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Hala Gorani Tonight
Obama, Trump Call For Unity In Thanksgiving Messages; Green Party Nominee Pushes Bid For Vote Recount; ISIS Claims Responsibility For Iraq Truck Bomb; Farage Plays Up "Ambassador's Choice" Joke. Trump Spends Thanksgiving At Florida Estate; Carrier In Discussions With Incoming Trump Administration; Report: Inaugural Festivities Could Cost $200 Million; Police Investigate 58 Deaths After Murder Trial; Syrian Hospitals Under Siege; Syrian Activists Have Called For Humanitarian Aid; The Politics Of Holiday Shopping. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired November 24, 2016 - 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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HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN INTERNATIONAL GUEST ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones sitting in for Hala Gorani. We are live from CNN London.
This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
One trying to protect his legacy as he packs up to leave the White House while the other is working to set an agenda as he gets ready to move in.
But both Barack Obama and Donald Trump are pushing politics aside for a day, at least to send a message of unity on Thanksgiving. The U.S.
president and the president-elect each released a holiday message, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter our differences, we're still one part of
something bigger than ourselves. We're communities that's move forward together. We're neighbors who look out for one another, especially those
among us with the least. We are always simply Americans.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: This historic political campaign is now over, but now begins a great national campaign to rebuild our country
and to restore the full promise of America for all of our people.
I'm asking you to join me in this effort. It's time to restore the bonds of trust between citizens because when America is unified there is nothing
beyond our reach, and I mean, absolutely nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: We are not expecting any announcements today from the Trump transition team about possible cabinet appointments, though, we are hearing
that the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, Todd Rickets, will likely be tapped as deputy secretary of the Commerce Department.
Rickets ran a conservative super PAC that helped Trump during his presidential campaign. One of Trump's senior advisors meanwhile is mocking
an effort to force a recount of votes in three states.
Kellyanne Conway tweeted, "Look who can't accept the election results." Hillary Clinton supporters call for a vote recounts in battleground states.
Clinton have won two million more votes than Trump despite losing the Electoral College.
She isn't demanding a recount, but the Green Party's nominee, Jill Stein, is. Stein is raising money online to fund those possible recounts, siting
possible hacking into electronic voting machines.
Let's bring in senior White House correspondent, Joe Johns, for the very latest on all of these developments. A very happy Thanksgiving to you,
Joe, but unfortunately, there is no rest for the weary or the wicked via president-elect's cabinet to form. How is he getting on so far?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: He is quiet today quite frankly, but he does have a lot to do. As you said he has put out a
statement for Thanksgiving, a message of unity, of coming together, pointing out that tensions don't heal overnight so striking certainly the
right tone.
His critics here in the United States has said that it is Donald Trump who has now created a situation where there needs to be healing because of the
language he used during the campaign that certainly is one of challenges for this president-elect as he moves closer and closer to inauguration day.
A whole list of appointments still out there. Still important for Donald Trump including secretary of state, there has been talk that Mitt Romney,
the Republican nominee from last time around might be under consideration.
Though Kellyanne Conway, the campaign manager for Trump, has thrown some water on that today in her tweets. Some of the other important
appointments yet to be named, the secretary of the treasury.
Some talk here in Washington now that the man who handled the national finance campaign for Donald Trump might be named for that job. He has a
lot to do and a short time to do it -- Hannah.
[15:05:07]JONES: Joe, one of the bits of information that we have been getting today is on intelligence briefings that the president-elect has
received, very low number just two since he won the election. Yet Mike pence seemingly getting a daily briefing.
JOHNS: Right. Unusual for a modern president-elect to not get the presidential daily brief very frequently. President Obama did as he was on
his way into office, as some others have as well. But it's not unprecedented for a president to not sit down for the briefings.
Richard Nixon really did not like to spend a lot of time with intelligence officials, but before he entered office, he had also been the vice
president of the United States so you can say he knew a little bit more about what he was dealing with.
Donald Trump for his part, a very lot on his plate including those appointments. Also trying to wind up, apparently, his dealings with his
own business which has tentacles all over the world.
The campaign has not said why Donald Trump has not been taking the presidential daily brief every day. The critics say it is important for
him to do so especially because he has no prior experience in government.
And it would be a good idea for him to start figuring it out as soon as possible especially when it comes to critical intelligence around the world
-- Hannah.
JONES: The critics are also saying that he should be the president-elect. There is speculation that we could get a recount in some of the crucial
swing states. Let's listen to what Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, had to say and why she is campaigning to have this recount in some areas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL STEIN, FORMER GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I do not favor one candidate over another. You know, to my mind there are problems with our
system that had basically produced two candidates that were the most distrusted and disliked in our history.
But what I think all Americans can agree on and what I consider worthy of working for right now is creating a voting system that we can trust and
there are glaring red flags right now about this voting system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Joe, as we understand it, the Clinton campaign aren't calling for a recount so what's the likelihood of it actually happening?
JOHNS: Anybody's guest, she, Jill Stein, has certainly raised a lot of money, about $3 million toward the effort of launching recounts in three
critical states including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Of course, these are states were very close, battleground states, that
potentially could have tipped the scales for Hillary Clinton.
And this also comes on the heels of report by election security advocates suggesting that the possibility of hacking in some critical counties in
those important states. Nonetheless, the Hillary Clinton campaign apparently leaving this effort to be led by Jill Stein rather than
themselves.
And that goes back to things that came up during the campaign including questions about whether either nominee or both nominees would accept the
results of the election.
JONES: Joe, we have to leave it there. Joe Johns, we appreciate it.
As we wait for more news on Donald Trump's appointments to his cabinet, one politician has been putting himself forward, but he is not American. There
has been much speculation that acting head of the U.K. Independent Party, Nigel Farage, could be involved in the Trump administration in some way.
So who better to ask about all that than the man himself, I sat down with Mr. Farage earlier on. You can see it in about ten minutes' time right
here on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
To a developing story now, a magnitude 7 earthquake has struck off the coast of El Salvador in Central America. The U.S. Geological Survey says
the epicenter was around about 150 kilometers out at sea.
It happened at a depth of 10 kilometers. El Salvador has issued an alert warning people living on the coast to move one kilometer inland due to the
possibility of a tsunami.
However, no damages or injuries have been reported at this time. We will monitor this story for you and keep an update on whether any specific
warning is eventually issued.
ISIS is claiming responsibility for a deadly truck bombing in Iraq. Authorities say at least 57 people were killed in the blasts at a gas
station southeast of the capital, Baghdad, and dozens of others were hurt.
The truck was parked near several buses carrying Shiite pilgrims from Iran. They were in Iraq to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of
the Prophet Muhammad.
Let's get an update now on this developing story. CNN's Phil Black joins us live now from Irbil in Northern Iraq with the very latest.
Phil, if anything, this is proving that ISIS is still a force to be reckoned with not just in Mosul, where of course the battle is ongoing but
even in the Iraqi capital as well?
[15:10:12]PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hannah, yes. Now the online Jihadi monitoring group site intelligence says
it has found a claim of responsibility from ISIS in which it says that the goal here is to spread the fighting and battling currently taking place in
the north of Iraq around Mosul to other parts of the country as well including Baghdad and other regions south of there.
Now it is a long standing often stated ambition of ISIS to inflame full blown sectarian civil was in this country. ISIS is an extremist Sunni
group and the victims targeted today, as we touched on there, were Shia- Muslims returning from that pilgrimage in the nearby town of (inaudible).
They go there every year, millions of them, and the numbers returning through that fuel stop is said to be very high, many of them Iranians and
the death toll in the dozens and still growing we understand with many more injured as well.
And of course, yes, the broader context is that ISIS was able to do this at all. (Inaudible) project violence in this way such a long distance from
Mosul and Northern Iraq even though it is still under pressure here losing ground every day because of the Iraqi operation to drive them from this
region of the country -- Hannah.
JONES: Phil, has there been any response here from the Iraqi government? You said that this is an annual pilgrimage by these Iranian Shiites,
presumably there has been a lapse in security for these pilgrims.
BLACK: Well, it is well known that large Shia gatherings whether it's in mosques, at pilgrimage sites, the shrines they gather at regularly every
year, these have been frequently hit by terror attacks like this, really ever since the sectarian bloodletting began following the U.S.-led invasion
of this country back in 2003.
It is frequent and indeed only ten days ago the Iraqi government said that it had stopped five suicide attackers from getting to the pilgrimage site.
While the pilgrimage was still very much under way so it is known that this is a threat.
There is no doubt about that, but again, it also shows the capabilities that ISIS maintains. The level of support that it maintains. Often hidden
from view within communities and of course, the commitment of its members to carry out these attacks, often sacrificing their own lives in the
process -- Hannah.
JONES: Phil, we appreciate it. Phil Black reporting for us live there from Irbil in Northern Iraq. Thank you.
Stay with us on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Still to come tonight, they call him Mr. Brexit, but will they call him Mr. Ambassador? We will speak to one
politician making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, it's Nigel Farage.
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[15:15:19]
JONES: Welcome back to THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. He is one of the U.K.s most divisive public figures leading the campaign to get his country out of the
European Union and now the would-be poster boy for Britain's relationship with Donald Trump.
Last night, Nigel Farage made headlines with this controversial but canny photo-op holding up a tray of Ferrero chocolates. It was a nudge to the
(inaudible) slogan of the 1990s when it called itself the ambassador's choice.
It was also a not so subtle nod to Trump's suggestion that Farage would make a good U.K. ambassador to the United States. While Farage wasn't as
optimistic about the job when I caught up with him earlier and that he told me he has full faith in Donald Trump and in Britain's own big decision this
year, the Brexit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIGEL FARAGE, ACTING LEADER, U.K. INDEPENDENCE PARTY: Well, in normal times, I wouldn't necessarily put the words Farage and ambassador together.
However, 2016 has been a year of dramatic change so anything is possible.
But Mr. Trump may think it is a very good idea. The question is, what does Mrs. May think? And so far I have to say, you know, over the last couple
of weeks since the president-elect, I keep saying I would love to play a constructive middleman role, if you like, between the administrations, but
they don't seem to want me --
JONES: But you're a career politician.
FARAGE: No, I'm not.
JONES: You've spent decades of rallying against the British government policies, and as an ambassador, you're effectively a civil servant, and
you're rallying and promoting British government policies, and how would you do that with a straight face?
FARAGE: Look, I don't think I'm going to be made the British ambassador. All right, let's be honest about it. I'm not foreign office, maybe I'm not
the type, but I did have 20 years in business before getting involved in politics. I know how to cut deals, I do have the support, amazingly, of
the president elect.
And I do know a number of his team, some of whom I've known for years. I am very keen for Britain and America to get closer again. My critics would
say I spent my career in politics, try to knockdown building. Now I would like the chance to try and build one.
JONES: How appropriate do you think, though, is for a foreign power to tell another foreign power effectively what to do with their own domestic
policy?
FARAGE: Kennedy did it.
JONES: So you don't think -- undermine Theresa May, the British prime minister in any way?
FARAGE: I think what you have to understand is that Donald Trump is as far away from a career politician as you're ever going to get. He is not
interested in protocol. He couldn't care less about how things are normally done protocol. He is just going to get on and do his job.
JONES: You are the only British politician that I can think of. You have seen Donald Trump face to face and have negotiations with him over the
course of the last several months. And reports now that there (inaudible) to the United State if Mrs. May is not offering you anything here in terms
of an ambassadorial role for Britain, might you accept something in the U.S.?
FARAGE: Gossip, gossip, gossip, none of it has even been talked about.
JONES: So you're not planning on heading to the United States any time soon to meet with Mr. Trump and the team?
FARAGE: I'm going over to America next week to meet a few people and --
JONES: Members of the transition team?
FARAGE: I'm taking a bit of time out, enjoy myself, you know. I might be (inaudible) yes, but no -- let's be clear. I am British passport holder.
I'm a member of the European parliament. I would happy to act as a go- between. I don't think I will get a job as a British person in a American administration.
JONES: A lot of people are wondering what a Trump administration will mean for their individual countries as well. What do you think in the age of
Britain in a Brexit environment as well Trump can do for Britain?
FARAGE: Britain is now freed, well, we haven't quite got there, but we voted to be free. We voted to be independent. We voted to get back the
ability to make our own deals, our own relationships, around the world.
And I do genuinely think when you look at the levels of across investment, U.K. into the U.S. and back again, the idea that we get rid of tariffs and
make trade between our two countries easier and better, I think it is a real positive.
A positive for both of us and also it will strengthen our hand in negotiating with the European Union.
JONES: A special relationship is what we have always enjoyed with the United States, a special relationship or a subordinate relationship?
FARAGE: No, I don't think it's a subordinate relationship and nor is that something that President Trump as he will be would want. He has tremendous
respect for the United Kingdom, for the things that what we have done together. You know it's the 20th Century to fight the liberty, the
democracy.
His mother was Scottish. He feels very, very keenly. We can do that in terms of trade. I think in terms of NATO, whether there is a big debate
now about what NATO is for in the modern world. I think Britain is a potentially very valuable role between America and the other European NATO
members.
[15:20:11]JONES: What should the rest of the world make of Donald Trump the man, though? We look at his Twitter feed, for example, and it seems
like he changes his mind and has already walked back on a number of pledges that he made throughout the campaign. One tweet often contradicts the
next. How should the rest of the world deal with Donald Trump, the man?
FARAGE: It will take him some time to adjust because this is something quite different. They're not used to a man like this. He is a
businessman, 70 years old, comes into politics and gets elected president of the USA.
JONES: But is he trustworthy?
FARAGE: You know, you don't survive in business unless you're trustworthy. It's very interesting. Just today I met somebody, who is a longtime
business associate and colleague of Trump's and I get the same message for all these people say he operates on trust. If you stand by him, he stands
by you.
So yes, I think he is somebody that can be trusted, but he is somebody that will do things differently. He is not an aggressor. He looks at Libya and
Iraq. A lot of these foreign military interventions was being mistakes. That he will be less interventionist.
What you'll also see and we saw it during campaign when he went to Mexico is, I think he is the kind of guy that will do what Nixon did all of those
years ago. He will fly around the world and talk to people and that I think is a very good thing.
JONES: Democratic principles, lots of people saying that they're being eroded at the moment in the aftermath of the U.S. election, some people say
as well with the Brexit referendum. Donald Trump has proposed a far more isolationist view looking in America and creating Americans jobs and making
America great again. Are you concerned or should the rest of us be concerned of an anti-globalized view of the world and what a Trump
administration would mean?
FARAGE: Let's be clear what Brexit was about. It was a big part of the story of Trump winning. I'm an isolationist. I love Europe. I want
Europe, a sovereign nation states, that trade together and cooperate together. What I don't want are my laws being made by unelected
bureaucrats based in Brussels.
Brexit was a vote, a vote for democracy, for self-determination, a vote for unashamedly for national pride, and it was a vote for us to be free to
trade with whom we choose in the world.
JONES: But can you have national pride alongside democratic principles such as free speech or free press, freedom of religious expression, can you
have that alongside a nationalistic perverse?
FARAGE: Let's put it like this, what the European Union was doing and what Hillary wanted America to be part of, is where we as individuals surrender
our democratic rights. Those very things that our grandparent's generation fought and shed much blood to defend.
This is 2016 is the year nation state democracy made a comeback. It's not about isolationism. It's not about cutting off the rest of the world.
It's about being confident and who you are.
JONES: (Inaudible) a former British prime minister suggesting today that perhaps a second referendum should be on the cards for Brexit. Your
thoughts on that.
FARAGE: I couldn't be happier. He's so unpopular in Britain. The more he says that the more people will be absolutely repelled by it and everything
he stands for.
JONES: So you think if there was a second referendum that it would still be the same "leave" vote?
FARAGE: No, it will be much bigger.
JONES: Much bigger than before?
FARAGE: Yes, much bigger than before.
JONES: And similar for Trump as well. There are lots of people in the United States saying Clinton is two million votes ahead in the popular
vote, there should be a recount in certain states as well?
FARAGE: Well, I tell you what, I think -- if you look at the opinion polls of what people think of Trump, you know, a couple of weeks in to being
president-elect, he's already picking up support. Yes, Hillary may have won the popular vote because Trump didn't try very hard in the states that
he didn't need to.
He fought a very, very clever targeted campaign based on the Midwest, based on industry, and he won the Electoral College vote by a mile.
JONES: Let's talk about Breitbart News as well. I know you've done an op- ed and written an article for them. You've been in touched with him a lot. Steve Bannon has been appointed by Donald Trump to be his chief strategist
under his administration. There are concerns that this is a man who has racist links, far right links as well. You know the man, you talk to him
quite a lot in the last couple months, what do you think of his position?
FARAGE: He is a brilliant man. He is a man who succeeded in the military, in business, in Hollywood, and now he succeeded in politics.
JONES: Is he racist man?
FARAGE: I've spent a fair amount of time with him in an office environment, and in a social environment as well, I never heard him say a
single racist thing. I think what's going here is he is not just being attacked by the other side namely the Democrats. I think he is being shot
at in the back by some people within the Republican Party who rather resent him coming in and being as successful as he is.
I hear this stuff about him being anti-Semitic. I can't think of anybody, you know, through Breitbart News who's done more to defend Israel as a
state and its right to exist. There is a lot of sour grapes. There is a lot of jealousy.
[15:25:05]I would not be writing for Breitbart. I would not have the association with them if I thought Bannon was anything other than a decent
democrat who believes in democratic change in America.
JONES: Let me ask you a bit about business interest. You've mentioned yourself that you've spent 20 years in the city as well working. Donald
Trump obviously has a huge business interest, there is now a question over a conflict of interest potentially under his administration.
How do they separate that, and do you think Donald Trump, because you have met him and maybe even spoken to him about this, how does he say I will put
aside my all of my personal business interests and focus solely on the American nation and the American people.
FARAGE: The one thing Trump has got is an amazing family and some very, very bright children.
JONES: But that doesn't mean there is a complete separation of --
FARAGE: I think he is confident. I think he is confident that his sons and daughters can run that and make a good job of it. When it comes to
conflict of interest, I'm sure as we speak there are lawyers working out how he deals with public policy without any concerns with being conflicted.
JONES: One final question, you mentioned before that you are going out to the United States next week. You've also said you don't think that you
would be offered the ambassadorial role from Britain to the United States. When you have your meetings with the various Trump transition members in
the coming days and weeks, what will you be seeking?
FARAGE: Nothing, I'm not seeking anything. I'm seeking my country getting closer again to the United States of America after eight years of Obama and
frankly looked down his nose and sneered at us. We are about to get back that very special relationship between us did so much freedom, liberty and
democracy in the world.
JONES: If you're offered a specific job, would you take it?
FARAGE: It's not going to happen.
JONES: Nigel Farage, many thanks for joining on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Do stay with us. We will all the latest headlines in just a moment on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Plus the new U.S. president-elect is spending the holiday at his estate in Florida and his Thanksgiving message, Trump vowed to bring real posterity
to American communities including the inner cities. Stay with us for more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back to THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Here's a look at this hour's top stories. El Salvador has warned people living on the coast to move
inland after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off of the coast. The U.S. Geological Survey says the epicenter was about 150 kilometers out at sea.
It has a depth of 10 kilometers. It's not clear if any tsunamis were generated from that quake.
ISIS is claiming responsibility for a deadly truck bombing in Iraq. At least 57 people were killed in the blast at a gas station south east of the
capital, Baghdad. Most of them were Shiite pilgrims from Iran. Dozens of other people are known to have been wounded.
Activists in Syria making a rare appeal calling for help in English from inside of the city of Aleppo, they call for aid to be dropped by air. They
say the international community is responsible for what happens to the city.
A second peace deal between Colombia and FARC rebels is headed for a vote in the Colombian Congress. The two sides signed the accord on Thursday.
Colombian voters rejected the first version, but this one just needs approval from lawmakers.
The U.S. president-elect is spending the Thanksgiving holiday with his family at his lavish estate in Palm Beach, Florida. No new cabinet
appointments have been made today, but Donald Trump did take to his favorite platform to do a little business -- or was it politics? Jason
Carroll reports now from Mar-a-Lago.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hannah, tomorrow, a transition call is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. that's when the transition team will get
together and go over views on how to be interviewed for cabinet positions on Monday. Nothing going to be happening today in terms of announcements.
Perhaps we will hear something tomorrow.
Perhaps we will hear about commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor, is the lead person up for that particular position. Maybe we'll
hear something tomorrow about Ben Carson. Dr. Carson has already said that an offer is on the table.
Trump for his part tweeting out saying that he is still working today, working to try to keep jobs in the United States. As you know, throughout
the campaign, he said that companies such as Carrier Air-Conditioning that take jobs from the United States and takes them overseas to a place like
Mexico, for example.
He would impose a 35 percent import tax to try to keep those jobs here in the United States. So what he did was today he tweeted, "I am working
hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier Air-Conditioning Company to stay in the United States, Indiana. Making progress, we'll know soon."
Carrier for its part releasing its own statements saying, "Carrier has had discussions with the incoming administration and we look forward to working
together and nothing to announce at this time" -- Hannah.
JONES: Jason Carroll reporting there from Mar-a-Lago. Now Donald Trump will be taking the oath of office in less than two months from now and
fundraising for his inauguration is already in full swing. The "New York Times" predicts it is going to be a costly affair. Taxpayers will probably
end up paying much of the bill, which could run as high as $200 million.
I'm joined now via Skype from New York by Julian Zelizer. He is a historian and a professor at Princeton University. Thanks very much for
joining us on the program. Eight years ago for Barack Obama's inauguration, we had all of the pomp and ceremony. Are we going to we see
the same type of thing for Donald Trump?
JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSON, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: I think there will be all that pomp and ceremony, but they'll also the Trumpian
kind of rally that I'm sure he'll want to cultivate people who have been following him, admired him, and are really passionate about him will be
encourage to be out there. It will be a very different mood than in 2008, though. It's a very different kind of presidency.
JONES: Different mood and different line up as well. I mean, Barack Obama had Beyonce, Aritha Franklin, who is Donald Trump going to be able to get?
ZELIZER: That we don't know. Some of the -- there's not many entertainers that supported Donald Trump. Many don't like what he's been about or his
campaign. There is a few, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, who is the big gun right advocate, the actor, John Voight, were all supporters of his.
And I imagine it will be a very testosterone filled inaugural event if his campaign is any indication of what this will be about.
JONES: Some suggestions that it could cost around $200 million or the taxpayer could fund that. Also some suggestions that lobbyist as well
might have to fund that. Donald Trump is saying he wants to drain the swamp, but I guess not until they've kind of washed him into the oval
office?
ZELIZER: Well, there is no indication he is following through on that promise. There are news reports that he is looking to corporate donors to
help fund a lot of this. It's not surprising, but it certainly contradicts what he said.
And obviously all the stories this week about his business operations continuing with his family running them while he will be president also
undermines some of that promise. So this will be a corporate sponsored event for sure in addition to the taxpayer money.
JONES: There will be a huge amount of concern, no doubt, for the protests that could take place. I mean, I assume this is the same for any kind of
any inauguration or indeed presidential event. There will be massive security around this event.
But perhaps even more so given the dire situation that the U.S. electoral system found itself in and the vitriol that what was felt throughout this
presidential campaign. There will be lots of people out on the streets who really don't want to see Donald Trump inaugurated.
[15:35:05]ZELIZER: Absolutely. There are already protests planned. The protests would have happened regardless of how the vote went. Meaning if
he won, but the fact that he won with so many more popular votes over 2 million, I think it will amply fie some of the concern that exists.
Beyond all the concern and opposition to just having him as president and obviously his supporters during the campaign could be very hostile to their
opponents. So I think this will be a very fraught inauguration.
The thing is I think President-elect Donald Trump is fine with that. That's the atmosphere he cultivates and that's the atmosphere that he likes
to step into and argues that he will save the world.
JONES: It will be a spectacle no doubt no matter how much it cost and who is performing there. Julian Zelizer, we appreciate your perspective on
this, thank you.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
JONES: Police in the U.K. are looking into the deaths of dozens of men over concerns they could be the victims of a serial killer. Steven Port
was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering for gay men and drugging and sexually assaulting seven more.
Now that's previously dismissed as drug overdoses having reviewed as authorities are criticized for mishandling the case. CNN's Erin McLaughlin
has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Highly devious, manipulative, and self-obsessed. Police say Steven Port was driven to kill
by an overwhelming desire to have sex with younger gay men. All were drugged and unconscious. Port met his victims using dating apps and bought
the drugs online. All four victims were in their early to mid-20s. Their bodies found not far from his East London home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies were all found very close to where you live. I recommend that you say that you find attractive --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know anything about how they come to be.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): This week, Steven Port was found guilty of murder, but serious questions remain over how police handled this case, why didn't
identify Port as a killer sooner and some are accusing the police of homophobia.
PETER TATCHEL, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER: I suspect that if the victims had been female, there would have been a much more robust and comprehensive
police investigation.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): The first murder victim was 23-year-old Anthony Walgate. His body found drugged outside Port's block of plants. It was
Port who called the police, pretending to be an innocent bystander.
Police tracked Port down. They discovered the two men had actually met online. Port was arrested and charged with perverting the course of
justice and incredibly, allowed to walk free. He killed again some two months later.
In August 2014, a dog walker found 22-year-old Gabrielle Cavari's body in a cemetery, a mere 500 meters from Port's home. And then in September,
another body, 21-year-old Daniel Witworth, found in the same place by the same dog walker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought he was just sleeping (inaudible).
MCLAUGHLIN: In the victim's hands, a fake suicide note written by Port, saying please don't blame the guy I was with last night. Later that same
month, he met 25-year-old Jack Taylor on a gay dating app, "Grinder." And Port killed for the final time depositing Taylor's drugged body at the same
Abby Green cemetery.
Finally arrested after being identified on surveillance footage. Taylor's family blames police for not arresting him sooner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they had done their job properly, he would still be here. They are just as responsible for Jack's death.
MCLAUGHLIN: Scotland Yard has referred itself to independent investigators for review. Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Coming up, the hospitals and medical staff struggling to survive Syria's civil war. I'll speak to a surgeon who
is still training the last (inaudible) in Aleppo and a foremost chemical weapons expert talking on the toll it has taken on civilians there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back. Activists in Syria has made a rare appeal for help in English. In a video from inside the city of Aleppo, they're calling for
aid to be dropped by air. They also said the international community is responsible for what happens to the city. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We urge the world and the West especially to airdrop the humanitarian aid and there are already war planes for the U.S.-led
coalition in Syria not far from Aleppo city. We are the people of Eastern Aleppo and we emphasize that we have no problem with relief airdrop. The
international community holds responsibility for any future consequences of Aleppo besiegement hoping that our voices will be heard, and Aleppo will be
saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: However, in the last few months, we've been looking at how hospitals are coping in war-torn Syria. In the besieged rebel held areas
of Eastern Aleppo, aid agencies are claiming Russian airstrikes are deliberately targeting medical facilities.
Most of them have been bombed so badly they can no longer be used with many people too frightened to use the ones that remain in operation. It is
claiming that four hospitals have been struck in the last week alone, with not a single one now capable of running at full capacity.
There are just 28 doctors to help around a quarter of a million desperately people short on food that remain trapped in Eastern Aleppo.
David Nott is a surgeon who has been honored for his work in disaster and war zones and Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a leading chemical weapons
expert. They've teamed up for "Doctors Under Fire," a campaign trying to highlight the doctors and medical workers risking their lives to help those
in conflict zones around the world.
I'm delighted to say they're here with me now. Gentlemen, welcome to you. Dr. David, if I can start with you, 28 doctors left, I know you been
working closely with all them, and have trained many of them as well. Are there any medical facilities for them to work in?
DAVID NOTT, SURGEON: From Tuesday onwards, I heard that there was no actual operating locations. Some of the hospitals are still there
receiving casualties, but there no actual operating theaters able to operate on them.
So you've got terrible scenes at the moment of the dead are lying next to the living on the floor. Nobody there to operate and stop the hemorrhage.
That's the big problem.
JONES: There have been allegations particularly in the last week but also over the course of the last five years of the civil war of chemical weapons
being used. From a doctor's perspective what does that look like, the physical indications of a chemical gas, for example, being used.
NOTT: A chemical gas obviously affects the respiratory system, the nerves, if it's a nerve agent, it will affect the nerves and (inaudible) much more
(inaudible) with all of that. But what happens is that the chlorine certainly which is being dropped constantly affects the patients who are
underground.
Because it's heavier than air so if we got down, it suffocates patients. The chlorine will linked up with the water in the lungs and form
hydrochloric acid and it causes -- it depends on how many parts per million there are.
[15:45:01]But if you got lots of parts to million then it will actually dissolve the lungs and it's a terrible thing because then you -- if
patients already have fragmentation injuries and they got severe respiratory problems as well, it adds to the severe mobility in mortality.
JONES: I want to talk about the chemical weapons potentially being used. In the last week, the Russians have said that they have evidence that it is
not just the rebel regime and rebels using chemical materials against civilians. What kind of tangible evidence is there?
HAMISH DE BRETTON-GORDON, CHEMICAL WEAPONS EXPERT: I think it is really difficult. I think in the last nine days, or eight of the last nine days,
chlorine barrel bombs have been dropped by regime helicopters on Aleppo, creating the casualties that we've heard.
And when chemical weapons were not used on the 21st of August, 2013, when 1,500 people were killed by sarin in Demascus, it was sort of an open
holiday for anyone to use them and you've seen the Islamic State used them widely in Iraq as well because they're very effective.
But collecting evidence is really difficult. I have been in Syria and collected evidence myself, but I'm no authority, I'm not part of the
chemical weapons convention or the U.N.'s organization to the prohibition of chemicals. Getting real evidence is the challenge.
JONES: Do we know who has these weapons, though? How easy is it to get hold of white phosphorus, chlorine gas, for example?
BRETTON-GORDON: Well, it is very easy. I mean, that is the huge challenge. We are seeing both in Syria and Iraq lots of use of toxic
chemicals like chlorine, white phosphorus and napalm, and particularly, the chemicals, you can get hold of as much as you like.
We know who has them and we pretty much know who is using them. What the challenge is, that is taking such a long time, for evidence to come out and
be put in front of the U.N. for people to act. I think that is an area we need to look out for.
But as far as the rebels in Syria using chemical weapons, you know, I think that is pretty (inaudible) -- that is just to divert what is really
happening in Aleppo at the moment.
The direct targeting of hospitals by Russian aircraft and Syrians, not only using chemical weapons, high displacement and napalm and that is really the
area that we should be focusing on at the moment and not having to wait about 57 days until President Trump is in power who looks as though he
might be able to influence Putin in this area.
JONES: David, again, just in the last couple days, we saw the horrendous images of a young boy who saw a green gas around him. He was clearly
suffering. He lost members of friends and family as well. The doctors who were treating him, though, they still have to deal with the chemicals and
whatever else is around them and the aerial bombardments and everything as well. The 28 doctors that are left there, are they OK?
NOTT: No, they're not OK. They are suffering badly as much as the patients are. They have no food, water, health supplies, they're trying
their very best. Can you imagine what 28 doctors -- they're not all surgeons. There's about five surgeons, the rest of them are general
practitioners, and other sorts of doctors.
So there are physicians and surgeons, and the problem is that you know they are suffering just as bad psychologically they must very stressed, tired,
and exhausted as well.
JONES: Do they have the skills to perform the kind of surgery that's being demanded of them?
NOTT: Well, not really because there is only two or three really good surgeons left there now. I have messages from them. They talk to me. I
talk to them. We discussed patients and some of the patients that they're dealing with are really awful and you know, to salvage what they have there
demands a huge amount of infrastructure, which they haven't got. They've got no intensive care unit beds or anything.
JONES: Hamish, Doctors Under Fire, this campaign launched in the last week calling for a similar thing that we heard from in the video just now from
Syrians in Aleppo saying that we want the international community to act and to act now. You mentioned before about it the 57 odd days until Donald
Trump is inaugurated. How crucial is it that the international community, the United Nations does something in that time?
BRETTON-GORDON: Well, we believe it is absolutely crucial and we think there are really tangible things that can be done. First of all aircraft
tracking. We can do that. To track aircraft that are bombing these hospitals. So at some stage they can be named and shamed in the
International Criminal Court can take effect.
Secondly, no bomb zones around hospitals. The Geneva Convention states that hospitals and religious sites should be protected and that's not
happening.
JONES: Does it complicate things when you have Syrians asking for air airdrops? Does that complicate the skies above Aleppo?
BRETTON-GORDON: The Russians are controlling the air space. First of all to make sure they didn't crash into each other. It is very doable and the
airdrops that the Syrians are asking for in Aleppo.
[15:50:04]You know, we have been calling the British government and others to do that. It's my personal experience in Afghanistan, you know, the
British, the Royal Air Force, are the best in the world at this. We could drop hundreds of tons of aid every day into Aleppo and those other besiege
areas.
Putin is dropping aid every day into the areas that are besieged by the Islamic State where Syrian troops are. So that can be done. I think
allied to that we could have no a no-fly zone for helicopters.
Those dropping the barrel bombs indiscriminately killing all these children and others. And I think also we need more sanctions, and sanctions against
the Russians. That's really hurting them at home and that should be extended.
JONES: Is the international community, David, responsible, accountable for what has been happening this five or six years in Syria?
NOTT: Yes, they are accountable and they have not pulled their weight or done anything. So we have kept it together ourselves to produce this
charity for Doctors Under Fire. And this charity we launched last Friday, and we're trying to get as many people as possible to sign up to Doctors
Under Fire.
Just to highlight the risks associated with the doctors that are being affected at the moment, the hospitals being targeted. We hope that we can
make this into a global type of event that Doctors Under Fire can be something that tangible that the British people can help with understanding
that this is something that we really need to get a grip of now.
JONES: Well, we wish you the very best with your campaign as well. Thank you very much for joining us here on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Dr. David Nott,
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, appreciate it.
Do stay with us on the program. Plenty more headlines coming up after this very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back. After a long and fractious election period, many Americans are sure to be grateful for the Thanksgiving political hiatus.
But if they are hoping to escape with a spot of retail therapy then they need to think again. Because this year, even where they shop is political.
Claire Sebastian explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Getting ready to shop this holiday season, get ready for a political minefield.
(on camera): Despite the election being over, social media has been awash with calls from both sides of the political spectrum to boycott certain
retailers because of their perceived political leanings, public statements, or products they stock.
(voice-over): One prominent campaign #grabyourwallet rose from comments Trump made about women in an "Access Hollywood" tape leaked in October.
SHANNON COULTER, FOUNDER, #GRABYOURWALLET CAMPAIGN: Yes, the election is over, but we can vote with our wallets every day. I think that the issues
that the Trump tapes raised in our culture transcends politics to some degree.
SEBASTIAN: The campaign keeps a spreadsheet of stores to boycott, DFW or Designer Shoe Warehouse, clothing store, TJ Max, and Bloomingdale all on
the list for stalking Ivanka Trump branded products. The companies have not commented.
And there are pro-Trump campaigns thinking of having a drink while shopping, #boycottpepsi is spreading after news reports suggested the CEO
told Trump fans to, quote, "Take their business elsewhere." Pepsico has not commented on the boycott.
And there is a growing anti-Starbucks campaign #TrumpCup after a Trump supporter posted a video showing a Starbucks employee refusing to write the
name Trump on that cup.
[15:55:05]Starbucks says it does not actually require its staff to write or call out names.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are hearing the post-election vitriol quite high or quite expansive. Normally things sort of come down a bit now, a week or
two later. This is a very different kind of election.
SEBASTIAN: As for the heart of New York holiday shopping, Macy's, this is something both sides agree on. Macy's top selling Donald Trump branded
products like ties and cuff links last year after his comments about Mexican immigrants.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Macy's which is extremely a very disloyal company.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): So now some Trump supporters want to boycott Macy's and because they still stock Ivanka Trump branded products so (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's still not OK, we want to improve things, and boycott stores if you want to.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): While experts still expect strong sales this season, it seems some Americans may be making a lists of where not to shop
and checking it twice. Claire Sebastian, CNN Money, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Never mind politicians, over in New York today, they surrendered their city to Hello Kitty, Snoopy, and even Pikachu. They were all of
course stars of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The event was held under heightened security and pulled off without a hitch, give or take the
invasion of Spongebob.
And Macy's is helping New York to celebrate another great holiday tradition, shopping. They will soon open their doors for Black Friday
sales. So instead of characters from Angry Birds, expect to see a flock of early bird bargain hunters.
This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Thanks so much for your company. Thanks for watching. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next
END
