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Hala Gorani Tonight
US Supreme Court lets travel ban take effect; Republicans renew support for Roy Moore; Embattled veteran Democrat steps down; "CNN Freedom Project": Migrants lured to Europe brave the Sahara Desert; "Going Green": Improving access to fresh food through innovation; "Feast on Tokyo": Serving the perfect soba noodles. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 05, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Hala Gorani coming to you tonight from London.
We are following two breaking news stories this hour. First, a decision that could potentially rock the Middle East. Donald Trump is expected to
announce that the U.S. is now recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Plus, this hour, we will be looking at this story, Russia banned from
competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics for what the IOC calls an unprecedented attack on sport. We'll have that in a moment.
I also want to bring you up to date on a breaking news story we're following out of Germany, breaking moments ago. Around 50 people have been
injured in a train collision that happened near Dusseldorf. The Fire Department says a passenger train hit a freight train. Rescue workers are
now on the scene. I'll bring you more on that once details are merged out of Germany but it looks like a pretty nasty accident there, not far from
Dusseldorf.
Back to the Middle East, the powder keg always booming could be about to blow. Palestinian factions are calling for three days of rage at home and
abroad in response to American President, Donald Trump's expected plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. embassy
there. The announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, Wednesday and the President have been working with phones speaking to leaders across the
Middle East.
Jordan's King, Abdullah -- and by the way, pretty much everyone, including America's closest allies are telling Donald Trump, do not do this.
Jordan's King Abdullah who met with Mr. Trump in April warned that the decision would undermine efforts to resume the peace process.
Turkey's President, Erdogan is warning the consequences could be much worse. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): I would like to reiterate my sadness over the reports that the United States is getting
ready to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Mr. Trump, Jerusalem is the redline for Muslims. Our struggle on this matter will continue with resolve. As a matter of fact, this can go as far
as breaking off our diplomatic relations with Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: We're covering the story from all angles and the potential fallout from the President's planned announcement. Ian Lee joins me now from
Jerusalem. Michelle Kosinski is in Washington.
Michelle, you're hearing from your sources, the President is due to announce that the U.S. now recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,
plans as well to move the embassy there. What are you hearing?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that he will sign this waiver. I mean, this is the whole deadline that we're looking
at. This is why this has come up now, that Congress requires the White House to keep the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and not move it to Jerusalem.
So, over decades, every president has just signed a waiver keeping the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to avoid stirring up these tensions. Well, this time
around, we are told now by multiple sources that the President is going to sign the waiver again.
So, for the foreseeable future, the U.S embassy will stay in Tel Aviv but this time is going to be much different. First, he's going to declare that
the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and that he is going to say he will move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, but he is going to leave
that timeline open ended per these sources.
Also, we expect him to make some kind of softening statements on this to try to quell the tensions that have been building over the last several
days leading up to this announcement. And we don't know exactly what form that will take. It is possible that he will announce some kind of split
designation, at least, in some way, saying that yes, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but he's going to recognize some holy sites and suburbs
and parts of east Jerusalem as the future Palestinian capital. He may also try to soften things further by emphasizing the need for a two-state
solution, Hala.
GORANI: Yes. And Ian, obviously, we're waiting for reaction, the anticipated reaction, Palestinian factions, some of them already calling
for so-called "days of rage". There could be also demonstrations in other parts of the Arab world that we don't know. What are you hearing on your
end?
IAN LEE, CNN ORRESPONDENT: Well, it really is a split, Hala. It depends on who you talk to. As far as the Israelis are concerned, we have heard
from the Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman who encouraged President Trump to make this decision and to finally declare what he says Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel. We also heard from the mayor of Jerusalem also has urged the President to make this call.
[15:05:13] You know, what's interesting though is we have member of the Knesset who is part of an Arab list and he said that Donald Trump is a
pyromaniac, who could set the entire region on fire with his madness and that's coming from a member of Knesset. You know, there's a lot of people
who are concerned what a potential move and declaration of the United States saying that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel could mean.
And we've been seeing that from regional leaders as well as, as you pointed out, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. Essentially, all of the United
States key allies coming out against this and warning of the potential consequences that this could have for violence on the street, as well as,
what this could mean for the peace process.
And when we talked to Palestinian officials, almost every single one has said that if this is done, if president Trump does move the embassy to
Jerusalem and declares Jerusalem the capital of Israel, then essentially, this whole peace negotiation process, the peace process, it's over, the
United States loses its seat at the table.
GORANI: Yes.
LEE: So someone who likes to fancy himself, the big deal maker, this could break the deal.
GORANI: Well, because the allies of the United States, Michelle, this one to you, are all saying to Donald Trump, the status of Jerusalem needs to be
determined -- it needs to be -- the result of negotiation between the two sides. This could just be a unilateral designation by the United States.
In fact, the French President, Emmanuel Macron called Donald Trump on the phone. And we have a readout from the French foreign ministry, "Emmanuel
Macron reaffirmed that the question of Jerusalem status had to be dealt wit in the framework of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians,
with the aim in particular to establish two countries, Israel and Palestine."
Michelle, why would the President do this now? Why does he believe there's an upside for him and his administration?
KOSINSKI: I mean, that's really the question because, you know, although he's backed to the campaign promise that he made repeatedly, his desired
alignment with Israel, his wanting to appeal to his base, he likes to shake things up and do things differently. But now you have all of these U.S.
allies in the region and well-beyond saying, OK, we get that, but why would that supersede the potential for enormous problems surrounding this?
So that makes you think with the President's own son-in-law tasks with solving Mideast peace, Jared Kushner, and he has been working o this, how
must he feel about this and how this complicates, if not makes his job impossible. He has been working closely with Saudi Arabia so it makes you
wonder, OK, well, if everyone is warning -- all of our sources outside of the White House and Israel, are warning the White House about doing this.
Must not the White House feel like they have some kind of plan or some kind of assurances from Saudi Arabia or Saudi Arabia has been using their
influence and they know that this is going to quell those tensions.
But then, you get a statement from Saudi Arabia just recently using words like complicate, obstruct and provoke. So clearly, even they, working with
Jared Kushner on this, are not on board with this pending decision.
GORANI: Interestingly, we didn't hear from Saudi right away. We heard from them later on, as you mentioned, Michelle, condemning this expected
announcement. Thanks so much, Michelle Kosinski in Washington, Ian Lee in Jerusalem.
As I mentioned, at the top of the hour, we're following another breaking story in Russia's extraordinary fall from grace four years after hosting
the Sochi Olympics. The IOC, the International Olympic Committee has barred Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics. The IOC says it found Russia
manipulated the anti-doping system on a staggering scale. They say the evidence was overwhelming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS BACH, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: The commission members produced a comprehensive and I must say excellent report addressing
to the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia. The IOC executive board has based its decision today on this report. The report
clearly lays out an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic games and sports
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There you heard it from the IOC itself. Now, there is a caveat here. The IOC says, "clean athletes from Russia will be invited to
participate next year but not under the Russian flag, under the Olympic flag. "World Sport's" Don Riddell joins me now with more.
[15:10:11] So what are we expecting because the in terms of the world athletics championships this year, there were Russian athletes competing
under the Olympic flag? They were called athletes competing as neutral. We're expecting the same thing next year in 2018 at the Olympics for
Russian athletes?
DON RIDDELL, CNN'S WORLD SPORTS: Well, let's see. There's still more than 60 days and about nine weeks to go, Hala, and a lot can change in that
time. But the way the IOC has left it today, as you say, there will be no Russian flag, no national anthem, no medals will be won under the name of
Russia. But Russian athletes could compete.
Now, they'll have to jumps through a number of hosts to demonstrate that they really are going to be there as clean athletes. And so, that's going
to be a process we have to go through. But we haven't had an official response from the Russian government yet. A Kremlin spokesman earlier this
week said that they had denied any discussion of a boycott in the removal of all Russian athletes from the event. But we haven't had an official
response, since it's late at night in Russia now. It remains to be seen. But there is a chance that the Russian government will just say, look, we
don't want to play at all. There will be no Russian athletes there.
And you talked about this as being a fall from grace. I mean, it really is total. When you think about where they were in 2014, spending $50 billion
to host that game, an event of which they topped the medal table and now they are persona non grata.
The Russian government officials will not be welcome in PyeongChang next year and, of course, Vladimir Putin is having to weigh his reputation, his
country's reputation on the world stage with the presidential election in Russia coming up just one month after these games.
GORANI: And so, what are the conditions under which Russian athletes can compete?
RIDDELL: Well, there is a whole list of items that you need to check off. And when you get to very last one, it says, the IOC still has basically
discretionary powers in all of this, which I guess means they have left the door open themselves to say, well, you know, you look particularly in
athlete but which is going to have a funny feeling about you so we still not going to let you come. But yes, there is paragraph after paragraph
where the International Olympic Committee will be going through this to try and determine whether or not these athletes are clean.
There was more than 230 of them competing in Sochi. We really have no idea how many may make it to PyeongChang next year.
GORANI: Don Riddell, thanks very much with the very latest on that breaking new as well. A busy hour, a lot more to come this evening. A
tough negotiation which became a messy negotiation very quickly. Our Brexit breakthrough was stopped by an unlikely player next.
Also, the elements seemed to line up against California firefighters just when they need a break were live as the battle literally heats up there.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:15:10] GORANI: Welcome back. Now, Britain's road to Brexit had been bumpy enough. But the past 24 hours were truly something else. Prime
Minister Theresa May went to Brussels thinking she had one of the most contentious issues out of the way. What to do with the border between
Northern Ireland, part of the U.K. and the republic of Ireland, which is part of the E.U., and will remain so. There was meant to be a deal, a big
announcement, celebrations, meant to be, because the DUP, a small Northern Irish party that props up Mrs. May's minority government had different
ideas.
Bianca Nobilo is with me to explain what happened. So the Prime Minister was in Brussels. She was just about to say, fine, there will be a soft
border between the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. And then at the last minute, no deal.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: Exactly. The expectations were so high for her meeting with Juncker yesterday. And the most positive they've been
throughout this entire process. Donald Tusk of course have set that deadline too for making progress ahead of the E.U. council, but nothing.
So we're hearing that all the enforce to ahead of that party we're just talking about, the DUP, called Theresa May when she saw the wording of the
draft on what Ireland and Northern Ireland would look like post-Brexit. She wouldn't stand for it because of course the DUP, the Democratic
Unionist Party won't countenance any kind of divergence from the U.K. and more alignment with the E.U. post-Brexit. That's not what they want.
GORANI: But so the Prime Minister is in this impossible position. Either she angers the DUP, who are keeping her afloat in parliament, or she angers
the E.U. by taking a harder line on that border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. What is she going to do? Either way, she's
going to suffer politically, isn't she?
NOBILO: She is. I mean she's been suffering for this --
(CROSSTALK)
NOBILO: Even more so if we can imagine.
GORANI: Yes.
NOBILO: It is seemingly and soluble. So we're going to need to keep an eye on this over this week because as you said how to apiece all of these
different parties who want contradictory scenarios. David Davis said in the House of Parliament today that -- that Northern Ireland would not be
distinguished whatsoever from the U.K. post-Brexit, but that he would like to see a form of continued regulatory alignment.
It's very confusing, but also MPs within the Prime Minister's own party even like Anna Soubry have used this opportunity, this breakdown in the
breakthrough if you like, to push for a soft to Brexit. Lets take a listen to what Anna Soubry said earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA SOUBRY, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: The British people are fed up to the back teeth with all of this. They want a solution. Now it may be that
regulatory alignment is the solution. But if it's good enough for Northern Ireland, it's good enough for the rest of the country. There is a
solution. I don't care how you wrap it up in whatever fancy words, but if it conveys the effect on British business of the single market on the
customs union, let's wrap it, seize it, wrap up the red light. Move on, work together, build a consensus, and get a deal for all nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: We just -- heated, indeed. And we just heard from a member of the Prime Minister's own party but also in Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister
of Scotland, is calling for a special arrangement for Scotland if Northern Ireland could potentially have it. The mayor of London said too, well, can
we continue with having regulatory alignment with the E.U. post-Brexit. And also the First Minister of Wales to the pressure on the Prime Minister,
Hala, it's just inordinate to reconcile all of this different bosses going in to strike deal.
GORANI: With the promise some sort of announcement this week or not?
NOBILO: Yes. I mean we had about -- we were expecting an announcement yesterday too. But the Prime Minister has communicated to us through
Downing Street that talks will reconvene or they hope to reconvene at the end of the week. At the moment, that's all have. David Davis, Theresa May
and Juncker have all said they're optimistic the deal can be struck. But at this point, it's anyone's guess.
GORANI: Bianca Nobilo thanks very much for joining us on that important story. Stay in the United Kingdom, it's of course something we covered for
many days in Manchester, one of the worst attacks in this country in years killing 22 people, many of them children at an Ariana Grande concert. I'm
talking about of course that bombing at the pop concert in Manchester back in May.
Now imagine you lost your daughter, your son, your mother, your father and now you hear from one of Britain's top lawmakers that opportunities to stop
the bomber were missed. Obviously, it's impossible to know what may or may not have happened as we look at this in hindsight. But this is the message
from Britain's home secretary Amber Rudd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER RUDD, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: Salman Abedi was also a closed subject of interest at the time of the attack and so not under active
investigation.
[15:20:04] In early 2017, MI5 nonetheless receive intelligence on him which was assessed has not being related to terrorism. In retrospect the
intelligence can be seen to be highly relevant. Had an investigation been reopened at the time, it cant what's be known with Abedi's plans could have
been stopped. MI5 assess that it would have been unlikely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Amber Rudd there. Diana Magnay is in London with more. Is Amber -- is the home secretary saying that this was a preventable attack?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. I think Hala she said it in that last sentence. It cannot be known whether it would have been preventable.
And that is exactly what you the author of this review concluded too. MI5 have said, even if we'd reopened an investigation, the attack would not
have been pre-empted.
Now, Amber Rudd and the author were not prepared to go that far. Basically, they said there are too many hypothetical's here to have
certainty either way. But in summary this review was actually fairly positive about the police and MI5, their intelligence gathering and the way
that they had conducted their own internal reviews off to this full terror attacks.
Yes, in relation to Salman Abedi and the Manchester terror attack, there are still questions to be asked. There was intelligence that came to light
that could have meant they would have been reinvestigated. There was also some data sweep, which is then MI5 system which alerted them to his name
and MI5 have planned to have a meeting about Abedi and various others who named -- whose names have been flagged up.
But in the days after the attack, of course that doesn't come as any comfort to those who lost lives. But actually, the report on the whole
should provide some reassurance to the British public. If you think about the fact that there were 22 foiled terror attacks in the last four years,
nine of them since March 2017, and that there are 500 active counter terror investigations going on at any one time.
Essentially, David Anderson said the police are doing a pretty good job. They've learned from their mistakes. And they are putting those learning
into practice.
GORANI: All right. Diana Magnay a New Scotland Yard, thanks very much for that update. Hindsight, always 20/20 in these cases, but for the survivors
and the family members of those who were killed, certainly I'm sure difficult words to hear today.
To California now and the governor there has declared a state of emergency in a southern county over the Thomas fire. It's one of three blazes fire
crews are battling in the region. Hot fierce winds called the Santa Anna's are whipping up the flames.
Dozens of buildings have been destroyed. Take a look at these unbelievable images. People obviously had to leave the area. You can see why. A local
reporter shows us what's happening on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BENEDICT, REPORTER: You've been seeing some really strong wind bursts come out here and that's of course affecting where we can stand as we've
moved further away and we're going to continue to do so after I've been talking to you here what this it.
The reason is because when the winds come so strong, we have so many embers and so much ash in the air that it really just picks up and it can easily
spread this fire elsewhere. But as you can see, what's behind me is pretty grim. This is the hospital that we've been talking about all morning long
here, the Vista Del Mar Healthcare Facility.
We're told it's an 82 bed inpatient and outpatient mental health facility here in the area. We're told it not only has treatment programs for
veterans dealing with PTSD, but also dependency issues as well and really anything for a variety of different treatments the folks may need here in
the community. But it has been burning for quite some time now.
Now what you don't see around me are any firefighters. That's because they have long since left to this area. They were here apparently right after
it started. They realized that they could not save this building so they worked very hard to save the condos down below which they were able to do,
but unfortunately they had to leave this burning behind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Well, Paul Vercammen joins me now live from Ventura, California, with very the latest. So what our firefighters saying about,
you know, whether or not they're able to fight this particular fire? It seems very resilient and strong.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh my goodness, you can't even believe how large the flank of flame was at one point, Hala. It actually stretched
from the city of Santa Paula into Ventura. We estimated that it was five or six miles long. So it tore through these neighborhoods. You can see
right behind me how it just devastated so many houses.
So the strategy is, you've got to pick and choose your battles if you are a firefighter. There's a thousand of them on the line or in route right now.
But there's no sense in sitting there and trying to saying this house, although we did see a crew come up and mop up just a short time ago.
The real dangers with these unpredictable winds and you can see the wind whipping through those trees up there, it gets in here and it starts to
send these flaming embers or these hot coals, these little sparks up into the air.
[15:25:08] And then they come cascading down, you know, a good mile away and they can restart a fire on a roof. And this fire is very whimsical.
Utter devastation right in front of us. And then two beautiful homes with views were speared in all of this right behind us. And we talked to a lot
of the homeowners.
It was hell on earth for them last night. And actually Thomas Yadas (ph) just appeared over your should I'm going to have my cameraman Tom Larson
(ph) and go ahead and do a 180. Or across the way, we're standing in other devastation. And these homeowners are hoping they can get water. Water
has been spotted, they lost water and power in much these neighborhoods.
And they are just to make sure that those -- their roof is soaked. And again, the reason being for some of these ember embers get sent up, they
can cross the street, go on the roof and catch that on fire. 150 acres -- 150 structures, excuse me, burned so far, at least that's the count in
Ventura county.
They say that it's 45,000 acres. There was one fire battalion chief injured, he was actually hit by a car. But they describe that as bumps and
bruises. He was later released. We know a dog also burned in this fire, unfortunately when a car overturned.
But it was absolute chaos because one veteran firefighter, 30 years here in Ventura County told me he has never seen anything like it. And what he
meant by that is a December fire moving at such an incredible rapid incendiary pace and leading behind it a wake of devastation, Hala. Just
something you can't believe when you sit here.
I can tell you right now. I mean half hour there's ten more homes burning, there's 10 more this way. Almost unfathomed that a fire could be that to
us.
GORANI: I can see you wearing a mask for your eyes. I hope you're able to breathe and that the crew is able to sort of spend too in their time there
without getting too choked up on the smoke. But what is starting these fires? Why are they so bad beyond the wind? What's going on there?
VERCAMMEN: Well, we don't know. And no one has revealed yet what spark this fire. But we know what the propensity is for fire danger.
This is a extremely rare event, a very, very strong Santa Anna condition in December. And we certainly have not had much rain at all in California
this year, especially to this point. So, you got a situation where Ventura County is rather dried out.
And once they start, they just have this ability to go hop scotching through these neighborhoods so quickly because everything is so dry and
because the winter before it was pretty wet and there's what they would call fuel. And really what they mean is, brush, growth, undergrowth,
trees, all of it just getting consumed in this path and then in this case, it became a suburban fire where it just left from house to house to house.
As we said the count for right now 150 structures. We'll see if that jumps. But its pretty mind boggling to see it, you know, that here in
person, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Paul Vercammen thanks very much, reporting live from Ventura, California.
Still to come this evening Mr. Trump's travel ban goes into affect for now. I will speak to a campaigner for immigrants' rights whose leading the
appeal against it and also we'll analyze the legal ramification the possible appeals.
And putting their money in support behind an accused child molester. A stunning reversal from the Republican establishment about a hugely
controversial Senate hopeful. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST, HALA GORANI TONIGHT: And here's a story we've covered a lot on the program because so many of you around the world are
interested in Donald Trump's various travel bans, various incarnations of this travel ban.
The White House is celebrating a victory in the US Supreme Court. It is allowing the third version of President Donald Trump's controversial ban to
go into effect at least temporarily.
Citizens from six Muslim majority countries will encounter travel restrictions when they try to enter the United States. Those countries are
Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad. Nationals from North Korea and Venezuela are also included in the ban.
The court is allowing the ban to take full effect as challenges against it make their way through the US court system.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, is challenging the ban in a lower court. Lee Gelernt is the Deputy Director of the ACLU Immigrants'
Rights Project and he joins me from New York via Skype.
Thanks for being with us. So, what are you doing to fight this at the ACLU?
LEE GELERNT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ACLU'S IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS PROJECT: We're fighting it in court. And we will be in court in Richmond, Virginia this
Friday to argue the merits of the case, travel ban 3, what we believe is a Muslim ban.
The Supreme Court has dealt us an unfortunate setback in allowing the travel ban to go into effect at least temporarily, but the case proceeds in
the courts. The Supreme Court did not shut down the case.
We will be in court in the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia this Friday arguing the merits. If we don't prevail,
then there's still the remaining Supreme Court appeal.
GORANI: What now tangibly - the travel ban is in effect, right? So, citizens of those countries - Syria, for instance - Syrian citizens can
travel to the US whether they have a bona fide relationship or not, right? That stands right now.
GELERNT: That's right. Except I want to want to make one thing clear for people who are listening and may be confused. If you already have a visa
or already granted permission to come, this latest snake (ph) should not affect you.
But going forward, the government does not intend to issue visas to the people who are covered by the travel ban. That's correct.
GORANI: Could you explain also to viewers around the world, if the US Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the United States, rules on
this, how can a lower court challenge it?
GELERNT: Right. That's a very good question. And the difference is, what the Supreme Court did is just hear what's called the stay motion. And all
they were deciding is should the ban go into effect or not go into effect while the case proceeds on the merits through the courts.
So, what the Supreme Court was very clear about is, right for now, we're going to allow the ban to go into effect, but we're not precluding the
lower courts from ruling on the merits. So, it is up to the lower courts to decide ultimately whether they think the ban is lawful or not. And
then, the Supreme Court can review that decision.
All the Supreme Court said is what should we do in the interim and decided, in the interim, we're going to let the ban go into effect while the case is
proceeding on the merits through the lower courts.
So, it is a little bit confusing.
GORANI: Got it. What is your strategy? What is your main argument here to try to fight this in the lower courts?
GELERNT: Right. Our main arguments are that the president doesn't have authority from Congress to issue this type of sweeping ban, barring more
than 150 Muslim people from entering the country categorically.
And secondly, he doesn't have the constitutional power because our Constitution is very clear that you may not disfavor any particular
religion. And we think that's what President Trump has done in both purpose and design and effect in issuing this travel ban, that it is
essentially a Muslim ban by design and purpose.
[15:35:03] GORANI: Sure. And also for our viewers, because so many of them are passport holders from countries that might be from one of the six
countries, that might be from other parts of the Arab world or the Muslim world, they're maybe concerned that they may not be able to get a visa,
what kind of timeline are we looking at here in terms of these court challenges?
GORANI: Right. That's another good question. We are going to be in court this Friday. The other parallel case by Hawaii is being argued tomorrow.
The Supreme Court has instructed the lower courts to issue decisions on a very quick timetable. So, I suspect, by June, this case may be over one
way or the other.
GORANI: June. So, it is eight months away or so at least. And during those eight months, the travel ban will remain in place?
GELERNT: Right. But June, I think, is probably the latest we're looking at.
GORANI: All right. Lee Gelernt of the ACLU, thanks so much for joining us from New York. Really appreciate your time.
GELERNT: Thanks for having me.
GORANI: While claims of sexual harassment are claiming the careers of movie moguls and actors to business executives, within the elite of
America's ruling party, different rules seem to apply.
The Republican National Committee is renewing its support for a Senate candidate embroiled in a child sex abuse allegation. His name is Roy
Moore. He's running to become an American senator from Alabama in an election one week from today.
And along with the RNC, he now has the public endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Kaylee Hartung is in Birmingham, Alabama where the Senate special election will take place in just a few days. And it's a very, very critical
election for the Republicans.
What's the reaction in Alabama to the RNC coming out and supporting Roy Moore, spending money on his campaign and, essentially, basically, saying
the Republican establishment is behind this candidate?
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, we've been trying to figure that out because the fact is many people say to me that, at this point,
they think most voters in Alabama already have their mind made up. We're just a week away from that special election that has put such a spotlight
on the State of Alabama.
President Trump, before explicitly endorsing Roy Moore yesterday and before the RNC decided to start sending its money back to Alabama, President Trump
had been very careful not to explicitly endorse Moore in the wake of these explosive allegations against him. But he has defended Moore.
Moore has denied these allegations and Trump said he believed him. He'd also railed against Moore's Democratic challenger Doug Jones. Those words
from Trump uttered the week of Thanksgiving had already been used in ads across the state on Moore's behalf.
So, a lot of people think if there was any props to get from that support of Donald Trump, it would have already been felt. And now that we are
within a week of this election, the secretary of state here in Alabama is saying he expects about 20% of the people in this state will turn out to
vote on December 12.
It's tired and it's a bit cliche to say that any race is going to come down to turnout, but that's the fact in this very conservative State of Alabama
that has not elected a Democrat to the United States Senate in a quarter of a century.
GORANI: And everybody, and including viewers all around the world, are so interested in this Alabama Senate race, which I think it's something that
we can safely say doesn't happen very often, that elections are fascinating people around the globe.
We're also hearing from the White House. This is from Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the briefing just minutes ago, saying, some reports "certainly
cause a great deal of concern of bias in the special counsel's office."
This is related to the Roy Moore story. Let me ask you about the expectation for turnout, but also some of the polling because what I found
interesting is that, in Alabama, because these special elections are so rare, and certainly not in December, I think there have only been a handful
in the last century or so, that there is - the polling is not considered necessarily reliable, right? So, we're really in the dark as to what may
transpire in a few days.
HARTUNG: That is a very accurate observation. The polls here are neck and neck. One poll released by "The Washington Post" over the weekend had Doug
Jones, the Democrat, with a 3-point lead over Roy Moore, but that was within the margin of error of that polling.
So, that being said, it's going to come out - the turnout - interesting to hear the secretary of state say that he expects just 20 percent of the
people in Alabama to come out next Tuesday.
And when you see the weather, raining like it is today in the state, that could give you concern. I had one member of Dough Jones' staff say to me
today, we sure hope the weather isn't like this next Tuesday because you know the kind of effects that that could have on this race because Doug
Jones needs voters in Alabama to turn out if he has a chance at winning this election in such a historically conservative state.
[15:40:09] GORANI: All right. Kaylee Hartung, thanks very much. I want to update our viewers on what Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary,
said about the president's support for Roy Moore.
Precisely, she said - the White House press secretary said, President Trump still finds the allegations against Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy
Moore "concerning," but is supporting him because more "supports his agenda."
"The president's position hasn't changed. He still finds those concerning," according to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. So, still the president
throwing his support behind Roy Moore.
While Moore plows on, one veteran Democratic lawmaker accused of sexual harassment has just stepped down. US House Representative John Conyers has
faced multiple calls to quit, including from the leaderships of his own party.
Several women who worked with Conyers accused him of inappropriate behavior over the years. He denies the accusations. Conyers was the longest-
serving member of the House and a civil rights icon as well. And he is pushing for his son to replace him and take his seat in Congress.
Check out our Facebook page, Facebook.com/HalaGoraniCNN. We'll post some of the show's content on there.
Still to come this evening, a rescue from the middle of a desert. CNN's exclusive report on migrants who hope to reach Europe, but got left
stranded in the Sahara. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: One of the most dangerous journeys a person can make lured by a promise of a better future in Europe, African migrants decide to cross the
remote and bleak Sahara.
As part of CNN's Freedom Project senior international correspondent Arwa Damon traveled with Nigerien soldiers to rescue some migrants who got
stranded in the deep desert.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just imagine what it would take to make this journey.
Driven by poverty and desperation, crammed in the back of a truck, the searing heat, the desert wind. Imagine your truck breaks down and you're
stranded in the middle of the Sahara Desert in Niger. Abandoned with no water, just an endless expanse of sand.
(on-camera): It really only takes a few moments in the back of one of these trucks to begin to gain an appreciation of just how tough it is out
here.
(voice-over): We're on a mission with the Nigerien army to rescue stranded migrants. Our convoy will stop when one truck is in trouble. The
smugglers carrying the migrants will not. Finally, after ten hours driving through the desert, light signal.
[15:45:13] The migrants have been stranded here for three days after their truck broke down. There are about 30 in all left to die.
The women who don't want their identities revealed are wearing the local Islamic headdress because the smugglers told them to, so they can blend in.
The women are Christians, and mostly from Nigeria, and say they had no idea about the dangers of the road, but that they were lured by a Facebook page.
(on-camera): And what did this Facebook page say? What were they promising you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw job opportunities, and I saw good life there, you know?
DAMON (voice-over): Most often the dream they are sold is a scam to get female migrants to Europe and then force them into prostitution.
As we speak, one of the women starts praying under her breath.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
DAMON: A single sentence over and over. We can hear the agonizing wails of another woman and go to speak to her.
(on-camera): I heard you crying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to go see my babies.
DAMON (voice-over): Her name is Olabisi (ph). Two of her four children, it seems, were on another truck. They are the older ones, ages just 9 and
11.
TEXT: I don't want to go without my children. I prefer to die here.
DAMON: Falalu Lawalo (ph) of the International Organization for Migration tells her husband that they have a local office close to where they think
the children were taken and that they will try to track them down. But if the children continue on -
TEXT: I can't lie to you and promise that we can trace them all the way to Libya.
DAMON: It's only at daybreak that we truly understand the remoteness of where we are. The migrants ready themselves. They pile into the back of
the trucks. They are reluctant to leave. They want to keep going to Libya. Olabisi is hardly able to believe what has happened to them.
As the convoy departs, she does not yet know if Falalu will be able to track down her children. We learned that three days later, he did, and the
family was reunited.
This is a place of death and deceit. For many, the decent life promised beyond the Sahara and across the sea in Europe is only a mirage.
Arwa Damon, CNN, the Sahara Desert, Niger.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, CNN's five-part Freedom Project series continues Wednesday when Arwa visits a safehouse where women wait to be re-highlighted with
their families after being rescued from the slave trade inside Libya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: He sold you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
DAMON: Were they fine in selling a lot of people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. That is how they do there. When they finished paying their money, if you are staying with a weekend somebody, they will
sell you to another people. So, you start all over again.
DAMON: Little did she know that, like many so others, her goals, her dream of a better life would end in the increasing lawlessness of Libya.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, you can see that report tomorrow night on this program. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:50:50] GORANI: Well, the world is facing an unprecedented call for action when it comes to ensuring food security for as many people as
possible. That's what Oxfam says in its latest report on the global food crisis.
Of course, dealing with the huge challenges that entails is easier said than done, but one New Yorker has a bold new vision for how urban areas
could at least improve access to fresh produce. Here is her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY MATTINGLY, NEW YORK ARTIST: I still feel the provocation as a proposal for what New York City's public land could look like and function
like in the future.
My name is Mary Mattingly. I believe that food should be a public right and that our public spaces can be used to grow fresh healthy food.
Well, the floating food forest, it's 140 by 30-foot forest. It's a place where people can come and take fresh food for free. There are a lot of
kales in here and raspberries.
Down here is a meadow. This is another space where fruits are growing and lots of salad greens and lots of herbs.
Currently, Swale is a concrete plant park in the Bronx. That area is considered a food desert. It's one of the largest food deserts in the
United States.
Today is one of our last days. It's very - the park is quite empty, I think, as people get ready for the winter time and hibernating just like
the plants will be hibernating soon.
Earlier in the summer, where it is much warmer, and it was very active, so we would have about 500 people a day coming on to Swale to pick their
groceries for a couple of days or the week.
As a direct result of Swale's initiative, this is New York City's first ever food way. It's a place where they're allowing people to come and pick
fresh food on public land, the first time that it's been done in over 100 years.
The concept of a food forest is important in many ways. You can imagine planting a system where everything is helping each other. Over time, it
needs less human care.
So, our proposal is, if this could be in parks, over time, it would take less maintenance to actually be growing. There are so many things going on
like food in the city right now, from farms on rooftops to urban farms to community gardens.
And one thing that we can do with Swale that's different than all of those things is you can talk about public lands specifically and have - right
now, New York City has 100 acres of community garden space compared with 30,000 acres of public park land.
If we were to say, let's utilize some of that public park land to grow edibles, then suddenly we have increased access to public food city-wise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Speaking of food, meet the Tokyo chef now whose childhood memory prompted him to open his own special restaurant.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kenji Hasegawa can tell you the exact date he fell in love with soba. He was 20 years old and had returned from Tokyo to visit
his father in (INAUDIBLE).
KENJI HASEGAWA, CHEF, KYOURAKUTEI (through translator): There's a tradition in (INAUDIBLE) to eat yams on January 3. When I went back home,
my father made me soba. So, we put yams on top of hot soba and ate that. It was very delicious. I ended up eating 10 bowls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That memory came back to him years later when he decided to quit his job and start a restaurant. Kyourakutei opened in May
2005. Today, people still line up to wait for a seat or just watch soba being made.
[15:55:00] A millstone sits in the restaurant window to freshly grind buckwheat into flour.
The soba course seeds come from Hasegawa's hometown.
HASEGAWA (through translator): We first break the shell and turn the insides into a powder. Then we add water, knead it into a dough and
flatten it.
For novices, the easiest part is making the dough. As you get more experienced, the part becomes the most difficult. Making the dough
HASEGAWA becomes the most important.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hasegawa makes his dough with 100% buckwheat. He says that results in thicker, but more fragile noodles than standard soba,
which is mixed with regular wheat flour.
HASEGAWA: We're a soba restaurant. And I wanted to have tempura and soba side-by-side as our specialty. Soba and tempura go together. What's fun
about a tempura soba is that when you dip the tempura into the soba's broth, the two tastes combine, which makes the soba drastically better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Soba can be served in hot soup, but Hasegawa says the pure soba connoisseurs prefer cold noodles.
HASEGAWA: That's because with cold soba, you can feel its texture. When you eat cold soba, you eat it as loudly as possible. That's the Japanese
way. By doing that, you can inhale air as you eat the soba and you can take in the aroma. The taste becomes easier to detect. That's the most
fun way to eat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cold soba can be dipped in broth called soba-tsuyu. At the end of each meal, Hasegawa serves a pot of sobayu, the water used to
boil the noodles.
HASEGAWA: You mix it with the broth and drink it after you finish the soba. That's because all the nutrition from soba, called vitamin D, comes
out when you boil it. So, I would like our customers to enjoy the soba to the very last.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, there you have it. Thanks for watching tonight. I'm Hala Gorani. "Quest Means Business" is coming up next. I'll see you tomorrow.
END
