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Royal Family to Meet to Discuss Harry & Meghan's Future; Showers Forecast for New South Wales to Bring Relief; David Calhoun Taking Charge as CEO of Troubled Jet Maker Boeing; Protests Spread After Iran Admits Downing Plane; Canada Mourns Victims Of Downed Ukrainian Airplane; Philippines Warns Another Eruption Could Come Soon. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 13, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
Coming up next here on CNN Newsroom, the terrifying moment at Iranian missiles rained down on U.S. troops in Iraq. We have an exclusive look on what it was like to be on the receiving end of all that firepower.
Also, in the Philippines, the alert level rises after an explosive volcanic eruption spews ash into the air and sends people scrambling for safety. The pictures are astounding.
And also, a right royal mess. Harry and Meghan's future will be on the table at a family meeting in the wake of the bombshell announcement that they will step back from their royal duties.
Thank you again for joining us. And we begin with outrage and calls for justice in Iran. Protests are spreading after the government admitted to shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet last week. Authorities say it was a mistake and they have apologized. But thousands of people taking to the streets say that is not enough. They want those responsible brought to justice.
Police have responded to the protests with tear gas and a witness says they have shot into the air to try and dispersed crowds.
U.S. President Trump tweeted his support for the protesters. He also says Iran could be forced to negotiate and warns against a crackdown.
The plane was shot down days after the U.S. killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Mr. Trump has said he believed Soleimani was targeting four U.S. embassies.
But the president's allies have struggled to back up that claim. Here was Defense Secretary Mark Esper on CNN State of the Union.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Was there specific intelligence that he was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies? Did you see any intelligence like that?
MARK ESPER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I'm not going to discuss the intelligence on the show. Let me just say that --
TAPPER: The president did though.
ESPER: It's the president's prerogative.
I'm not going to discuss intelligence. What the president said was he believe that it probably it could have been. He didn't cite intelligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Most of the 176 people killed on that plane were from Iran and Canada. Memorials like this one you see here in Toronto are being held for the victims, so much pain in so many countries.
Iran retaliated for Soleimani's death by firing missiles at bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq. One of the sites hit was Al Asad Airbase. CNN was the first network to reach a new report from Al Asad after the attack.
Arwa Damon has more on what happened in this exclusive report.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: American forces are not used to being on the receiving end of this kind of firepower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another one, another one.
DAMON: They are usually the ones delivering it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I was scared at the moment, but it happened. It's something that we were ready for, ready as can be.
DAMON: Ready for some sort of ground attack by Iran's proxies, ready for mortars and rockets, but this base is not equipped to defend against ballistic missiles.
On any other night, some of the 2,500 troops and contractors would have been in the areas hit.
LT. COL. TIM GARLAND, U.S. ARMY: The ballistic reporting started to come in a couple of hours before the event. And so at that point, we were really scrambling on, you know, how to protect against that.
And so it really came down to dispersion, you know, putting space between people and then also getting them into hardened bunkers just to provide that protection.
DAMON: At 11 P.M., those who could started to hunker down in bunkers built by their former enemy.
This is a Saddam Hussein-era bunker.
LT. COL. STACI COLEMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: It is. So we felt we would be somewhat safe in here because it was designed to take, you know, some kind of hit, or it was built for, you know, ballistic missiles.
DAMON: At 1:34 A.M., the first missiles hit.
COLEMAN: And these doors, every time one of the missiles hit, the doors would kind of sink in.
DAMON: Dozens of troops were still out in the open, holding their positions to protect the base.
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There was still the threat of incoming rockets, mortars and a ground assault. Pilots were still at their stations operating drones.
CWO MIKE PRIDGEON, U.S. ARMY: As I was going across the gravel, I could look up to like the eastern sky and I saw this just orange street. So I started spreading on and come and getting everybody kind of warning, it starts breaking dawn and it morning, and then it hit.
DAMON: Flames swallowed up the drone team's living quarters, some 30 troops would have been sleeping here had they not been ready. Others rushed around the base as missiles came down, looking for anyone who may have been injured, checking on the base's defenses.
Along the base perimeter, young soldiers on their first tour fought the instinct to flee and stayed, manning the guard towers.
SPEC. ERIC KNOWLES, U.S. ARMY: It was definitely scary at first but we both knew we had a job to do, manning the tower, keeping eyes front, so we had to do that more than anything, focused on that, tried not to focus on everything behind us.
DAMON: When one strike hit too close, they vaulted into the back of a truck and held their position there. It was a night unlike any here experienced, hunkered down for about two hours, unable to fight back. Some crammed into bunkers that weren't built to withstand missiles like these.
These kind of small bunkers exist throughout the base but they are meant to protect against rockets and mortars. The ballistic missiles that were fired are about 3,000 times more powerful than that. The blast from this one knocked over a four-ton T-wall. But if that hadn't happened, those who were sheltering here probably would not have survived.
Come daybreak, fear of finding out who was killed or wounded was eclipsed by the joyous shock that no one was.
What are those reunions like when you kind of see someone who you are close to and you realize that you are both okay? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a warm feeling deep in the heart that all your friends, your family here is okay.
SGT. 1ST CLASS DANE KVASAGER, U.S. ARMY: It just felt like forever since I had seen my guys and there is a lot of hugging and a lot of tears and a lot of -- it's just a great feeling knowing that all of your people are okay.
DAMON: And this is where you used to --
KVASAGER: Yes, this is my room, a little bit more open floor plan now, but, yes, my bunk was right in the corner right there, and this is my neighbor up here. Everything is obviously gone. I'm just happy no one was inside.
DAMON: It's kind of freaky, looking at it like this, isn't it?
KVASAGER: Yes. It's surreal. I'm not bothered looking at it. It's just a reminder, threat still exists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we had each other. We had together that night and will always be this brotherhood that will never break because of it.
DAMON: Does it change your perspective on life?
COLEMAN: It does, it does. It could -- you know, it could be over in an instant. It really does. And it really makes me value mostly my team.
DAMON: The base is still on high alert. The dining facility is open but people eat elsewhere to avoid a large crowd gathering. The military says they are ready for what may come next.
Iran's proxies on the ground continue to vow revenge. Even for those who have seen more before, this was unlike any other battlefield experience, the overwhelming feeling of helplessness that comes from being under ballistic missile attack, to be at the mercy of the enemy, one that could strike again even if it's not like this.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Al Asad Airbase, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Such a miracle no U.S. troops were killed there.
I am joined now by Jessica Levinson to talk more about Mr. Trump's handling of what's going on in Iran and Iraq. She is a professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Thanks for being with us, Jessica.
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: First of all, let's talk about that chilling report there from Arwa Damon about what U.S. troops went through. This, of course, retaliation from Iran over the killing of Soleimani and now, of course, we have the Ukraine plane disaster. How do you characterize this crisis now between the U.S. and Iran, not to mention Iraq is also involved?
LEVINSON: Right. Well, I mean, just using the names of those three countries and the word, crisis, is very troubling, as it should be. I mean, this region has long been known as a potential powder keg, and President Trump took very aggressive action in the assassination.
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I think it was only a matter of time until there would be retaliation. A lot of people were holding their breath.
It now looks like there will be, at least in the short-term, a mutual cooling off. But I think that in the long-term, a lot of people are -- I should say that kind of medium to long-term, a lot of people are concerned about how much this will destabilize that region, our relationships. Of course, Iran has already said, we will no longer be part of the nuclear agreement.
And so while we may have averted disaster today, tomorrow, this week, that's a region that will take a very, very, very soft touch.
ALLEN: Right. And then on Sunday, we heard more from the administration about the killing of the Iranian general, Soleimani, from the secretary of defense, who said on CBS that he had not seen intelligence indicating four embassies were targeted, which the president has said that was the case. He sounded more supportive of the president on CNN later that day.
So what do you think about the administration's explanation of why this killing was carried out?
LEVINSON: So it appears to be at least, in part, unraveling, which is deeply troubling. So there was -- we didn't follow standard protocol when it came to this assassination. We didn't -- for instance, the president didn't talk, briefed leaders in Congress, didn't seem to go through the normal procedures that you would in this type of situation.
I understand this was one of the most aggressive option presented to him. There is some reporting that indicates that nobody thought he would choose this option. And this is -- you know, it feels like echoes of what happened, for instance, in the Iraq War, for the American public to think that the reason the intelligence and/or reason provided to us for why we had to take decisive military action may now apparently be crumbling.
When the military decides to take the most solemn and important decisions that it can take, which are taking other lives, you want to make sure that that military intelligence is solid, that the American public is being told the truth.
ALLEN: Right. And some Republicans are even expressing doubt over the reasoning from the White House and, of course, Democrats accused the president and his top aides of fudging the intelligence, and we have a new ABC poll of Americans, ABC/IPSOS poll, showing 56 percent of Americans disapprove Mr. Trump's handling of escalating tensions with Iran, 43 percent approve. Do you expect the president will be able to turn this around?
LEVINSON: No. I think that President Trump is so uniquely polarizing, that when it comes to virtually any action that he would take that there is kind of a floor of kind of anger and there is a ceiling of support. And so I think particularly when it comes to -- let's think about what happened now. It was a very aggressive decision that was made. It was a surprise to a lot of people. The information that we were, given the rationale, appears to be crumbling. It really is only going to be President Trump's base who continues to stay with him on this.
And if you look at the critics of President Trump, the people who might be on the fence or the sidelines, those are the people who absolutely are looking at this, saying, I am not sure why we had to do this, I am not sure why we had to basically set a match off at this particular moment when, look, let's be, honest the optics are that President Trump was trying to get our attention away from the impeachment and towards foreign policy.
ALLEN: Well, that's where I was going next with you in this interview, the impeachment trial. Nancy Pelosi is saying she may hand the Senate the impeachment articles this week. Why now? Is there strategy here?
LEVINSON: Well, I think that now, she realized that basically the Senate was not going to provide her with the rules, the procedures that she wanted before they decided on the House managers, which most people understand to be the prosecutors. I think why now is partly because the election is ramping up, partly because there has been a decision because that it's not really good for either side for this to continue, for instance, close to Super Tuesday, which is March 3rd. I think everybody on both sides has made the calculation whether or not it's correct that it will be better for this to be over in January.
ALLEN: All right. Jessica Levinson, we always appreciate your insights. Thanks for being with us.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
ALLEN: We turn back now to the Iranian jet, the Iranian plane that was shot down. Canada is mourning over this because 57 victims from the Ukrainian airliner -- excuse me, it was a Ukrainian airliner shot down in Iran were Canadian citizens. A memorial was held Sunday in Edmonton.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the vigil and offered his condolences to the families.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: 176 lives were extinguished in the space of a few minutes last Wednesday morning with countless more victims all around the world, all across Canada will suffer for years to come.
While no words can ease the pain, the grief, the outrage, it is my sincere hope that you can find some comfort in knowing that all Canadians stand with you. That is what makes us strong. I am so deeply sorry for your loss. This tragedy should never have occurred.
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ALLEN: While the prime minister is demanding a full and complete investigation from Iran, the victim's families are left with unanswered questions and heartbreak. CNN's Paula Newton is in Ontario, where she sat down with a man who lost three family members, including his one-year-old niece.
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PAULA NEWTON; CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: For hours at a time, Amir Arsalani's only comfort is silence, the joy and what could have been all gone.
AMIR ARSALANI, SISTER, BROTHER-IN-LAW, NIECE KILLED ON FLIGHT PS752: My sister's family is gone.
NEWTON: Only the pain is left.
Amir's sister, even her husband, Iba Molani (ph), and their little girl, Kurdia, lived their last moments on Flight 752. They were returning to Canada from their native Iran after a family wedding.
ARSALANI: I will never know what really happened, what they went through.
NEWTON: Do you worry about what their last moments were like on the airplane?
ARSALANI: Of course, of course. What she said, what he said to her, if they had a moment to kiss each other goodbye, or if they said they love each other together, you know, this is just unbearable.
NEWTON: For hours, he scanned images of the crash site and found this.
ARSALANI: This is hers.
NEWTON: He says they are Kurdia's.
ARSALANI: I saw Kurdia's toys, her red shoes just devastated. We just -- I don't know.
NEWTON: And then there's what happens next, going into his family's home in Canada and facing all of the memories it holds. ARSALANI: And now I have to go to Kurdia's room, all her baby pictures. What I'm supposed to do with their belongings here, with their house, with their clothes, with their everything, That's -- it's just like, at one point, I have to go through it, but thinking about it just kills you inside.
NEWTON: After days of private grief, Amir now seems determined to speak up. He says it's the only way to honor his family. He is grateful Canada is pushing for an investigation, but he says the Iranian government must pay for what they did, especially, he says, for the murder of his one-year-old niece.
ARSALANI: She was an angel. Like how can you do that?
NEWTON: They say it was an accident.
ARSALANI: It was not an accident.
NEWTON: What does justice look like for you and your family?
ARSALANI: We say eye for an eye. I know that's not a possible way. What are they going to do? Give us money? Give us a piece of land? Give us -- put a street under their name? I don't care. I can care less. I want them back. If I can't get them back, they have to leave. They have to go.
NEWTON: Amir is now watching the protests in Iran with hope as he watches this video over and over.
I love you, she says.
For days, Amir has only had tears, now, he says his family deserves more from him and from Iran.
Paula Newton, CNN, Richmond Hill, Ontario.
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ALLEN: Such pain for these people.
Next here on CNN, thousands are being evacuated in the Philippines after this volcano erupted Sunday afternoon, but, boy, did erupt. Wait until you see the amazing footage, but forecasters say the worst maybe yet to come.
Also a crisis summit for Britain's royal family as the royals work on the details of Prince Harry and Meghan's shock announcement in a special meeting they will hold on Monday.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Hi. I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sports headline. Saudi Arabia is rapidly becoming a destination for big sports events. And this week, they have been hosting the best teams from Spain's La Liga for the Spanish Super Cup. That's how we go to Madrid Derby on Sunday, some 3,000 miles away from.
It went to a penalty shootout where Thibaut Courtois made a heroic save and Captain Sergio Ramos settled it, leading Real to 4-1 win over Atletico. For manager Zinedine Zidane, it was his ninth win in nine finals.
In the Premier League, it kind of feels like everybody apart from Liverpool is playing for second place, but the defending champions, Manchester City, are doing what they can. On Sunday, City went to Aston Villa and put on a goal-scoring clinic, 6-1 the final score. Sergio Aguero scored his 12th hat trick. That's Premier League record. He is now the leading international score in Premier League history as well.
And Serena Williams has won a WTA title since for the first time in nearly three years, and it's the first since the birth of her daughter, Olympia. the 38-year-old had lost five finals over the last 36 months, but beat the American, Jessica Pegula, in the final of the ASP Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. Serena will try for a record equaling 24th major title this month in Australian Open.
That is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
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ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN Newsroom.
Evacuations are underway in the Philippines after officials warned of another hazardous, explosive eruption from the Taal Volcano, which could be coming soon. It erupted Sunday spewing smoke and ash about nine miles high.
We get more on it from CNN Meteorologist Tom Sater.
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TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A violent eruption near the Philippine capital filmed from the Taal Volcano's main crater, images taken in five-minute intervals captured the speed and strength of the initial explosion before the camera is consumerd.
House later, strikes of lightning shoot through the dark sky generated by the volcano's intense energy. As the powerful eruption continues, it spews a column of ash up to 15 kilometers into the air spreading across the sky.
Visible from afar, one passenger captures this image from a plane approaching Manila, where the airport suspended arrivals and departures. The volcano's ominous cloud rained down ash coating cars, roads and homes on the ground below. Some protect themselves with umbrellas and bags trying to escape the health dangers of the volcanic ash. Thousands of people are being evacuated as officials warned the situation could worsen, a cause for concern to about 25 million people who live within 100 kilometers of the volcano.
As authorities try to prepare for the fallout, they face a volcano with a volatile past, though one of the smallest volcanoes in the world, Taal is also one of the most dangerous. Situated inside a lake, it lies in a belt of Pacific Ocean volcanoes known as the ring of fire. It has erupted more than 30 times in the past five centuries, once killing more than a thousand people in 1911.
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Now, the powerful force of nature erupts once again.
Tom Sater, CNN.
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ALLEN: And now, let's go to our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
Pedram, to hear Tom say it's small but dangerous, it's hard to believe it's small when you look at this amazing video.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, it's fascinating because it is. As Tom noted, you notice there, it is one of the most smallest, most active volcanoes on our planet. So it's about 60 miles or 100 kilometers south of Manila.
And, of course, when you put yourself across this particular region, this is home -- an area that is home to about 25 million people. So the impacts, regardless of its size, are going to be significant.
And you see some of the images coming out of an airplane window and this particular eruption what is known as a phreatic eruption.
So, essentially, when you have a volcano as such situated on top of a lake surrounded by water, the magma and also rocks very hot. Of course, as they interact with water, they essentially create flash steam. And that rapid intensification of steam creates these gasses that erupts into massive eruptions, where you have rocks and boulders traveling many, many kilometers downstream, and, of course, been very impactful.
And you see some of the images within a few hours of the eruption, folks kind of line up from a distance and watch the eruption.
This has had a significant history of eruptions going back several hundred years, of course, 34 significant eruptions in the past 400 or so years.
And we do know that the authorities in the Philippines have now issued a level four threat, which is just one level outside of being considered the highest level threat because, certainly, it's going to be very active. The lava dome, in fact, is growing at this hour. We expect strong explosions and ash continue coming out of the volcano within potentially not only just the next several hours but the next several days.
And you can kind of look back into the course of history and see eruptions similar to this continued for as many as six months before conditions quieted back down. In fact, go back 1754, the eruption lasted six months across the region. In 1911, we had the most deadly event with 1,300 lives lost across the area with this particular small volcano. And you'll notice, subsequent years, eruptions in '66, 1967, also in 1968, certainly could be a trend here over the next several months to several years.
And you'll look at a population density of 25 million within this particular region, you factor in ash, having rainfall coming down, you create just a messy suit scenario here known as a lahar is essentially when you mix ash with rainwater, and creates a very, very hard to remove substance across the area and just makes it a dangerous scope.
So when you look at the weather pattern, we do have some showers possible into this afternoon, that is Monday afternoon local time. It does quiet down though when it comes to the next couple of days. But, of course, we know the volcano far from quiet at least, potentially over the next several months. But we'll watch this one.
ALLEN: Yes, you'll never know. I don't know when we've had statistic from you that dates backed to 1754, Pedram.
JAHAVERI: There are different parts of the world that have different ways of keeping their records, and they do a pretty good job in the Philippines.
ALLEN: Yes, that's quite amazing. All right, Pedra, thank you. We'll keep our eye on that one.
Well, next here, Britain's royal family is in turmoil and they're holding a meeting Monday to figure out what is next after Prince Harry and Meghan's decision to step back. We'll have more on that.
Plus, bush fires have potentially wiped out millions of animals in Australia. And look at this, officials are dropping carrots from helicopters to help the remaining wildlife survive, more about that.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: All eyes on the U.K. The royal family will be meeting Monday to discuss the future of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan after their surprise announcement last week.
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Meantime, the U.K. "Sunday Times" is reporting that Prince William is sad about the rift with his brother Harry. CNN's Anna Stewart has more about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The queen's Sandringham Estate, a much-loved country retreat and the royal family's Christmas getaway. Monday, it will host a different sort of get-together: crisis talks to the side the future role of the duke and duchess of Sussex.
Attending will be her majesty, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry. It will be the first time senior royals have seen each other face-to-face since the Sussexes' shock statement on Wednesday.
Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, returned to Canada but is expected to dial into the meeting.
The announcement came in defiance of the queen, who'd expressly asked Prince Harry to hold off making any statements. A terse response from Buckingham Palace appeared to express her displeasure: "Discussions with the duke and duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."
(on camera): Officials acting for the queen, Prince Charles and Prince William were instructed to work together at pace to find workable solutions for the future role of the Sussexes.
(voice-over): A range of potential options are to be discussed Monday, any of which will take time to implement. On the negotiating table are expected to be income, properties, security and even titles. Defining their future role will likely involve a compromise on both sides.
For the queen and her heirs, it's crucial they reach a solution that is workable, not just for Prince Harry and Meghan but for other royals who slipped down the line of succession: Prince Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and one day Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, too. A transformative chapter in royal history, worthy of a future blockbuster episode of "The Crown."
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Journalist and royal expert Sandro Monetti, trustee of the Royal Society of St. George joins me now from Los Angeles to talk about it.
Hello, Sandro.
SANDRO MONETTI, TRUSTEE, ROYAL SOCIETY OF ST. GEORGE: Hello. I'm ready for the crisis talks, the summit at Sandringham. Never mind the ticket for the super Bowl. This is where I'd love to be in attendance. Can you imagine, a queen at 94 years old, will take charge of yet another royal scandal?
ALLEN: No.
MONETTI: One of the worst of her reign. She's summoned the family. It's a council of war. ALLEN: And, though, but think about it. You've got Prince William, who
has said he's very sad about this rift with his brother Harry. You've got their father and the queen, and they're all so very proper. So you don't think this meeting will be a more proper royal meeting?
MONETTI: It will be cups of tea, cucumber sandwiches and a very orderly agenda. I don't think there's going to be fisticuffs at the royal estate. Let's put it that way.
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But, you know, the -- for a serious -- if we can talk seriously for a moment, there is a potential constitutional crisis to discuss. Meghan and Harry say they want to step away from royal duties. What does that mean?
Much of the focus of the discussions will concentrate on money. Who's going to pay for all these flights? Who's going to pay for their security when they're out of the country? What happens to the house they're leaving behind?
What does financially independent actually mean? And so these are the questions that will be before the royals today.
ALLEN: Right, that there are many questions about it. But one thing is certain. Harry has said he has done this in part to protect his wife. We know what kind of treatment Meghan Markle has gotten from the relentless British tabloids.
And he, of course, invoked his mother and what happened to her. And he's very fearful. So what do you think, just as far as apart from the royal family, what do you think about his decision to do this personally?
MONETTI: I would dispute his arguments. I think he's gone by over the top, and I think he's shown very poor management skills for a senior royal. Surely, it would've been better to get the newspaper editors together to have a discussion and see if they could work something out together.
The battle with the press for the kind of coverage you want has always been around with the royal family. But I would reject a lot of his argument. I, mean the British press is operating under huge restrictions, which were rightly put in place after the death of Princess Diana. So there have been improvements. And rather than just scuttling off and saying, I'm done, at least let's have a summit with the press and let's try and work something out. Because it's very much my view that this is a missed opportunity. And all the great things that Meghan and Harry could achieve, they can achieve within the royal family.
So yes, I think they've jumped the gun here.
ALLEN: And they jumped the gun going public. When this was announced, it was shocking that the royal family didn't know about it. They made the announcement on Instagram. They already had a website. Reportedly, the queen asked them to wait before going public, but they did it their way.
MONETTI: This has been one of the things that annoys large parts of the British public and royal watchers around the world most. It's a blatant lack -- it's a blatant lack of respect for the queen and for royal protocol. You know, these are the way things have been done for years. What makes you guys so special to do it differently? Show some respect! They haven't shown enough respect.
ALLEN: Well, and this has been quite a year. We all know the Prince Andrew situation, and now this. You talk about a crisis. What could this mean? Could this have a tremendous impact on the royal family?
MONETTI: It really could. I think the very future of the monarchy could be at stake here, especially if the brand that Meghan and Harry have created at Sussex royal eventually eclipses the brand of the British royals.
I'm speaking to you from Los Angeles, and here in Hollywood, every studio and streamer has a contract ready for Harry and Meghan's signature. We've already heard of the voice-over deal with Disney.
I'm very much expecting Meghan and Harry to take a leaf out of the book of their friends, the Obamas. The Obamas have a production company, Higher Ground, that in a few hours' time is likely to get an Oscar nomination for their first documentary film, "American Factory." And I can see them setting up a production company in Hollywood to make movies and TV shows about the kind of charities they champion.
You know, those two are very good at getting the press excited. They say they're leaving the spotlight. They're actually in a run towards it. You know, if they want to be financially independent, they will have to. And so I think that the royal family is going to sort of struggle to compete against the youth and glamour of Harry and Meghan, who are the most famous couple in the world right now.
But the queen doesn't want to make this a competition. It shouldn't be us against them, but it's a situation of their own making. It's a right royal mess, and the queen has got to sort it out fast.
ALLEN: Starting on Monday. We always appreciate your insights. Sandro Monetti, thank you so much.
Well, American firefighters are stepping up to help tackle Australia's massive bush fires, but the fight is much bigger than they thought.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever seen anything at this magnitude?
[00:40:05]
BART KICKLIGHTER, FOREST FIRE CHIEF, COLOMBIA RIVER GORGE NATIONAL SCENIC AREA: No, we have large fires, of course, in the United States and all over the world, but this is just unprecedented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: And we have more on their mission live from Australia, next. Also, Boeing's new CEO takes the reins of the troubled jet maker. Today we take a look at the challenges he will face.
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ALLEN: Welcome back. The Australian prime minister's approval rating has taken a major hit as his government struggles with the bush fire crisis.
A new poll found Morrison's approval rating dropped eight points. Australians are upset over his interactions with fire-ravaged communities and inaction over climate change.
This comes as officials air-dropped more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables to feed wildlife affected by the fires. They seem to be enjoying those carrots.
CNN correspondent Will Ripley is live in Nowra, Australia, for us. And it seems they might have gotten a little bit of a break right now. What's the latest there, Will?
RIPLEY: Yes. The good news, Natalie, is that for the moment, the forecast calls for rain in some parts of this country. So that video you just showed of the feeding of the wallabies, the rock wallabies that are considered critically endangered, which means they're on the verge already of extinction, not to mention the fact that much of their natural habitat has been destroyed in some areas.
So what the government's been doing, they've allocated some 50 million Australian dollars to provide food for these animals. They're dumping carrots and sweet potatoes and hoping that, if this rain does come through, that some of the vegetation will start to reappear. And that will thus give those animals a natural food supply so they don't become dependent on humans to feed them.
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But that is just one example of the sort of habitat destruction challenge that Australia is facing. But the other challenge is to get these fires under control.
This is the first time that the wildfires have kind of subsided since they really flared up, which gives opportunities -- which gives firefighters an opportunity to switch from being in defensive mode to offensive mode and working right alongside the Australians, who have been laboring pretty much 24/7 for weeks and weeks on end, are Americans who are now on the ground here, Americans who say they have been treated just like heroes.
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RIPLEY (voice-over): Hovering over Australia's hellish inferno, this American Angel, a 52-year-old heavy-lift helicopter nicknamed Georgia Peach. Built in 1967 for the Vietnam War, today it battles bush fires, dousing them with enough water to fill three large swimming pools every hour.
But in New South Wales, Australia's hardest hit state, these helicopters sit idle, giving American firefighters who came here to help a rare day off.
(on camera): Today's weather is not allowing you to fly. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
JAY KARLE, BATTALION CHIEF, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: It's a good thing.
RIPLEY: Why?
KARLE: We can't ever compete with Mother Nature.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Colorado firefighter Jay Karle says rain, lower temperatures and higher humidity are slowing the fire's progress.
KARLE: What this will do is it will kind of put the fire and sort of a comatose state for a few days.
RIPLEY: Nature can do more for the fire right now.
KARLE: Than we can. Yes.
RIPLEY (voice-over): He knows that break may be short-lived. Recent rains barely made a dent in Australia's historic drought. Just a few days of extreme heat could be catastrophic, reigniting a burn area the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
(on camera): Is there any way to have enough resources to fight a fire this big?
MARK WILLIAMS, SUPERINTENDENT, NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE: Not of this magnitude and not at this intensity.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For the first time, Superintendent Mark Williams takes us inside Nowra's fire control center. We see Australians and Americans working together. The two nations have agreed to share fire resources.
WILLIAMS: I've been to the United States and Canada on numerous occasions myself firefighting, so it's great to have that reciprocal effort now coming back in to assist us in our times of need.
RIPLEY: More than 150 fire specialists from two dozen U.S. states are in Australia, some traveling more than 16 hours. These Americans got a hero's welcome when they landed in Sydney last week. Even the city's iconic opera house lit up its sails for all the firefighters risking their lives.
KICKLIGHTER: It felt really good. I was very proud to be able to come over here and help.
RIPLEY: Bart Kicklighter from Oregon says the two nations are sharing manpower and brainpower at a critical time.
(on camera): Have you ever seen anything at this magnitude?
KICKLIGHTER: No. We have large fires, of course, in the United States and all over the world, but this is just unprecedented.
RIPLEY (voice-over): He's never seen a fire so fast, so big, so hot -- an ominous sign of what could lie ahead, not just for Australia but the U.S. and the world.
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RIPLEY: It's really startling, Natalie, to think about the fact that experienced firefighters, people who have been doing this for 20 or 30 years, have never seen a fire situation like the one that's happening here right now in Australia.
And yes, this week offers a brief reprieve, but what happens when things heat up again? There's still plenty of fuel on the ground. There's still plenty of risk for communities that are so close to the fire zone.
And the terrain here, I'm told, is very similar to the terrain in southern California, where wildfires continue to be a huge problem and a huge threat.
So, what does this mean for the future of people and communities in these areas? It means that more people and more property, more lives, are undoubtedly going to be in danger, not only here in the weeks and months to come but around the world in the years to come.
ALLEN: Yes, Will, and all the while, the prime minister still touts the importance of the nation's coal, which of course, causes climate change. It's surreal, isn't it?
I do like the name of that helicopter, the Georgia Peach. You know what I'm saying? We're in Georgia.
RIPLEY: Yes.
ALLEN: All right. Very good. Thank you for your reporting, Will.
And if you want to help the victims of Australia's bushfires, visit CNN.com/impact for a list of charities that are on the ground there, helping people and the animals and the firefighters.
The new year is bringing new leadership to Boeing. Just ahead, can a change at the top turn things around for the troubled jet maker? We'll take a look.
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ALLEN: When Boeing's new CEO officially takes over today, he will have a jumbo size to-do list. Resolving safety issues with the troubled 737 Max jet is a top priority. But industry experts are wondering if Dave Calhoun's straightforward leadership style can help repair the companies battered image.
CNN's Clare Sebastian takes a look for us.
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DAVID CALHOUN, INCOMING BOEING CEO: Just keep burying yourself in difficult, tough situations.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a guest lecture at Yale's School of Management seven years ago, this was David Calhoun's advice to students. He is now burying himself in one of the toughest situations in corporate America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boeing backlash. President Trump grounds the 737 Max fleet.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Aviation, I've got an emergency order of prohibition.
SEBASTIAN: Ten months since global regulators grounded its fastest selling plane ever, Boeing is still working to get a software fix approved. Even once that happens, returning the plane to service could take months. In a major turnaround, the company said this month it would recommend simulator as well as computer-based training for all Max pilots.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION SAFETY ANALYST: I believe that June July for this return to service is even a little optimistic at this point.
SEBASTIAN: Fixing the plane is just part of the challenge for Calhoun, an experienced executive who began his career at General Electric and led the company's aviation unit during 9/11.
DENNIS MUILENBURG, FORMER BOEING CEO: We want a culture where people can bring up concerns.
SEBASTIAN: Former CEO Dennis Muilenburg faced accusations of a broken culture within Boeing where profits were put ahead of safety, and whistleblower complaints were stifled. He rejected those accusations.
[00:55:13]
But new internal documents released just days before Calhoun takes over show employees questioning the safety of 737 Max simulators and even the plane itself, one message saying, "This airplane is designed by clowns, who are in turn supervised by monkeys."
SOUCIE: It will be a safe airplane. It really comes down to how quickly people accept what it is that Boeing has to say about how they've fixed this problem. SEBASTIAN: Calhoun must also fix a key relationship with the Federal
Aviation Administration.
STEPHEN DICKSON, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: I'm not going to sign off on this airplane until I fly it myself.
SEBASTIAN: The day he was named CEO, Calhoun personally called the FAA administrator, a clear example, friends say, of his leadership style.
KEVIN SHARER, FRIEND OF DAVID CALHOUN: He's direct. You don't have to wonder what he's saying. He's pragmatic. He understands what the issues are and wants to solve them.
SEBASTIAN: Calhoun has been on the Boeing board for a decade. He must now prove to employees, airlines, and the flying public that this is a new chapter.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: Our top stories are coming up after this. Please stay with me for another hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the terrifying moment that Iranian missiles rained down on U.S. troops in Iraq. We have an exclusive look at what it was like to be on the receiving end of all of that fire power.
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