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CNN NEWSROOM

Syrian Family Finds Work, Hope and Safety in the U.S.; Day Two of Deliberations Over Police Shooting Death; Feds Get Sweeping New Hacking Authority; 300 U.S. Marines to be Stationed in Norway; Vikings Coach Has Emergency Eye Surgery; New Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement; Tim Tebow Opens Up in New Book; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 1, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: For dozens of refugees fleeing their war-torn countries who live here, this bit of Americana is a gift from God.

(On camera): Do you feel lucky that you're here?

SAMER, SYRIAN REFUGEE (Through Translator): Certainly I am lucky. I'm safe now. Safety is everyone's wish.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Samer along with his wife Dania paid a smuggler $100 to sneak them out of Holms, Syria. They don't talk about it much. They still fear what they left behind.

Most of their family died in the relentless bombing here. Pictures of injured and dead children makes them want to hold their own kids closer.

(On camera): When you guys had to leave Syria, leave your home, leave your family, leave what all was familiar to you to go somewhere, I just wonder what that's like.

SAMER (Through Translator): Your heart bleeds from the inside when you have to leave your country but at the same time, you're leaving to seek safety and stability for your family. You want to live, to stay away from problems.

COSTELLO: If you could go home, would you?

SAMER (Through Translator): Yes. Everybody would prefer to go back to his or her country if it's safe. I'm happy living in the U.S., but nonetheless, I always miss my home country. My country is still at war. We don't want to go back.

COSTELLO (voice-over): New American Pathways, a nonprofit, helped Samer find a home. It provides the whole family with English classes and Samer a job. In this most American of towns, Samer works in a restaurant making falafels and while he said he doesn't worry about deportation, in light of Donald Trump's win, he has heard the rhetoric.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We have no idea where they come from, folks. This could be the great Trojan horse. We don't know if they have love or hate in their heart and there's no way to tell. We can't let these people come into our country. We have enough problems.

COSTELLO (on camera): President-elect Trump has said that it's not a good idea to admit Syrians into the country because you don't know who you can trust. When you hear that from the president-elect, what goes through your mind?

SAMER (Through Translator): It's not a humane approach to reject the people who are fleeing the war. Instead, the president should bring in and rescue more people for humanitarian reasons.

COSTELLO: Some Americans are afraid of people from the Middle East, from Syria. Why do you think that is?

DANIA, SYRIAN REFUGEE (Through Translator): To the country, we love the American people. We want them to reciprocate our feeling. We came to them for help. We want them to love us. We will love them back.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Samer and his wife fought to get into the United States. After fleeing Syria, the family wound up in Jordan but applied to the United Nations Refugee Agency for asylum in the United States. A country where dreams come true. They underwent intense vetting by the FBI, the Defense Department, the National Counterterrorism Center, Homeland Security and the United Nations. But along the way, Dania had two more babies.

(On camera): So your children, each child was born in a different country?

DANIA (Through Translator): Yes. Each of my kids was born in a different country. My oldest son was born in Syria. My next child was born in Jordan. And the youngest one was born in the U.S.

COSTELLO: What can you say to the American people out there who fear immigrants coming into this country from the Middle East?

SAMER (Through Translator): If you have left your country and the war, you're only seeking safety. You don't want anything to do with the war and terrorism. If what you want is terror, then your country which is at war is the perfect ground for you.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Although Samer's family yearns to go home, they can't. There is no home in Syria anymore. So like so many refugees before them, they'll create their own American dream. Samer already has a plan. His own business right here in Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Right now there are 532 Syrian refugees living in Georgia. More than 16,000 Syrian refugees are now living in the United States since the civil war began in Syria. That's according to the State Department.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, the Justice Department just handed sweeping new authority to spy on Americans. Why a single search warrant now grants them access to your computer and smartphone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:38:56] COSTELLO: Jury deliberations are again under way in South Carolina for the former police officer accused of murdering an unarmed black man. A jury right now deciding if Michael Slager should face life behind bars in the shooting death of Walter Scott. The fatal shooting captured on cell phone video. Scott shot five times in the back as he ran from a traffic stop last year.

CNN's Boris Sanchez is outside the courtroom in Charleston with more for you. Good morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Yes, right now the jury is deliberating. They have been at it for about an hour this morning. They did so for about an hour last night after hearing closing arguments from the defense and prosecution.

Really two starkly different messages from both sides. The defense essentially telling the jury that the video should not play into their decision-making in this process, that so much happened before the cameras started rolling that it doesn't really tell the full story. As a matter of fact, they say that the fact the video went viral colored this case and changed the opinion of investigators who were collecting evidence and it colored their opinion of Michael Slager.

They also said if there was a media narrative that was a false one, that the media perpetuated this idea that Michael Slager was guilty because it fell into a wider narrative about confrontations between unarmed African-Americans and police officers.

[10:40:13] In turn, the prosecution came out and told the jury that everything they needed to know to make their decision was on that video. They said it showed the moment that Michael Slager killed Walter Scott without needing to, saying his life was not at risk. They also said that it showed the inconsistencies in Michael Slager's initial reporting to investigators and then they played the fateful moment that Walter Scott was killed with his family in the courtroom.

They actually came out shortly after the jury started deliberating and talked to us about some of the moments that really irked them during the trial. Here's some of that sound by the family of Walter Scott and their attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS STEWART, WALTER SCOTT FAMILY ATTORNEY: The only thing that sticks out of my mind that really bothered me from the closing argument by Mr. Slager's team was a comment that a guilty verdict sends a message to all of the men and women in blue, a bad message. I couldn't more vehemently disagree. And it's not just me because my opinion doesn't really matter. But that message is contradicted by the many officers that have contacted me to let the family know.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: The Scott family and their attorney saying that in fact, it does send a message but not to police officers. Rather to the country as a whole, that if Walter -- rather, Michael Slager is found guilty, police officers are accountable when they act improperly -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Boris Sanchez reporting live from Charleston, South Carolina, thank you.

Under a sweeping new rule taking effect today, federal agents can now use a single search warrant to hack into millions of Americans' computers or smartphones all at once. Opponents took to the Senate floor in a last ditch effort to stop the rule from taking effect but they were unsuccessful.

CNN's senior political reporter Manu Raju has more for you.

Hi, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Now the Justice Department actually sought this rule because of a change in technology that they say is making it harder and harder to track criminals. Essentially under existing rules the Justice Department is required to go to various courts around the country in order to hack into different devices. Under the new rule that's taking effect now, essentially they can just go to one, sort of with one warrant, go to one court and try to hack into devices all across the country by just sort of one-stop shopping, if you will.

And privacy advocates here in the United States Senate are concerned. Yesterday, on the floor, three senators, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Chris Coons of Delaware and Steve Daynes, he's a Republican of Montana, the other two are Democrats, came to the floor and they wanted to seek a delay of this rule. They said that there needs to be more time to examine it. This could lead to potentially abuse by the federal government. And essentially they were shot down. They had very little support.

Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree there needs to be more -- there needs to be -- the government needs to have this power in order to keep up with this changing technology. So John Cornyn of Texas yesterday objected to any request to delay this rule from taking effect. Congress has not even really looked at this in terms of in a public setting,. There have not been any hearings or anything like that. That's one reason why folks wanted a little bit more time to look at it but it looks like they're going to have little chance to stop it because this is going to take effect starting this month.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

Checking some other top stories for you at 43 minutes past. A tense standoff in Washington state ends with a suspected cop killer dead. Police in Tacoma ending the standoff just two hours ago. Officials say a man barricaded himself inside this home yesterday afternoon after fatally shooting an officer. That officer was responding to a domestic dispute. Two children were found inside the home but they were unhurt.

In Tennessee, rubble is all that remains in parts of the great smoky mountains after raging flames ripped across a popular resort area. Seven people now confirmed dead. One local mayor says rescue crews are searching for sever people still missing. The cause of the fire under investigation but officials believe it was likely human caused.

Buzz Aldrin, one of the first astronauts to walk on the moon, has been evacuated from the South Pole because of deteriorating health. That's according to the National Science Foundation. Aldrin was visiting the region as part of a travel group. At this point, his condition is being described as stable, although it's unclear -- well, exactly what happened. Aldrin is 86 years old.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, several hundred United States Marines are about to call Norway home. Why?

[10:45:02] Nick Paton Walsh will tell you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Three hundred U.S. Marines will soon be stationed in Norway. The reason? To help the country prepare against potential aggression from Russia. The move comes amid President-elect Donald Trump's talk of re-evaluating NATO.

CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): War just got very cold again for these U.S. Marines, training with tanks in Norway, on the eastern borders of a NATO that's suddenly nervous once more.

(On camera): They`re moving forward now towards the fake enemy positions but these kind of exercises since Russia`s moves in Ukraine, have taken on a new kind of realism and urgency.

(Voice-over): In January, 300 Marines will move to Norway permanently. That`s how worried about Moscow`s intentions they are.

[10:50:05] For now a unit from North Carolina are readying these Abrams tanks, normally stored deep in caves but now the furthest north of the Arctic Circle they`ve ever been.

After Iraq and Afghanistan, these are old new war games about protecting Europe and they know that when the enemy isn`t role- playing, it will probably be the newly-emboldened Russian military.

BRIG. ELDAR BERLI, NORWEGIAN ARMY: In 2014, that was a clear sign that Russia has stepped into an area where they are willing and able to use military. You know, suddenly we have changed focus from what was going on, in particular, in Afghanistan, and to collective defense -- national defense. WALSH: A change in focus somebody`s watching. Norwegian police

investigating 10 sightings of medium-sized unidentified drones over these exercises. At a furthest point north of the border you can go, it's an open game of watching a Russian helicopter land, rare here.

And when Donald Trump questioned America's commitment to NATO and seems to want an (INAUDIBLE) with Russia, that bit of land just there it gets noticed here.

(On camera): So all of you up here, did you hear about Donald Trump becoming U.S. president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.

WALSH: What do people think out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not allowed to talk about that, actually.

WALSH (voice-over): It's not really a Russian invasion they worry about here but rather the sort of separatist uprising Russia fomented in Ukraine. Little green men with guns creating trouble.

(On camera): We're heading out with the Norwegian Border Patrol towards their frontier with Russia, a presence on the ground being vital for them and ensuring nothing untoward happens with their large at times unfriendly neighbor.

(Voice-over): That's really the reason for the Norwegian and American tanks you saw earlier to be sure that even out here in the empty pines and crisp snow, no matter what the Trump presidency brings, there's enough muscle already here to enforce NATO's promises of collective security.

(On camera): Do you see Russians at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, it happens. You just salute them.

WALSH: Would you like to talk to them if you could?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably, but it's illegal.

WALSH (voice-over): Very strange to hear Norwegians, NATO members, talk so vividly again about the Russian threat. The constant and real backdrop to this survival training happening tonight under a staggering display of the northern lights. Not until now is being sure you're ready happened with such a sense of insecurity about Europe's very borders that mount slowly as the Trump presidency nears.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kirkenes, northern Norway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Coming up in the NEWSROOM, the Minnesota Vikings host the Dallas Cowboys tonight. But they might be missing an important person on the sidelines. Andy Scholes has more on head coach Mike Zimmer's medical emergency. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:16] COSTELLO: Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer may miss tonight's game against the Cowboys after having emergency surgery on his eye last night.

Andy Scholes has more for you in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Yes, we finally have a great game on Thursday night. Football's 10-1 Cowboys versus 6-5 Vikings but Minnesota may be without their head coach, Mike Zimmer, having his third surgery in a month to try to repair a torn retina in his right eye. An injury originally happened in the team's loss to the Bears on Halloween when Zimmer scratched his eye. Now Zimmer's status for tonight right now still uncertain. They don't know if he'll be on the sidelines.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, can clinch a playoff spot tonight. Tonight Dak Prescott and company have won an NFL-best 10 games in a row.

There will be no strike in Major League Baseball. According to multiple reports the union and the owners coming to an agreement last night on a new collective bargaining agreement. The new deal going to kick in in 2017 and it will reportedly have some big changes. For example, the All-Star Game will no longer determine who has home field advantage in the World Series. It will go back to who has the better record. Also, smokeless tobacco wild be banned for all new Major Leaguers. And the regular season going to be extended four days by 2018 to give players more days off.

All right. Earlier today I caught up with former Heisman Trophy winner, now pro-baseball player, Tim Tebow. And in addition to playing in the Mets farm system, Tebow recently found time to write a "New York Times" best-selling book titled "Shaken" and I asked Tebow how the baseball career is going thus far and I asked hey, what is Tim Tebow going to be doing in 2020?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM TEBOW, AUTHOR, "SHAKEN": It's going really well. I'm enjoying it. I'm having so much fun. Every day is just a blast to go out there and get a chance to live out another dream that I had, and it's really a blessing. I mean, it's a huge learning curve seeing how I didn't do it for 11 years.

SCHOLES: Yes.

TEBOW: But I'm having the time of my life.

SCHOLES: So in 2020, looking to the future, what will you be doing?

TEBOW: Oh, I have no idea. I mean, if you looked at the last four years of my life, I mean, there's no telling. But I'll tell you what, it's -- you know, whatever I'm doing, I'm going to be passionate about it, I'm going to be excited about it and I'm going to pursue it with all my heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Carol, Tebow is here in Atlanta today helping with the All State AFCA Good Works Team. You know, recognizes college football players across the country for their selfless acts and community service involvement. Tebow of course also here covering this weekend's SEC championship game between Alabama and Florida. Should be a good one.

COSTELLO: So Tim Tebow is keeping busy because sometimes I get all worried about him. He seems kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: Right.

COSTELLO: Right?

SCHOLES: Always doing something.

COSTELLO: He's such a nice man.

SCHOLES: Such a nice and genuine guy. You know, as he appears on television and we always see him, that's how he really is in person, Carol.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. So call it a "thank you" tour, call it a victory lap, and it's probably a little bit of both. Donald Trump now --