Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello 20161222

They also talked about how to help amri flee the country afterwards. This new information as the manhunt for him intensifies across europe. Were also hearing german chancellor Angela Merkel will address the latest on the investigation at a press conference set to begin shortly. Cnns Erin Mclaughlin is in berlin with us for the very latest. Good morning, erica. Thats right we are hearing some new and disturbing details about the 24yearold Tunisian National and his links to the proisis Recruitment Network known as abu walaa. Now Senior Members of that Recruitment Network had been arrested by authorities here in germany back in november. Cnn has had a chance to take a look at the 345page investigative file in relation to that case. According to that file amri is named several times, mentioned by a Police Informant as someone who wanted to launch attacks, an idea that member of that Recruitment Network, too, were supportive of, and offered to hide him. Were also hearing according to that file that members of the recruiting network had also been talking about driving a truck full of gasoline, and a bomb, into a crowded area. And also, learning that at least one Senior Member of the group had been trying to arrange logistics to get amri out of the country, out of germany, in 2015, and 2016, and we of course know that in august amri had been arrested here in germany for trying to cross illegally into italy with forged documents. But for some reason a german judge, taking the decision to let him go. Now hes on the run, one of europes most wanted men. There were raids in several german cities overnight. Were also hearing that theyve raided, searched rather, a port in denmark, 100,000 euro bounty on amris head. Erin mclaughlin in berlin this morning. Thank you. There is a lot to comp here. Want to bring in our experts. Paul cruickshank is a cnn terrorism analyst, and Michael Weiss is a Senior Editor of the daily beast and coauthor of isis, inside the army of terror. As we start to unpack all of this and were learning so much this morning alone, we know, paul, that german investigators are being asked why the man wasnt locked up. Is there a sense that this was bungled in some way . I think theres increasingly a sense that there were missteps here in this investigation. There was a Police Informant inside this network for months and months. We know that because weve obtained the investigative files at cnn and this Police Informant inside this isis network had told authorities that the suspected perpetrator of the truck attack had discussed wanting to launch attacks in the period in the leadup to the berlin truck attack. And then other members of this network had even discussed launching truck attacks it, ramming attacks with trucks full of gasoline, full of bombs, so this is a very, very dangerous network, indeed. They actually moved against the Senior Members of the network back in november they arrested five of those figures, including the ringleader an iraqi and also a serbian German National. And that serbian German National had very, very close ties with the defected truck attacker and had actually supported his desire to launch attacks, and had actually given him shelter inside germany. The worry is number one, heres this guy connected to a radical isis Network Inside germany that could provide him with a hiding place now. But the other worry is, heres a network that hasnt all been completely rolled up, connected back to isis, that wants to launch attacks in germany, and discussed doing so, could other members of the network now move forward and launch attacks elsewhere in germany . Real concern about that. In terms of that concern, Michael Weiss is there a concern that any of those attacks were going to launch any other ones that this could be imminent . Absolutely. This replicates what we saw with the Network Based in molenbeek in brussels. Similar state of affairs. Including a ringleader a chief recruitment officer that had been arrested by belgian authorities. His network was much wider and much larger than they had previously known so absolutely. They arrested five people in early november, including abu walaa who is the sheikh of who is responsible for turning these germans, radicals, into isis terrorists and sending them off to syria. Germany doesnt know, simply does not know how many members were part of this cell. The serbian German National to whom paul alluded was running a kind of ad hoc Islamic Center out of his apartment in north rhinewestphalia. This is a guy who essentially gave the suspect a choice. You can either go make immigration to syria and fight on the battlefields or conduct an operation on german soil. How many people attended the quote unquote conferences at this guys apartment . We simply dont know. Theres a good chance that amri was one of them. Like how many else . You know, this is a question that the germans must be asking themselves. Another question, too, because as we learned when there was discussion in the past there was also discussion about helping amri get out of germany. So how many of those people could be involved in that effort . Paul is there any sense that hes actually sill in the country . He may well still be in the country because thats a logistical Recruitment Network was mainly based inside germany. Those are the people who could help him side. We saw after the paris attacks a Similar Network was able to help hide the terrorists who ducked out of paris for four months. I think were working on the assumption hes still in germany. Its possible he got in to some degree in that scuffle with the truck driver before he killed the truck driver. So that it may be somebody that is not particularly mobile, but somebody that could be being given shelter by this network right now. I can tell you now that his name is out there, his picture is out there, his universe where he can go is really shrunk in europe. So hes going to have to stale where he is right now unless hes got completely out of europe, which i dont think is very likely. And so i think more likely than not inside germany, perhaps near berlin still. So at this point we should point out hes the only suspect whos been publicly identified. Michael, is there a sense that there will be more names, more pictures, put out and how would that help or hinder efforts to find him at this point . I think its very improbable that he acted alone in this. There are probably many others who knew that he we know for a fact that there were others. The once who gave him the choice, go to syria or blow something up here. Theyre probably now looking for people within his immediate circle rounding them up trying to interrogate them including family members, relatives, anybody who might have been part of or privy to his radicalization over the years. But yeah, this never looks like a lone wolf attack and i think the germans realize they had a very significant proisis network but possibly an isis connected Network Inside their own soil. And, as i mentioned earlier, they dont know the numbers of this network. Appreciate it. Thank you both. Former Trump Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway landing a top job in the white house as counselor to the president. This morning, shes hard at work laying out Donald Trumps take on the latest terror attack. Hes promising to end the war on isis quickly. What will you do that were not doing now that will be so decidedly conclusive, and quick . In addition to what ive already said several times, which is just stronger, better vetting policies, not looking the other way when theres evidence of of terrorism and wrongdoing. In addition, getting our allies more involved. You know, donald trump is constantly criticized here and elsewhere as oh, my god, look, he doesnt even have his evidence yet and hes saying that its isis. Hes been right every single time. And hes not saying it to be right. Hes saying it to remind us that the world is a dangerous place and anybody who accepts this as the quote, new normal, is just not theyre giving it well, as we await word on two more big appointments for Donald Trumps Administration Deputy secretary of state and press secretary cnn senior washington correspondent from palm beach florida where the president elect is spending the Christmas Holiday. Things are a little busy just ahead of the holiday. What do we know at this hour, jeff . Good morning, erica. They are, indeed. With 29 days to go before donald trump takes the oath of office, he is busy filling out the white house staff, first among them as you mentioned earlier, Kellyanne Conway of course the Winning Campaign manager, the first woman to lead a winning president ial campaign, will be in the west wing, just steps away from the oval office. As counselor to the president. That is a role that is critical to sort of overseeing all the communications efforts, and also being a really a spokeswoman and a face of this administration here in keeping all the sort of new appointments together. And we are getting a new sign, particularly of Economic Policy and trade policy. Donald trump yesterday announced that Peter Navarro, who is one of the hardest line critics of china, will be leading the his effort on trade. Now that is really interesting because his antitrade views conflict with some others in the administration already. And one other thing we are learning this morning, this morning, erica, is that the Trump Administration is considering an early executive action on trade by imposing a 5 tariff on all foreign imports. This is in the discussion phase right now but again, part of Donald Trumps America First plan he talked about so much on the campaign trail but this is going to be very controversial, if he would go ahead with it, for one, can a president do this without congressional approval . And two, republicans in congress generally protrade, at least establishment republicans, certainly do not embrace this type of view, so donald trump setting the agenda, setting the lines here of what some early fights may be but he wants to bring jobs back to the u. S. He campaigned on this America First agenda. So some of these early appointments, he believes, will help deliver on that. Now he has two members of his cabinet that are still outstanding. The Veterans Affairs secretary, the ag secretary, and as you mentioned before, we are also still waiting on word of White House Press secretary and some other positions, including the number two at the state department. Donald trump is at maralago behind me here as you can see here in palm beach, not going to be making many announcements today. Largely quiet for the christmas weekend. But he will be here getting things in order through the new year, when he takes office again 29 days from today. Erica . 29 days to go. Jeff zeleny, thank you so much. Still to come were going to talk a little bit more about what jeff just mentioned, his possible plan to add a tax to foreign imports. Why it could mean that you may pay more for big ticket items like tvs and computers, just ahead. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. 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Its the look on their faces that make it all worthwhile. Thank you santa now lease the 2017 c300 for 389 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Oh, its actually. S your sfx short balloon squeal its ver. Sfx balloon squeals ok can we. Sfx balloon squeals im being so serious right now. I really want to know how your coffee is. Its. Sfx balloon squeals hahahaha, i had a 2nd balloon goodbye oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasnt it . Yeah. Happens to more people than you think. Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Mmm. Good right . Yeah. Lactaid. Its the milk that doesnt mess with you. As we just discussed, sources are telling cnn donald trump is considering a 5 tariff on foreign products sold in the u. S. Now the goal would be to protect american jobs. A theme that is at the heart of Donald Trumps plan to keep America First. The paulout, though, would likely be felt in your pocketbook by way of higher prices. How specifically . To better understand it were joined by cnn money chief Business Correspondent christine romans. Political editor Jason Johnson and jackie kucinich. Christine i want to start with you on this. Walk us through what this tariff would really mean for the average american. Well it means at the border there would be let me be clear about this. This is floated. This is one of the ideas we are told that is the the army of things that the Trump Administration is considering to try to bring american jobs back to the United States. Say you put a 5 tax or charge on everything coming in. So what is coming in . From china its footwear. Its bedding. Its furniture. Its auto parts in some cases. Its washers and driers from mexico. You would add a 5 tax on those products. What happens to the companies importing those goods . Do they eat it out of their pocket or pass it on to consumers . Many economists say you would add that to consumers. The seconding thing is you could have retaliation. China buys from the United States say agriculture products. It buys aircraft, electrical machinery, lots of complicated stuff. Then china could say all right were going to put a 5 tax back on you for your soybeans, for your corn, for your boeing planes and then all of a sudden you have this tit for tat and thats when you start to have trade wars. So hearing its a bad idea the Business Community is pushing back sharply saying this is a sledge hammer for trade. This is not good for trade policy. And i keep going back to the fact this is floated. This is one of those things, theyre probably looking at a range of ideas. So far the Business Community and most economists saying tariff not a good idea. It also could impact and christine you and i were talking about this briefly in the break, jason i want to throw this one to you, it could directly impact some of the people who were some of Donald Trumps biggest supporters during the election so it sounds great for a all right of places in the middle of the country where jobs have gone away and yet to have to pay higher prices, jason, how could that work out . And again, as christine said its being floated. But just the idea of this. Well you know, i dont think its a good idea. But then again the very same people who were voting for donald trump are also probably going to lose their health care when he tepds the Affordable Care act. Early in the Campaign Donald trump said he wanted to put a 45 tariff on china. Now hes down to 5 . Heres the basic fact. If you go to trade where with other countries, and thats what that is, if you start putting across 5 tariff on everybody, its going to be perceived as a trade war they will raise prices, that will in turn affect american jobs, and american prices. In 2009 president obama tried to put a tariff on china bringing tires over here and it if you think about maybe about 1,000 jobs but it ended up costing American Consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars more to just buy tires. So, its not a very good idea. I think thats why trump is floating it right now. Hes going to do some sort of tariff and its going to end up blowing up in his face and hurting the very people who voted for him. In terms of china, this is not the first evidence that weve seen the donald trump perhaps rewriting this relationship with china, but jackie, this idea being floated on top of Everything Else comes on the heels of donald trump appointing Peter Navarro to white house trade counsel. When we add all that up, whats the impact on that relationship . Hes already sort of started a a relationship with china. It really i mean look what happened with taiwan. He was a nominee for what two weeks . So no matter what i think that relationship is going to be a lot tougher than its been. And its already been kind of tough the last couple years. And but well have to see what the reaction is with all of this is from congress. Because a lot of republicans are solidly against tariffs. And wont be happy with this. To the extent that they speak out there was an article in politico a couple days ago that there is some fear about speaking out against trump. Well have to see if they overcome that when it comes to the economy and some of the economic principles that they have so steadfastly clung to for most of the establishment republican party. Christine she refers to the economy, the economy doing pretty well at this point. Nice tailwind for team trump quite frankly. 3. 5 gdp growth in the Third Quarter. You know, exports one of the reasons. American exports one of the reasons. Personal spending was good. Gdp the best performance in two years. So you have the signs the American Economy is doing well here. The ibm ceo whos been at the table with donald trump among other ceos and manufacturing ceos as he talks about making manufacturing great again she keeps making this point while the focus on bringing back traditional or 20th century manufacturing jobs is is, is important, the new collar job, the more high tech jobs that maybe are not Conveyor Belt jobs but more like 3d printing kind of jobs, those there is great demand, there are 300,000 or 400,000 manufacturing jobs open today that could be filled if we could figure out how to get workers who are out of work, manufacturing workers out of work and those employers to get the skill set right, whether thats training the government pushes it, whether companies are responsible, im not sure. But there are 300,000 manufacturing jobs open today. Thats a significant number. Especially when we keep talking about manufacturing jobs. Highest in nine years. Yeah. I do want to ask quickly we also have new numbers on sign ups for obamacare and jason since you brought this up ill throw this one to you. Weve heard consistently the president elect has said it is going to be repealed and replaced. We dont have a firm idea of what that replacement looks like. Do these signup numbers in any way impact what that plan might ultimately be . Could they have republicans taking a second look . Oh, definitely. Look. Youve got people rushing to buy their guns. Youve got people rushing to get married if theyre gay couples and you have people rushing to get the Affordable Care act because trump says hes going to dismantle it. But they dont know the idea of what the replacement will look like. Ill say this barack obama was a very smart person. The Affordable Care act is like its like jenga. You cant pull out pieces without this whole thing falling apart. I think its going to take the republicans a long time to repeal and replace this unless they want to put millions of americans off of health care in which case thats going to hurt them at the foeting booth in 2018. Christine romans, Jason Johnson, jackie kucinich, thank you. We did touch on this new report from the government which stros strength in the American Economy the gdp growing 3. 5 last quarter the strongest showing in two years. So what could it mean as markets open just moments from now. Alison kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange before the bell. Good morning. Good morning, erica. So i am watching futures based on how this report came out and yes, its a positive report. Not enough just yet to turn futures around but weve still got about seven minutes before the opening bell. So, yes, we found out that the u. S. Economy grew at a very healthy 3. 5 in the Third Quarter compared to the same time a year ago. And theyve actually followed the Second Quarter very anemic 1. 4 pace. So you look at the quarter between july and september, the economy actually had its best performance in two years. Helped by exports and consumers who spent their money. Its yet another sign the u. S. Economy is doing better, and not far from where president elect trump wants gdp to be. Okay lets first pause here and take chat a little bit about the elephant in the room. The question thats been asked every single day, has the dow hit 20,000 yet . No. It hasnt. But stocks have had an amazing run since the day after election day. The dow was up an amazing 1600 points since november 9th. Whats driving it . The donald trump effect. Essentially a santa claus rally kind of dressed up as donald trump on expectations his policies will be good for business and good for the economy. But, investors arent giving it up that easily. The dow is within reach at about 60 points away. However it looks like the flirtation will be tinge today. Erica . The flirtation will continue and so will our watch. Allisison kosik, thank you. Still to come a deal to repeal North Carolinas bathroom bill crumbles. We have the latest. I am benedict arnold, the infamous traitor. And i know a thing or two about trading. So i trade with e trade, where true traders trade on a trademarked trade platform that has all the. Get off the computer traitor i wont. cannon sound sometino big deal. Shing my gums bleed. I wont. But my hygienist said, it is a big deal. Go pro with Crest Pro Health gum protection. It helps prevent gum bleeding by targeting harmful bacteria on your gums. Left untreated, these symptoms could lead to more Serious Problems including tooth loss. Gum crisis averted. Try theraflu expressmax,nd flu hold you back now in new caplets. Its the only cold flu caplet that has a maximum strength formula with a unique warming sensation you instantly feel. Theraflu. For a powerful comeback. New expressmax caplets. Bounty is more absorbent,mom per roll so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper the special session lasted nine hours but in the end North Carolinas lawmakers failed to repeal that states controversial bathroom bill. As the gavel came down the protesters spoke up. At issue here is house bill h. B. 2 which requires people to use the public rest room that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate. That law, you may recall, led to a wave of back lash, including lawsuits, a major loss of business in the state. Democratic state representative chris sgro spoke out earlier this morning on cnns new day. Every single day of those 275 days since house bill 2 has been in effect our economy has suffered. Weve lost jobs. Weve lost performers. Weve lost ncaa tournament games. Weve lost the nba allstar game. Gay and Transgender North Carolinians have suffered and been at direct risk for discrimination and violence and we failed yesterday. Cnns nick valencia has been following this story and joins us from raleigh. This is not what was expected earlier in the week, nick, thats for sure. It was an un a very eventful day, an unexpected one, and piggybacking off chris sgros comments, republicans, its not just an economic issue for them its also a moral one. They did not want to be told by their democratic counterparts how to vote and when to vote. Yesterday started out with political fireworks and republican representatives standing up and saying that the special session was unconstitutional. At the end of the day, you had state democrats pointing at republicans saying that they did not stick to their word on a deal that was brokered earlier this week. For now, house bill 2 stands as law in the state of North Carolina. Frustration boiling over in North Carolina. Lawmakers failed to repeal the states controversial bathroom bill after more than nine hours of closed door meetings and negotiations. Known as house bill 2, the legislation requires transgender people in public buildings to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender assigned at birth. The legislature had a chance to do the right thing for North Carolina and they failed. Incoming governor, democrat roy cooper slamming the Republican Controlled Legislature for their actions during wednesdays special session, which was called solely for the purpose of overturning the law. Im disappointed that we have yet to remove the stain on the reputation of our great state. The law signed by outgoing republican governor pat mccory in march sparked outrage across the country and resulted in economic losses across the state with businesses, sports associations and cultural figures all pulling out in protest and the Justice Department file a suit to challenge the matter. Mccrory who has blamed his election loss on the bill, pointing the finger at democrats wednesday saying in a statement, quote, this was at least the third time that pressure from the left sabotaged bipartisan good faith agreements for political purposes. Were here unconstitutionally. Are you planning on voting no then against the repeal . I plan on voting no on anything thats done here because its all unconstitutional. Reporter the bitter back and forth coming as each side accuses the other of playing politics and failing to live up to the terms of a reported deal to ensure the repeal of the contested bill. An estimated 42,000 in taxpayer money was wasted yesterday, because these lawmakers couldnt come to an agreement. The legislature is expected to stay closed until they reconvene next year, january 11th. But there is a strong possibility that h. B. 2 wont even be on the agenda. Democratic lawmakers telling me yesterday was the best chance they had at repealing the socalled bathroom bill. Erica . Nick valencia for us in raleigh this morning. Thank you. Good morning im erica hill, in today for carol costello. Thanks for being with us. Russia is blaming the u. S. For frosty relations between the two countries. Telling cnn any dialogue between them is quote, minimal. The kremlin issuing this statement, quote we have no business contacts, no contacts with our parliament, no cultural contacts, no contacts between public organizations. And it is not our fault. The state department, however, disputes that, saying there hasnt been a break in dialogue. Cnns Matthew Chance is following all this for us, joins us today from moscow. So matthew, obviously for the u. S. And russia have disagreed on a number of different issues. But why this statement now . Well, i think it came out of an interview that the press secretary for president putin, Dmitry Peskov said we only have minimal contacts with the kremlin and with the United States. The u. S. Then pushed back. The pentagon saying thats not true, a few hours ago we spoke with the russians about air safety inside syria. The state department pushed back as well saying look, there was a phone call on tuesday night between u. S. Secretary of state john kerry and his russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The russians then issued a clarification saying yes, we have these minimal contacts put we dont have these substantial ones. I think thats what they were trying to say. They were trying to paint this very bleak characterization of the state of affairs between washington and moscow. Which is that on a whole range of issues, from nato expansion, to the conflict in syria, to sanctions over ukraine the russians and the americans are not really engaging in the kind of dialogue that russia this they should be engaging in given their two kind of very important powers on the international stage. And i think that was the only point that this kremlin spokesperson was trying to make. Well delve a little bit deeper into that in just a moment. But i do want to ask you quickly about the funeral today for the Russian Ambassador who was killed in that attack earlier this week in turkey. Bring us up to speed on that and who is there today. Yeah, well that funeral is now over. It was a big state occasion, actually. It was broadcast limp on state television. There was a short Memorial Service earlier this morning at the Russian Foreign ministry where Andrei Karlov who is this ambassador from russia to turkey was laid to rest. President putin, the russian president , was in attendance, paying his last respects. The foreign minister of russia Sergey Lavrov did the eulogy, saying that ambassador karlov had the highest human qualities and he was a great he made great contributions to development of relations between russia and other countries. You know, this was intended, and this is the suspicion, if this was intended to draw a wedge, drive a wedge between russia and turkey, whose relationship has been very rocky over the past year or so, then it seems to have failed because both turkish and russian leaders say theyre not going to be distracted from their policy of normalizing relations and theyre going to Work Together even more closely, in fact, to try and find a solution to the crisis in syria with russia and syria on opposite sides of that conflict. This seems to have brought them a little bit closer together. Matthew stay with us. We want to bring in jill dougherty, of course from the Woodrow Wilson center, former Moscow Bureau chief. I want to jump on one of the things that matthew has brought up in terms of the message here being from what was heard from the kremlin from the press secretary that the relationship right now with the United States is not necessarily the one that russia wants. And this, of course, comes on the heels of this meeting earlier this week between russia and turkey and iran, trying to figure out a plan for syria. U. S. Was not invited to that. So theres clearly a broader message thats happening here, jill, not just to the United States but i would make the case globally. Yeah, and you know, erica, this is actually nothing new. I mean, Dmitry Peskov is talking about something that people have been talking about for well over a year, two years. The state department decided, in order to punish russia for what it did in annexing crimea, and also bringing troops into ukraine, punish them by the silence treatment. And the u. S. Basically has cut off communication with russia on whats important, a lot of people dont know this, but there is a commission. Its called the u. S. russia bilateral president ial commission. And its been around for quite a long time. And it has a whole lot of what they call baskets. Arms control, agriculture, health, you name it. And it gave a way for both countries to talk about it. So the United States, after russia had this action in ukraine, said, we are not going to talk with you. And that is something that actually, the russians are now bringing up, but some americans have brought this up, too. So i think this is kind of getting us ready for the Trump Administration, you know, the message is, we should get back to talking. And theyre right. Secretary lavrov, minister lavrov talks with john kerry. And they also have this deconfliction, so planes do not run into each other in syria. Thats on the military side. But basically, they arent talking. And i think Everybody Knows it. The question is, who makes the first step to go back and continue the conversation . Well, matthew, is there a sense of who may make the first step . Is this really just russia setting the table for perhaps in its eyes a better relationship with a Trump Administration . Look, i think thats certainly what russia wants. They said as much. They said theyve not got rose tinted spectacles when it comes to the issue of what trump will be like in terms of president with his relationship with russia. They dont think things are going to change in a second as the kremlin told me this morning. But they are hoping for more constructive dialogue with them. I suppose theyve got good reason to be hopeful as well, because all throughout Donald Trumps Election Campaign one of the main, most consistent platforms of lines he followed is he wanted to build a better relationship with russia. Wouldnt it be great for him to deal with moscow he said over all sorts of issues. Wants to cooperate over syria, and the fight against islamic terrorism, which is exactly why russia says that its there. Hes saying the u. S. Under him would look again at recognizing crimea as being a legitimate thats not the situation right now. And he criticized nato, which is music to russias ears. Russians have been consistently been criticizing the expansion of nato, and increased military exercises near or on its borders by the western military alliance. So the russians have good reason to be hopeful that under under president President Trump theres going to be much more to talk about. Theyre going to have much more in common and deals may well be able to be done. Of course it could go badly wrong. I mean trump wouldnt be the first incoming u. S. President that wants to reset the relationship with russia, and and failed to have done that. And so, you know, its very much up in the air. Jill in terms of these next few weeks,ing 29 days until the inauguration at this point, and as you said, there is some dialogue happening. We know the state Department Also pushing back in a statement saying theres diplomatic engagement on a wide range of issues. But, jill, does anything happen in these next 29 days . Are we essentially at a stalemate here until there is a new administration . I dont think theyre going to do much. Lets say concretely. Theyre not going to bring back that president ial commission. I mean maybe trump continues it. Maybe he doesnt. Maybe he does something else. But i think what the russians are doing right now is they know weve got like a month, just a few weeks, so theyre kind of setting the ground. You look at syria, what theyre doing. The price for them is increasing. This very sad, assassination of their ambassador. The russians dont want to be there forever in syria. They want to end it. And they want to end it so that they are the people who are at the table when theres some sort of solution, and that they are the key force not only in syria, but in the middle east. And they are beginning succeed in that, at least in this stage, and that sets them up well in negotiations with donald trump. Jill dougherty and Matthew Chance. Thank you both. Still to come, we will take a look at whats happening in syria. First the airstrikes and the shelling. Now thousands of people in eastern aleppo facing heavy snow as you can see there. Freezing cold temperatures. As they wait for safe passage out. The latest on the evacuation is next. How else do you think he gets around so fast . Take the reins this holiday and get the mercedesbenz youve always wanted during the winter event. Now lease the 2017 gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. In syria, evacuations for residents of eastern aleppo are now entering their final stages. Thats according to the red cross, which says the evacuations are being slowed by heavy snow and bonechilling temperatures. Its not clear how many people remain in that city, which has been bombed to rubble. By Syrian Military and russian warplanes. The red cross, however, says all hospital patients have been able to get out. Were also hearing today from the little girl bana who captivated the world with her tweets out of aleppo when bombs were falling around her. Muhammad lila is at the turkish syrian border. Whats the latest this morning . Sir ka, the latest is that the weather has just been slowing things down. Yesterday there was snow, today theres rain. If you ever lived in a place where you get rain right after the snow. You know that leads to a whole lot of mud. Some of the people being evacuated have been evacuated in their own personal vehicles. But theyre literally getting stuck because the ground is a blanket of mud. Imagine waiting months to be vubted. You finally get on a vehicle driving out of the war zone and you have to wait for a tow truck to show up to tow you out of the mud. Thats the reality some people are going through. The u. N. Also, though, saying today that in the last 24 hours theyve evacuated specifically 4,000 armed rebel fighters from the eastern part of aleppo. And theyve also told us that the only people remaining in eastern aleppo right now are more armed fighters and their families. Those are the last wave that are expected to leave. Now all of this happened as there is new video and an interview done with that 7yearold bana alabed who captivated the world and became the media darling when she tweeted and her mother tweeted about the conditions in aleppo. Heres some of what she said. Translator there was bombing and our house was bombed but we survived. We felt afraid and went down the basement. There were a lot of stoens and dust. We were about to die. But thank god we survived. My school and my garden were bombed. I miss my house. Know thats such captivating testimony, so emotional testimony. But like so many things with covering this conflict, even a 7yearold girl has now become a bit of a polarizing figure. Of course theres so many hundreds of thousands of people on twitter who praised her courage, and you know, she gives a unique window into life and what was happening in eastern aleppo as they were facing those bombs almost every day. But there are critics out there who say, look, she is exactly that. Shes a 7yearold girl. She shouldnt be put in front of the cameras and she shouldnt be used by either side to further this bloody conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people on both sides. Erica . That reaction coming both before and now of course intensifying a little bit after we saw the pictures of her sitting there with president erdogan to your point as were seeing more of that. In terms of the evacuations, bana and her family of course made their way to turkey. Do we know where everyone else is going . Well, theyll all be evacuated to the aleppo countryside. The problem with the countryside is that, you know, its not developed. They dont have the infrastructure in place to look after all of these people. There are some International Relief groups on the ground. Turkey has some of its relief groups on the ground. And they are scrambling right now to build houses, to build sewer systems, to build drainage systems and fencing and all those things that you need to house people temporarily. But again, look at the weather. The ground is literally a blanket of mud. Its hard enough to build these things when the weather is nice. Now you have heavy Construction Equipment trying to break ground and all theyre doing is moving mud around from one part to the other. So just when people are being evacuated from eastern aleppo that doesnt mean theyre out of the woods just yet. An important point to make. Muhammad lila, thank you. Want to turn our attention now to mexico, where search teams and desperate families are coming through the charred rubble of fireworks market outside of mexico city, looking for those who are still missing. We now know at least 33 people were killed. Dozens more hurt when huge explosion tore through that market on tuesday. Cnns sara sidner joins us now from the site of those explosions. Since we last spoke yesterday, sara, of course the number, the death toll has increased. Yeah, we want to emphasize that authorities are still here, looking through the rubble. But the families have been at the morgue, at the hospitals, trying to identify their loved ones. We now know that some of the families did have the bodies returned to them. They had to use all sorts of dna testing to try to figure out who was who because some of the bodies are so badly charred. Heres a look at what everything looks like this morning. Again there are crews that are out here, digging through what was about 300 market stalls. One thing i should mention this morning that is very interesting. The local newspaper here had this very interesting article about how this may have happened. Because they have put reforms in place after 2005 and 2006, where there were fires and exploepgss, some of whom actually left people injured, but no one died. And what they did was they separated these buildings and put them further apart. And one of these things that they were supposed to do is put these major fireworks behind glass to contain them if they did explode. And what the newspaper reformer revealed was that some of to contain them if they did explode. Some of the fireworks were being left outside of the glass and they have pictures of that. That may be one of the reasons why you saw such a terrible Chain Reaction but of course, the investigation still ongoing. There has not yet been a cause of this. We havent found out from investigators exactly how this happened. But this investigation by the newspaper kind of gives you an idea of how it might have escalated because some of the vendors had left some of those big fireworks outside of the contained area where they were supposed to be. That gives you a clue into what may have happened. We should point out the investigation is ongoing. In terms of the victims, obviously some very serious injuries, very serious burns. At least one minor, from what i understand, has been airlifted to texas for treatment, correct . Reporter yes. There have been several minors that have been airlifted to texas. We also know of a 3 month old baby that has been identified and has died in this fire from severe burns. I have seen some pictures that have shown the charred bodies. They are just awful because what they show you is the moment of death. You can see people were sort of inside this market, families were inside this market, people were buying fireworks for the Christmas Holiday and you see scenes that are just absolutely horrific of charred bodies. You can see why authorities are having a hard time because some of them are unrecognizable. You can tell its a body but you would not be able to tell who it is and you can only tell theyre children because of course the bodies are very very very small. Terrible scene here in tultepec. Sara sidner, thank you. A reminder that we are waiting to hear from german chancellor Angela Merkel. She is set to speak at any moment. Of course, speaking out of berlin after the deadly terror attack there earlier this week. Just to let you know, we are keeping an eye on this and will bring you more as soon as we have it. Well be right back. I tried hard to quit smoking. But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. This is a live picture of berlin. Doesnt look like a lot happening but it will be shortly. The reason we are staying on this picture, we are waiting a press conference with german chancellor Angela Merkel. This of course on the heels of that deadly attack on the Christmas Market in berlin earlier this week. We will bring you more on that as soon as we have it. For the moment lets get a check of some of the top stories we are following at this hour. In mississippi, a Church Member is arrested, charged with deliberately setting fire to the Hopewell Baptist church in greenville last month. Nobody was injured. The fire was put out quickly. The church was also vandalized. Spray painted on the walls, vote trump as you see there. Authorities are investigating whether the suspect is the same man responsible for that vandalism. If you thought ecigarettes were safer, take a look at this video. A california man was smoking his ecigarette on a city bus, put the device away and moments later it explodes in his pocket. He suffered minor burns to his right thigh and hand. By now you have likely heard the story of the jeopardy contest ant who died from cancer before she was able to see her appearances on tv. Her final episode aired last night ending her sixgame winning streak. Alex trebek paid tribute to her and her brother spoke out earlier. Its kind of an emotional roller coaster. Its bittersweet. I got to be there in person for the tapings so i kind of knew the outcome and despite knowing the ultimate outcome, i still ended up cheering for her with my wife and kids. I got to be there when she actually got the notice that she would be scheduled for the tapings, and she was absolutely glowing. Its something she had been trying to do for since she was an early teenager, she tried and made it to one of the regional written test part, and competing against kids that were in college. Cindy wanted to donate her money to the Cancer Research institute and any viewers who wanted to donate any money to the Cancer Research institute can do so easily through www. Cancerresearch. Org. I think she kind of felt that she wanted to do some good with it. Wanted to do some good with it. Donating all of those winnings to Cancer Research before her death. The next hour of cnn newsroom begins after a short break. Using the pen instead of fingers, it just feels more comfortable for me. Be like, boop its gone. I like that only i can get into it and that it recognizes my fingerprint. Our old tablet couldnt do that. It kind of makes you feel like youre your own person, which is a rare opportunity in my family. laughter