calling friends or relatives last night, and they were scared of going back home because there were aftershocks all day long, so people have been really panicked and people living -- you know, they've been outside all night, scared to go home.
Another thing very sad is that, Durres, which the -- was hit most strongly, is home to ancient walls and fortresses and some of the most ancient walls that we have in Albania, have collapsed, which has -- you know, maybe the last time they collapsed by an earthquake like, more like 1,000, 1,500 years ago, so it has been a very, very powerful earthquake.
CHURCH: Yes, understood. And as you've been speaking to us, we've been looking at these live pictures, right now, of earth-moving equipment, trying to get in because, of course, it is a race against time to get to anyone who is buried under that rubble. You mentioned that you're in touch with friends and family. Have they
been able to give you an idea of just how extensive this destruction is and how are people coping in the aftermath of this quake? How much help are they getting from the government, for instance?
TARE: Well, as I said, we're just about to leave in the airport. So, in the -- for the moment, we cannot -- you know, we didn't know what to do, should we stay or should we go back home, but we -- it was 4:00 in the morning, so we called home and, you know, in Tirana, people seemed OK, although extremely scared and they kind of run out home, you know, with pajamas and everything like that on the street.
But then later on, we found out that the most areas hit is Durres, which is a bit western of Tirana and a bit northern of Tirana. Now, as far as help, I've seen an amazing respond by Italian, by Kosovar, by Greek, French as well, rescue teams which have arrived immediately in Albania, with their dogs, the rescue dogs.
So, Albania does not have, let's say, a professional team of rescue service, so of course all this help is extremely needed to find survivors because still we don't know how many people are under the rubble.
CHURCH: Right. And, of course, despite that, we did see first responders out there, just a very short time after this took place when we were covering this, and people were using their bare hands to try to pull away some of that rubble. Just incredible. And what a story for you to have to decide whether to stay or go.
[02:40:07]
But happy to hear you're safe there in Prague. Many thanks to you, Auron Tare, for talking with us. Appreciate it.
TARE: Thank you very much.
CHURCH: Well, coming up next, three men arrested on Thanksgiving, 36 years ago, for a murder they did not commit. They are now free.
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ALFRED CHESTNUT, WRONGFULLY CONVICTED OF MURDER: This is the day that the Lord has made. You know, what I'm saying? He has set the captives free. I've been always dreaming of this, for this day. I've been dreaming of this day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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CHURCH: A stunning upset for the top-ranked U.S. men's college basketball team. The Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin State University have knocked off the Duke Blue Devils in an overtime thriller. It's the first time Duke has lost on its home court to a non-conference opponent since 2000. That's 150 games.
The Lumberjacks' Nathan Bain came up with a loose ball in the final seconds and drove down the court for a buzzer-beating layup. Final score, Stephen F. Austin 85, Duke 83.
In Baltimore, Maryland, three men are now free after spending 36 years in prison for a murder they did not commit. Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins, and Andrew Stewart were arrested in 1983 on Thanksgiving Day. Now, all these years later, they will finally get to spend the holiday with their families and loved ones. CNN's Brynn Gingras has more now on why their convictions were overturned.
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BRYNN GINGRASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Free at last.
CHESTNUT: Oh, man. I've been always dreaming of this, for this day.
GINGRAS: Baltimore police ripped these three men from their homes on Thanksgiving Day, 36 years ago, for a murder they did not commit.
RANSOM WATKINS, WRONGFULLY CONVICTED OF MURDER: We're smiling. We're happy that we're free. But we've got a lot to fix.
[02:45:10]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
WATKINS: This should have never happened.
MARY STEWART, SON EXONERATED OF MURDER: This is the first time I have been able to hug my son in about 20 some years.
GINGRAS: Hugs weren't the only things missed. Two of the men have never driven a car. They've actually spent more time behind bars than their homes all because of what happened in 1983.
Back then, police arrested and charged 16-year olds Alfred Chestnut and Ransom Watkins, and 17-year-old Andrew Stewart for the killing of a teenager at a Baltimore middle school.
Police, say the murder was over a sports jacket. Their smoking gun, a similar jacket found inside Chestnut's home despite no blood or gunshot evidence. His mother even had a receipt of purchase according to court paperwork. Still, they were sentenced to life behind bars.
WATKINS: I hate to put it like this, we went through hell.
GINGRAS: A break in the case came when Chestnut filed for information and uncovered a pile of unseen evidence. Young witnesses were interviewed by police without their parents and told to "get their story straight".
An anonymous phone call even I.D.'d another suspect who was seen wearing the stolen jacket and confessing to the crime. But none of that was ever given to the men's defense team, attorneys say.
For decades, the men maintained their innocence. Chestnut refused to confess even when the parole board considered releasing him if he did. Baltimore's Conviction Integrity Unit eventually looked over the case and set them free.
CHESTNUT: I'm looking forward man, living the rest of my life.
ANDREW STEWART, EXONERATED OF MURDER: Too many people are losing their lives in prison that don't deserve, and we got to do something about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: The state attorney, says she's going to work on creating a compensation fund for those wrongfully convicted because it currently does not exist in the State of Maryland. Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Justice, at last. Well, it is not just dangerous to text and drive, it's also dangerous to text and walk. A 49-year-old man walking along a subway platform in Buenos Aires was so engrossed on his cell phone that he walked off the edge of the platform and fell onto the tracks.
Fortunately, two men passing by came to his rescue and pulled him back up, and the man was given medical attention. A cautionary tale for all of us right there.
Of for some chefs, it represents the peak of their career, but others are refusing the coveted Michelin star. Their reasons for the rejection, still to come.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my pleasure to introduce to you the first lady of the United States of America.
KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (via telephone): First Lady Melania Trump was speaking today in Baltimore, Maryland at a youth summit for opioid awareness. She was speaking in front of a crowd of about 1,000 high schoolers and middle schoolers, something she has done many times before.
But today, the reaction with a lot different.
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you gym for the warming 2,000 and for inviting me to joining today for such an important event centered on opioid awareness. Hello everyone.
BENNETT: As she was introduced, she was cheered but she was also loudly booed. Something that hasn't happened to the first lady before during a solo event, a solo speech. And she carried on until the end of her speech when she thanked the audience there were some cheers but there was also again a loud chorus of boos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much, First Lady. We appreciate you.
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CHURCH: The first lady, issued a statement to CNN after the event. Saying in part, "We live in a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I remain committed to educating children on the dangers and deadly consequences of drug abuse."
Well, for any restaurant, it is a career-high to win a Michelin star. But that's not the case for one South Korean chef. Eo Yun-gwon is reportedly suing Michelin for including his restaurant in its 2019 guide against his wishes. He takes issue with the process Michelin uses to judge restaurants.
In a phone interview, he told CNN, the Michelin Guide is a cruel system. Calling it the cruelest test in the world. He says it forces chefs to work for about a year waiting for a test and they don't know when it's coming. He says it's humiliating to see his restaurant given a rating in what he calls that unwholesome book. And he says the guide is blinded by money and lacks philosophy.
Well, the South Korean chef isn't alone in challenging Michelin. One French chef has been awarded nine stars, but now says he doesn't want any.
Saskya Vandoorne reports.
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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: In France, food is given a special place. In the best restaurants, it has given an almost ceremonial reverence. And for the top chefs, the ultimate measure of their success is the Michelin star.
But what if far from being something to wish for, the Michelin star was more of a curse. Marc Veyrat, one of France's most famous chefs has earned nine stars in all. But in January, his Maison des Bois restaurant in the Alps lost its third star over a souffle that a critic said tasted of cheddar -- an affront that Mr. Veyrat has not even begun to digest.
TEXT: I'm ready to accept losing a star, but they have to tell me why. In my opinion, they are incompetent! Do you realize they mixed up reblochon and cheddar? They said my souffle was made of cheddar, but that's nonsense!
[02:55:11]
VANDOORNE: Now, the 69-year-old is taking the Michelin Guide to court. He says he no longer wants its stars and wants the Guide to clarify the reasons behind its decision. But it turns out it's not that simple. While Michelin, says Veyrat's talent is not in dispute, it insist its first duty is to inform the consumer.
GWENDAL POULLENNEC, INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, THE MICHELIN GUIDE: A food, especially, in France is about passion, it's about emotion. Chef are real artists. So, they are quite proud.
Sometimes excessive, fragile, and I think in that case, he's saying, OK, I deserve three star because I am who I am. We have to avoid any kind of, let's say, emotional blackmail.
VANDOORNE: It isn't the first time that the pressure placed on chefs by the star system has caused controversy. The 2003 suicide of the three-star chef Bernard Loiseau was linked to a system of intense gourmet critic.
Several chefs have even asked for their stars to be removed, citing the psychological, as well as financial pressure of maintaining their rating.
TEXT: For 20 years, I couldn't sleep for three months in the lead up to the guide being because I was so scared I would lose the stars. How can you allow that? Will we do this tomorrow for lawyers, doctors, mechanics, for everyone? What right do they have to do this?
VANDOORNE: Veyrat hopes the hearing today will force the Guide to be more transparent about how it awards stars, and more importantly, why it takes them away.
Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
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CHURCH: And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Max Foster after a short break. Do stay with us.
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