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Mix Up Award; President Trump Keeping his Words; Rising Hate Crime; Driving Out Refugees; Unfair Sports. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 27, 2017 - 03:00   ET

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


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[03:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do something very, very special.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN HOST: U.S. President Donald Trump promises more information soon on his plan to replace Obamacare.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Plus, the U.S. issues a warning for Russia about the fighting in Ukraine.

VANIER: And the Oscar mix up on live TV that has the world buzzing. We'll be talking about that during the show of course.

Hello, everyone. Glad to have you with us. Welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Cyril Vanier.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN Newsroom.

So it is the moment from the Oscars that everyone is talking about.

VANIER: It happened in the last few minutes of Sunday's ceremony on live television. The musical "La La Land" was announced as the best picture winner only it wasn't.

CHURCH: Yes. The acclaimed drama "Moonlight" was the actual winner. A "La La Land" producer told the stunned crowd there's been a mistake. Moonlight won and this is not a joke.

VANIER: And the envelope that presenter Warren Beatty mistakenly had was for best actress, an award that went to Emma Stone. Here is what Emma Stone had to say about the mix up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA STONE, ACTRESS: But we are so excited for "Moonlight." I think it's one of the best films of all time, so I was pretty beside myself. I also was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time.

So, whatever story -- I don't mean to start stuff but whatever story that was, I had that card. So I'm not sure what happened. But I really wanted to talk to you guys first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So, just clarifying there were two cards backstage and that's where the mix up was. So, besides "Moonlight's" win for best picture there were other memorable moments of course at Sunday's Academy Awards.

"La La Land" may not have won best picture but it did win best the director Oscar for Damien Chazelle. He is 32, the youngest ever Oscar winner for best director. "La La Land's" star, Emma Stone, as you just heard, won the best actress award for her role in the musical.

Casey Affleck won best actor for his performance in the drama "Manchester by the Sea." And Mahershala Ali won his first ever Academy Award for his best supporting actor in "Moonlight." He is also a new dad to a baby girl. And three time nominee Viola Davis won her first Oscar for best supporting actress in "Fences."

VANIER: Now film critic Richard Fitzwilliams joins us now from London. He is the former editor of the international Who's Who. We have a lot of questions for you. We're going to start with that moment.

CHURCH: Yes.

VANIER: And you know, Rosemary and I were watching that moment, that mistake. We thought the show was over and all of a sudden you realize hold on, people are going back on stage. Another -- another speech, I mean, what was that all about?

CHURCH: Yes. And when you see a site like that, I mean, you know what happened behind the scenes. What -- what did -- take us through step by step what went wrong here. And does it overshadow the big win for "Moonlight" or could it possibly go the other way and draw so much attention that more people will go to see that movie?

RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, FILM CRITIC: Well, it's a very significant point you just raised because the win for "Moonlight" is absolutely unique and also a first of Oscar history given the fact it's a low budget movie, it has a gay theme, and of course, an all-black cast which is especially significant after the two years of hash tag 'Oscar so white.'

But what happened, well, I can only tell you what I saw. I had this sort of visceral knee-jerk emotional response that there is something wrong because Warren Beatty appeared initially to stumble. He and Faye Dunaway were announcing best picture. He handed it to her, apparently having to...

(CROSSTALK)

VANIER: He look reluctant to read what was on the -- what was on card.

FITZWILLIAMS: Yes. Because what was on the card was apparently Emma Stone. It appears to be a duplicate of hers. In some bizarre way there was a mix up. Faye Dunaway announced "La La Land" and of course, we had all of the cheering and then the cast assembled on stage.

And then subsequently, of course, it was announced that, well, no. It was "Moonlight" and also Warren Beatty made the explanation that it wasn't a joke. I mean, this is a terribly, terribly embarrassing mix up. It's a dreadful piece of mismanagement. And I do hope it doesn't also the fact that what we've seen this evening and the scene this evening and the shed that was seamless I know everyone will remember the climax.

But it was beautifully produced before then. And what we saw was a wonderfully diverse selection of what prizes. In fact, if you look at the...

(CROSSTALK)

[03:04:56] VANIER: We are going to the prizes, Richard -- if you'll just let me respectfully interrupt you. Because we want to stay on this topic for just another second and show our viewers what the director of "Moonlight," the film that did win the best picture award had to say about the mix up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With this win, despite how it happened and that was even a shock for you and how you even knew how to handle that. But what is it also mean that you did when the shock and how does it feel that you had this win?

BARRY JENKINS, FILM DIRECTOR: It feels good, you know, I'm not an Academy voter. So I think the choice was the academies. You know, we were awarded the best picture but the choice was made by the academy. I think it's a statement and were spin by the ACLU.

I think the Academy won. I think they recognize that the work was emeritus, you know, for they consider the (Inaudible) with the films. You know, you have to choose and whatever distinction was made.

It was some analyzes that, you know, these lives that his characters will only marginalize who aren't at the center of a narrative, they should be centered and there were many different versions of the American experience.

In that way I'm hopeful, you know, I'm hopeful. It makes me feel -- it makes me looks forward to the future.

ELAM: Do you feel like your win was trying to show because of what happened?

JENKINS: No, no, no. You know, I make movies and so I'm used to. I'll give an actor a bad direction and it was really a take. You know, or the (Inaudible) were different to a shot, you know, or the lights some how goes out because it's a face and the (Inaudible).

You know, these things happened. And unfortunately, these things happened but it wasn't malicious in any way. And thankfully because we are so close to "La La Land" crew. I think it happened amongst friends and peers. And in a way it kind of bonded us as I would say even more a family.

ELAM: Probably. So hold up your Oscar and show it to us. I hope you get to enjoy this moment.

JENKINS: I am.

ELAM: And I told you I was going to see you here. I just like to say that.

JENKINS: I'm going to drink champagne and dance a little bit.

ELAM: I think you should do that.

JENKINS: Yes.

ELAM: I think you should do it. Enjoy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) --

CHURCH: OK. Barry Jenkins there, talking with our Stephanie Elam.

So, let's talk about diversity here because it really was the winner at the Oscars. But sadly this mix up that's what everyone is going to be talking about in the days and weeks ahead, isn't it?

FITZWILLIAMS: Well, I fear that you're right but also they will be I hope inspired to see a movie that overall costs some $5 million which is the cheapest Oscar winner ever. It's that Indie movie, as I say with a gay theme which I do think it's very, very important.

And also voters are faced with a choice a fantasy movie, "La La Land" which was delightful, exuberant, and colorful. But I met a very, very large number of individuals who didn't like it or thought it was overrated. And a movie which basically as Barry Jenkins was saying showed reality and showed the way some people live, and also it was a movie of very much our time and faced with that choice.

It's important and very significant bearing in mind that seven out of the 20 acting nominees to see were persons of color. Four out of five in the best documentary section and three out of five in the a lot of the screen play categories were also persons of color. And this shows such a dramatic change.

"Moonlight" is a wonderful movie. It's divided into sections. It's about how a young gay black man discovers and his sexual orientation. And also its got wonderful performances. Mahershala Ali's win, he was so deserved. Naomie Harris was so excellent as Chiron's the main character's mother.

So this is the movie for people to explore and discover. It hasn't got the highest most Oscars movie have but it's got a win that's completely unprecedented. In fact, I go so far as to say that "Crash" versus Brokeback Mountain perhaps even "Saving Private Ryan versus "Shakespeare in Love," it's at that level, if not more...

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Yes. Maybe it felt the hype now, though, right? Maybe that's the thing that this is has really put the spotlight on it.

FITZWILLIAMS: The hype is -- it is important because Oscars is the greatest, the oldest, the most spectacular ceremony, it's a fashion fest and it has a worldwide audience second to none. And for a movie like "Moonlight" to win is a tremendous significant. So the LGBT community too, and also the diversity aspect of it which we saw spread around with Mahershala Ali and Viola Davis with a...

(CROSSTALK)

VANIER: And Richard, about that do you feel that the Oscars sort of made up for the last year or the last two years where you were the one who mentioned the hash tag Oscars are so white sort of overshadowed those ceremonies? Do you feel that's water under the bridge now given what we saw?

FITZWILLIAMS: Definitely. And this is what is coming because there are changes taking place to 2019, which have been announced by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president. And we had 683 new voting members this year. Forty six percent were female, 41 percent were persons were persons of color.

This is one of the reasons for the change. But Oscar does have a heart, it does have a conscience. Yes, we've just seen it makes so gusty mistake. But it also can -- figures on full extent the hand of friendship to Mel Gibson. Something I was glad to see because he has talent even though he's a deeply tormented individual.

[03:10:05] We saw that in the two wins for "Hacksaw Ridge" which is a very fine movie which honors an all-American hero with a conscience just to object to. And I think it's an important story to get across, also I hope the nine movies for best picture who were nominated for tell the stories of persons of color.

This is what is so important. The talent is always been there. The point is to get the stories out there and look how well they do when they are.

CHURCH: Yes. It's a good point. And I do want to ask you, Richard about Jimmy Kimmel. He of course was the host of the Oscars and he took a few swipes at President Trump as he opened with his monologue. What did you think of the job he did throughout the show and then when at the end he actually really took the heat for that mix-up, didn't he? What did you think over all?

FITZWILLIAMS: Over all, I thought that he did are overwhelmed. Not all the gags worked but a large number worked and some of the cracks at Donald Trump I thought had me rolling in the aisles, so to speak. I mean, I was in stitches of bits of it and I was very amused by the gimmick which could have gone so very badly wrong of allowing some tourists in. And they absolutely had no idea they were going to see the Oscars. I mean, that was absolutely hilarious.

The guy's got an imagination. There was a mix up at the end which was awful. But having said he took responsibility for that. I don't know who's fault it was. They should be key hole, but I like what he did up to that point. And I think that it was also a beautiful show when the in memoriam section, for example, some of the clips were I thought very, very well put together. The dance routine seems good.

I mean, this was Hollywood's as you'd expect the most professional and the oldest set organizations where it all began in the world putting a wonderful show which I have to say spread out awards.

"Arrival" got sound nominee an win, and also we had Emma Stone we know, that must have been a fascinating race. Because I would thought that it was -- that probably she'd win.

Isabelle Huppert made some 120 films and is a legend. That was a close up to her close when that was announced and I didn't think she looked too pleased. But I do have to say that she were, too, would have been a very deserving winner in that category.

Denzel Washington, too, I think was very disappointed.

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: Yes.

VANIER: Yes.

FITZWILLIAMS: His win at the Screen Actors Guild that gave one the opportunity of thinking he could have sprung a surprise and beat Casey Affleck. But "Manchester by the Sea" was my favorite movie of last year. It was a passionate tragic, so brilliantly acted. And I'm glad that picked up screen play, and of course Casey Affleck's wins.

VANIER: All right. Richard Fitzwiliams, you've actually answered all my questions.

CHURCH: Yes. We have no need to proceed.

VANIER: Richard, thank you very much. Next year we have to watch the Oscars together. I want to see you in stitches if Jimmy Kimmel does it.

FITZWILLIAMS: Thank you.

VANIER: Thank you so much for coming on.

CHURCH: Thank you. It's wonderful.

(CROSSTALK)

FITZWILLIAMS: My pleasure.

CHURCH: And we will have a short break and we'll be back with a lot more on the other side of that. Stay with us. [03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT REPORTER: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your CNN World Sport headlines.

Starting off with the first major trophy of the Jose Mourinho era at Manchester United on Sunday, his team winning a five goal thriller of an EFL final against South Hampton. And Zlatan Ibahimovic is dramatically late winner at Wembley. The Red Devils would get out to an early 2-nil lead.

South Hampton they'll coming right back with two goals from Manolo Gabbiadini. Zlatan would head that win with 87 minutes up. He is second of the match to make Mourinho now the first United head coach to win a major trophy in his first season.

On Saturday, Chelsea opened up an 11 point lead on top of Premier League. But a day later, Tottenham was showing there's a skill may be a bit of life left in there a title chase and they won this one comfortably.

Harry Kane with a third hatch he get with the season. He now scored 17 times in the league this season. At 22 it all come Spurs trashing Stoke City and they now narrow the gap to 10. Just the 10 on their London arrival 4-nil to final.

England's Rugby team chasing a second consecutive Six Nations crown. They are trying to go win every game so they can also snag another Grand Slam. And if so they'll break New Zealand's world record of 18 straight victories.

They wouldn't have expected too many problems though against Italy at home on Sunday. They were 10-5 down at halftime but they rally to win comfortably in the end getting the job 36-15.

That's all with the World Sport headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to figure out how to fulfill one of his main campaign promises, repealing and replacing Obamacare. It will a challenge to replace the health care law without leaving millions without insurance. And republican leaders disagree on what they want as a replacement.

VANIER: Mr. Trump will consult with state governors and health insurers on Monday. He already started some of those conversations on Obamacare. Speaking on Sunday at the annual governor's dinner at the White House, the president again promised to deliver but he didn't give many details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We were going to be speaking very specifically about a very complicated. Like every state is different. Every state is different and different requirements but I think we have something that's going to really be excellent. And most of you know the Obamacare had tremendous problems. I won't say in front of the democrats. I'll just say it to the

republicans. It doesn't work. But we're going to have it fixed and we are going to repeal and replace, and I think you're going to see something very, very special.

And for all of you and even tonight because we have Tom Price with us, if you see something or want to discuss it we don't have to discuss all friendly stuff, we can discuss a little bit of the health care. And we might as well start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And another big story is the information leaks from the White House keep on leaking. And this time there has been a leak about efforts to stop the leaks.

Our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has more now from New York.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, yes. The latest leaks from the White House are actually about leaks themselves. Now this is involving White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer who is amounting in an aggressive effort to stop some of the leaks that have been coming from the White House and other government agencies recently.

You know, it is unusual this early into a new presidential administration to see so many leaks, really a gusher of stories depending on anonymous sources from the White House and other government agencies. We've all read and seen these stories from CNN, the Washington Post, the New York Times and other outlets.

Some of these stories depending on sensitive, even classified information from sources but others just plain embarrassing. These stories about turmoil in the White House, disagreement among aides, relative chaos essentially in the west wing.

Now Spicer has refuted some of those reports. But in the -- in the background behind the scenes he is mounting what is said to be an aggressive investigation into these leaks. Now this story first reported by Politico on Sunday confirmed by CNN's own Dylan Byers.

Now apparently, Spicer brought his staffers into his office last week and asked to review all of their cell phones, both their government issued cell phones and their personal phones. He was looking for evidence that any of these aides have been sharing information they weren't supposed to be sharing with reporters covering the White House beat.

[03:20:01] Now it's unclear if any actual evidence of leaks was found. Spicer has declined to comment to the news outlets. But this is more evidence of the White House trying to stop what has really been a torrent of leaks in the recent weeks. The stories have been distracting from what the White House wants to be focusing on what the message is supposed to be. We heard the president himself complained about the leaks and say

reporters shouldn't even be relying on anonymous sources. But of course that's not going to change. There are a lot of sources in and out government who say they have to speak on condition of anonymity. That they could lose their jobs if they speak publicly.

So they are sharing information privately, in some cases trying to call attention to problems inside the Trump administration. In other cases, perhaps with more negative agendas. But in any case these leaks don't seem to be stopping. And in this case we are hearing leaks about the leak investigation. Back to you.

CHURCH: Joining us now, democratic strategist, David Jacobson, and CNN political commentator and talk radio host, John Phillips. Good to have you on, gentlemen.

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thanks for having us.

CHURCH: So, as we saw their Press Secretary Sean Spicer inspecting his task phones the leaks, is this an unprecedented level power of paranoia or simply Spicer doing his job? To you first, Dave.

JACOBSON: Well, I think we're looking increasingly like we've got an authoritarian government dictating orders from the White House. It's as if there's no fourth amendment where individual American citizens have a right to privacy. With reports coming out that Sean Spicer, the Press Secretary was looking at personal phones, not government phones, personal phones that's not only extraordinary but it's unprecedented and it's an extremely dangerous.

But look, this is emblematic of the larger issue that you're seeing from the Trump White House and largely, the administration. You've got leaks coming from various elements of the federal bureaucracy.

You've got Donald Trump tweeting out attacking essentially the FBI just last Friday for some of the supposed or so-called leaks that are coming out to help to sort of lead to the New York Times and CNN reporting that there was ongoing conversations with the Trump campaign throughout the general election and the Russians.

But this is a very slippery slope to go down with the White House basically doing away with privacy issues of their own staff looking into the personal phones.

CHURCH: John Phillips, your reaction to this.

JOHN PHILLIPS, KABC TALK RADIO HOST: Well, as long as Trump is grabbing by the phones and staying away from other regions, he's done. When he does that he gets into trouble.

But look, the problem this White House has had from the very beginning is with leaks. And Trump has been complaining about it. Trump, of course initially alleged that it was the FBI, the CIA, the Obama holdovers and the bureaucrats that wok for the government in a permanent status who have been leaking damaging information including those phone calls with the Mexican president, with the Australian president, so on and so forth.

And whenever he does that what does he get in response? People say, well, how do you know it's not your own people? How do you know it's not Kellyanne Conway leaking against Sean Spicer. Sean Spicer linking -- or leaking against Kellyanne Conway or any other number of other permutations?

So, if Trump goes out and says look, I'm doing everything I can to make sure the leaks aren't coming from my people, then he can turn to the FBI, then he can turn to the CIA, then he can turn to the Obama holdovers and say, all right, now it's your turn to fix your leaks.

VANIER: Gentlemen, I'd like you to listen to how Donald Trump described his first month in office just a short while ago. He was speaking to the meeting of governors at the White House on Sunday evening. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So I can say that after hour weeks it has been a lot of fun, but we've accomplished almost everything we've started out to accomplish. The borders are stricter, tighter. We're doing a really good job. General Kelly has done a fantastic job militarily. As you know we have a fantastic team. We have an a-team. And I'm getting some good reports.

There are some problems in the world you know that very well. But we're very happy with the way things are working. And again, we've made a lot of promises over the last two years. And many of those promises already are kept. So we're very honored by that. And I -- thank you. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Dave Jacobson, I can guess that some of the reactions that you're probably going to have to this. And I like you state them, but I would also like you to address this specific question. I mean, doesn't Donald Trump have a point that he has been going directly for his campaign promises trying to fulfill them.

JACOBSON: Right. So, I guess the issue is like he is delivering on executive orders. But in terms of legislative action he is not delivering anything.

At this point, one month into his presidency, only weeks into his presidency in fact, Barack Obama executed the stimulus package that went through Congress. And he's find that George W. Bush got his tax cuts through Congress.

And I think if you look at what Trump has actually pushed through the legislative element of the government, there has been absolutely zero that's been meaningful at least when it comes to delivering on his sort of broad platforms. [03:25:04] And he's sort of gone through a lot of this executive

orders that he's -- that he's campaigned on. But really at the end of the day the lasting changes is going to come from going through Congress. And we haven't seen anything meaningful.

VANIER: John Phillips?

PHILLIPS: Trump voters don't care about the process. They care about the results. When he ran he said here is the list of people that I will nominate to the Supreme Court if I have a vacancy. And what did he do, he nominated someone from that list.

He said if I'm president I going to kill TPP. He killed TPP. He said, if I'm president I'm going to take on the border and try to bring in -- bring back extreme vetting. And he of course tried with his executive order and he's received some pushback in the courts but he's going back to the drawing board with that.

I don't think you can -- a reasonable person can make the argument that he's not coming through with his core promises.

CHURCH: All right. Let's turn now to the polls. This CNBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, it has Trump's approval rating at 44 percent. A record low for a new president. So Dave, to you, not only are we seeing these numbers but they break them down as well. And we see this incredible polarization down party lines as well. Talk to us about what you think this signals going forward.

JACOBSON: Well, he is sort of doubled down on his divisive campaign and then as president he's become the divider and chief. And I think at a time when a president supposed to capitalized on this sort of early political momentum going into the presidency into the hills of their inauguration, it's really an opportunity to bring the country together to build unity to exercise his senses building to try to move the country forward after, you know, a divisive campaign.

He simply not doing that. Instead he is sowing the seeds of division. And I think increasingly he is making America more and more polarized.

But what's fascinating about these poll numbers is it's not just one poles, it's all polls that are increasingly are having him under water. And if you look back at President Obama I think it took about 32 months for him to have numbers that where reflective where he was sort of underwater with the disapproval rating hovering above the approval rating.

George W. Bush I think it was around 41 months or so. So, this is unprecedented to have somebody who is commander in chief only a month into office where they are under water according to the polls.

CHURCH: John Phillips, he didn't have a honeymoon period at all, did he, and these numbers are just extraordinarily low at this point in his presidency.

PHILLIPS: Well, one of my favorite sayings is that political science is a science of one-time occurrences. And a lot of presidents had much higher numbers when they took office but the country was in a different place. Right now you've got a country that's divided 50-50. And the Trump people have a very different agenda than the people who voted for Hillary Clinton.

I would add too that Trump's poll numbers throughout the campaign were almost always in the mid-40's somewhere in that gen malaria. He very rarely polled above 50 percent. So, this is in line with where he was when he won the election.

And I might add the fact that he was polling in those -- in those mid- 40's during the campaign and still republicans in very tough races won Senate seats in places like Wisconsin, in places like Pennsylvania where they really had no business winning in a presidential cycle. Then those polling out those come from behind victory. So, I don't think his numbers were all that bad.

CHURCH: All right. So much more to talk about. We are going to have to leave it there. Dave Jacobson and John Phillips, thank you tp both of you for joining us. I appreciate it.

JACOBSON: Thank you.

VANIER: You're watching CNN Newsroom. When we come back after the break, the U.S. demands Russia on a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. We'll be going live to Moscow for reaction on that.

CHURCH: Plus, an engineer originally from India were shot dead in the United States, was it a hate crime? The FBI is asking questions. Back with that more in a moment.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Cyril Vanier.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on stories we have been covering this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump is consulting with state governors about one of his main campaign promises, repealing and replacing Obamacare. He spoke Sunday at the annual governor's dinner at the White House. We've also learned Mr. Trump on Monday will call for more military spending and funding cuts to some federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency.

VANIER: Sources say the White House press secretary recently checked the cell phones of his aides in an effort to stop information leaks. We're told Sean Spicer asked his staff for their government and personal phones to make sure they were not communicating with journalists or using encrypted texting apps.

CHURCH: The White House is pushing back against calls for a special prosecutor to investigate reported communications between the Trump campaign and Russians known to U.S. intelligence. Even some republican say Attorney General Jeff Sessions would not be impartial because he was an early supporter of the Trump campaign. Well, the accounting firm that tallies the Oscar votes is saying sorry

for the snafu at Sunday's Academy Awards. In a just released statement Pricewaterhouse Coopers said this. "We sincerely apologize to "Moonlight," "La la Land," Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for best picture.

The presenters had mistakenly being given the wrong category envelope. And when discovered was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened and deeply regret that this occurred."

On stage during the acceptance speech a "La La Land" producer told the stunned crowd "Moonlight" won and he added this is not a joke.

Our Stephanie Elam talked to the film's cast right after the awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: So, when they said -- when they said were this is wrong, "Moonlight" actually won, did you guys, what did you guys think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought it was, I mean, it seemed as if it was a joke. You know, I mean, this is Jimmy Kimmel.

ELAM: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I say that's kind of the most disrespectful joke he could blow on somebody, but OK. Or it was like, they were just like, well, "Moonlight" is the real one. You know, they were just...

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: We won the fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You know, but then it was real and that was just the most unique moment.

ELAM: This is the little movie that could than it's now won for best picture. Barry also getting an Oscar, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barry and Tarell.

ELAM: And Tarell, yes, getting an Oscars as well.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Mahershala, yes.

ELAM: So what does this mean? Yes. So what does this mean for you guys like to have this moment here with this movie at the Oscars?

[03:35:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I think it just means that the industry and kind of the world in the sense is moving forward in a direction that's fantastic. I mean, the fact that a movie world made $1.5 million in 25 days with no movie stars with an all-black cast won an Academy Award for best picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was the cast of the Oscar winning best picture "Moonlight" with our Stephanie Elem.

VANIER: The war in Syria took center stage at this years' Academy Awards. The "White Helmets" won for best short subject documentary. It portrays the work of the White Helmets or Syria's civil defense and their mission to rescue civilians in Syria's civil war.

Members of the White Helmets tried to attend the ceremony but were unable to. The film's director read a message from one of them while they're calling the award calling on people to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world.

And the U.S. is warning Russia to immediately observe the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. State Department says it's keeping an eye on the growing violence there and its demanding that Russia and separatist forces withdraw their heavy weapons.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow for more on this. Matthew, you know, for all the talk about how the U.S./Russia relation might change under Donald Trump and how it might affect different hot spots around the world, this is exactly the kind of statement that could have been issued under the Obama administration.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a statement that specifically condemns the encirclement of a group of international monitors from the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe by Russian backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Shots were fired at these international monitors and on a drone that they were attempting to launch into the air was seized and potentially destroyed. And so that was specifically what the State Department spoke statements was about.

But you're right. There has been a much tougher tone from the State Departments and from other elements within the Trump administration than we'd expected given the sympathy that Trump would express for the Russian position and the whole range of issues during his election campaign.

And I think it's in part a reflection of the fact that Trump's -- or the perception that Trump is sympathetic towards Russia has become a political liability for his administration where several members of his staff about to leave their positions as a result of that perception.

And so there's a sense in which I expect the Trump administration feels that it need to toughen its rhetoric when it comes to Russia but it's also a reflection of another reality as well, which is that Russia won't necessarily play ball when it comes to U.S. interests. Its got its own interests to pursue and it seems the fuelling instability in eastern Ukraine is one of them.

VANIER: Our Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you very much.

CHURCH: Well, the father of the first U.S. service member to die during the Trump presidency has some angry words for the White House. He told a newspaper the raid that claimed his son's life was a, quote, "stupid mission." And when his son's remains were returned to the U.S. he refused to meet with the president.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has more.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill Owens is a military veteran himself and he conceive in this air view with the Miami Herald that he even not vote for Donald Trump. Now he is questioning the motivation for the mission that killed his son.

Saying quote, "Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration. Why? For two years prior there were no boots on the ground in Yemen. Everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?"

Owens was the only one with concerns about the mission. Republican Senator John McCain was also critical of its execution and necessity and the days after the problems with the mission were revealed.

Now at that time, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer evoked the death of Owens as a way to rebut McCain's criticism. In his interview with the Miami Herald, Bill Owens warned the White House to, quote, "not hide behind my son's death to prevent an investigation."

Now at this point, the White House is being careful to not be too critical of the Navy SEALS's father. On ABC Sunday morning, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee-Sanders hailed Owens as a hero, but also pointed out that the mission successfully collected very valuable intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON: I know he paid the ultimate sacrifice when he went on that mission. And I know that the mission has a lot of different critics but it did yield a substantial amount of very important Intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives.

And as much as, again, I can't imagine what his father is going through. I think he's a true -- his son is a true American hero and we should forever be in his son's death.

[03:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the president want an investigation?

HUCKABEE-SANDERS: I haven't had the chance to speak with him directly about that, but I would imagine that he would be supportive of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: And in fact, those investigations are already underway. According to the Pentagon a standard set of investigations takes place every time there is a death of any SEAL, including one will specifically look into his death in particular.

You may remember that President Trump made a special trip to Dover Air Force Base to be there when Owens body returned to the United States. His father telling the Miami Herald that he refused to meet the president.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Human rights groups are looking at Germany after the interior ministry said nearly 10 attacks were made on migrants every day in 2016.

Part of the fallout from Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to open up Germany to people fleeing conflict.

Our Atika Shubert is with us now from Berlin. So, Atika, the number of attacks on asylum seekers is shocking, isn't it? What, what if anything does the German president plan to do about it?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the first thing we have to take into consideration is that these are preliminary numbers. So these numbers could shift once they try to, you know, circle back on these numbers, but you're absolutely right.

The fact that more than 3,000 attacks in the last year on migrants, these include both physical attacks outside of the home as well as arson attacks outside of the home, as well as arson attacks at refugee centers, which is something we have seen certainly arise in these sort of arson attacks in shelters and other refugee and migrant homes.

That amounts to as many as 10 attacks, almost 10 attacks a day and hundreds have been injured in these attacks. Now what the government is doing, they do have a special unit that's dedicated to right wing extremism here that has been going after people. But these kinds of sort of every day attacks outside of refugee homes is what's worrying opposition politicians here. And they say the government is not doing enough.

The government seems to be focusing more on sort of controlling the flow of refugees and migrants into the country and making sure to speed up deportations out of the country. And that's probably in response to far right groups who say that there is too much immigration here.

So the government -- again, this is preliminary numbers. It was done as a request of left party in parliament. So the government hasn't responded to these new numbers yet. But it will be interesting to see if Merkel and her administration come up with a strategy to tackle this.

CHURCH: Yes. It's hard to know what sort of strategy they might -- they might come up with. I mean, what is behind most of these attacks on asylum seekers? What's the motive, if you like, driving these attacks? Is it to scare people away?

SHUBERT: I think what we've seen certainly last year when we were following a number of these rise in arson attacks on refugee shelters is exactly that. These sorts of fires being set in homes not intended clearly to kill people but to frighten people.

And of course, it is very frightening. A lot of the refugees and migrants there ended up suffering from serious smoke inhalation sent to hospital including numbers of children.

We also saw last year a rise in the sort of, I guess you could describe it as brawls. Where basically you would have groups of young asylum seekers or young refugee men gathered in town squares then clashing with local residents.

So we have also seen a rise in that sort of a thing. I think there has also clearly been a rise in sort of the spontaneous verbal attack on people walking along the streets. And that may be reflected in these preliminary numbers. We don't know yet. That's something we're going to have to circle back on police to find out what it is that's going on the streets of Germany.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Our Atika Shubert, joining us live from Berlin where it is nearly 9.45 in the morning. Many thanks to you.

VANIER: And we're going to take a very short break. But when we come back we're going to tell you about a man who love America was shot dead in Kansas. He was an engineer from India and now his widow and the FBI are both demanding answers. That story coming up.

[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The widow of a man of a man killed in Kansas was already terrified about growing violence in the United States even before her husband was murdered. A gunman killed Indian immigrant Srinivas Kuchibhotla this past Wednesday, and what the suspect allegedly shouted before opening fire has authorities looking at whether it was a hate crime.

Michael Holmes has the story.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A crowded restaurant with people watching basketball on a Wednesday night became the scene of what many are calling a hate crime. Adam Purinton is accused of shooting three people including 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla who later died.

Witnesses say the suspect shouted "get out of my country." Kuchibhotla was an Indian immigrant. He worked as an engineer for GPS company, Garmin. His widow says she was worried about violence against immigrants in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNAYANA DUMALA, SRINIVAS KUCHIBHOTLA'S WIFE: I told him many times should we think about going back? Should we think about going to a different country? He said no. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And witness says Purinton became agitated at the bar and was asked to leave. But the suspect later returned and started shooting. Ryan Grillot tried to intervene but was also shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN GRILLOT, SHOOTING VICTIM: People call me a hero. I was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being. It's not about words from our ethnicity. We're all humans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The FBI is assessing whether the shooting was a hate crime. Purinton has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. As Kuchibhotla's family members in India and the U.S. mourn, Indian officials are demanding what they call a thorough and speedy investigation. Kuchibhotla's widow is asking Washington how she is supposed to comfort his grieving parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUMALA: I need an answer from the government. I need an answer not just for my husband who lost his battle in this but for everyone, all those people of any race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was CNN's Michael Holmes reporting.

Activists say the number of hate crimes in the United States has risen sharply since the election last November.

VANIER: And coming up after the break, he's been cheered by some, booed by others. We'll hear from a transgender wrestler after his championship win when we're back.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good Monday to you. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with CNN Weather Watch here.

Wintery weather still in effect around the western United States. The intermountain west and even parts of the southwest there some rainfall expected. Notice the southeastern United States getting in some wet weather here as you wrap up the month of February.

In Atlanta one of those areas will bring in a few showers there at 18 degrees. In Montreal it will be partly cloudy, it will be a little windy as well. It will feel much colder in the 4, but that's your afternoon temperature expectation there in Chicago. Mostly sunny skies. A far cry from this time last week. But 11 degrees is not too bad for February.

But notice how widespread the coverage is for some wintery weather over the next couple of says around the western U.S. A lot of snow showers. That is what you expect. And of course that is precisely how active it's been across that region.

But we're watching a little shift here in the temperatures. We get in some air coming in mid-week and then it really encompasses the eastern third of the U.S. there. And we think parts of southeast could actually begin to see a cooling trend over the seven to 10 days.

And notice in places like Atlanta it will warm up before it cools off. In Charlotte almost 30 degrees before it comes back down into the teens inside the next few days. Now towards Belize City we'll go at 29 degrees. Havana, around 31. Guatemala City comes in with high (AUDIO GAP) 20's. And notice in Lima, Peru (AUDIO GAP). La Paz, thunderstorm in the forecast, heights around 14.

VANIER: There's a developing controversy around a girl's wrestling competition in the Southern United States.

CHURCH: A transgender teenaged boy won the championship in Texas after the state said he wasn't allowed to compete against other boys.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a dramatic end to a competitive and controversial weekend for Mack Beggs. The 17-year-old Dallas area high school student won the title of champion in the girl state wrestling competition on Saturday.

(CROWD BOOING)

Mix of cheers and boos directed at the wrestler as he fell to his knees appearing to soak in the win. Many in the audience feel Beggs has an unfair advantage on the road to victory. Beggs is a transgender athlete before a girl transitioning to become a boy. He takes testosterone injections to make that transition happen (AUDIO GAP) as the young wrestler with an added competitive edge of strength and agility her heart missed on the mat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:54:59] MELISSA ROUSH, COUNSELOR: So, there's the big issue right now, right? And I think if he has been taking hormones or steroids he should be wrestling boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: That can't happen, though, according to the university in her scholastic league which overseas public high school athletics. Current UIL rules state "Boys may not wrestle against girls and vice versa. And gender shall be determined based on a student's birth certificate."

For Beggs that means he's got no choice but to wrestle girls. Then there's is issue of the hormone therapy that would typically be disqualifying. Not in this case since UIL deputy director UIL Dr. Jamey Harrison. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMEY HARRISON, UIL DEPUTY DIRECTOR: The law is very, very specific that a student who is being administered performance enhancing drugs by a physician cannot be made ineligible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The UIL insist it's willing to review its existing laws to see if they need to be changed by legislators. For now, a state stands by this weekend's competition calling it fair. Today, Beggs shares the gold with his peers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACK BEGGS, TRANSGENDER WRESTLER: I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for my teammates. That's honestly what's violation have been on is my team mates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The young athlete wrestles with a new uncertainty. Next season will he face off with girls as a boy?

Polo Sandoval, CNN, Cyprus, Texas.

VANIER: All right. Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom, everyone. Early Start is next for viewers here in the United States.

CHURCH: And for everyone else stay tuned for more news with our Max Foster in London. This is CNN. Have yourselves a great day.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)