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Nine People Dead After A Plane Crashes During A Brutal Snowstorm In Chamberlain, South Dakota; Crucial Week In The Impeachment Inquiry; Biden Blitzes Iowa On "No Malarkey" Bus Tour. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 01, 2019 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:30]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're following breaking news. Nine people are dead after a plane crash during a brutal snowstorm and Chamberlain, South Dakota.
The victims reportedly belong to one family, including two children; miraculously, three passengers on the downed plane survived. Officials say visibility in the area at the time was less than a mile and snow was falling up to an inch an hour. That storm that is blanketing the Midwest is part of the same system that is moving through the Northeast right now.
We have a team of correspondents scattered across the country covering these breaking stories. Let's begin with Nick Watt and this tragedy in South Dakota? Nick, what are you learning?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, Fred, three people miraculously survived this crash and first responders had to contend with that horrific weather to rescue those three. They've been taken to the hospital in Sioux Falls. Nine people dead on that plane.
As you mentioned, among the dead, two children. Also, we're told the pilot of the airplane. They were planning to fly West about 600 miles or so to Idaho Falls, but that plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
Now the F.A.A. and the N.T.S.B. are already investigating the cause, and of course, one major focus of that investigation will be that weather. As you say, a very bad winter storm moving through the area at the time of takeoff, low visibility, an inch of snow falling an hour.
One local official tells us that weather was a factor in this, but that is just one local official and of course, the N.T.S.B. will take a lot longer to come to any sort of determination but the tragedy here, Fred, nine people dead in this plane crash. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, terribly sad. Nick Watt, thank you so much. I want to talk more with Theresa Maule Rossow on this. She is the State's Attorney for Brule County, South Dakota where the plane crash took place. Theresa, you had a number of first responders, law enforcement responding to this terrible accident. What have you learned about the victims, the survivors, and the circumstances?
THERESA MAULE ROSSOW, STATE'S ATTORNEY, BRULE COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA (via phone): Thank you, Fredricka. Right now, I believe that it is inappropriate for me to disclose any names because of family members and just common courtesy.
I think the entire community of Brule County has the individuals on the plane and their families in our prayers. Also, secondly, I think a huge appreciation and thanks should go out to all of our law enforcement, first responders, medical professionals for their heroic efforts during extremely adverse weather conditions yesterday.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And we are looking at -- we have been looking at some of the images of, you know, this adverse conditions and I mean, tremendous snowfall, terrible visibility. Talk to me about how difficult it was for first responders to reach the crash site.
ROSSOW: The first responders are incredibly well-trained individuals in Brule County. So they were able to reach the crash site as soon as they found out about it in a timely manner.
We believe that once we found out about it, they were on the spot incredibly quickly and did an amazing job. It was incredibly bitterly cold out there. They had to deal with very cold conditions, wind, blowing snow. It was very bad out.
WHITFIELD: And then I understand major interstates in the area were closed for much of yesterday, visibility less than a half a mile in some parts. Do you know whether or how much of a role, weather may have played in that crash?
ROSSOW: I don't even want to hazard a guess on that. Media relations of the N.T.S.B. would be handling that once they complete their investigation. And those would be the proper authorities to answer those questions. I don't even want to hazard a guess.
WHITFIELD: I got you. Well, our hearts and prayers are going out to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, nine lost in that plane crash. Theresa Maule Rossow. Thank you so much.
ROSSOW: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, let me turn now to CNN Meteorologist, Karen McGinnis live in the Weather Center. So severe weather, it is impacting millions of Americans.
[15:05:01]
KAREN MCGINNIS, METEOROLOGIST: It certainly is, anywhere between 40 and 50 million people depending on which advisories and which warnings you look at.
And by the way, in South Dakota, at the time of that crash, there was a winter storm warning that was issued for that area of the monster system. This still is impacting portions of the Great Lakes and Midwest, but rapidly moving towards the east. But this is going to linger across the Northeast and New England open next day.
Yes, lots of delays, plenty of them. And if you are trying to get some place and you are viewing us out of Boston, JFK, Philadelphia, New York, you are looking at quite an extensive list of delays, but not just there. Some other delays being reported in Cleveland, Detroit, also in Chicago. Reduced visibility, and the weather is going to be deteriorating.
So you've got that push of people trying to get on a plane to make their flights. So you've got volume, but you also have the interference of poor visibility. Technically, it's a very complex system. Very low pressure from a system to the south. This is the warm sector. So not everybody is seeing the snowfall yet.
Philadelphia looks like you're going to hold off for a little bit. New York -- New York is a funny city to forecast this time for because there's going to be rain, ice, sleet, snow, wind, fog.
WHITFIELD: Oh boy.
MCGINNIS: A lot of poor weather conditions there in Boston before it's all said and done. Could see eight inches, could see 12 inches, could see ice, could see snow. It is expecting some wind and rain. Philadelphia right now seeing the rainfall. Washington, D.C. I think it will be all rainfall.
Take a look at New York. It looks like northern sections of Long Island seeing some snowfall. They were having a football game in East Rutherford. It was snowing there. Central Park, it was raining there. People have tried to get on Broadway to see some plays. Well, it was raining there. So everywhere you looked, it was pretty much something different.
Philadelphia 42 right now, Fred, 34 degrees in State College, Syracuse 24. Wow. I told our crew you want to see some snow go to Syracuse. Because they are going to get walloped. It could be a couple of feet of snowfall. The worse, all said and done.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
MCGINNIS: And there was a commuter flight, Fred, where the Delta commuter flight went off the taxi way. They said they exited the taxi way. It was probably just miserable icy conditions there over the previous few hours.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. Treacherous conditions everywhere.
MCGINNIS: No one injured.
WHITFIELD: Thank goodness.
MCGINNIS: Yes, no one injured.
WHITFIELD: Yes, but frightening moments nonetheless. Karen McGinnis, thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right, straight ahead. It is a crucial week in the Impeachment
Inquiry. We will break down the legal questions for this first week of December. Plus, as the inquiry moves to a new House Committee, will Republicans change up their strategy? We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:11:18]
WHITFIELD: All right, can you believe it? It's December and with it, in this first week of December, comes a critical week in the House Impeachment Inquiry. The Intelligence Committee is set to release its findings in a new report and that's ahead of the Judiciary Committee's first impeachment hearing on Wednesday.
But before that hearing begins, the White House only has hours now left to decide if it will have attorneys present; something Republicans on the Judiciary Committee say President Trump should strongly consider.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK (R-CA): I think it would be to the President's advantage to have his attorneys there. I think a more information is better than less in every aspect of an inquiry and the adversarial process is very important to test what's true and what's not.
My objection to what the Congress has done is it has impeded that process by vetoing Republican witnesses, and by interfering with the due process rights of the President in what is a quasi-judicial proceeding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right here with me now, former top aide to former House Speaker Paul Ryan and John Boehner, Brendan Buck with me now. Good to see you, Brendan. Happy Holiday weekend.
BRENDAN BUCK, FORMER TOP AIDE TO PAUL RYAN AND JOHN BOEHNER: Happy Holidays.
WHITFIELD: So in your view, is it in the President's best interest to have attorneys in this process?
BUCK: Maybe on the substance, but as a political matter, I think they've actually been winning with their arguments saying that the process is broken. Now, a lot of the arguments I think they've been making are sort of dubious, but so far, so good, actually, if you're a Republican. Because zero Republicans are expected to vote for impeachment.
And a lot of this has been based on the President's ability to tell the base that this process is rigged, that they've been out to get him from the beginning and he has been playing victim and it's actually been working well for him. So I expect he is not going to participate. I don't think he is going
to send any lawyer so that he could continue to make that argument and pound it into the base's head that they are just out to get him.
WHITFIELD: And another constant is, you know, Republicans have said that the President's, you know, conduct, maybe unsavory, but it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment, even after these 17 witnesses, closed-door testimonies. Republicans still feel like that that is the best argument.
BUCK: Well, you know, the numbers on the Intelligence Committee, I think, defended him on the substance a little more than most, but I think most people that have stayed away from it for the reason that you outlined.
I think, as a matter of fact-finding, Democrats have been remarkably successful. Especially considering where we started. Think about this, the President said they were not going to participate at all in this process. And then you saw diplomat after diplomat, aide after aide come down and tell these stories that were all remarkably consistent.
So I think as a matter of substance, they've done a great job. But as a matter of politics, you have to say that they failed because the time for persuasion is over. The Intelligence Committee was where you were going to persuade people.
And the fact of the matter is, while there is a relatively high number of Americans who think that he should be removed, no Republicans were moved to support that.
And so now, we're left with what I imagined will be a relative snooze fest at the Judiciary Committee next week, where they're talking to constitutional law experts. I don't know that that's actually going to move anybody.
So while they have gotten the facts right, I think the politics have worked out well for the President. He is probably going to get out here with a party line vote.
WHITFIELD: There is the potential that the Judiciary Committee could always call witnesses or call witnesses that have already testified to ask additional questions somewhere in a possible, you know, two-week period. Do you think that would be potentially helpful?
BUCK: I think it's telling that Nancy Pelosi put Adam Schiff in charge of this and not Jerry Nadler.
[15:15:00]
BUCK: I think she has a lot more confidence in Adam Schiff to be able to tell this story. They basically stole impeachment away from the Judiciary Committee, which is pretty remarkable. I mean, that is firmly the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and Nancy Pelosi said -- WHITFIELD: But what do you mean, it will be in the Judiciary that it
will be determined what Articles of Impeachment, you know, in which this -- you know, in which the house may potentially vote on?
BUCK: They're effectively handing this over to the Judiciary Committee at this point because they have to, because they have to be the ones to process the paperwork, for lack of a better term.
The platform and the place where they were actually trying to persuade people was the Intelligence Committee, and I think they did a really good job of bringing people forward.
Now, we're moving forward to a debate without anybody who was really -- so far, they've not announced any witnesses that were actually present to any of this. These are constitutional law experts. So I don't think this is going to persuade anybody. And I think now, the period for persuading anybody is past us.
WHITFIELD: All right, Brendan Buck. Thanks so much. Good to see you. Happy Holidays.
BUCK: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, all eyes are on Iowa. And Joe Biden right now as his bus tour crisscrosses the state, what the former Vice President just told CNN about his slumping poll numbers in Iowa.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:20:06]
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Eighteen counties, eight days, one goal -- win over Iowa voters -- that is the current state of Joe Biden's campaign on day two of the former Vice President's blitz through the key state. He is hosting three events as a way to get his message out and meet with undecided voters.
And while Biden is enjoying front runner status nationally, the latest CNN/Des Moines Register Poll shows him trailing Mayor Pete Buttigieg in Iowa and in a virtual tie with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
CNN Politics Reporter, Arlette Saenz is on the ground for us in Iowa. Arlette, you spoke with Biden earlier today. What did he say?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Fred, I did speak with Biden just a short while ago over in Carroll, Iowa at a coffee shop where I asked him about the fact that he is leading in the national polls.
As you mentioned, Pete Buttigieg right now is leading here in the state and Biden is battling it out for second with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and I asked him why he thinks that that that standing in the national polls isn't translating here in Iowa. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE I think it is translating. I think -- that's why we're here. We're here to translate. We're here to translate the polls nationally here.
Look, I feel good about Iowa, and the fact is that my impression and the little fact that they have forgotten more about this -- well, I know, but I know about it -- is that, Iowans make up your minds late and they change. The front runner ends up getting behind and the front runner comes back.
I am going to win. I am not running to lose. I am not running to be the third or fourth or fifth. I don't like that, so I feel good about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: So Biden arguing there that with 64 days to go, there's still plenty of time for Iowans to potentially change their mind. He also noted that the front runners, you know, that there's different front runners at different points in the race.
And he said that December, around this time, is when it's a good time to start peaking. So really his campaign is getting him out here on this eight-day, 18-county bus or trying to get him to connect with more voters. He has been focusing a lot on rural areas over the past 24 hours taking his pitch there.
He was also asked about Pete Buttigieg at that stop earlier in Carroll, Iowa, potentially comparing him -- the question was, whether he might be like the young President Obama from 2008? And Biden went out of his way, and said he didn't want to criticize Pete Buttigieg about the he also did stress that it's going to be important for the nominee not to need on-the-job training, heading into the White House if they win the presidency -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, and all bundled up. Arlette Saenz in that brisk wind and able to still concentrate. You know, sometimes when it's just so cold and it kind of freezes your mouth, you can barely speak. You did well.
SAENZ: Yes. It really does freeze.
WHITFIELD: All right, good job.
SAENZ: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. For more on Biden's strategy and the 2020 race, I want to bring in now CNN political commentator, Patti Solis Doyle, as she is also the former presidential campaign manager for Hillary Clinton. Patti, good to see you.
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you too, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Okay, so what does this 8-day tour signal to you about the campaign's confidence in Iowa right now?
DOYLE: Well, you know, for the only way to really win in Iowa is to beat expectations. And right now Joe Biden's expectations are pretty low. You know, he is battling for a second in the latest CNN poll, but some polls have him in third and some polls even have him fourth.
So as long as he can beat those expectations, he can go right into New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada where he is faring much better. So I think this bus tour really is timed perfectly for him to sort of break out a little bit, you know, have the voters of Iowa really get to know him right after the holidays.
And it's also timed well when many of his competitors are going to be in the month of December, on Capitol Hill at an impeachment hearing, and he'll have the stage almost to himself.
WHITFIELD: So do you think this "No Malarkey" tour is a way in which you know, Biden will try to appeal to a certain electorate in Iowa?
DOYLE: Yes, I think Joe Biden one-on-one is really, really good as a campaigner. When his team, let's Biden be Biden, I think he has very good retail campaign abilities. And that's what Iowa is really all about. It's much less about stumping and media interviews. It's all about one-on-one contact with the voter.
So I do think that Joe Biden will make some strides with this bus tour and then again, like I said, in the middle month of December.
[15:25:04]
WHITFIELD: So if you look at the latest Iowa polling, you'll see that Biden slipped five percent in a matter of two months. Meanwhile, Mayor Pete Buttigieg soared. So what is it that you think allows Buttigieg to get so much appeal and traction?
DOYLE: Well, first and foremost, he is running a really great campaign and with a really strong organization, but you know, Iowa voters like to be excited. They like to be inspired. And Pete Buttigieg is an inspiring candidate. He does represent that sort of generational transformational change that inspires a lot of people. And he came out of nowhere, right? Very much like Barack Obama did in 2008.
Pretty much written off when he was -- when he first entered the race, but he spent a lot of time doing that retail campaigning that Iowa loves and he made a huge impact talking about like I said, generational change and he is just a smart guy. He has an answer for everything. And you combine that with a really strong on the ground organization and you know, jump in the polls by 10 points.
WHITFIELD: All right, Patti Solis Doyle, we'll leave it there for now and have a great rest of your holiday weekend.
DOYLE: Thanks so much, Fred. You, too.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you. All right, a CNN programming note. Do not miss Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa live as they name the 2019 CNN Hero of the Year. CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. Next Sunday, 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:42]
WHITFIELD: All right, another busy week on Capitol Hill as the House enters a new phase in President Trump's Impeachment Inquiry. The House Judiciary Committee is set to hold its first hearing on Wednesday, which will include four impeachment law scholars.
This morning, CNN sat down with the only lawmaker who has worked on three impeachment probes, Democrat Zoe Lofgren. She now sits on the House Judiciary Committee and says today's impeachment is a far cry from the case against President Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): My concern with the Clinton impeachment was that there was no high crime or misdemeanor. Lying about sex does not disrupt the constitutional order. It doesn't threaten the national security.
I mean, we're not pursuing President Trump's lying about sex. I mean, his former lawyers in prison, because he lied about the presence of affairs. That has nothing to do with undercutting the constitutional order.
If we were pursuing President Trump because of his cover up of his affairs, that would be improper and we're not going to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right here with me now, former Federal prosecutor and CNN Legal Analyst, Shan Wu. Happy Holidays to you, Shan.
SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Happy Holidays, Fred.
WHITFIELD: So what will the Judiciary Committee focus on as it seeks to prepare these Articles of Impeachment?
WU: They're going to focus on what evidence they've already put forward to the American people have specific instances of misconduct: The campaign finance aspects, abuse of power, obstruction of Congress, and generally obstruction of justice, as well.
So they're going to want to use all the evidence that they've brought forward to make it very specific as to which of these offenses are impeachable offenses. And that's why they're going to start I think, by defining what that is.
WHITFIELD: And then how will the hearing this week establish whether historical or constitutional standards are being met?
WU: I think they're going to give us a little bit of a history lesson and talk about what are the specific offenses enumerated in the Constitution, which are treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors.
If we kind of walk through those, even though a lot of folks think that the President's conduct has been treasonous, it's not really because there's a very narrow definition of treason, which is levying war against the United States, et cetera.
Bribery, closer call, because he is trying to use something of value, the $400 million in aid to accomplish something. But I think the Republicans have a good argument against that, which is that bribery usually directed towards an individual for some kind of illegal act. This is towards a government, and arguably, it's not really an illegal act, it is military aid or talking about corruption in general.
So there is an analogy there, but a little bit weaker one. Big catch- all, falling into the high crimes not defined in the Constitution, abuse of power. Looking at that, we have to look at what the framers' intent was, and they very specifically did not want the term maladministration in the Constitution, meaning we don't like the job you're doing, you're doing a really lousy job, because they were afraid that that would be used for very overtly political means.
So the lesson from that historically is, the Democrats must focus on real misconduct, things that were done affirmatively wrong, not just areas where you might disagree with the President.
WHITFIELD: And will the Judiciary Committee, you know, call back witnesses or perhaps even call in new ones? Would it be a mistake if they don't?
WU: I don't think it would be a mistake if they don't. They don't really need that at this point for the evidence of the Impeachment Articles. But it would be a good idea to keep things fresh in the American public's mind. Maybe they could go with a more high tech, play some video clips, or they could have some select witnesses with real high points. That's the advantage you have by having done this sort of investigative inquiry. You know, what are the strongest points.
WHITFIELD: Shan Wu, always good to see you. Thank you so much.
WU: Good to see you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, stunning allegations against one of the largest Catholic religious orders in the world. The year-long CNN investigation, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:38:50]
WHITFIELD: All right, priests abusing children you might think you know this story, but there's something you may not know. There are powerful institutions within the Catholic Church that are free to self-police, and a year-long CNN investigation reveals that one of those institutions, the second largest Catholic religious order in the world, has repeatedly failed to protect children from pedophile priests.
CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir travels to Europe, Africa and the United States for her disturbing CNN Special Report: Abuse and Scandal in the Catholic Church. The Case of the Predator Priest. This report features themes that some viewers may find distressing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're tracking down a convicted pedophile priest, Father Luk Delft. Delft abused two children in a dormitory in Belgium. We've learned he may be abusing again.
Our investigation is zeroing in on a remote town in the Central African Republic, Kaga-Bandoro.
[15:40:10]
ELBAGIR (on camera): It's taken us about two days, three different planes to get up here to the north of the Central African Republic. If you were trying to disappear, this would definitely suitably remote.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): UNICEF has called it one of the worst places in the world to be a child. It's here in Kaga-Bandoro that Delft first worked for Caritas, the Catholic charity. Their mission: to protect the most vulnerable.
It's also here that we're hearing whispers of possible new victims.
At a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of town, Alban and his father agree to speak to us about his alleged abuse at the hands of Father Luk Delft.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (on camera): Do you know who this man is?
ALBAN ALAIN, ALLEGED VICTIM OF FATHER DELFT: Luk.
ELBAGIR: Pere Luk?
A. ALAIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
TEXT: We were friends. He would buy me clothes, and he would often give me money. Every morning, I would greet him before he would go to work. It was the basis for our friendship.
ELBAGIR: He became your friend. What happened?
A. ALAIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
TEXT: It was a horrible thing that he did to me. When you showed me his picture, it upset me. I don't even want to see his face. It upsets me very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): It's clear Alban is too upset to talk much more, so we asked father if he can explain what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (on camera): What did Father Delft do?
ONONO ALAIN, FATHER OF ALBAN ALAIN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
TEXT: What he did to my son is not a good thing. There are plenty of women he could have had sex with. He preferred to sodomize my son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): This was hard for both Alban and his father, but they told us it was important for them to talk. They want justice.
We leave Kaga-Bandoro. It's time to track down Delft.
This is Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. We've traveled here from the north, where we met Alban.
Our contacts are telling us Delft regularly celebrates mass in the area. We try the churches. He's nowhere to be found. We try him at his residence, but he hasn't spent the night. Nothing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (on camera): We've spent the whole morning looking for Father Delft. It's been a bit of a wild goose chase. But now, we're hearing that he's back in his office, and we're heading there now.
We spoke to the prosecutor in Belgium. We want to ask you some questions about breaking the terms of your sentence.
We also spoke to some children up in Kaga-Bandoro who had some really disturbing stories to share with us. And of course, we want to hear what you have to say about it, Father Delft.
FATHER LUK DELFT, CONVICTED PEDOPHILE PRIEST: Nothing.
ELBAGIR: What do you mean nothing?
DELFT: Nothing.
ELBAGIR: You're a priest. You're a man of God. These children are accusing you of abusing them, and you have nothing to say for yourself?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Do you know Alban? Do you remember Alban? He said he was 13 when you abused them. Do you remember him?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Alban? Alban in Kaga-Bandoro? At the compound? The Catholic compound? He and his father spoke to us. He was crying. He said that you told him you loved him, and then you hurt him. You have nothing to say?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: It doesn't disturb you to hear that children said this about you?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Do you want to say anything?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Well, we will, of course, be speaking to the managers of Caritas about our findings. Thank you for whatever this was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Father Luk Delft's religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, moved him multiple times, each time to schools, campuses, even supervising children, before we were able to catch up with him.
You may think you know this story, priests abusing children, but what you may not know is that there are powerful institutions within the church who are free to self-police. In many cases, not even the Pope can sanction them.
Father Luk Delft belongs to the Salesians of Don Bosco, the second largest of these institutions, a religious order whose mission is to help the most vulnerable children in the world.
[15:45:07]
ELBAGIR (voice over): Patrick Wall was himself a religious order priest, and to date, has helped investigate hundreds of clerical abuse cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK WALL, CO-AUTHOR, "SEX, PRIESTS AND SECRET CODES": My experience has been that Salesians have the highest percentage of perpetrators of any religious order across the world, because of their focus. If a priest is allowed to go 20 to 30 years, there are several hundred victims per priest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice over): We came to the Vatican to share the evidence we were able to unearth over a yearlong investigation, and it's not just Father Delft. We found evidence of abusers being moved, evidence of a refusal to defrock convicted pedophiles.
Caritas Internationalis' new head of safeguarding says the Salesians did not contact them about the current allegations against Caritas's former director, Luk Delft.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (on camera): So you were only made aware when we contacted you?
ANDREW AZZOPARDI, CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS: Yes, and from what information you shared with us, there are -- there are new allegations there which need to be investigated, hopefully by the police, or at least internally by the church, to -- to take action against Father Luk, and any other person who is responsible for Father Luk's behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): The Salesians appear to have withheld information even from others in the church. We are still looking to understand how this is possible.
Father Hans Zollner is one of the few people at the Vatican willing to answer questions. He says the new papal guidelines are progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATHER HANS ZOLLNER, PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS: This is a very important step forward in the development of a culture of accountability.
ELBAGIR (on camera): Does this apply, though, to the Holy Orders? Because the Holy Orders will not directly fall under that bishop.
ZOLLNER: Now, the congregations and the religious orders follow a different type of structure and legal -- legal procedures. Many people think the Catholic Church is a monolithic bloc, with one CEO, who is the Pope, and he presses a button, and every bishop and every priest and every Catholic actually salute; and they follow what he does. And that is not the case.
In some cases, in way too many cases, the religious superiors did not follow through Canon Law.
ELBAGIR: But the fact is, they did not follow Canon Law.
ZOLLNER: Yes.
ELBAGIR: And there was no oversight mechanism that made any note of that. So there are no sanctions. There have not been sanctions for that.
ZOLLNER: If there are no sanctions within the community, which is, in that case, an order or a congregation, then there is almost no possibility to do that. ELBAGIR: And I think that's the heartbreak for a lot of survivors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Until this blind spot is addressed, and the religious orders brought under the same guidelines as other priests and bishops, many survivors believe the cycle of clerical abuse will only continue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: CNN Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir joining me live now from London. I mean, this is so disturbing and to see this young man and really see his pain without even words being spoken. So what has happened since you first shared your findings with the church?
ELBAGIR: Well, in recent days and weeks, there has been a lot of movement. The U.N. has suspended its work with Caritas pending an investigation. The Belgian Federal Police have begun an official investigation, based off of our findings and Father Luk Delft has been recalled back to Belgium.
But Fred, I should say that that all took an awful long time, from the point at which we went and confronted this priest and shared our findings with the Catholic Church to movement actually happening. It really was only the fear of today, of this broadcast date that seems to have kind of put some speed into this.
The Salesians of Don Bosco, the Holy Order that this priest belongs to kept him in country for almost a month after we first made them aware and it was really only the team pushing back consistently and making clear to the Salesians that we were making note of how long he remained in country and their culpability for anything that happened, any further victimization that happened that finally caused him to be pulled out by Caritas.
So clearly, there's so much still to be done, and this year, Fred, the Holy Father had announced that this was supposed to be the beginning of a big campaign to combat child abuse in the church, to really not just combat the child abuse, but also combat the culture of cover up and nothing that we have found shows that that has been successful.
The Vatican refused to even answer any of our questions. The Pope's spokesperson refused to respond to us. It is really heartbreaking when you speak to survivors who have had to suffer through this for decades, and then they discover that nothing really has changed -- Fred.
[15:50:04]
WHITFIELD: Yes, it is so upsetting. All right, powerful reporting again, Nima. Thank you so much. And join CNN's Nima Elbagir as she travels across three continents for this CNN Special Report: Abuse and Scandal in the Catholic Church. The Case of the Predator Priest. That's tonight eight o'clock, only right here on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Police have now identified both people killed and Friday's terror attack on the famed London Bridge. Twenty-five-year-old, Jack Merritt and 23-year-old Saskia Jones were both college students volunteering at the prisoner rehabilitation meeting where the attack began.
One of the injured victims has returned home while two others remain in hospital -- in the hospital. The suspect, Usman Khan was on early release after serving less than half of his 16-year sentence on a terrorism conviction.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was repulsive that Khan was freed early.
And right now, in the States, in New Orleans, police are investigating an incident after a gunman opened fire on a crowded street near the city's famed French Quarter. Ten people were injured and two of the victims are in critical condition. Police say they detained someone at the scene.
And deadly weather marches across the U.S. on the busiest travel day of the year. A live report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:58:45]
WHITFIELD: A live look at the White House. A giant red ribbon -- excuse me -- adorns the North Portico in honor of today being World AIDS Day. According to UNICEF, a record 33 million people are currently living with HIV including more than one million right here in the US.
The Secretary General of the United Nations tweeted this, "On #WorldAIDSDay let's reaffirm our commitment to ending this epidemic by 2030 -- scaling up access to health services, fighting stigma and ensuring people enjoy their rights."
The next hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happening now in the NEWSROOM.
Deadly weather marches across the U.S. on the busiest travel day of the year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew if we got -- if we got stranded and had to spend the night on the side of the road, we kind of prepared for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In South Dakota, nine people killed when their small plane goes down in blizzard-like conditions. Gusty winds, heavy snow and rain forcing water rescues and shutting
down freeways.
CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone, thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Nine people are dead after a plane crashed during a brutal snowstorm in Chamberlain, South Dakota.
