Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20181119

Im George Howell. The cnn newsroom starts right now. At 3 00 a. M. On the u. S. East coast, we start with these wildfires in the state of california. The death toll there continues to rise. Presently now 80 people who have lost their lives there. On a map, you can see where these fires are burning in both the north and southern parts of the state. Scorching land there for more than a week. So far the fires have destroyed an area larger than the city of chicago. The socalled camp fire in the north, its about 65 contained. The woolsey fire in the south, almost 90 contained. And across the state, thousands of people now displaced. In one walmart parking lot, take a look here. You can see survivors. They have set up tents, turning the area into a makeshift village. In the aftermath of so much chaos, so much destruction, there are some incredible stories of survival that we are hearing. One of them involves a School Bus Driver praised for helping 22 students to escape the camp fire in northern california. Our paul rakamen reports how a man was able to navigate a bus and its passengers through pure hell. We had a bus driver from heaven. Good to see you. Reporter as the camp fire raged, kevin mckay, a few months into his job for the Paradise School district, braced for the bus drive of his life and the lives of two dozen others. Well, it was time to go. Reporter stranded children and two teachers jumped on. There were 22 kids and my first thought was just getting them on the bus and getting them out of there because the sky was really menacing. It was so crazy and, um, there were like fires left and right. Everywhere you look there was smoke everywhere, and people trying to get out, and it was like really hard. Reporter were you scared . Very scared. But i tried to just like calm down because that would just make it worse for everybody else. We started getting fire on both sides of the bus. Kids started to get pretty antsy. At a couple points i think we had some honest discussions about, is this the time to get out of the bus . Reporter smoke seeped into the bus, children started inhaling and falling asleep. I ran to the front of the bus. I said, kevin, these kids are telling me theyre tired right now. And kevin, without even thinking about it, took his shirt off and tore it into little pieces and we just started tearing it up as quickly as we could to make filters for these kids to breathe. Reporter they dipped the rags in water. The harrowing continued. They drove in the middle of the road to avoid burning trees and buildings. Coming down the hill, the sky becomes lighter, the tension eases, the adults intentionally make some light comments about having pancakes and a black bear surviving at the black bear diner. It was great. I mean after all the tenseness we needed a joke to loosen everything up. Reporter then back between walls of fire. When we turned the corner, there we were, back again. And it was awful. Um, i just felt like this was never going to end. Just being gridlock trapped in the road. There was nowhere for us to go. The traffic wasnt moving. And then our last stretch, too, i think that was the that was the moment i thought that we might not make it out. Reporter abbys home burned. So did charlottes and kevins. Marys still stands. Homes were lost. But in the end, everyone on the bus survived. Safety is such a important part of a bus drivers role, and, um, you know, i must have paid close attention. Reporter a reference to the class he took on how to keep his precious passengers safe. Paul, cnn, paradise, california. Safety is part of a bus drivers job. Safety is paramount driving through Something Like that. Ivan cabrera, our meteorologist here, to tell us about what is in store now for california. Theyve dealt with the fires. Thats still in bloom. Still going. The smoke is a problem. Now rain on the way. So, rain on the way which is going to be a good thing because its going to help the Fire Fighting efforts. Its going to extinguish the fire. Its going to be that heavy. The problem is because it will be that heavy, we could be dealing with some mudflow issues here just like last years. Lets talk about that and absolutely heroic efforts have been underway in california. A grandmother there that needed to get out, garbage man came by and picked her up. Incredible stuff from the most destructive fire ever. These are the kind of fires people dont have enough time to get out. This is excellent news today. The humidity is going to come down. We were at 5, 10, 15 . Its critically low. Those valleys will be increasing. The temperatures will be a little bit cooler and then were going to get ready for some rainfall thats going to be moving in. Heres the latest from cal fire. 65 containment now. We have been north of 50 for quite sometime now. So this is good. The problem is that 65 has been stuck all day because we did have gusty winds through sunday. Those are the winds that are going to subside for monday. 150,000 acres of course have been burned so far. Incredible amount of structures. Thousands of homes lost. There is what george had been talking about, the air quality index has been just horribly low here. Not just for sensitive groups. Were talking everybody. I mean, i have folks and friends been out to San Francisco for a quick trip there. Couldnt see in front of them. Thats how bad it has been across california because of these fires. There you see the red dots, not good. Were in the middle. Unhealthy. But were going in the right direction. This is from the noaa satellite up above. Take a look at the plumes of smoke. The hot spot in northern california. But then you see the smoke. Its going down to mexico, the wind shifts, it goes up to canada and the northern plains. We have been sharing that part of stothe story unfortunately across the west. No worse than california. How much rain do we need . Half an inch of rain to stop the spread of the fires. That would be great. We need 2 inches or more to basically extinguish them. Were going to get that. I think its going to be too quick. Its not going to be a light rain on and off throughout the day. Its going to come in rather quick on wednesday, one punch, another one on friday and then perhaps even through the early part on of next week. As that rain hits those burn scars, thats the concern there, it basically is going to fall on cement. And so that is going to trigger the mud flows that, of course, can be quite deadly in california. So well be following that part of the story next week. Its a big deal. Ivan, thank you. All right, turning to another story were following this day, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The u. S. President spoke about the investigation on sunday. He said that he doesnt know if the Saudi Crown Prince lied to him when he claimed that he wasnt involved. The saudis have firmly denied that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman played a role in the murder last month, but sources say the cia believes he personally ordered it. The u. S. Government has yet to reach a final conclusion on it. Mr. Trump says, though, he is due to get a full report come tuesday. Hes already been briefed on some of the evidence, including an audio recording, though mr. Trump says he does not plan to listen to that audio. I dont want to hear the tape. No reason for me to hear the tape. Why dont you want to hear it, sir . Because its a suffering tape. Its a terrible tape. Ive been fully briefed on it. Theres no reason for me to hear it. In fact, i said to the people, should i . They said, you really shouldnt. Theres no reason. I know exactly i know everything that went on on the tape without what happened . It was very violent, very vicious and terrible. Following the story live in turkey, our jamana karacha is live in istanbul. Mr. Trump described it as a suffering tape. He acknowledged he is aware of it, has not listened to it. This comes ahead of tuesday. He is due to see a full report from the cia regarding this investigation. If what we have heard of that cia assessment is true, jamana, where does this leave the u. S. President . Reporter well, you know, george, here the president is saying he doesnt want to listen to it because of the content of this recording. Of course, we dont know what is on this recording. If there are multiple recordings, but by all indications from what we have heard from whether its leaks or the feed of information from turkish officials, it is quite horrific as being described by the president s there, being violent and vicious. Some will be very critical of President Trump, george, not listening to Something Like this. This is a key piece of evidence coming at a critical time. It could impact his decision when it comes to how things move forward with saudi arabia, a critical juncture in relations between these two countries. But i think, you know, President Trump has made it clear over and over again saying that saudi arabia is a spectacular ally in this region. He has prioritized what hes saying is jobs, money, the business deals with saudi arabia over this murder and over this case, and many will be very critical of this, but well have to wait and see what happens next. You know, some will tell you, if you look at where we are right now, it has been nearly 50 days since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. And one would expect that a lot of this intelligence would have been gathered in the past few weeks. We know that the cia director gina haspel was here about four weekends ago. We know that the turkish authorities did share the evidence they have with her. She listened to the recording, so some would wonder why is it taking the u. S. Administration so long. Yes, we have seen the sanctions that were announced last week impacting the 17 individuals, the saudis that were some of them were also we expect were also under investigation or under arrest in saudi arabia over this killing. But some would say there hasnt been real significant meaningful action from the United States or the International Community when it comes to this case. And now there is something that is very worrying and, you know, very disturbing for many in this region who think that this is the time for the International Community to act when it comes to saudi arabia, especially that they have, to an extent, turned a blind eye to a lot of the human rights and allegations over the past year. And that is why, george, we are hearing a lot of calls now for an independent International Investigation into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. And, again, jomana, you pointed out turkey has opened this up to other nations, this investigation, waiting on the u. S. Response and that response could be mixed between the house of representatives and between the president. Well see how this goes. Thank you for the reporting. Khashoggis death could, in fact, impact the war in yemen. Iranian backed houthis are locked into fighting with a Saudiled Coalition there. A houthi leader now says his fighters are ready for a ceasefire. Facing pressure from the u. S. , the Saudiled Coalition might be forced to accept it. A top u. S. Official said last month there needs to be a ceasefire within 30 days. Cnns sam kiley following the story live in abu dhabi this hour. Sam, with this latest peace offering and actions taken to reduce violence, is this truly being seen as a real opportunity to change this years long war . Yes, george, i think it is. There is a glimmer of hope amid the misery yemen has been suffering, a war four years old. 400,000 children on the brink of starvation, according to the u. N. Childrens fund. Tens of thousands of casualties and a proxy war that until the last couple of weeks was going nowhere from anybodys perspective. But now, more or less overnight, the houthi spokesman, the leader Mohammed Al Houthi put out a statement saying the houthis would respect this call for a ceasefire and would offer some unilateral signs of good will by offering to end, for now, a longrange missile strikes and the use of drones against not just the Saudiled Coalition inside the yemen, but perhaps more importantly outside of yemen. They have targeted in the past locations in both saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. Both, of course, these two gulf countries leading members of this Coalition Fighting them. They have the backing of iran, but over the last couple of weeks, there has been certainly over the last week, a reduction in the level of combat after a severe spike around the town of hadeda, a port city, which is a part of yemen critical to the lives of some 14 million people. That is their route for food. It is held by the iranian backed houthis. They have dug in very hard but they have been under heavy attack. And perhaps this latest response is a reaction to that attack. But also moves by the United Nations to try to bring the two sides together at ceasefire talks perhaps in sweden later on this month, george. Sam, on the part of saudi arabia, how does that play into their decision, given the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, their decision in what comes next with this war . Well, thats been very interesting indeed. There was an assumption that the level of frustration fell towards saudi arabia had reached a critical point with the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Embassy in istanbul. But jeremy hunt and the top Civil Servant from the United Kingdom visited saudi arabia last weekend, a little bit before, and to propose a ceasefire plan that they were going to put towards the to the u. N. Security council. And were brushed off really pretty effectively, and angrily according to some reports, by the saudis. So its clear that the saudis are feeling pretty robust at a time when the International Community was hoping that perhaps a degree of contrition over what happened to mr. Khashoggi might be transferred into an understanding that the world is really pretty askance and horrified but what is going on in yemen. There are signs of diplomatic moves in the right direction as far as ceasefire is concerned. And they may ultimately lead to talks. There is also an effort by the saudis to agree the medical evacuation of 50 wounded houthis which was in the past a block to future talks. George . Sam kiley live for us in abu dhabi. Thank you for the reporting. Israels government is intact, but it may not last much longer. The latest on a cabinet crisis for israels Prime Minister. 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Oren, there are several pressure points on the israeli Prime Minister to save his government. Whats the latest at this point . Reporter well, george, in just a few minutes at 10 30 local time, two key ministers, the right Wing Education ministers and justice ministers have their own press conference where it is possible they will announce their own resignation and that would mark the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus coalition. That is an eagerly awaited statement, and would cap what has been a turbulent week for netanyahu, the most difficult, most challenging week since the last election in early 2015. Well be looking carefully at what they say, how they say it and how the process goes from here. Late last week, the fight was between netanyahu and his finance minister. He seemed to manage that one okay, and now its between netanyahu and his own Education Minister who has demanded the defense portfolio after the defense minister resigned last week. So that brings you this idea of pressure points with a lot of demands made on netanyahu and his government. It could be just a few minutes here, the end of netanyahus coalition. So well certainly keep you posted there. Meanwhile, the opposition, main opposition party, designed as union as they are known, will introduce a know confidence vote against netanyahu this afternoon. They have said the defense ministers resignation is a sign of the failure of netanyahus government. So all of this puts pressure on netanyahu. Meanwhile netanyahu said in a Late Night Press Conference last night he will take over the defense portfolio himself. In that new job which he just assumed, he was in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this morning. He said there it is irresponsible now to topple a government. It is a sensitive security situation right now that is continuing and he basically called it his Coalition Partners to stay in the government. Well see how they respond here in just a few minutes, george. And the context here is important, oren. This ceasefire with hamas, tell us how all of that plays into this. Reporter that began what has been an incredibly difficult week politically for netanyahu. The ceasefire with hamas was announced on tuesday. It was an unpopular ceasefire especially among the right wing here in right wing politicians. The defense minister announced his own resignation a day later. The Education Minister who has a press conference in a few minutes demanded it be given to him or he would withdraw from the government which would topple it. A day later two key ministers called for early elections. So all of that just builds up this pressure on netanyahu and makes early elections more and more likely. Meanwhile, images of hamas celebrating the resignation of the defense minister and certainly, if the government collapses here and they celebrate the collapse of the government, those images are very damaging to netanyahu and could play some sort of role in the next elections as hamas is seen celebrating the political movements of the Israeli Government, george. Oren liebermann live for us in jerusalem. Oren, thank you. Now to the United Kingdom, the nations Prime Minister standing by her brexit plan as she faces critical talks in brussels this week. Later monday, theresa may will try to convince British Business leaders to back her brexit plan. Also this week she will meet with the European Commission jean claude younger in brussels. There have been days of political turmoil and resignations and widespread criticism but still a defiant theresa may presses on saying she is not going to quit. Lets go live to london. Cnns nina dos santos. It seems she is stuck between a rock and a hard place, the sell of an unpopular plan and the European Union that seems uninterested in making any major changes to this deal as it stands presently. Reporter good morning to you, george. Yes, shes also stuck between the hard brexit faction in her own party and very tricky parliamentary arithmetic that doesnt look in the current deal, system that we have is likely to work in her favor. As you mentioned over the course of the weekend, shes been embarking on this charm offensive, trying to sell this deal to the broader british public. On friday she was trying to sell it to members of her conservative party rather than just elected members of parliament of her conservative party, approving so tricky there. Shes going to be trying to sell it to the Business Community as well. She is about to embark in an hour or two to a big speech, one that has put a positive spin on this deal, essentially saying this is the best were going to get. What its going to do is create at least some certainty for the Business Community here to sure up jobs, and also she is going to say that this will give the u. K. The right to control its borders in the way that they will be able to issue visas to people who are skilled for the kind of jobs that are required in this country. That also she is going to make the argument will help to make sure that british workers get back on the job ladder as well. It is expected that this Business Lobby Group is going to back her deal. That will give politicians in her own party food for thought. What is interesting over the course of the weekend, george, Many Political commentators will say that that hard brexit faction inside her own government that had been tabling letters to the special 1922 backed Bench Committee that could potentially amount to no conif i dns vote in her, if they had the numbers, they needed 48. So far only 20odd mps have made their letters public. It looks as though the second time in less than a year, theresa may has managed to so far hold off the threat of that no confidence in her leadership, and she continues to plow on, saying this is my deal, its the best were going to get from brussels. George . But the pressure continues to mount. Nina dos santos live for us in london. Thank you. The u. S. President said highs answered Robert Muellers russia questions himself and is prepared to hand the questions the answers over. But one question remains. Will he sit down with muellers team for an interview in the investigation . Well look at that ahead. Plus this. I said goodbye to my husband and just told him to tell our kids that i love them. And that i was sorry, im sorry, i wouldnt be there. It was very, very hard. The scramble to evacuate a hospital as californias deadlyest wildfire broke out. Well have that story for you as newsroom continues. [ neighing ] [ neighing ] [ sigh ] its bring your own phone, not pony. So i couldve taken the bus . Yeah. Bring your phone. Switch your carrier. Save hundreds a year with xfinity mobile. Call, click or visit a store today. Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching cnn newsroom live from atlanta. Im George Howell with the headlines were following for you this hour. The state of california ravaged by wildfires, a vigil was held sunday for the victims. Who died in those fires. At least 80 people have been killed. Hundreds more still unaccounted for. The socalled camp fire in the north now about 65 contained. The woolsey fire in the south, almost 90 contained. In recent interview, the u. S. President indicated we may never know if the Saudi Crown Prince was lying to him about his involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Trump also says that he wont listen to a recording of the murder because he called it violent and vicious. A houthi militant leader in yemen says his forces are ready for a ceasefire, this if the Saudiled Coalition wants peace. Mohammed houthi, i should say, says the iranbacked militants should end missile and drone attacks. U. S. Officials said last month they wanted a ceasefire within 30 days. The u. S. President sat down for a wide ranging Television Interview on sunday. He answered questions about the special counsels ongoing russia investigation, and went after a retired Navy Seal Commander who led the operation that killed osama bin lauden. Our Boris Sanchez has more. Reporter President Trump making news on a multitude of fronts this weekend. First with an interview on fox news in which he criticized retired admiral william mcraven. Mcraven previously had criticized President Trump suggesting that he was unpresident ial, and saying that the president s comments about the press being the enemy of the people are a threat to democracy. The president , during this interview, shot back, saying that mcraven was a Hillary Clinton supporter, a backer of president barack obama. The admiral spoke to cnn about this, providing us with a statement saying that he did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else. He also said, quote, i admire all president s regardless of their Political Party who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the nation together in challenging times. He went on to say, when you undermine the peoples right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression, then you threaten the constitution and all for which it stands. The president also talked about the russia investigation during that interview, revealing that he probably would not sit down for that oneonone inperson testimony with special counsel robert mueller, something he said in the past he was looking forward to. Listen to this portion of the interview. I think weve wasted enough time on this witchhunt. And the answer is probably were finished. One and 100 . I dont do odds. I gave very youre right, and very successfully actually. We gave very, very complete answers to a lot of questions that i shouldnt have even been asked. And i think that should solve the problem. I hope it solves the problem. If it doesnt, you know, ill be told and well make a decision at that time. But probably this is the end. Reporter now, President Trump did say that he would be handing over his written responses to muellers questions sometime this week, likely before thanksgiving. Boris sanchez, cnn, at the white house. Boris, thank you. Lets talk more about this now with natasha linstadt, a professor at the university of essex. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Lets start with the president s attacks on the retired admiral william mcraven, casting him in a political lens as a sympathizer of democrats. This is the architect of the bin lauden raid, a very significant figure certainly for the United States, given his background, his reputation. How does an attack like this run the risk of backfiring on the president . Reporter right. Well, these attacks are just incredible because i dont think theres really anyone in the country that would have a criticism for this commander because, you know, to run this operation was incredibly brave and took incredible amounts of planning. But this is one of the things about President Trump that is so interesting. He has had a history of going after the military, going after gold star families, going after john mccain. And with his base, it doesnt seem to really matter. It would be unheard of for a republican president or any president to attack the military in a way that he has. But whatever he says his base just actually doesnt care. Now to the russia investigation, mr. Trump says that he has answered questions from the special counsel himself. He says that he did it without the help of his attorneys. But hes also indicated in this most recent interview that he most likely wouldnt sit down with the mueller team. Remember before, he had said he would be open to sitting down with mueller and his team, so in your view, what is the change of heart . Whats the reason for it . Well, trump has been contradicting himself about the whole Mueller Probe all the time. On the one hand, he is he appears to be incredibly worried about it, constantly tweeting about it, and indicating that its some sort of witchhunt and hoax in order to dee delegitimatizing it. He said he didnt need help from his lawyers, but on this viewpoint that he doesnt want to be questioned directly, his lawyers have advised him that would be disastrous because he could perjure himself. And so, i think hes heeding the advice of his lawyers. But in spite of what hes publicly saying about how incredibly easy it was to answer these questions, this has been a very tedious process for him to just even answer the written questions. And he probably very privately is very worried about it. Looking ahead now to this coming tuesday, the president says that he will receive a full report from the cia, an assessment on the investigation of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Weve seen these saudi stories shift several times. Mr. Trump, though, still seems unwilling to reach any conclusions. Does this further push his hand, force his hand, especially when this assessment comes out . I dont think its going to change his mind about what to do. He does not want to rupture the relationship with saudi arabia. He has very strong personal ties with the country and individuals running the country, and he believes that the country that the United States has very Strong Military and financial ties to saudi arabia. And i think ha hes going to try to do is play it off as if other individuals were responsible for this and that he doesnt believe the reports coming from the cia which have been stating, basically, that the crown prince himself was the one who ordered this horrible murder. And so he may just leave it up to congress to decide what to do about it. You know, id like to ask you one more longlens question here. President trump premidterms and postmidterms, compare the two. Weve seen the president since the midterms. Weve seen him in paris, saw him in california. Hes spoken out publicly in this interview on the russia investigation. What changes do you see . Well, i think postmidterms, President Trump is in a terrible mood. He is incredibly worried about what has just happened with the results in the house. And every day there seems to be another seat that goes to the democrats, and that the midterms were an indictment on his presidency thus far. It wasnt this tremendous success he originally touted. So, i think hes growing increasingly anxious. When he gets anxious, he starts to whine more, starts to go on the attack more, and then sometimes starts to retreat more. Weve seen all these different types of behaviors taking place into the midterms. I think hes just incredibly worried about the implications of whats going to happen. Natasha lindstaedt there live for us via skype. We appreciate your time. Thank you. All right. We were talking about the midterms. Well, weve moved past the midterms. A Contentious Senate race and recount. Florida will now send a new senator to washington. Current u. S. Senator bill nelson on the right conceded to republican challenger rick scott on sunday. The margin was just over 10,000 votes. Now that florida is settled, heres where things stand in the u. S. Congress. The house of representatives, the democrats have a majority there. 232 seats. The republicans have 200 seats. Three races still undecided, but no matter what happens, that wont swing the balance of power there. In the senate, republicans keep their majority. 52 seats. Democrats have 47. One undecided race in mississippi, that will decide later this month in a runoff. Devastating wildfires that broke out in california this month, one hospital was forced to evacuate its patients. Our affiliate ktxl reports, spoke with some of the people who managed to get out of these flames. Reporter sixdayold halle was the last baby born at the hospital. After she arrived, the camp fire began to surround the building. It came over the speaker, evacuate the hospital, all patients need to be moved. I went to the patients rooms, grab your baby, theres no time. Reporter in the scramble to evacuate, heather had been separated from her child, put into an ambulance and driven away. Her ambulance made it about half a mile before it began to literally melt in the flames. Her csection surgery left her lower half of her body numb. She couldnt move, and made what she thought would be her last phone call. I said goodbye to my husband and just told him to tell our kids that i loved them, and that i was sorry, i was sorry i wouldnt be there. Wow, it was very, very hard. I heard the ambulance in front of us is on fire. Reporter nurse Tamara Ferguson was in an ambulance behind heathers making the same last phone call to her family. They kept telling me, no, youre going to be fine. I kept trying to convince them, no, you dont understand. Im not going to be fine. Theres no way im going to survive this. Theres fire blowing at me. Reporter as the fire was consuming homes all around they have, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. Nurse tamara followed. Eventually they ran into david hawks, paradises fire chief. Theres a dog door here one of the paramedics made access to. We unlocked the garage, sheltered them in place. I said, hey, if you follow directions, which is to clear this home of pine needle, we would be safe here. Reporter what happened next was nothing short of amazing. Emts and nurses became standin firefighters. Some getting on the roof of this home, clearing gutters of brush, hosing down the outer edge of the property, saving this home all while their patients were kept safe inside. And he said, you do this. You do this. You do this. And all of us shifted our minds to what do we need to do for survival mode here. They followed directions. They did exactly what i asked them to do. Reporter amid a neighborhood devastated by the camp fire, this chloe court home survived. So did all of the patients and medical staff inside. I am so happy that my home was spared, so that their lives could be spared. That was that homes purpose, for us to save those people reporter desiree board enowns this home with her husband. Not long before it was used to save the lives of people she never met, she was fleeing from it with her 17 month old daughter in the car. I was singing Nursery Rhymes to her, trying to keep her calm, although she was very calm. I dont know if i was singing the Nursery Rhymes for her or for me. I just knew that our story couldnt end that way. We couldnt burn alive in a car. Reporter it wasnt until one of the nurses sent desiree a facebook message that she learned her home was still standing. Shed assumed like her neighbors homes, it was gone. Now these people, all strangers a few days ago, forever bonded through one common story of survival. Were all here. Were able to talk about this and its absolutely extraordinary. Its humbling to know that your life was spared when so many arent and so many are unaccounted for. You can find out of course how to help the victims of the California Wildfires at our website cnn. Com impact. 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Take care of the hands that take care of you. Tensions between the United States and china played into the outcome of this weekends apec summit in papua new guinea, so much that the annual event ended without a joint communique. The first time in the summits 25year history. Chinas president xi jinping defended his countrys trade practices and military buildup in the south china sea. The vicepresident of the u. S. , mike pence, also attended the summit and said that his countrys trade war with china wont end until beijing changes its ways. Lets bring in cnns ivan watson following the story live in hong kong. Again, we saw this rivalry on full display there, ivan. Reporter thats right. This was a failure, the first time in a quarter century, that consensus was not reached and a routine of final joint communique was not published. And its widely attributed because it was of viechlal visio rival visions between the future of trade between china and the u. S. There were undiplomatic moments, george, because the source with this incident tells cnn that on saturday, four chinese officials barged in as the source put it, essentially forced their way into the office of papua new guinea, the host country, their foreign minister in an attempt to try to influence the joint communique which ultimately was never published. Now, this is after that foreign minister refused a meeting with these chinese officials. The Chinese Foreign Ministry Denies that such an intrusion did take place. That was against the backdrop of the chinese leader, xi jinping, and the u. S. Vicepresident mike pence, lobbying thinly veiled criticism and insults at each others governments and policies. Take a listen to an excerpt from their speeches. Translator history tells us to take the road of confrontation whether its in the form of a cold war, open war, or trade war, it will produce no winners. [ applause ] know that the United States offers a better option. We dont drown our partners in sea of debt. We dont coerce or compromise your independence. The United States deals openly and fairly. We do not offer a constricting belt or a oneway road. Reporter this was sharp criticism from mike pence of chinas ambitious one belt one road policy where it has been lavishing loans of foreign aid for infrastructure projects. Countries all around the world. Pence arguing it is Something Like a debt trap and chinas leader called this he defended one belt one road, saying there is no ulterior motive, no hidden agenda behind this policy. And, of course, there is a trade war. Both countries have put tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of each others goods, and there is the threat that that number could increase dramatically in january coming from the u. S. There is a possible way out, george, and that is that President Trump and xi jinping are due to meet each other face to face in argentina at the g20 meeting. Well be watching. George . Listening to those two sound bites, ivan, back to back, you do hear competition, in fact, a message trying to sway a nations one way or the other. Reporter thats right. And they are competing for the favor of countries like papua new guinea, small Pacific Island countries that have in recent years received a lot of Chinese Investment assistance. And pence brought news that he was going to embark that the u. S. Was going to be providing some aid as well to some of these countries. Papua new guinea, for example, a pledge to help build its electricity grid. And another message that was pretty striking. Pence announcing that australia and the u. S. Would be building a military base on papua new guineas manis island, and that is clearly part of the larger competition on military fronts between china and the u. S. And their allies over influence and control of the pacific. George. Ivan watson, live in hong kong. Thank you. And finally this hour, we want to take you inside indias first elephant hospital. This opened up last week in south of new delhi. Elephants are an endangered species and the hospital uses Cutting Edge Technology including wireless exray machines and ultrasound to treat injured and sick or aging elephants. The nonprofit behind the hospitals rescue of wild animals across the country, of course, activists say elephants are revered in india, but can also be abused or hunted. Thanks for being with us for cnn newsroom. Im George Howell at the cnn center in atlanta. Early start is next for viewers here in the United States. For viewers around the world, my colleague max foster kicks it off live in london. Youre watching cnn, the worlds news leader. Today is the day youre going to get motivated. Get stronger. Get closer. Start listening today to the Worlds Largest selection of audiobooks on audible. And now, get more. 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Mike bloomberg donates 1. 8 billion to the alma mater for financial aid. 2020 hopefuls no doubt taking notice