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CNN NEWSROOM

UK's PM First Foreign Leader to Visit Trump Post-Inauguration; Trump's Wall Presents New Challenges; 2017 SAG Awards to Announce Nominees; Serena, Venus Set Up at Aussie Open; Federer Makes a Comeback; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 26, 2017 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[10:30:00] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know not just trade, but is she going to raise the issue of terrorism, of torture, rather? And this is something that she's said that she is very firm on, very clear, Britain is opposed to torture. But there are implications attached to that, of course.

Britain's position is that it can't have security cooperation with any country involved in torture. And the security cooperation is one of the key things that Theresa May wants to develop with President Trump.

So, you know, she's facing pressure at home in this relationship over it -- over what she says here. But of course pressure to be seen to be getting on with President Trump and to be seen to be able to develop closer and better trade ties in the future -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nic Robertson reporting live from Washington.

So let's talk about this some more. Robert Tuttle is here. He's the former U.S. ambassador to the UK. Welcome, sir.

ROBERT TUTTLE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED KINGDOM: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So what do you suppose that meeting between President Trump and Theresa May will be like?

TUTTLE: Well, I'm very buoyed that they're going to have the meeting because these -- the UK is our best friends and our best allies in the world and have been for years. And although I don't know Theresa May well, the prime minister well, I've heard just wonderful things about her. And I think this will be a good chance for actually not only the president, but the citizens of the United States to get to know her. And I think it's so important that the first meeting that the president has had with a foreign leader is with our best friend and best ally in the world.

COSTELLO: But this burning topic of torture could come up, right? Because President Trump yesterday, when he talked to ABC News, reiterated his support of things like waterboarding. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: President Obama said the U.S. does not torture. Will you say that?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I have a general who I have great respect for, General Mattis, who said -- I was a little surprised, who said he's not a believer in torture. I have spoken to others in intelligence. And they are big believers in, as an example, waterboarding.

MUIR: You did tell me --

TRUMP: Because they say it does work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So you heard what Nic Robertson said, and I'm sure you're well aware of it as well. That would present problems to Theresa May when it comes to security issues, you know, for example fighting ISIS, along with the United States.

So does that topic come up right away? Does she get it out of the way right away?

TUTTLE: I think that we'll have to leave that up to the prime minister. I'm sure it will be an item of discussion. But what's more important is their discussion on the NATO alliance and how important that is.

We've seen that Russia -- the first country since Hitler did it in the '30s to Czechoslovakia and Austria, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimea. They fomented civil war in the Ukraine. The Baltic States are petrified. And NATO is what's important. And I hope that's what will pick up a lot of their discussions.

The UK is one of the largest contributors to NATO. They're one of the few NATO members that contribute over 2 percent of their GDP to defense. So that's what's really important here is the discussions about NATO and the security and the importance of standing up to the Russians.

COSTELLO: OK. So if you're a world leader like Theresa May, and President Trump, the president of the United States is telling you one thing, and his Defense secretary, for example, is telling you something else, who do you believe? Because General Mattis said absolutely no torture, no. He believes strongly in NATO. But President Trump does not. So you're Theresa May, who do you believe?

TUTTLE: Well, that's something that they're going to have to work out between the president and the prime minister. And I'm sure they will come to a satisfactory conclusion. I would hope, just personally, that the president would pay attention to the secretary of Defense. But we'll just have to wait and see how they work that out.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Thanks so much for joining me, Robert Tuttle, former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a live look along the U.S.-Mexico border. There it is. Up next, how President Trump's attempt to reshape U.S. immigration is bringing new challenges at our border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:38:44] COSTELLO: All right. A live picture of Air Force One. President Donald Trump will board that plane very soon to fly off to Philadelphia. He's going to go to that Republican retreat. All of the lawmakers -- of the Republican kind -- are meeting in Philadelphia to talk about strategy, to talk about unity, and other things.

President Trump will be making remarks at noon Eastern Time. Of course if he speaks live from a podium, we'll take that live for you.

All right. So President Trump, as you know, is attempting to reshape U.S. immigration with the border wall, deportations and the end of sanctuary cities. The move signaling growing concerns for legal immigrants living in the United States and those attempting to cross over, and is presenting new challenges for those protecting the border, too.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the U.S.-Mexico border. He joins us live from Arizona. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, here in Arizona, Nogales, Arizona, where we are, you see the border fence behind us. And this is one of the most busy area for human smuggling and migrant crossing. And it's a game of cat and mouse that never seems to end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): On the border's edge from Nogales, Arizona, several dozen migrants gather for breakfast inside a shelter known as the Kino Border Initiative.

[10:40:06] It's where Jesus Garcia (PH) is trying to figure out how to get into the United States. Over a map he recounts how far he's traveled since he left home the day before Donald Trump was elected president.

(On camera): So he started here in San Pedro, Sula, in Honduras, made his way across Guatemala here into this little town, and this is where he crossed into Mexico.

He says he hasn't been able to cross. He left home November 7th of last year and he's tried three times already to get across but he hasn't been able to.

(Voice-over): Garcia says it's the first time he's ever tried crossing the border illegally and says it's harder than he imagined.

(On camera): He said if I've made it this far, I'm going to keep trying.

(Voice-over): But on the other side, a legion of Border Patrol agents, camera, barricades, ground sensors are waiting, even some private citizens working on their own to stop migrants like Jesus Garcia from getting across.

TIM FOLEY, ARIZONA BORDER RECON: This is the scene in "The Matrix."

LAVANDERA: In Tim Foley's world the borderlands are a threatening, dangerous place.

FOLEY: Well, this is the red bill. This is what the world really looks like.

LAVANDERA: Foley leads a volunteer group called Arizona Border Recon that patrols the border around Sasabe, Arizona, a town on the U.S.- Mexico border with less than 100 people.

FOLEY: I've been called everything in the book. I've been called a domestic extremist.

LAVANDERA: The Southern Poverty Law Center which monitors hate groups in the U.S. says Foley's group is made up of, quote, "native extremists." Foley sees the flow of drugs, undocumented migrants, and the wide open spaces of the border as the country's biggest threat.

(On camera): Along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S. southern border there is already about 700 miles of fencing and barricades already in place.

Here in Sasabe, Arizona, this steel, see-through fence stretches for several miles, but as you approach the end of town it abruptly comes to an end, like these border fences often do, as it stretches out into rugged, remote terrain in the Arizona desert.

FOLEY: I put all my cameras about five minutes from the road.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Foley relies on a collection of cameras he hides in the brush to capture the movements of drug smugglers. He often shares that information and the videos with Border Patrol agents.

FOLEY: You need boots on the ground. Yes, that's what's keeping you out there. Woo, good thing we have this up here.

LAVANDERA: Foley voted for Donald Trump and wants to see all documented immigrants in the U.S. deported and additional Border Patrol agents moved closer to the Mexican border. But he's not convinced Trump or anyone else can change the reality he sees.

FOLEY: When you're reactive to a problem you're always going to be behind the solution.

LAVANDERA: For many, like 18-year-old Maricela Ramirez (PH), they try to come illegally from Mexico. She was caught by Border Patrol with a group of migrants and quickly deported. She wanted to find work in the U.S. to help support her elderly parents. She trembles as she recalls the experience of being smuggled across the border.

(On camera): I asked her if she was going to try to cross again. Her brother is still being detained in the United States. She's waiting for him to get out and she's not really sure what they're going to do next. So she's waiting for him to be sent back here and they'll figure out what they're going to do next.

(Voice-over): It's the cycle that never ends on the border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And Carol, we've spoken with one of the leaders of the Border Patrol Union who say, you know, Border Patrol agents are -- the force is down to about 1600 agents. And here you see live pictures from our aerial drone here in Nogales, Border Patrol agents at work this morning along that border fence.

And as you travel along this region, Carol, you really get that sense of the divide between humanitarian groups, for instance, helping migrants navigate that difficult and often deadly journey, and agents -- and other people who are much more strident like you say Tim Foley in that piece, as well as Border Patrol agents who want to see the crackdown on immigration status. There's a real divide between people on this side of the border just how all of these issues should be navigated and solved -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, you know, I've been watching your reports and they've been fascinating, Ed. And I can't determine whether most people are excited that a wall might be built along the border or not.

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, what you hear repeatedly from people who -- the focus of our series here is to really talk to the people who live on this border, from Brownsville, Texas, all the way to San Diego, California, because when you talk to people in this path, in this region, it's much more nuanced about how they view a lot of these things. So, you know, they say -- a lot of people will tell you that they've seen the wall, it doesn't necessarily work. And so they view that the rest of the country has a far different opinion. The wall plays better in Ohio and Michigan than it does in these border communities.

[10:45:05] COSTELLO: Interesting. Ed Lavandera, thanks for those fascinating reports.

Before I head to break, Mary Tyler Moore, the legend dead at 80. I have never met her but she's my hero. Funny how an actress playing a part can have such a profound impact on your life. But Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards made me believe I could do anything.

Two years ago, I crafted a story on how inspired me. Mary Richards is a huge reason I'm sitting in this chair today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I've always wanted to be a TV reporter since I was 12 years old. I cannot tell you the sense of excitement. Really easy to feel the hope and the love. Take a look at all those people.

I watched Mary Tyler Moore. She worked in the news business and I loved her. She was independent. She was strong. She was sassy. She was everything that I wanted to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I grew up in a traditional family. And while my parents urged me to go to college, they and my extended family wanted me to get married and have kids, all fantastic goals, but as a young woman I just yearned for independence. Silly me, I had no money and let's face it, TV reporter wasn't exactly an attainable goal out of Minerva, Ohio. But somehow in the back of my mind, I knew I could do it because of Mary Richards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? You've got spunk.

MARY TYLER MOORE, ACTRESS: Well --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate spunk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The first time I watched "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," I watched her throw the hat in the air and I was infused with wonder. She had her own apartment, she dated around, she talks about birth control, and she had a job where she used her brain and not her beauty.

I wish I had told Miss Moore all of that to her face but I know she's heard it from so many women of my generations.

So, Mary, if you can hear me up there, thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:30] COSTELLO: Win this and you might just win an Oscar. The 23rd Annual SAG Awards are this Sunday.

Stephanie Elam has this year's favorites.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Screen Actors Guild Award, a chance for actors to honor their peers' best performances of the year in television and film.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep fighting for it.

ELAM: On the television side, the dramas "Downton Abby," "Game of Thrones," "Stranger Things," and "Westworld" will face off against "The Crown."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't think I would have preferred to grow up out of the spotlight?

SCOTT MANTZ, MOVIE CRITIC, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD: "The Crown," "The Crown," "The Crown." I think that's going to be a big, big showing here on the SAG Awards.

ELAM: As for comedy, it's between "The Big Bang Theory, "Black-ish," "Modern Family," "Orange is the New Black," and "Veep."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just the backup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody can appreciate what you've been through.

ELAM: In film, "Manchester by the Sea" leads the way with four nominations. Casey Affleck, who won a Golden Globe for his performance, is expected to walk away with his first SAG Award for Best Actor. The other nominees are Andrew Garfield in "Hacksaw Ridge," Ryan Gosling for "La La Land," Viggo Mortensen in "Captain Fantastic," and Denzel Washington for "Fences."

DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR, "FENCES": It's not easy for me to admit that I've been standing in the same place for 18 years.

VIOLA DAVIS, ACTRESS, "FENCES": Well, I've been standing with you.

ELAM: After her win at the Golden Globes, Viola Davis is a favorite to win Best Supporting Female Actor for "Fences." Vying for Best Supporting Male Actor are Jeff Bridges in "Hell or High Water," Hugh Grant for "Florence Foster Jenkins," Lucas Hedges in "Manchester by the Sea," Dev Patel for "Lion" and "Moonlight's" Mahershala Ali.

MANTZ: I feel like Mahershala Ali -- it is a true supporting performance and he's brilliant.

ELAM: It's a tight race for the Best Female Lead Actor. The nominees are Amy Adams for "Arrival," Emily Blunt for "The Girl on the Train," Natalie Portman as "Jackie," Emma Stone for "La La Land," and Meryl Streep as "Florence Foster Jenkins."

But the big question is which film with win Best Cast? "Captain Fantastic," "Fences," "Hidden Figures," "Manchester by the Sea," or "Moonlight." And with the actors making up the largest voting bloc in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild Awards are a good indicator of who may go on to win an Oscar.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: It's going to be an all Williams final at the Australian Open, Serena and Venus set to face off at the ninth time of grand slam final. Andy Scholes has some "Bleacher Report" this morning. Hi.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. You know, Serena 35, Venus 36, both have been so good for so long. This actually will be the first time the two square off in a grand slam final since Wimbledon in 2009. And that was also the last time Venus made it to a grand slam final. This is going to be the 28th meeting between the two sisters. Serena, she's gotten the better of Venus, winning 16 of those. And one more final win for Serena and she's going to pass Steffi Graff for the most grand slams title in the Open era. And she said she's excited to be facing her sister in Saturday's final.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SERENA WILLIAMS, FACES SISTER VENUS IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN: She's my toughest opponent. No one has ever beaten me as much as Venus has. So, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: She has a pretty good record against me and we have a good record against each other. So it's -- you know, I just feel like no matter what happens, we've won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Back to the future theme continuing this morning at the Australian Open as Roger Federer beat fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in five sets to make it to the men's final. Now Federer tried to win his 18th grand slam title at the age of 35. He hasn't won a grand slam title since Wimbledon in 2012.

[10:55:05] He's actually the oldest male to make it to a grand slam final since 1974. Just an incredible comeback for Fed after taking six months off to rehab his knee. Federer, he's going to face the winner between Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday.

Pro-foot have been tinkering with ways to make the week more interesting for fans for years and they might -- may finally be on to something. As a part of the skills competition which is making its return tonight, players are going to compete in the drone drop. A drone can take a football up in the air about 200 yards, then drop it to receivers down below, Carol.

They're also having a dodge ball game between players. Just trying to find a way to spice things up. I think they should keep this theme going, though, maybe have a hot dog eating contest for the linemen or maybe a dunk booth with Roger Goodell.

COSTELLO: They need Matthew Stafford, Andy, that's the only way I will watch. You know what I'm talking about.

SCHOLES: I do know what you're talking about. The Lions fan at heart, Carol.

COSTELLO: That's right. Thank you, Andy. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)