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Hala Gorani Tonight
12 People Killed in Attack on Bar in California; Sheriff Says Shooter Was A 28-Year-Old Marine Corps Veteran; Trump Appoints a Mueller Critic as Acting Attorney General; The Global View on Trump's Strongman Approach. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired November 08, 2018 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: We are live from CNN London. I'll Hala Gorani. Tonight, 12 people murdered after a mass
shooting in California, and it's the worst such killing spree in only 12 days. And then the future of the Russia investigation hangs in the balance
one day of Donald Trump fires his Attorney General and replaces him with what critics are calling a yes man.
And she's the first Palestinian Muslim woman elected to the U.S. congress. We talked to Rashida Tlaib's family in the West Bank.
You may have seen the news of the shooting break on your phone or perhaps you woke up to it, learned the target was a popular student bar and felt a
sense of numbness. There's a lot we can talk about it but let's talk about its heroes. This is the face of the police officer who was on the scene
within minutes of the first shot being fired. His name was Ron Helus and he was a veteran with three decades of experience. He later died from his
wounds in hospital. A procession to honor his bravery has been taking place in the past hour. Put yourself in the shoes of the loved ones of the
victim. Listen to this dad who didn't know whether his son was alive or dead when he spoke to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happens when you call his cell phone?
JASON COFFMAN, FATHER OF VICTIM, CODY: Nothing. Just rings. Rings and rings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have one of the tracking apps on your phone to see where his phone is.
COFFMAN: I do. I do. And it's -- it's there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the club?
COFFMAN: It's not moving. It's not moving. That's the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you can tell his phone is at the club?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: An update, Jason's son, Cody, has been confirmed dead. Nick Watt has more from what we know.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of 11 people inside the club were gunned down late last night and you mentioned the 12th victim, Sergeant Ron Helus.
He was sitting in his squad car on the phone with his wife when the call came in and he was on the scene here within about three minutes of those
911 calls coming in and he was there with a California Highway patrolman. Now, since the columbine shooting, the way that authorities deal with these
mass shooting situations has changed and it used to be they would hang back, create a cordon. Now as the sheriff of Ventura County said, the plan
is to go in if possible and these two law enforcement officers heard shooting and think went in. Ron Helus was hit multiple times by the
gunman. He was dragged out by the highway patrolman. He was taken to the hospital but died later of his wounds. He, of course, is being hailed as a
hero here in Ventura county this morning. There was just a procession taking his body from the hospital to the local medical examiner's office
and, of course, so much more pain, 11 other victims to be identified. Families to be notified before we get those names. And the shooter
himself? We know he was a 28-year-old local man who was a U.S. Marine corps veteran, he served a seven-month tour in Afghanistan back in
2010/2011. Let's hear from the local sheriff about what they know of this shooter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:05:00] GEOFF DEAN, VENTURA COUNTRY, CALIFORNIA: The suspect was identified as Ian David Long. Birthday of March 27, 1990. He was 28 years
old. We've had several contacts with Mr. Long over the years, minor events such as a traffic collision, he was a victim of a battery at a local bar in
2015. In April of this year deputies with called to his House for a subject disturbing. They went to the House, they talked to him, he was
somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally. They called out our mental health specialist who met with him, talked to him and cleared him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: The sheriff said at that time PTSD was a consideration and some of my colleagues have spoken to neighbors of ian long and they say his mother
was living in fear because her son would not get help. She was beside herself because he would not get help. That's not saying that is the
motive but that is something that is being considered. The police are searching his residence to try to find out why-the-did this. Hala?
GORANI: Thousand Oaks, California, the site of the shooting that left 12 people dead. Let's get more on the investigation. Let's speak to our
senior law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. What would law enforcement officials be doing now?
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think the main thing would be to determine that he was alone in the shooting at the club but was
he also alone in the sense he decided to do this on his own? Was he part of a group where others through social media or direct contact were trying
to encourage him to do an attack or provide assistance to him in carrying this out? So, is he alone? And therefore, there is no further danger in
the community, at least from him or colleagues of his then using search warrants. Once they have the warrants in hand then they will do a
methodical detailed search of both locations. And trying to look for other telephones, computers, devices to have posted items on social media or
direct e-mails with other individuals.
GORANI: And for all the talk coming from some politicians about the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, really time and time again the profile of the
mass shooter is a white man and the mayor on CNN this morning said there's really not much we can do. We can't secure every single building where
people congregate. Is there anything law enforcement can be k do? Gun control doesn't seem to be on the agenda.
FUENTES: The problem with looking at it from a gun control standpoint is this was not an assault rifle. It's been reported he had an extended
magazine he could have more bullets in that particular gun but other than that, we had the mass shooting at Virginia Tech years ago where the
individual used two handguns to murder 35 people so handguns haven't even been up for discussion. What has been is whether somebody has mental
illness or a convicted felon. In his case it was reported that the police referred a mental health unit to examine him at his residence. They
determined he was not a threat so once that happens, the police, their hands are tied and even if they had determined that he might be dangerous,
they could only put anymore an institution for 72 hours. Then the professionals at the institution would have to decide to keep him longer so
that is one of the things that creates the problem with mental health in particular is that the mental health professionals can't even read his mind
and determine if he is or isn't going to act out violently.
GORANI: It was reported he had a 45 caliber Glock with an extended magazine. So much grief in California. Tom Fuentes, thanks so much for
joining us. Appreciate it.
[14:10:00] Now to the fallout over Donald Trump's abrupt -- perhaps not surprising -- dismissal of his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Democrats
say it's a blatant attempt to undermine the Russia investigation and now that they've won back the House Of Representatives they have new powers to
intervene. Mr. Trump made no secret of his fury with Sessions for recusing himself allowing his deputy to oversee it instead. Mr. Trump passed over
Rosenstein when looking for an active Attorney General choosing a vocal critic of the Mueller probe instead. His name? Mathew Whitaker. He is
now acting Attorney General in America. He has suggested in the past that the investigation could be crippled almost to a halt simply by reducing
Mueller's budget and has called for limiting the scope of the probe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHEW WHITAKER, NOW ATTORNEY GENERAL: It would be a fishing expedition if they start looking into all of Trump's finances. We cannot have unfettered
prosecutors turns over every rock that are unrelated to any, like, nexus to the underlying issues which is the Russian coordination and the 2016
election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: This was Mathew Whitaker on CNN the august, 2017 and this tweet speaks for itself Whitaker flagged as worth reading, an article called note
to Trump's lawyer, do not cooperate with Mueller lynch mob. Let's get more from Laura Jarrett. How will things change with Mathew Whitaker as acting
AG?
LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Hi there, Hala. As you ran through the litany of his TV appearances including on CNN that he thought the
Mueller probe had gone to poor that it would cross a redline. But the real question is how will the investigation change or whether he'll try to
curtail it? Democrats are pushing for him to recuse but it's very unlikely he would do that according to our sources and the White House doesn't
believe he has any reason to do that at all. It would defeat the entire purpose of getting rid of Jeff Sessions who had to step aside because he
was a campaign surrogate only to put in someone else who would have to recuse so we see no indication of that but given he can stay -- he can't
stay for the duration. He has the ability to shut down a grand jury subpoena, the ability to undercut Mueller's budget as he suggested in those
TV clips. But we wait to see whether any of this will come to fruition.
GORANI: He can stay 210 days and not longer because he's acting Attorney General, he hasn't been nominated for the Attorney General position and
therefore does not need confirmation from the Senate in the United States. Correct?
JARRETT: That's exactly right. He can come in at the Justice Department without Senate confirmation. If somebody else is nominated then the period
is told and he can stay until that person is confirmed and he also can't stay as acting if he is picked as the permanent selection. No indication
he is being contemplated as the permanent one. Other names are being thrown out there, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and
Pam Bondi and a number of others we reported but there's no indication that Whitaker is the permanent selection.
GORANI: Laura Jarrett, thanks very much.
Given Whitaker's own comments, Democrats say he should recuse himself from the Mueller probe. We were discussing that with Laura. The chances of
that happening are slim to then. Our next guest was Robert Mueller's former special assistance at the Justice Department. Some people have
called this a constitutional crisis. That the President is firing the man who recused himself and putting in his place someone who publicly said that
the scope of the probe should be limited and Trump shouldn't cooperate with investigators.
MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, ROBERT MUELLER'S FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANCE AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. Right, if Whitaker behaves in his
public position in the same way he articulated, people should behave while he was in his private position because all those positions that we've been
showing on air were when he was private citizen Whitaker. If he as public citizen Whitaker acts in that way, there's an argument -- assuming he isn't
recused -- that his appointment was lawful.
[14:15:00] Two things which I think are greatly in doubt. But assuming he's there and not going to recuse himself, if he tries to interfere with
the investigation and Trump can be shown to have put him there for that express purpose, then the House Democrats when they take over in January
will look at that in terms of whether that is an abuse of his office and that will send him down a path that for the next two years could tie up his
presidency in ways that really aren't in his best interest legally or politically.
GORANI: I ask you, what can a Democrat -- the Democrats have obviously a - - starting in January a majority in the House of Representatives. What can they do if there is some -- any kind of suspicion that the President
appointed someone that would be favorable to limiting the scope of the probe of the Russia investigation probe. What can they do to, you know,
sort of make sure that that doesn't happen?
ZELDIN: So, they have a couple of things available to them. First is as the party in the majority they will have subpoena power and so they can
have oversight hearings and call these witnesses to testify under oath to learn what, in fact, was the reason for the appointment and was there an
effort to interfere with the investigation. If they determine that is the case neck contemplate whether or not that is an abuse of office that allows
them to institute articles of impeachment for that abuse of office. So, they can take the President down that terrible road. The other thing that
is clear, under the statute Mueller is appointed under, if Whitaker decides to interfere with Mueller's investigation against Mueller's wishes then the
Attorney General is required to tell the ranking member and the chair of House and Senate judiciary and House and Senate intelligence why he's
interfering with the investigation which itself will turn into hearings so the possibilities here are bad for the President politically and legally if
Whitaker asks on his private sector beliefs as he articulated them on the tv slots that we've been showing. He'd be much better off letting it go.
GORANI: You know Robert Mueller. By the way, I called him mark Whitaker, it's matt Whitaker. You know Robert Mueller. There are reports he's
preparing and his team are preparing the final report. What do you think is going on within that investigation team?
ZELDIN: I expect, one, that Mueller anticipated this as a possibility long ago which is why we've seen these cases farmed out to other U.S. Attorneys
offices because Whitaker can't interfere with them. Second, if, in fact, it's true that Mueller is preparing his report, he'll pray prepare his
report irrelevant respective of Whitaker's trying to interfere with it and he'll submit it. If Whitaker tries to interfere he'll add that in his
report and presumably that will go to the hill and set off a political cascade of hearings and oversight and possible impeachment consideration,
all of which isn't in the President's best interest but which the President seems not to care about at the moment with this appointment.
GORANI: You know him. What do you think is his frame of mind?
ZELDIN: Mueller? Same old/same old. Nose to the grindstone, doing his work un-interfered with by political considerations and if and when whit
der decides to interfere he'll act accordingly but until that happens, unless and until, Mueller is full steam ahead doing the work he was charged
to do 18 months ago without respect to politics.
GORANI: Michael Zeldin, thank you so much for joining us. A lot more to come. What a week it has been in Washington. President Trump has had a
tumultuous few days. What does the world think about what's going on in Washington when we discuss international reaction to everything from the
midterms to President Trump's news conferences? After this.
[14:20:03] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Let's return to coverage of U.S. politics. You may be suffering from a case of whiplash from the dramatic developments that have happened
in the last few days. I know some of us here are. On Tuesday, the midterms delivered a split congress to Donald Trump. The Republicans
maintained control of the Senate but Democrats took back the House. The next day the President said it was close to a complete victory in a very
combative press conference with reporters and within hours of that Donald Trump fired his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That sparked questions
about the fate of the Russia information. Let's talk to Nic Robertson who is live in Paris and Matthew Chance is in Moscow. Any reaction to what
this means to the Mueller investigation? This firing of Jeff Sessions and the results of the midterm elections as well?
MATHEW CHANCE, CNN SENOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there's some concern about what this means. There's a concern in the Russia that the
Democratic party could ratchet up the investigations into Russia rather than wind them down. And perhaps toward any of President Trump's instincts
to make the relationship better. They're saying it doesn't affect us, it's just a headache in the words of the kremlin for our American colleagues.
Across the road in the Russian foreign ministry this is sort of -- the atmosphere is tinged with a certain amount of smugness. They're saying
they don't see any but they hope the relationship between the United States and Russia could get better but not holding out much prospects for that.
They're saying they're watching with interest the spectacle that continues to unfold in the United States. People say one of the reasons Russia
wanted to meddle in the elections was to sew discord. The kind of discord they're witnessing now. Perhaps beyond one of the wildest dreams of those
in Moscow that wanted that.
GORANI: And these midterm elections, of course, resulted in the opposition party. The Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and
this is the end of one- party rule; how is that seen internationally?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think one of the perspectives if you look from the perspective of a U.S. ally, the German
foreign minister said it would be cost correction from President Trump. He said that in a tweet just before President Trump's press conference and he
would perhaps himself double down on that having seen the press conference but he went on to say the United States is the most important trading
partner of Germany outside of Europe and therefore Germany has to remeasure his words or realign his words in his relationship with the United States.
[14:25:06] He said Trump won't go on a course correction but the indication is United States allies will have to go on a course correction. There's a
clear understanding even if it doesn't seem to be one that President Trump yet wants to accept publicly at least that his ability to fight his foreign
policy battles if you will, North Korea, for example, on the eve of the midterms, his Secretary of State announced he was going to meet with his
negotiating partner in Washington, it would have been today as we came out of those midterms. The North Koreans canceled on that. President Trump,
if he gets mired in domestic politics of the type he was threatening -- investigate me and I will investigation you -- he'll have less time on the
international stage and that's a potential interpretation North Korea is a placing on this. The Chinese an important trade partner for the U.S. but
an economic foe at the same time are treading a middle ground saying it's important continue to develop good relations with the United States but I
don't think it's lost on anyone that President Trump is going to have less time to deal with international issues and Iran, and enemy for him, could
well benefit. Because they all they have to do now is focus on building support to break down the sanctions that
President Trump put on them.
GORANI: And for all the friendly talk that's come over the last couple years ago the U.S. President in his description of his relationship with
Vladimir Putin, today in the last few hours new sanctions were announced against certain Russian individuals so Russia, if their hope was that the
sanctions would be eased, the reverse is happening. They're not getting on what they've wanted in the last few years.
CHANCE: They haven't and this is the story of Russia's relationship with the United States since President Trump came to office has been one of
immense disappointment. They've had disputes over various issues over the past decade but because of the political situation in the United States
President Trump wasn't able to deliver on any of that. I think probably within the past year and a half the Russians have dropped any hope that
that is going to change any time soon given the poisonous environment in Washington politically. Just yesterday the kremlin said there are no
glowing prospects in terms of normalization of the relationship between Russia and the United States. So, there weren't that many before the
midterm elections, there are certainly none after the midterm elections with the House of representatives now firmly in the Democratic party's
hands.
GORANI: Uncertain times. Thanks very much Matthew Chance and Nic Robertson.
Still to come, the latest on the mass shooting. We asked what could political change after the midterms mean for the gun control debate among
other things? And later, a health scare for U.S. supreme court justice and pop culture icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We'll have a live update on her
condition. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:300:20] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Our top story once again, police in California are in the process of telling 12 families that their
loved ones are never coming home. Those 12 people were the victims of a mass shooting that targeted a college night. Here is what witnesses heard
at the time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
GORANI (voice-over): Well, if you've been to countries at war, this is a sound familiar to you. But in the United States, it is also a sound
familiar to people, because every couple of weeks, these types of mass shooting seem to happen. It's almost impossible to imagine what it must
have bene like inside that club. Tragically, some people didn't have the luxury of imagining it at all.
MATT WENNERSTROM, WITNESS: When there's a pause and the bullets and the shot sounds, we actually got up and I've watched some my friends threw a
stool through the window and then a couple more of us threw stools to the windows and we got everyone together and pushed as many people out of that
window as we could until there was just three or four of us left.
And when while we were jumping out, we heard the next round of shots coming. We jumped down to the -- to the lower level and we just basically
pushed and moved as many people as we could down as far away as we could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, once again this tragedy raised the issue of gun control in America, I'll be it briefly. But of course we've been here so many times
before. And advocates for reform say there simply has not been anywhere near enough support to change anything.
But after the midterms, could things be different? The person you see on the right is Democratic newcomer Lucy McBath who became a campaigner
against gun violence after her own son was shot dead six years ago. She's now on her way to Congress after beating her Republican rival in a largely
conservative state in Georgia.
Is this a sign the mood is changing with Democrats in charge and in control of the House of Representatives starting in January? Bakari Sellers is
here to talk to us about that and other big news headlines emerging in the last few days. There are many of those. He's an attorney and former state
House Democrat from South Carolina. He's live with us in -- from Austin, Texas.
Bakari, thanks for being with us. First, a quick question on the possibility that things could change with Democrats in control of the House
regarding gun control. Should we be holding our breath?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's an expectation that Democrats will take action on gun control. I want to temper those
expectations, though, because when 20 plus kids get gunned down in an elementary school like Sandy Hook and our country hasn't done anything to
rectify that, I don't have a large hope that this will actually become law.
But what I do believe is that the Democrats in the House will pass gun control measures such as closing the loop that you can purchase guns to gun
show loophole -- the FBI loophole which we referred to us the Charleston Loophole and making sure that there is some limit on the way that you can
create automatic weapons in this country.
We just recently in Vegas had the largest mass shooting in the history of the world. I mean, we still have not taken action on that. So I do expect
the action to happen in the House but it's going to die a slow death in the Senate.
GORANI: The Sessions firing, your thoughts on that. Do you think the president is just trying to put an acting attorney general in place that's
going to use his powers to slow down the Mueller probe, perhaps gutted a funding, that type of thing?
SELLERS: Well, there are a few things that the audience needs to be aware of, because of the type of appointment this was, because it's a recess
appointment, this individual is only got to serve until there's a new Congress which comes in in January so he's not serving that long.
I think the goal is, though, to help grind this investigation to a halt. But I'm one of the Democrats who's at calm, at ease with this. Because
Mueller is brilliant and if we all saw this coming, so did he.
I anticipate that individuals, as high up and possibly Donald Trump, Jr. and Roger Stone, may have indictments that are under seal right now. The
report will be issued.
And so Mueller is going to do his work, he's going to finish his report, he's going to indict some more people and we'll have to see who those
individuals are.
GORANI: But the attorney general gets to decide whether or not Congress acts on this report, right? This is a lot of power given to the person
heading the Justice Department.
SELLERS: That is true but there's a big but. And that is now Democrats are in control of the House oversight committee. You have Elijah Cummings
and you also have Adam Schiff who now can subpoena these records, subpoena these documents, bring in individuals to testify, who makes these
decisions.
[14:35:12] And so this will be a public document. But even if it's not, all of the allegations are going to be laid out in future indictments. So
I would advise people, just get your popcorn ready. It's going to be some interesting times.
GORANI: And what do you make now of the president after the midterms? He called the results basically a victory. This is not something that's
usually surprising knowing how the president usually frame stories that aren't necessarily positive for him. But it wasn't the blue wave you were
hoping for. There is some truth to that, isn't it? Why not do you think?
SELLERS: Well, I'm not sure. I think that you are seeing that there was a wave in this country. It may not have been a tsunami, per se, but you had
-- you have over 30 seats now that have flipped. And so that's important in the House. You have seven new Democratic governors that flipped in
places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois. And so those things happen.
You have your first openly gay governor of a major state. In Colorado you have Muslim-Americans now, you have Native Americans in Congress. So what
you saw was diversity. And although there wasn't a lot of emotion tied up in Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams and Beto O'Rourke, because of the energy
they brought to the ticket, there are a lot of other people who got caught up in this wave.
GORANI: Although the Stacey Abrams race against Brian Kemp is not --
SELLERS: Not over yet.
GORANI: -- fully settled. Absolutely. Bakari Sellers, as always, pleasure talking to you. Thanks so much for joining us from Austin.
And don't forget, you can get all the latest news interviews and analysis from our show online, head to facebook.com/halagoranicnn and check me out
on Twitter, @HalaGorani.
A note now on the U.S. Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she is in the hospital. She's being treated for three fractured ribs. She's 85
years old. She's a progressive justice. She fell in her office yesterday night.
She didn't go to the hospital right away though. She went home but then because she felt some discomfort, she went to the hospital. Let's get more
details now from CNN's Ariane de Vogue. She joins me now live from Washington.
What's the latest on Ruth Bader Ginsburg's condition, Ariane?
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that she is still in the hospital. She is a night owl. She was working late last
night and she took this fall and she went home. But then in the middle of the night, early, early on in this morning, she called the Supreme Court
police. She didn't feel well. They took her to the hospital and she did have these fractured ribs. And so they admitted her just to see how things
are going. She is still there.
But it's worth noting, Hala, this is one tough woman. She has survived two bouts with cancer. She had an early heart issue. She's cracked ribs
before and I saw her on the bench this week. She's interesting because she keeps her head low sometimes and you think maybe she's dozed off and then
she pops her head up and asks a really important question. So that's where things are now with her.
GORANI: Hey, sometimes you just have to close your eyes and take in what's being said around you so that you can come up with the right follow-up.
Let's talk about -- but just one quick question on Ginsburg before we move on. Do we know when she's due to be discharged?
DE VOGUE: We don't know. And she has been in the past very open about her health records. And, of course, you know why she's so important because
she is the liberal justice. She's the oldest on the court and she, right now, is in charge of the dissent that will come out from this five-four
court. She's in charge of strategy. She pulls them together. So she plays a big role on the court.
The court is not going to sit now for a couple of weeks. They just finished a sitting. And so even if she's not sitting on the bench, she
will still participate. She can listen to oral arguments, she can do some of the conferences by phon. So we expect to get updates but we don't have
any yet.
GORANI: All right. And the controversial Brett Kavanaugh, of course, his confirmation hearings were very dramatic as we all -- anyone watching CNN
or following the news would know. What's the latest on him? When does he officially start as Supreme Court justice?
DE VOGUE: Well, so he has been on the bench now for two weeks. And it's interesting though, today, he had his formal investiture at the Supreme
Court. That means he went back to repeat his oath in front of a whole audience of his friends as well as some of the officials that were
responsible for his confirmation.
And in that room sitting in the front row was President Trump with a broad smile on his face. That was a huge nomination for him and other people.
Congressmen who were in charge of it. It was largely symbolic but it also tells you how the tone has changed.
[14:40:00] It was just a month ago, just after his confirmation that people were storming and protesting because of those contentious hearings. And
today, it was a feeling of celebration, there was no protesters at the court. He took his seat on the far right side of the bench where the
junior-most justice sits and it was much more of a feeling of celebration in front of this standing only room of his supporters and of the officials
who worked so hard to get him on the Supreme Court to solidify that conservative majority for years to come. Hala.
GORANI: Ariane de Vogue, thanks very much live in Washington.
A lot more to come this evening. We meet one of two Muslim-American women elected to the U.S. Congress and why her victory is resonating in her
family's homeland half a world away.
And French president, Emmanuel Macron is in hot water forced to back-pedal after saying one of France's most notorious Nazi collaborators was, quote,
"A great soldier." We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: This year's midterm elections in the U.S. provided the country and the world with a slew of firsts, including the election of two Muslim-
American women to Congress. One of them is Rashida Tlaib who's blazing a trail that stretches from America all the way to the West Bank home of her
family. Oren Liebermann has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Rashida! Rashida! Rashida!
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The victory party was all but assured with Michigan's 13th district, Rashida Tlaib knew she would likely be the
first Muslim woman and the first Palestinian in Congress when she won the primary back in August. No Republican ran against her in the general
election.
RASHIDA TLAIB (D), MICHIGAN CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: As I uplift the families of the 13th congressional district, I'll uplift them every single day being
who I am as a proud Palestinian-American and woman.
LIEBERMANN: Even so, her victory is historic in Washington D.C. and in the West Bank.
In the village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa, every visitor of the Tlaib family home is greeted with coffee and sweets. A traditional celebratory snack. Her
cousins shows us around the family home. Tlaib was born in Detroit but she has visited often over the years. Her family says she also came back here
for her wedding.
SANABEL TLAIB, RASHIDA TLAIB'S COUSIN (through translator): We, as her family, are very proud of her as Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.
LIEBERMANN: Tlaib is proud of her Palestinian roots. In interviews, she's drawn parallels between the civil rights struggle in the U.S. in the 1950s
and 60's and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
She was accused of flip-flopping on a key issue, from voicing support for two-state solution on independent Palestine sitting next to Israel to
support for a single integrated state made up of Arabs and Jews. That cost her the backing of liberal Jewish advocacy group, J Street and put her at
odds with political authorities here in the West Bank.
In her ancestral village, family members just hope she can help shine a light on the Palestinian cause.
[14:45:06] BASSAM TLAIB, RASHIDA TLAIB'S UNCLE (through translator): We as Palestinians need someone like her to pass our message to the American
administration and people that don't know much about our lost rights.
LIEBERMANN: Tlaib ran to the left of the Democratic establishment, scoring endorsement from the progressive Justice for Democrats. Her victory is
part of a new wave of politics and a new wave of diverse women heading to Washington, D.C.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: As Europe prepares to mark a hundred years since the end of World War I in 1918 this Sunday, France is grappling with the tough question, can
you celebrate someone who was a war hero in one war but a war criminal in another?
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, came under fire for saying it was, quote, legitimate, to honor Marshal Philippe Petain. Petain was considered
one of France's great military commanders in World War I. But in World War II, he collaborated with the Nazis.
As the head of the Vichy government, Petain oversaw the deportation and extermination of thousands of French Jews. Macron has now been forced to
clarify his position indicating that Petain will not be individually honored in the weekend's celebrations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): I'm looking at history as it is and as I said yesterday, there's one Marshal Philippe
Petain who was one of the figures and one of the great soldiers of World War I. No one can erase that. But there was never any question of him
receiving an individual commemoration.
And so what I've always said wanted to do and done is for the army marshals to be remembered and for there to be no individual commemoration for
Petain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. He was under a lot of pressure there to make that clarification. It didn't come right away.
As we mentioned, Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of November 11th, 1918. That is the date of the armistice that ended the First World War. The
people who fought in that conflict may be gone but they are not forgotten.
A young French woman is being remembered for her bravery as part of the French resistance. CNN's Melissa Bell brings us her story from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Louise de Bettignies was just a young French girl from an upper class family until the outbreak
of World War I. A war that would make her a hero.
HENRI-CLAUDE DE BETTIGNIES, GREAT-NEPHEW OF LOUISE DE BETTIGNIES: There was a sense that this war was a disaster for everyone and that she needed
to fight to try to contribute and to use her personality and her experience in different countries and language and so forth as a service against the
Germans.
BELL: At just 34, Louise posing as a peddler and using the name Alice Dubois, began working for the British spying on German positions and troop
movements in Northern France and passing crucial knowledge onto the allies, sometimes in the form of messages hidden inside toys and chocolate bars.
Louise de Bettignies became known as the Joan of Arc of the north and it's in the northern French city of Lille that she is best remembered with
street signs, plaques, schools and memorials like this one.
It was after Lille felt that Louise began running her network of spies.
BELL (on camera): Passing the messages onto the British. One of her very last communications just before her capture by the Germans warned of a
massive offensive that was being planned at Verdun.
BELL (voice over): The French military refused to believe it and just 16 months after taking Lille, the Germans kicked off one of the bloodiest
battles of World War I.
DE BETTIGNIES: To cope with danger and the willingness to risk her life because she knew that she would be caught. Several times she got into very
sticky situations and managed to escape.
BELL: But Louise was caught, according to her biographers, swallowing her final message before being locked away. Louise died in a German prison
just before the end of the war, although she was never forgotten.
(INAUDIBLE) the supreme allied commander visited her memorial several years later to remember the heroism that had made such a difference. And more
recently veterans marking the centenary of the end of the Great War did the same.
DE BETTIGNIES: The family is proud and would like their children to remember that if she were committed to an idea or committed to a direction
and you follow this, you can achieve great things and it's thanks to people like her that maybe -- which did happen at the end and we had this
armistice.
BELL: An armistice now being remembered 100 years on, along with the sacrifices made by people like Louise de Bettignies for the allied cause
and in the name of peace.
[14:50:04] Melissa bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And this, of course, is coming just a few days before the actual anniversary of that date, the 11th of November. It will take place this
Sunday. And as many of you know, the U.S. president will be visiting Paris on this weekend.
Stay with CNN, we have a lot more on the other side of this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: The Black Eyed Peas are raising the bar for visuals in their music shows. After a long hiatus, the band is back together and on tour. But
they don't stop at music. They're adding a graphic novel, augmented and virtual reality to the mix. Will.i.am spoke in our series "Smart
Creativity."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL.I.AM, BLACK EYED PEAS MEMBER: This is the beginning of a new chapter for the Black Eyed Peas. We are not just doing music and video. We're
doing music, docu, short film, long form, graphic novel, AR, VR, things that we've never done. Things that the industry hasn't done.
I'm not a musician. I'm an ideas guy that uses technology to execute the idea. When we go on tour our merchandise comes in this (INAUDIBLE)
Right now, we're aiming our creativity for the new technologies.
TABOO, BLACK EYED PEAS MEMBER: Dude, that's dope.
APL.DE.AP, BLACK EYED PEAS MEMBER: Yes.
WILL.I.AM: We told a heightened story on the rise and the fall of what hip-hop was meant to be, all in this book called "Masters of the Son."
When we put AR on it, the book comes to life so people can experience our graphic novel in three dimensional space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once there was a time along. The time along before (INAUDIBLE)
WILL.I.AM: The "Masters of the Sun," we have a VR experience. An hour VR film. Scored with Black Eyed Peas and Hans Zimmer.
Now, we're stepping out on our tour, Masters of the Sun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The finale of this show was enhanced by augmented reality. It's time to open your Black Eyed Peas tour AR app. Keep it
pointed at the stage throughout the song.
WILLI.I.AM: Put your hands up if you believe in love.
We're going to augment the layer between the person onstage, us, the audience, so that when they're watching the show through the lens of the
phone, they're seeing something that's not there.
It's like Pokemon Go on steroids. Well, there's new technology that allow people to connect, experience a reality that's not there. You do it
because you have to push the boundaries.
Thank you so much, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Finally, a quick word on Prince Charles. We're learning more about what kind of king he'd like to be. In a BBC documentary, the heir to
the British throne says he will not be a meddling monarch. Max Foster has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[14:55:00] MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: The Prince of Wales heading back to the U.K. where his next public engagement will effectively
be a celebration of his 70th birthday. He's been here in West Africa visiting three commonwealth countries. When he becomes king, he will take
over as head of the commonwealth too.
He'll talk about his future in that way since his subject, but he has used his (INAUDIBLE) to confirm and put on the record once and for all that he
won't be the meddling monarch that many people, many commentators have suggested he might be.
PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: There's only room for one sovereign at a time, not two. So you can't be the same as the sovereign if you're the
Prince of Wales, the heir. But the idea somehow that I'm going to go on the exact the same way, if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because
the two -- the two situations are completely different.
Clearly, I won't be able to do the same thing as I've done as heir. So, of course, you operate within the constitutional parameters.
FOSTER: The Prince of Wales has been accused of getting involved with arguably political issues such as town planning, architecture, and the
environment. He doesn't see it as meddling, though, he sees it as motivational. But he does say that he won't get involved in any public
opinion making in his monarch, because he sees that role as distinct from the one he's in now and he'll only act on the advice of government
ministers.
Max Foster, CNN (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Thank you for watching tonight. Stay with CNN. Richard Quest is in the house with "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
