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CNN NEWSROOM

Inside the U.N. Resolution on Syria; Number of Refugees Worldwide Breaks Record; Obama Visits Families of San Bernardino Victims; Friend of Killer Faces Terrorism Charges; Obama Tries to Quell Terrorism Fears; Beijing under Pollution Red Alert; Cruz and Rubio Butt Heads; Rwanda Approves Constitution Change; Cold Temperatures Not Deterring Migrants; Reward Offered for Capture of "Affluenza Teen"; How the Vatican Recognizes Miracles; No Politics on the ISS; Japanese Seniors Gamble to Stay Sharp; New Will Smith Movie to Hit the NFL Hard. Aired 3:55-5a ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 03:55   ET

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


[03:55:00]

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A unanimous yes in Syria. The U.N. Security Council agrees to a plan.

But can it really be a means to end that country's civil war?

In Beijing, choking smog once again, pollution levels there force a red alert for the second time in a row.

And much the same but still different: we take a closer look at what separates and what brings together Donald Trump's closest Republican rivals.

From CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, I'm George Howell, CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOWELL: And a good day to you.

We start this hour in Syria amid the brutal bloody conflict there, now a glimmer of hope. Syria could soon find itself on a new path to peace. It all depends, though, on whether a new U.N. Security Council resolution actually works. They voted unanimously to approve a plan aimed at ending the country's civil war.

The U.N. envoy to Syria says implementing the accord will be challenging but that peace is possible.

While this resolution lays the groundwork for a political solution it does not address what to do about this man, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Russia wants him to stay in power. The U.S. would prefer that he does not stay in power.

There are also other issues that need to be resolved, including the question of which specific parties should be involved in the talks. CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperate to refocus the world's attention on ISIS, world powers, all stakeholders in Syria, inch closer to agreement on a road map for ending the Syrian civil war.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have agreed on a plan of action. And the council's vote today is an important boost on the road to a political settlement.

LABOTT (voice-over): Today, the U.N. Security Council blessed those efforts, beginning with a cease-fire between regime and rebel forces and starting political talks early next year.

But nations can't even agree on which Syrian groups to consider terrorists and which to include in the talks.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We are all united on the front, that terrorists of all stripes have no place in the talks.

LABOTT (voice-over): And still unresolved, the fate of Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that Assad is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the bloodletting.

LABOTT (voice-over): But today, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told "Foreign Policy" magazine, President Obama's decision in 2013 to stand down on strikes in Syria, ignoring his own red line on Assad's use of chemical weapons, dealt a severe blow to U.S. credibility, which many argue has given space for ISIS to grow and for Russia to enter.

As the coalition continues to pound ISIS targets in Syria, including these strikes, which helped thwart a massive ISIS attack, the U.S. has set its sights on the group's branch in Libya, killing the affiliate's leader in an airstrike last month.

Now these photos show U.S. military personnel on the ground in Libya, helping to beef up the Libyan army's defenses against jihadists. On a swing through the region, the Secretary of Defense warned ISIS' global reach is never-ending.

ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We're in Syria in Iraq, which is the home tumor of this movement. We are seeing little nests of ISIL spring up around the world, including here in Afghanistan.

LABOTT: And a U.N. diplomat tells me, these negotiations to be led by the United Nations, are only going to work if the U.S. and Russia stay united. Only they can put pressure on the regime and the opposition groups to stay on track with the political process.

And without them, this diplomat says, the U.N. will only be leading from behind -- Elise Labott, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Some news just coming in from Turkey. The state-owned Anadolu news agency is reporting the sinking of a refugee boat. This happened just off the Turkish coast near the Aegean Sea. Eighteen refugees drowned when their wooden boat sank.

Turkey's coast guard was able to rescue 14 people, though the boat was transporting 32 Syrian and Iraqi refugees to the Greek island of Kos.

The number of refugees and migrants entering --

[04:00:00]

HOWELL: -- Europe will top 1 million in the coming days; nearly 991,000 people entered Europe by land or sea so far this year alone. This according to the International Organization for Migration. That is more than four times the number last year.

The vast majority of migrants and refugees, more than 800,000 of them, landed in Greece.

Nearly 3,700, though, went missing or died trying to cross the Mediterranean. Tens of thousands of Syrians are fleeing that country, trying to seek safer ground elsewhere. But there are some say they want to stay.

Our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, takes us to the Western Syrian city of Latakia, a refugee camp there, where thousands of people say they prefer to be under Bashar al-Assad's control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the game for Syria, Russia's Putin and Bashar al-Assad are on the same side.

"This is thanks to Russia," the poster reads.

We were brought to this, the "Sport City" camp in Latakia to see how the Syrian government and Kremlin backers say they give refuge. One government sanctioned aid worker told me how and why these people are here.

CHANCE: What have these people been through, to drive them to become refugees?

ZEN HASAN (PH), AID WORKER: These people just don't have any homes. They don't have any families. So horrible stuff. Kids here, I hear stuff from kids about killing, about death about -- you know? It's really hard on them. They live horrible, you know. They're just pretty safe here. They don't want to leave the land. And they don't have the money to pay for the trip to Europe, which anybody can do. It's not the other side. CHANCE: Is that why these refugees are here, being protected essentially by the -- by President Assad?

Because they couldn't afford to go to Europe?

HASAN (PH): No, no; I'm not saying they want to stay here -- there with President Assad, you know, but they just didn't want to leave.

CHANCE: Well, the authorities tell us that housing at least 5,000 or 6,000 people in this one camp, just a fraction, of course, of the millions made refugees by Syria's brutal civil war.

One of the reasons we have been brought here is to illustrate that not every Syrian wants to escape the clutches of the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad. Some feel much safer under his control.

CHANCE (voice-over): Some like Aisha Adbulraheem and her family, who fled Aleppo earlier this year.

Her husband is in the Syrian army, she told me. Rebels behead family members of Syrian soldiers, she says.

For some, the choice between the evils of Bashar al-Assad and the rebels who oppose him is simple to make -- Matthew Chance, CNN, in Latakia, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: And now in the United States, the president, Barack Obama, made some unplanned remarks before leaving the state of California. He stopped in San Bernardino just a couple of hours ago, before leaving for Hawaii for Christmas break.

The president met privately with victims' families and first responders from this month's terror attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they are also representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country.

And as we go into the holiday season, even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening. even as we insist we can't accept the notion of mass shootings in public places or places and -- or places of work and worship, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there.

And if you met some of these folks, despite the pain and the heartache that they are feeling, they could not have been more inspiring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Now to the very latest in the investigation into that attack. A former friend and neighbor of Syed Farook now faces charges in connection with the massacre. Our Jim Sciutto has details on that and another plot the pair had allegedly planned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This busy California highway nearly became the site of a deadly terror attack. Enrique Marquez, long-time friend of San Bernardino shooter, Syed Farook, has told law enforcement the two watched videos of Al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, became radical and plotted in 2012 to throw pipe --

[04:05:00]

SCIUTTO (voice-over): -- bombs onto the SR-91 freeway and then gun down motorists in the aftermath.

The pair also planned to target Riverside City College by planting pipe bombs in the crowded cafeteria, the deadly plot stopped not by law enforcement but by Marquez himself, who backed out in fear after other terror arrests around the same time. As time passed, Marquez says the two then grew apart.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The Farook and Marquez relationship is something that FBI agents and historians and counterterrorism officials will be studying for years.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Three years later, as gunfire rang out in San Bernardino, Marquez would immediately recognize his friend's handiwork.

Just hours after the shooting, Marquez called 9-1-1, telling the operator, quote, "The (INAUDIBLE) used my gun in the shooting."

Then "Oh, my God."

When the 9-1-1 operator asked Marquez, quote, "How do you know it is your gun?" he responded saying, "They can trace all the guns back to me."

He claims he gave Farook the guns for, quote, "safe storage," but authorities believe he bought them with deadly intentions for the aborted 2012 attack.

Despite his apparent cooperation with authorities following the attack in San Bernardino, Marquez is charged with providing material support to terrorism for his role in purchasing weapons used in the shooting.

KAYYEM: It is a statement by the FBI and by the administration that if you even come close to these cases or to helping them, we will charge you as if you are a terrorist yourself.

SCIUTTO: This is now a serious line of inquiry in the investigation.

How could three people with many family connections in the U.S., they had day jobs, Farook in the local government, there was international travel, international communications, how did they evade all surveillance by authorities but also not arouse the suspicions of any of their friends and family?

The president has said that the lone wolf attacks like this are very hard to detect and prevent. We saw that play out in the San Bernardino shooting -- Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Mr. Obama touched on the attack when he spoke earlier on Friday at his final news conference of the year. The president highlighted his achievements and he assured Americans that he won't be a lame duck president during his final year.

But concerns over terrorism and defeating ISIS became a key focus. Let's listen to a bit of the conversation that CNN's John Berman had with our own Fareed Zakaria and John King about the president's end- of-the-year remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: You know, Fareed, listening to the president, his language choice in dealing with ISIS is always very interesting. Today again he made the point, he thinks ISIS is losing ground. He said ISIS is being squeezed inside Syria and Iraq.

Is this to reassure the American public?

Or is this to battle back against people who are saying he's not doing enough?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: I think Obama has a conception of American interests and security that says, "Look, we are very strong, we are very powerful, we are actually very secure.

ISIS does not pose an existential threat to the United States the way the Soviet Union did with thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at us. It is a nasty, venomous terrorist organization that, every now and then, is able to kill, you know, five Americans here or a dozen or 14 here.

But, you know, he often points out that gun violence takes many, many more people. So I think part of what he is trying to do is to deliberately not hype the threat, not scare people and, yes, to point out he does have it under control.

BERMAN: But he's been burned before on days when he said that ISIS has been contained, you know, later that day, later that week, there has been a terror attack. So now he --

(CROSSTALK)

ZAKARIA: But he wouldn't -- but, John, to push back, just to explain what he thinks, he doesn't think he's been burned. He thinks cable news goes nuts and, you know, massively exaggerates this phenomena and doesn't take into, you know, keep in mind that, since 9/11, 45 people have been killed by Islamic terrorist organizations.

In that same period, 150,000 people have been killed by guns.

So his argument -- and you heard it again today -- was, "I don't like cable news, I don't like the way that you peddle this stuff and you exaggerate it."

BERMAN: He's not just operating, John, in this 24-hour news cable- Twitter environment. He's also operating now within a presidential campaign. He's not running, his name is not on the ballot but his agenda very much is.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: And there's no denying that one of the reasons he seemed a little bit behind, he didn't share the emergency of the American people after Paris and after San Bernardino is because not only are people getting that from cable news, they're getting it from the Republican candidates for president, John.

You saw that -- that was trademark Obama today again. He's calm, he's nuanced, he's measured. He says, you know, we're taking back 40 percent of the land and we're doing more sorties and we're doing this. And he lays it out methodically.

That sometimes has been a great political asset for him. At a time like this, sometimes it's a detriment to him. You know, Obama gave you --

[04:10:00]

KING: -- his plan there and he laid it out.

Trump gives it to you in a few words, "I'll bomb the bleep out of them," with a little -- a lot more passion and a lot more emotion.

So, in the Republican primary right now, people are looking for the anti-Obama and in the country at large because they are hearing SMC about the Republican Party. The president can seem almost too quiet sometimes.

BERMAN: Well, that's right. And it's not just cable news, John. I mean, you poll the American people right now, terrorism is a leading issue. There are concerns and there have been events in the United States and around the world to cause concern.

KING: And I think part of the Obama strategy is, as Fareed just noted, is he doesn't want to be out there every day, three or four times, explaining it, because he doesn't want to overhype it himself and he wants to keep in context.

However, I think maybe he should be out explaining it and trying to give that context, to say this is terrible, this is horrible, we are going to do something about it.

But think about the numbers. It maybe not always give the gun control numbers, just give the terrorism numbers. But that's the back-and- forth. But being in a campaign environment, I think his preference is to ignore the Republican campaign, especially because it's so critical of him and because he finds much of it not based in fact, not based really in this universe. That's how the President of the United States would find it. He chooses to ignore it. But he has to realize that a more -- that his political environment is every minute shaped by it.

BERMAN: This week even, for the first time, we sort of saw what the president thinks that would cost in terms of lives. He had this closed door meeting with op-ed columnists and thinkers and said he thought 1,000 U.S. troops would die a month and countless more injured in battle. That was behind closed doors.

He hasn't exactly been saying that out loud, has he?

KING: No, he hasn't, and it was -- forgive me -- a crime against journalism that he wasn't pressed on that by the reporters at his year-end news conference, that they didn't try to get him to say publicly what he is -- if these reports are to be believed and I believe they are to be believed -- what he told in one of his regular off-the-record conversations, why didn't one of the reporters try to get the president to discuss that?

But look, remember, this is a president who came to office, saying he was going to get us out of Iraq and get us out of Afghanistan and the last thing he wants to do is get us into Syria. And so should he explain those numbers to the American people more, especially when they are listening to candidates?

Most of the candidates don't want to put ground troops in. But a few of them do. And a few of them have talked about doing it, yes, you could send them in and we can do this and you have the blustery language of Trump.

Should he do that?

Should he explain the costs, at least when he's being briefed on the costs, at a time when you have other people -- and I'll end on this -- you know, it's much easier to run for president than to be president.

And so should he jump into that debate every now and then?

You know, he chooses not to. And maybe a lot of people wouldn't listen to him because he's in the last year of his presidency. But it might be helpful from time to time.

BERMAN: Hey, Fareed, I misspoke; it's 100 a month, the president said, we think, behind closed doors, not 1,000 a month, 100 lives lost a month.

Fareed Zakaria, John King, thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Again, that was John Berman speaking to Fareed Zakaria and John King about the president's end-of-the-year remarks.

And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOWELL (voice-over): Still ahead, U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders launched a legal fight against his own Democratic Party. But within hours, they patched things up. We'll tell you how, ahead.

Plus, for the second time in just a few weeks' time, China's capital. Look at that. It is facing its highest possible pollution warning. The story ahead.

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(HEADLINES)

[04:15:00]

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HOWELL: A look here at the capital city of China. And you see a thick smog choking the air. Beijing's environmental authorities have issued another red alert, the highest possible level because of the pollution. This is the second time in just a few weeks that we have seen this. Officials there say this alert, though, is just a precaution.

To Beijing we go. Our Matt Rivers is standing by live.

Matt, good to have you with us.

So can you explain to our viewers how this round of pollution compares to the past couple of rounds that we have seen?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, pollution here and the way people feel about it in Beijing is very relative. I think if you took nearly anyone who doesn't live here and put them in today's environment, they would say this is terrible. It smells bad, it looks bad, you can see it in the air.

But to most Beijingers, today's pollution levels are pretty tame compared to what we have seen just over the past month in two other separate bouts of pollution that lasted for several days. It was late November into early December that we saw the air quality index soar above 600 here in Beijing.

Today, it's hovering somewhere around 200. And the World Health Organization says it should be somewhere around 25. So that's a little bit of context for you there. But in terms of this red alert, the government is acknowledging that this latest round of haze, though quite -- not quite as bad as other rounds, is still enough to prompt some mandatory restrictions.

That would be keeping about half of the city's cars off the roads; it would be keeping transportation trucks off the roads; it would be shutting down construction sites and factories. And come Monday, schools and businesses will have the option to keep their students and employees home for the day, if they so choose -- George.

HOWELL: So you explain what officials are doing, Matt.

But what are people in Beijing doing with this situation?

How are they dealing with it?

You say that it's common there but it's still dangerous for a good part of the population.

RIVERS: Absolutely, especially for levels like this. For people who have chronic respiratory illnesses, think asthma, for example, this kind of air really does make an impact. You walk around streets here in Beijing, people are wearing pollution masks. Here in the bureau we have several air filters running continuously throughout the day and night.

But, that said, people here in Beijing kind of tend to look at pollution the way someone who, let's say, lives in the American South would think about heat in the summertime. It's just a part of life. There's not much that can be done about it from their end.

And so it's just there's this quiet sort of frustrated resignation that even though the Beijing government and the Chinese government as a whole say they are doing what they can to combat pollution here, I don't think that anyone here in Beijing really believes that things are going to get better anytime soon.

HOWELL: Matt, I am hoping for you and the people there in Beijing for just a good strong wind to push that out so you can get a little fresh air for a bit.

Matt Rivers, thank you for your report there in Beijing.

RIVERS: Appreciate that.

[04:20:00]

HOWELL: So the big question, though, is how long will this smog stick around in Beijing?

And for that, let's bring in our meteorologist, Karen Maginnis, at the World Weather Center.

Karen, so I told Matt about that wind.

Is it going to happen anytime soon?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, because the air is going to be reasonably calm. This is really part of the problem. There are a lot of factors here.

One that doesn't get mentioned a lot is not just that the air is light and that there are a lot of cars. There are over 20 million people that live in Beijing. But this is essentially kind of a bowl area if you look at it. There are mountains out to the north and to the west. And there are industrialized cities to the south, also to the east. So everything, all those pollutants in the atmosphere are just kind of settled down into this basin. And it really does need something atmospherically to blow it out.

Now there are these ongoing problems because there is coal that's being burned to keep warm.

Now the temperatures over the next several days are on either side of the average temperature, which is right around 5 degrees. But it's not until Thursday and then going through the weekend that we start to see those temperatures a little chillier. That's a double-edged sword because we are looking at colder temperatures, there is more coal that will be burned.

But at least there's going to be some mixing in the lower levels of the atmosphere and that will be good. We have got this ridge of high pressure across the region. So that suppresses the wind and it doesn't allow those particulates in the atmosphere to get mixed up very much.

Most of the weather activity is much further toward the east. This is the second time, the only -- on the heels of the first time that we saw December 7th. This is only the second time now that they have issued this red alert.

That means schools will be closed. They will regulate the number of cars on the highways. They will also regulate the industry that is spitting out a lot of pollution that goes into the atmosphere. So, a lot of components over the next several days. But this, George, looks to be a two- to four-day event, which could be deadly. Back to you.

HOWELL: Karen Maginnis, thank you so much for explaining for us.

Now we move on to U.S. politics and the U.S. Democratic Party. And amid the presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, he may have declared an uneasy peace after a messy internal fight.

The party says it will restore access by the Sanders campaign to a voter database after accusing his staffers of wrongly accessing information belonging to his rival, Hillary Clinton. The dispute was resolved after the Sanders camp sued the party.

The party says it now expects each campaign to operate with integrity. The Sanders campaign said it was glad that the party had, quote, "capitulated and reversed its outrageous decision."

Meanwhile let's talk about Donald Trump, he ahs picked plenty of fights in his campaign but he's going in another direction. Some are even calling this a bromance between these two men, Mr. Trump and Vladimir Putin. The two have traded plenty of compliments lately and while Trump's praise for the Russian president has drawn criticism, it has not affected the billionaire's lead among Republicans vying for the White House.

According to a new FOX News poll, Donald Trump has 39 percent support. That is more than his next three competitors combined. And two men trying to overtake Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, are,

in some ways, cut from the same cloth. But that hasn't stopped them from butting heads in debates and on the campaign trail. CNN's Tom Foreman looks at their similarities and their differences.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even in the fiery midst of the year's final GOP debate, the fight between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio stood out.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Marco knows what he's saying isn't true.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLA.: It sounds like what he's outlining is not to lead at all.

FOREMAN (voice-over): In some ways, the clash might seem surprising. Both are Cuban Americans, both 44, both conservative, both junior senators from Southern states. But that's where the similarities end.

CRUZ: ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism will face no more determined foe than I will be.

FOREMAN (voice-over): When Cruz lit up phrases about bombing terrorists, Rubio said the Texan had undercut funding for the very planes needed for the job.

RUBIO: We are going to be left with the oldest and the smallest Air Force we have ever had.

FOREMAN (voice-over): When Rubio railed about Cruz's backed legislation to curb government data collection, Cruz came right back.

CRUZ: The metadata program was a valuable tool that we no longer have at our disposal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Cruz?

CRUZ: Well, you know, I would note that Marco knows what he's saying isn't true.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And on it went. On immigration, Rubio punching, Cruz countering.

RUBIO: As far as Ted's record, I'm always puzzled by his attack on this issue.

[04:25:00]

Ted, you support legalizing people who are in this country illegally.

CRUZ: I understand that Marco wants to raise confusion. It is not accurate, what he just said, that I supported legalization.

FOREMAN: The two have decidedly different political styles. Even away from the debate stage, Cruz is the go-it-alone crusader, who's often seen as uncompromising to a fault and Rubio tries harder to get along with the Republican old guard, even as he presents himself as a reformer.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But what really has them at odds right now is math. The whole party is looking to see who will emerge as the chief challenger to Donald Trump and these two men know only one person can have that job -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, the sea of migrants entering Europe is about to hit the 1 million mark. And even freezing temperatures aren't stopping some people from risking it all for a chance at a better life.

Plus, the Texas teenager who was given probation as punishment for killing four people while driving drunk. Now the so-called "affluenza teen" is missing and may be on the run with his mom. Just ahead, Randi Kaye examines his parents' role in his behavior as this broadcast continues around the globe this hour on CNN worldwide.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Very good to have you with us this hour. I'm George Howell. The headlines we're following:

[04:30:00]

(HEADLINES)

HOWELL: Voters in Rwanda appear to have approved a constitutional change to allow the president to stay in office possibly until 2034. According to Reuters News Agency, the electoral commission expects the referendum to pass 98 percent.

It is widely expected that the president, Paul Kagame, will run again in 2017, despite calls from the West to allow a new generation of leaders to emerge. Kagame has been running the country since 1994.

Hundreds of Greeks and migrants are calling on European leaders to open their borders to migrants and refugees. They marched to Greek parliament on Friday, International Migrants Day. They carried banners reading, "Bring down the fences," referring to countries like Macedonia, Hungary and the Balkan States.

The number of migrants entering Europe this year is likely to reach 1 million in the coming days and most are fleeing poverty back home.

Most of the migrants entering Europe are coming by a dangerous sea passage to Greece. And even the frigid temperatures of December aren't stopping them from loading onto flimsy vessels out of sheer desperation. CNN's Sara Sidner has been watching the stream of boats arriving into the Greek island of Lesbos and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in the Greek island of Lesbos we are seeing dozens and dozens of refugees coming in on boats.

Take a look around me. This is just the latest boat filled with people, mostly children. They are frozen to the bone and have to be given these kinds of materials that keep you nice and warm. The children, some of them have been crying. They're with their mothers. The fathers also, some of them have made it to this island.

This scene has happened multiple times since we have been here in just the last few hours. So far, five boats. You are also seeing the police, who have helped bring in one of these boats that was stranded out there and in difficult, difficult waters.

What we are seeing here is really the crisis ballooning. More and more refugees still coming, even in the frigid temperatures, even in frigid waters. People are so desperate that they need to get here and they need to get here as fast as they can.

Most of these folks are from Syria. Most of them are looking for a better life. But, yes, there is always a concern, especially from the European Union, as to the security problems, how to check who is who to make sure that they're not targets, especially after hearing this latest information that the ringleader of the terrorist attacks was indeed on the Greek island of Leros, according to an investigator, able to get there and then somehow make his way into Europe.

Security a huge concern. And the biggest concern for these refugees is that Europe may start closing the doors to them in their biggest time of need -- Sara Sidner, CNN, on the Greek island of Lesbos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: And that was Sara Sidner reporting for us.

Shifting now from some of the world's most disadvantaged to a case involving someone so well off his being spoiled was used in his own legal defense. U.S. Marshals are hunting for Ethan Couch. He is the so-called "affluenza teen," who was sentenced to probation after killing four people while driving drunk.

Now officials fear he is on the run and on the run with his mother. But the actions of both of his parents have shocked a lot of people, as our Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon after then-16-year- old Ethan Couch got drunk, drove, killed four people and injured several others, he and his parents testified in a civil suit brought by one of the victims. In these 2013 deposition tapes, obtained --

[04:35:00]

KAYE (voice-over): -- by ABC News, Ethan Couch talks openly about his drug use.

ETHAN COUCH, DRUNK DRIVER: Taking Valium, hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, Vyvanse. I may have tried Ecstasy once.

KAYE (voice-over): So where did it all go wrong?

Early and often, it seems, with a defense witness and psychologist placing the blame squarely at the feet of Ethan's parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ethan learned you should be able to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the message, generally.

KAYE (voice-over): His father, denying any blame.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you teach Ethan that, indeed, because your family was wealthy, that the rules didn't apply to you?

FRED COUCH, ETHAN'S FATHER: Never.

KAYE (voice-over): But that doesn't square with Fred couch's own behavior during a DWI stop in 1992.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you tell the arresting officer, I make more in a day than you make in a year?

FRED COUCH: Probably.

KAYE (voice-over): More than 20 years later, CNN was unable to determine the outcome of that traffic stop.

Fred and Tonya Couch reportedly married in 1996. They divorced 10 years later, remarried but split again after the crash. Ethan's mother worked briefly as a vocational nurse, according to "D" magazine. His dad owns a metal roofing company.

He and his mother were close. Ethan reportedly slept on a separate bed his mother had moved into her room. Ethan Couch often found trouble and few consequences. At 15, he was caught drinking in a parked pickup with a naked, passed-out 14-year-old girl. He wasn't punished. His mother couldn't recall the last time she disciplined him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You understood, did you not, that he was likely to continue the drinking and driving if there weren't consequences?

TONYA COUCH, ETHAN'S MOTHER: I should have known that, yes. I really didn't think that that would happen again. KAYE (voice-over): The teen was allowed to drink at a young age, even drive himself to school at just 13. When the head of the school questioned that, his father threatened to buy the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when he did buy the school, he pulled Ethan out of the school?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he did.

KAYE (voice-over): Ethan Couch's father found trouble, too, once posing as a police officer during a disturbance call, even displaying a fake badge. He was charged with false identification and is awaiting trial. Now Ethan's mother may be in hot water, too, on the run with her son -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The biotech executive, once dubbed the world's most hated man, has stepped down as head of Turing Pharmaceuticals. The company appointed an interim CEO on Friday, wishing Martin Shkreli well in his future endeavors. Those endeavors may include up to 20 years in prison.

Shkreli was indicted Thursday for securities fraud. He has been blasted for several recent decisions, including spiking the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000 percent.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, Mother Teresa was already known as the Saint of the Gutters. And now she will officially become a saint. You'll hear why Pope Francis said he was afraid of her. That story, ahead.

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[04:40:00]

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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm George Howell.

In Calcutta, India, Catholic leaders are celebrating. They're celebrating after learning that Mother Teresa is set to be declared a saint next fall. The Albanian nun died 18 years ago. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Earlier, I spoke with CNN religion commentator Father Edward Beck and I asked him about the miracles that are attributed to Mother Teresa.

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FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you need two miracles to be declared a saint, to be canonized. The first miracle, you're beatified. And John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa. He put her on the fast track actually to beatification. So that was done in his lifetime.

And now just yesterday, on his birthday, Pope Francis deemed the second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa and therefore now she will be canonized a saint in September.

HOWELL: So when it comes to the recognition of these miracles, how contentious is it to recognize them?

How do you determine whether they're real?

BECK: Well, there are all kinds of panels doing the investigation. And the medical doctors weigh in. Witnesses weigh in. They have people who try to be contrarian as part of the process and cast any doubt that they can upon it.

But if there's no other explanation, like this miracle, this gentleman in Brazil had a brain infection and tumors. He had been struggling a long time with illness. He was scheduled for surgery. And his wife and priest had been praying for months to Mother Teresa for a cure.

And just before the surgery, the doctors say he sat up, he was awake, tumors were gone, infection was gone and no explanation for it. And by the way, the man was also deemed to be sterile because of all of the medications he had been on. And he now has two children.

And so this is the second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa and is part of her canonization process now.

HOWELL: Now you mentioned her commitment to the poor. And you noted some have been critical of Mother Teresa, some have said that she was more focused on the issue of poverty and less on the people, the poor.

What are your thoughts?

BECK: Well, I find that rather remarkable and hard to believe, because if you look at her life and her commitment to the poor, she certainly walked the talk. She got down on her knees and ministered to the poor in India her whole life.

So for anyone to say that simply she talked about it, to me there's no veracity to that statement.

She was critiqued I know for other things, such as the way some of the fund-raising for the order got done, some of the ways in which she opposed contraception and abortion and, in places like India, where there's a lot of poverty, people thought she shouldn't be so vociferous in her opposition of contraception.

However, that is church teaching. She was simply living church teaching. She critiqued for accepting money for some -- accepting money from some dictators like Duvalier. And yet her perspective was, look, if I'm giving money to the poor, to help the poor, I don't really care where it came from. And maybe the one who took it from the poor is now giving it back to the poor.

So, yes, she had her critics but she had enough answers for them and her life is testimony that she definitely walked the talk.

HOWELL: She is known around the world for her tireless work for the poor and with Pope Francis as well. It is a very important --

[04:45:00]

HOWELL: -- message for him. His travels here to the U.S., even his last trip, poverty, the issue of helping the poor, was a very big focus.

Is there a sense that Mother Teresa has a very important place in the mind of Pope Francis?

BECK: Pope Francis' history with Mother Teresa is rather interesting. He said while he greatly admired her, he was also kind of afraid of her.

He said that --

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HOWELL: Afraid of her?

What do you mean by that?

BECK: Well, he visited Albania in 2014. And he said when he met her, he was at a conference in Rome in 1994, bishops' synod. And he happened to be seated near her. So here you have this elderly nun in the synod, where all of these bishops.

And he said she held back not one iota. She wasn't intimidated by the bishops. She spoke her mind, she chastised them. And Pope Francis is quoted as saying, I would have been afraid to have her as my superior since she was so tough.

HOWELL: Father Edward Beck, CNN religion contributor, thank you so much for your insight.

BECK: You're welcome, George. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Now 350 kilometers above planet Earth, the International Space Station has a new resident. Astronauts there welcomed British astronaut Tim Peake. He spent his first day learning safety procedures and getting used to weightlessness. He's already given his first news conference as well.

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TIM PEAKE, ASTRONAUT: The most unexpected thing, I think, was the blackness of space because we always talk about seeing the view of planet Earth and how beautiful it is. And so you've come to expect that.

But what people don't mention that much is just when you look the opposite direction and see how dark space is, I mean, it's the blackest black and you realize just how small the Earth is in that blackness. And that was a real surprise to me.

HOWELL (voice-over): Besides Peake from the U.K., two Americans, two Ukrainians and a Russian on board the ISS -- look, if you think the political tensions between some of the countries on the ground are carrying over up in space, you would be surprised. You would be wrong.

Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour spoke with American Scott Kelly and Russian Mikhail Kornienko about that issue.

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SCOTT KELLY, ASTRONAUT: I think one of the great things about this space station is we have demonstrated that two cultures that are somewhat different and then somewhat -- sometimes can be at odds with one another over certain things have demonstrated that they can work together in a very cooperative way.

It's something very, very difficult for a long period of time.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: And, Mikhail, your view?

MIKHAIL KORNIENKO, RUSSIAN COSMONAUT (through translator): I can only join in and say that the international station is free of any politics. We are very polite, always very considerate of each other in such discussions.

Furthermore, I would say that our work here and our cooperation onboard the ISS is a great example for all politicians because if they spent at least one month on board together, it would probably resolve most of their problems and discussions on the ground.

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HOWELL: Talk about a cool satellite interview there with Christiane Amanpour.

The American space agency, NASA, says Scott Kelly will be making an unplanned spacewalk also in the coming days.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Japan's senior community, it is growing and it is gambling. When we come back, we visit a senior day care where the stakes are a mind and body that are still in the game.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOWELL: In Japan, it's poker, Pachinko and other games of chance that are becoming a growing pastime for aging Japanese. But, as CNN's Will Ripley reports, elderly gamblers aren't playing in casinos. And the payoff is a sharper mind.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Las Vegas. No, not the American gambling mecca. We're in Yokohama, Japan, about an hour from Tokyo. And this isn't actually a casino, it's a senior day care center, complete with slot machines, card games and plenty of Japanese senior citizens testing their luck.

We're told the average age in this room, around 80.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): American pop music plays while they stretch. Then staff members hand out fake money. Casino gambling with real money is illegal in Japan. So no cash or prizes are handed out here. And the big winner is recognized at the end of the day.

The most popular games, Pachinko, mahjongg and blackjack. Gambling is a favorite pastime of seniors all over the world. And here in Japan's rapidly aging society, elder care is a booming business. One in four Japanese are now over 65.

Japan has some 40,000 adult day cares and dozens of these casino- themed day cares have opened up just in the last year. This company alone opened seven last year. They plan to open up five next year. And they tell us on average about half of the patients who come here have either Alzheimer's or some form of dementia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We believe this casino stimulates the brain and helps to prevent or suppress the development of dementia.

RIPLEY: The chairman of this company points to research from a Japanese doctor and professor, who they compensate, saying gambling stimulates the brain. And there are studies that show that recreational gambling in moderation can improve a senior's overall health and quality of life.

These folks say they get lonely at home and the interaction with others really helps.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I've lived alone for decades. Many days I don't speak a word. I feel very depressed. But here we play games and talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I use my brain playing mahjongg and I use my fingers. I believe it helps stimulate my mind.

RIPLEY: Several Japanese communities have either banned or are considering banning gambling at senior centers, putting in jeopardy one of Japan's favorite pastimes for its fast-growing silver generation, who apparently love striking even fake gold -- Will Ripley, CNN, at Las Vegas, Yokohama, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:55:00]

HOWELL: The controversy over head injuries in the National Football League in America is about to be thrust back into the spotlight.

The new film, "Concussion," opens Christmas Day in the United States. Will Smith plays the doctor who first connected football with chronic brain trauma among players. Our Rachel Nichols sat down with the superstar, whose oldest son played the sport.

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RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now that you know what you know, you said educating parents, would you let Trey play football now?

If he came to you now and said, "Hey, Dad, I want to play high school football," what would you say?

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: I think I would say, "Son, listen, I love you and, you know, if it were up to me, you could play, but your mother said no."

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HOWELL: The NFL says it made a number of changes to enhance players' safety and that it will continue to do so.

Now the force, the force is definitely with the new "Star Wars" movie. Opening in theaters around the world, "The Force Awakens" has already earned a record-breaking $130 million in the U.S. alone and could gross more than half a billion dollars worldwide by Monday.

Movie tracking services say if that happens, the new "Star Wars" could break the record for a debut weekend, set earlier this year by "Jurassic World."

That's a lot of money.

We thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world. You are watching CNN, the world's news leader.

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HOWELL: The U.N. Security Council unanimously backs a plan for peace in Syria. But with hundreds of thousands killed, millions displaced, is it too late for a political solution?

Comforting the victims of terror: President Obama meets with --