Return to Transcripts main page

WOLF

Explosion at a Fireworks Market in Mexico; Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Murdered; President-Elect Donald Trump to Announce Choice for Press Secretary As Early As Today. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 21, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: You have Syrian refugee whose have to jump through hoops for two years before they come into country,

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE: Tell me what it's going to cost. And look at what the cost has been. Look at what the cost will continue to be, confirm criminal actions or lack thereof and be able to put all of this on paper around specific individuals. Are there those who are --?

KEILAR: But we have that, congresswoman -- they have that.

BLACKBURN: Who deserve their --

KEILAR: There are some. They have that.

BLACKBURN: Brianna --

KEILAR: They have that. They go through the process of, of looking --

BLACKBURN: For many individuals, yes, you are correct. But there again, I would encourage you. Look at what is happening on the southern border, and individuals that come there, and talk with those caseworkers and they will tell you many times --

KEILAR: But where are the people who are -- where are the people who are slipping through, that you are talking about?

BLACKBURN: Ask a DHS and ask the office of refugee resettlement how they follow these individuals once they are released in the country, and many times they will tell you, they do not know. And that would be their answer. They do not know where they are, and they do not know if the individuals they have been released to are individuals who are in the country legally themselves.

KEILAR: All right. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

BLACKBURN: Sure. Good to be with you. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Yes, thank you.

And this is what we have coming up, a deadly explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico. We have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:04] KEILAR: The death toll from an explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico has risen. Authorities say that 31 people are now confirmed dead.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

KEILAR: This was the scene yesterday. A series of blasts that sent huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Seventy people were injured and there are still many people missing. Authorities are searching through the debris still looking for victims.

And CNN Sara Sidner is in the town of Tultepec which is north of Mexico City. This is where the explosions took place.

Sara, joining us now. This is not actually the first time that this has happened. Why wasn't more done to prevent it?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, in the 2005 there was an explosion here. No one died, but there was certainly a fire and it was so dangerous. The authorities die come in and they said, OK, all the stalls have to be moved further apart so we can stop a chain reaction from happening, because this is a place that sells fireworks. That's what it's here for. It is what fuels the economy here.

I'm going to give you look at the scene now. Obviously, those safety measures did not work this tile. It has been ten years or so since they have had a fire and an explosion happen here, but this one, absolutely devastating.

The number, we have just got a new number. The new official number of dead is at 32. So it has risen by one in just the past couple of hours. We can also tell you this. We have been watching as they have been bringing in cadaver dogs and bringing in forensics looking through, digging through the rubble that you see there. This used to be 300 of those concrete stalls that you're seeing the remnants of that were all sort of lined up, spaced apart, filled with all sorts of fireworks.

And you know what? Families were here. A huge number of families here. Because as tradition has it here in Mexico, people like to come and buy their fireworks, mothers, fathers, children, grandparent, uncles and aunts and blow them off for Christmas as well as new year's. Some of them won't make it to either of those days - Brianna.

KEILAR: So terrible. Sara Sidner in Tultepec, Mexico. Thank you so much for that report.

Coming up, Russia says the communication with the U.S. is quote "frozen." We will have details right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:40] KEILAR: Don't rush to conclusions. That is coming from the Kremlin's spokesman. He warned against speculation about the motive for the murder of Russia's ambassador to Turkey. We warn you the pictures you about to see are graphic.

On Monday, a Turkish police officer repeatedly shot and killed, Andrey Karlov, during a speech at an art exhibit. This entire incident caught on camera. Turkish authorities have actually detained 12 people at this point for questions. And the statement from owners of the art center revealed the gunman was not screened before he entered the facility. He just showed his badge and was let in.

And as the gunman fired he shouted, do not forget Aleppo. Do not forget Syria. This is an assassination that comes at a pivotal moment as Russia and Turkey are working on normalizing relations. These two countries have supported opposite sides of the civil war in Syria. Russia has been instrumental in president Bashar al-Assad's push to retake rebel-held parts of Syria which, of course, includes Aleppo.

And just yesterday, Russia, Iran and Turkey held talks on Syria and the United States left out of the conversation. A spokesman for the Kremlin says that nearly all dialogue between Russia and the U.S. has been quote "frozen. We do not talk to each other."

Let's talk about the U.S. and Russia's tense relationship now with Christopher Hill. He is the former ambassador to Iraq. He was also the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. He is now is the Dean of the Joseph Korbel school of international studies at the University of Denver.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. We do appreciate it.

I want to get your read on something. Let's talk about a statement or response that we got from the state department spokesman John Kirby who says it's difficult to know exactly what is meant by this comment, this comment about of being "frozen." But diplomatic engagement with Russia continues across a white range of issues. That we have significant differences with Moscow on some of these issues as well- known but there hasn't been a break in dialogue. Indeed, as we noted, Secretary Kerry spoke by phone with foreign minister Lavrov just yesterday about the situation in Syria.

You, sir, have dealt with a lot of foreign diplomats over your career. So when you hear a spokesman from the Kremlin say that this dialogue is frozen, they don't communicate, and yet we know it's the contrary, does that concern you?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Yes. It concerns me a lot. In fact, this inability to kind of work with Russia has been extremely problematic over the last few years. I hasten to add that a lot of this blame can be laid at the doorstep of Vladimir Putin who seems unwilling to kind of meet anyone halfway.

But at the same time I would not say it's 100 percent at his doorstep. I think our problem in Syria was to take a position early on that was essentially untenable, un-forcible and that was the notion that Bashar al-Assad must go. And then we would begin to sort of talk about what lay in the future for Syria. And clearly, that position has led us nowhere and, in fact, kind of led us to be in an isolated position, as we are now.

KEILAR: What about these talks between Russia, Iran and turkey on Syria? Secretary Kerry was not invited. The United Nations who were sending monitors to the area, they were not consulted. If you were the state department, how would you handle this? Actually stand by, if you wouldn't mind, ambassador. We are going to listen to Donald Trump live at Mar-a-Lago, the resort in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I'm wondering how this might affect relations with Moscow?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's an attack on humanity. That's what it is. It's an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped. Thank you. Thank you.

KEILAR: All right. You see Donald Trump there. The president-elect, going inside of the doors there at Mar-a-Lago, flanked by Reince Priebus, his incoming chief of staff. And behind him you saw General Michael Flynn, who will be his national security adviser. And he said this is an attack on humanity.

I didn't actually hear the question, ambassador. So -- and we have seen a couple of things. I'm assuming he is talking about what we saw in Germany, but we are going to turn that around and get that to our viewers.

I want to get back to these talks with the U.S. being left out. Russia, Iran, Turkey, talking about Syria. How should the state department handle this?

HILL: Well, I mean, we are being left out, but I think it's important to understand so is the U.N. so are all of the Sunni Arab states who have a big stake in the outcome in Syria. So I wouldn't exactly bet the mortgage on any success in these Moscow talks. But I think it is significant that Russia is trying to look ahead. They are seeing Aleppo as a sort of culminating point where they can now kind of look forward to what kind of system can be put in place. It's obviously very disappointing that all of that dialogue between Russian foreign minister Lavrov and U.S. secretary of state Kerry appears to have led nowhere.

But again I think we have is a really difficult time dealing with countries that don't necessarily speak our language. We have seen in this, in the U.N. debate, where it has been a lot of naming and shaming, and I understand. I'm very frustrated myself, at the Russians. But I'm not sure that's the way to move them or to find common ground. And I think as a country we need to do a lot better job of kind of putting together coalitions, putting together diplomacy to affect the situations on the ground and not just issue kind of blood-curdling statements about the other side.

[13:45:08] KEILAR: Real quickly, if you can, what do you they president-elect Trump needs to be cautious about when it comes to Syria and dealing with Russia as he heads into the White House next month? HILL: Well, he sure has to be more cautious about Russia than he

appears to be. I mean, he needs to understand that they, their interests and their attitude does not align with ours. So I think the first thing is we need to have a kind of clear understanding from the Russians where this could come out. If they think it's going to come out with business as usual, with Bashar al-Assad at the head of a very narrowly defined, very undemocratic Syrian government, I'm not sure that's an end game we can necessarily subscribe to.

At the end - at the same time, though, I think we need to get real about some of this opposition. I mean, our whole policy has been somehow if we help the moderates, then they will be able to deal with the less moderate, and somehow if Assad goes away, the less moderates types in the opposition. We will say we will now leave the scene. I don't think it's that easy and I think we need to be clear that we should not have put ourselves only talking with a narrow slice of the opposition and not talking at all to the Assad government.

KEILAR: It is a very complicated problem as you outlined there.

Thank you, sir, so much. Ambassador Chris Hill with us.

And coming up, the president-elect transition team says the more staff announcements are imminent. We have details on that.

Plus, Trump's state department pick under fire for reneging on a promise to Congress right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:55] KEILAR: President-elect Donald Trump is incredibly close to making more staffing announcement. A transition source tells CNN that we can expect Trump to announce his choice for press secretary as early as today. And as far as cabinet level positions, Trump still has five of those posts to fill. But one of his picks is already getting some major pushback from Democrats.

Let's talk more about that now with my panel. Joining me is Elise Labott, CNN global affairs correspondent. Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for "the Daily Beast" and Ed O'Keefe, political reporter for the "Washington Post".

OK. So we are talking about Rex Tillerson. Democrats are accusing him of certainly having ties too closely to Russia. I have heard people who support him say, look, he is going to be able to take what he knows, change allegiances, just take off this one hat and put on another one, but that's not what Democrats are saying.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are not saying that and they are saying that, you know, these ties to Russia will hamper him in his future job. But I mean, I think you've heard really credible people like former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Steve Hadley, former deputy national security advisor, Bob Gates, the former defense secretary. These are people that recommended him and they say, look, he knows, he has a vision of the world, you know. Oil politics is very strategic and he is going to be able to use these skills to apply them and he is going to be working on behalf of a company anymore where he is looking to make profits. He is going to be working on behalf of the American people and American interests.

KEILAR: We have seen people move, you know, in between politics and certainly other -- you know, the private sector and politics and we see this all the time, Jackie. But there's still concerns.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU, THE DAILY BEAST: Absolutely. And you know, Phil Mudd made the point a couple days ago who is a former intelligence official, said that this is a strategic relationship, that Tillerson could use, his relationship with Russian and Putin officials, could be used to ultimately help the United States. It could actually end up being an asset. But the concern that Democrats have is that there is a form that you fill out when you're nominated for a cabinet position. You give it to Congress. He wasn't explicit that he would give over his tax returns.

KEILAR: Just information about his tax returns.

KUCINICH: Yes, exactly. Now, there's no requirement that -- there's no rule he has to give them over. And Democrats really do, though, risk politicizing this to the point that they push Republicans into Tillerson's pocket that he wouldn't have normally had.

KEILAR: Because there are Republicans who have concerns, Ed. And it seems like what they want to extract from him during this confirmation process are assurances, right?

ED O'KEEFE, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: And there's no Democrat I have talked to up there who thinks that he would be defeated. But certainly nominee to nominee, Democrats hope to sort of wound them along the way, slow the process, make it so that they can't all get confirmed on inauguration day because there are legitimate questions about them.

The fact that Steve Hadley, Condi Rice and Bob Gates, who were all consultants to Exxon say he is, you know, smart and capable is one thing. When they are collecting a check from him, they can say that. Democrats are going to and see that he actually knows what he is talking about in a confirmation hearing. And that's why when it's a two-part thing on one day, that will not be sufficient to a lot of Democrats on the committee and overall to the Senate who are going to want to know more about him. They will say look, you have no diplomatic experience, you have no government experience and you will be working for a president that has neither, either. We have legitimate concerns about this.

And on taxes, expect to see Democrats push to have every single committee require that every single cabinet nominee release their tax information -- Republicans won't agree to it, but they are going to try and that's another way they may try to stall this process out even as they likely head to confirmation.

LABOTT: Well, that's exactly what they're doing with Tillerson, right? I mean, he said in his questionnaire that he provided by to Congress that -- to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he would provide this tax information. The Democrats are looking for the full tax return, yes, because of some of the concerns they say that, you know, this particular post in his relationships with Russia deserve extra scrutiny. But they also -- Democrats are also admitting they're trying to use this to kind of highlight the fact that Donald Trump himself has not released his tax returns.

So in a sense I think you are right. They are politicizing this to an extent that, you know, doesn't really help the process. And I mean, I think he is going to provide a full financial disclosure so we'll see what happens.

[13:55:20] KEILAR: The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is speaking out about Donald Trump's campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a very controversial move and he says, I agree with him. Is this possible?

LABOTT: Well, it's certainly possible. And you heard Donald Trump say that on the campaign trail and now this ambassador that he has appointed, David Friedman. And his statement of being pond being named, he said I'm looking forward to doing my job from the capital of Israel, Jerusalem. Donald trump can do it. Congress has been calling this for years. But successive presidents have waived this because they feel that Jerusalem is something to be negotiated between both parties.

KUCINICH: And particularly when you need countries in the Muslim world to help with the fight against ISIS and this really risks alienating them and causing more trouble. And that's not necessarily from a diplomatic standpoint what you want in this sort of --

KEILAR: Can you give a final thought, real quickly.

O'KEEFE: You know, I think Jackie is right. This could have ripple effects everywhere else. But it is totally within his rights to move it. And if he wants to do so, let's see if he does it.

KEILAR: And let's see what the foul out it.

All right, Ed, Jackie, Elise, thank you so much to all of you.

That's it for me. I'm going to be back at 5:00 eastern. I'll see you on "the SITUATION ROOM."

"NEWSROOM" starts right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

As we begin the hour with what's been happening, the latest developments in Berlin, I want to play some sound for you that just happened. This is president-elect Donald Trump speaking out for the first time in this holiday down in Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago.