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Trump to Pick ExxonMobil CEO as Secretary of State; Battle for Aleppo; VOA Board to Be Replaced by President-Appointed CEO; Deadly Crackdown in the Philippines. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 13, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, he is friendly with Russia and has no government or diplomatic experience and sources say ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson will be Donald Trump's choice for U.S. secretary of State.

In Aleppo, regime troops reportedly executing civilians amid desperate pleas for help from those still trapped in the Syrian city.

Plus the growing death toll in the Philippines' war on drugs. Nearly 6,000 dead since July and the photographer who took these images will join us later this hour.

Hello everybody, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

After weeks of speculation and reported infighting within his transition team, President-Elect Donald Trump looks set to announce his choice for secretary of State. Sources tell CNN ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson is Trump's choice for America's top diplomat. But the oil tycoon's ties with Russia and Vladimir Putin could complicate his Senate confirmation.

Meantime senior Senate Republicans are joining the call for an investigation into Russian hacking in the U.S. election, a claim Trump called ridiculous.

We get details from Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A former senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the inquiry tells CNN the investigation discovered Russian hacking of Republican entities not just the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's top aide John Podesta.

CNN is told that hackers got hold of information from some Republican House members, pundits, a third party entity that held data for the Republican National Committee and non-profit groups tied to the party. Most of the information relating to the Republican Party was not released by hackers. That, in part, led the intelligence community to assess that Russia could have been acting to impact the election for Trump. Though it was not clear whether this was truly for Trump or just to weaken Clinton.

FBI investigators were not as convinced. Some of the data appears to have been outdated and perhaps of less value to hackers.

Tonight the White House said it believes it is clear who Russia was trying to help.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: These were e-mails from the DNC and John Podesta, not from the RNC and Steve Bannon.

SCIUTTO: This has put President-Elect Trump and his team at odds with the U.S. intelligence community over this assessment. The President- Elect himself is questioning the assessment that Russia was involved in any election-related hacking at all.

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody.

SCIUTTO: Trump's transition team is also disputing a report that the Republican National Committee was hacked as well though no information was made public.

SEAN SPICER, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The intelligence is wrong because they're writing that the conclusion that they came to was based in part on the fact that the RNC was hacked. It wasn't hacked.

SCIUTTO: Though investigators do have evidence Republican entities, though not the RNC, were breached.

Now Republican officials can credibly say there is no evidence that the RNC itself was hacked. But what we now know is that other Republican organizations and individuals were hacked. And at least some in the intelligence community, for them this gives them greater confidence that the intent of this hack was, if not to help Donald Trump, to weaken Hillary Clinton. It's still though not a conclusion that they've reached with confidence.

Jim Sciutto, CNN -- the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now Democratic strategist Mac Zilber and Republican consultant John Thomas; also CNN contributor, former Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty is standing by in Seattle, Washington; and CNN's Matt Rivers also live this hour in Beijing.

We will get to the Russian hack story in a moment. But let's start with the major news over the last couple of hours that we are now look finally at a choice of secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. So John to you -- chief executive at ExxonMobil, very successful businessman, zero experience in public diplomacy, zero experience in government, friendly links with Russia, Vladimir Putin. What does this say about Donald Trump and, I guess, foreign policy he wants to pursue?

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well, Rex Tillerson is a very Trumpian pick. Donald Trump likes successful businessmen, people who know how to cut deals. And remember, on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said repeatedly about our foreign entanglements that it's all about the oil. Why are we not taking the oil?

Well, I think Rex Tillerson probably knows a thing or two about the oil. So I think that's what he is looking for in Rex Tillerson and yes, he may have a confirmation battle on his hands, yes. But I think all that aside, he will get confirmed and be the next secretary of state.

VAUSE: But Mac, you know, foreign policy is about more than oil.

MAC ZILBER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right. Well, and frankly he has taken oil in violation of international law. He may deal with Kurdistan which is not a recognized government to go after their oil field.

[00:05:02] But the reality is that this is a guy who doesn't just have business relationships with Putin. This is a guy who has been personal friends with Putin for 20 years, who the man who runs the think tank that Tillerson sits on the board of, says that Tillerson has spent more time with Putin than anybody in the U.S. except for Henry Kissinger.

That's a dangerous thing for our chief diplomat.

VAUSE: Ok. Let's get Jill Dougherty here on this. So Jill -- your understanding of the relationship between Tillerson and Putin. And also this must be a good day for the Kremlin.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, definitely. I mean I think we all know at this point that this would be good for the Kremlin, there's no question, to have a friend as the secretary of State and a friend under the circumstances that's dealing in a field that is extraordinarily important for the Russian economy. So that's definite.

Now, about the relationship, I think it gets complicated. I would argue that just being a friend -- and, you know, a friend with Vladimir Putin is not necessarily a friend-friend, it could be a business friend, a very close business friend but still not, you know, bosom buddies. It does not have to be that.

So what does it mean? It means that he knows Vladimir Putin and you know, you could argue that's useful to know Vladimir Putin. But where I would come down is what are his priorities? Are his priorities, you know, ultimately for his company because that is the way he has been dealing for 41 years? Or will he be able to look at things from a different perspective and that different perspective has to go beyond economic deals, something good for oil, and it has to go to, you know, other issues like, human rights and geopolitics and relationships with other countries in that region which is very, very sensitive.

VAUSE: Ok. Jill -- stay with us.

That's a good point. Can John -- can Tillerson, you know, switch from his loyalty to Exxon where he's worked for 40 years and now make that switch to essentially serving Donald Trump and the American people?

THOMAS: I mean time will tell. That's the judgment we have to trust that President-Elect Trump has and has made.

Rex Tillerson is not just Donald Trump's pick that he plucked out of nowhere. He came highly recommended from Bob Gates and several others.

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Yes. So it's not as if this guy is a fringe right character.

ZILBER: I think Mitt Romney might argue that he came out of nowhere.

VAUSE: A lot has been made about Tillerson and that friendship he has Vladimir Putin particularly receiving the Order of Friendship medal from Putin.

Let's listen to Republican Senator John McCain speaking to Jake Tapper a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Anybody who is a friend of Vladimir Putin must disregard the fact that Vladimir Putin is a murderer, a thug, a KGB agent. This guy is a thug and a murder and I don't see how anybody could be a friend of this old-time KGB agent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mac, in case you missed it, John McCain does not like Vladimir Putin. Could you see Republicans siding with Democrats to try and block this confirmation hearing?

ZILBER: Absolutely. Well John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio have all come out and expressed grave concerns over the fact that Tillerson has ties with not just Putin but also with one of Russia's top security guys, Igor Sechin. And I think that a number of (AUDIO GAP 00:08:16 to 00:08:28)

VAUSE: -- block everything.

THOMAS: That's right. And by the way, where their real battle is going to be is at the Supreme Court level, right.

VAUSE: Right.

THOMAS: So, look, I think at the end of the day, this is a great discussion and I think it's a healthy discussion to have about his ties to Putin and whether or not he should be picked.

But I think he'll get conformed and people like Marco Rubio who have spoken out against him also walked it back and said but I will vote to confirm.

VAUSE: Ok. Jill -- I just want to get back to you because -- explain to us exactly more about this Order of Friendship award. What is it? Who normally gets it?

DOUGHERTY: You know, it's not that high actually high-up in the ranking. The Russians and President Putin give a lot of awards. They did it in the czarist days and still do it. And, you know, it's nice. It's kind of like, well, you know, we give the Medal of Freedom which is very serious but we don't give as many medals.

So they do. This is not particularly high up but it's a nice sign and it would probably be because of his business work.

VAUSE: Ok. Nice to have but not necessarily a must have.

Ok. So Romney, he essentially said he is not getting the job. He posted on Facebook a couple of hours ago, "It was an honor to have been considered for secretary of State. My discussions with Trump have been enjoyable and enlightening." All of this similar to what he basically said when he emerged from that meeting in New York, that very visible dinner meeting with Trump.

Let's remind ourselves of what Governor Romney said back then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The last few weeks he has been carrying out a transition effort. And I have to tell you I've been impressed by what I've seen in the transition effort. The people he selected as members of his cabinet are solid, effective, capable people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:08] VAUSE: Mac, to you -- has Romney been effectively punked? You know, has he now sort of been almost sort of neutered, taken out of the game as a potential Trump critic moving forward now?

ZILBER: Yes. It wouldn't be the first time. I mean he has gone from looking like the voice of moral authority of the Republican resistance to Trump, to someone who went to him with his hands out and got rejected. Not only that but one could argue that Trump has helped get Romney's allegiance by appointing, I believe was it Romney's niece to chair the RNC. And I think that that will help mute some of that criticism going forward as well.

THOMAS: But the fact is Romney was seriously being considered for this position. I think what is unique to Donald Trump is he is new to politics and he's new to D.C. He truly had to go through an exploration process to settle where he did.

VAUSE: Right.

THOMAS: I think Romney was at the top, at least until as of a week or so ago.

VAUSE: You don't think it was that calculated?

THOMAS: I don't.

VAUSE: Ok.

ZILBER: I think Trump is pretty erratic in how he does this stuff. I think he may have --

(CROSSTALK)

ZILBER: -- then thought, oh ExxonMobil.

VAUSE: Ok. Maybe.

Well, let's go back to 2012 and listen to then presidential nominee Mitt Romney. He was talking about the dangers of President Obama being flexible when it comes to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: These are very unfortunate developments and if he's planning on doing more and suggest to Russia that he has things he is willing to do with them he's not willing to tell the American people, this is to Russia. This is without question our number one geopolitical foe. They fight every cause for the world's worst actors. The idea that he has some more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mitt Romney -- how you were so right back then and everyone mocked you. But the point is John -- he's out, replaced with a guy who is getting the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin. So, you know, what does this actually say about where Trump is heading?

THOMAS: I think Trump is just singularly focused on economics at this point. I mean I really think that's what it is all about.

Trump's trying to be known as the jobs president. I think he wants to figure out how he can work with other members of the global community to make the U.S. economy stronger. Look, Tillerson is not a slouch and we have to expect he's going to advocate for Americans first.

ZILBER: But the problem with singularly focusing on economics is that as president you have to be able walk and chew gum at the same time. And if he's going to say I'm going to delegate my whole foreign policy to Moscow because I'm focusing on creating jobs one deal at a time -- THOMAS: That's not what he's saying.

ZILBER: That's what he's doing, just not saying.

VAUSE: OK. We'll get now to the other big issues which could be the first clash that's facing the secretary of State, the issues with China. A lot of concern being raised now that Trump is willing to essentially put the one-China policy as a bargaining chip with Beijing. And that is raising a lot of concerns both here and also in China.

ZILBER: Yes. I mean here's what I think Donald Trump is doing on this. I think that he's putting out some bait that he knows that all of us pointy-headed elites in the media and on Democratic establishment are going to bite at. And then he is going to say they're standing up for China. It's smart politics. I mean it's terrible geopolitics. It's terrible foreign policy but he is doing this for a reason and it's to rile us up so that he looks like the guy who's standing up for American Midwestern interests over China.

VAUSE: Ok. It is riling many people up here. He's also riling up many people in Beijing.

Matt Rivers is there live this hour. So Matt -- China sending a message to Donald Trump and flexing some military muscle in the process.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Flexing their muscle in both what they're doing and also what they're writing in communist-run newspapers. So it was on December 7 and 8, according to a senior U.S. Defense official that spoke to CNN, that China for the first time flew nuclear capable bombers over the South China Sea -- the portion of the South China Sea that China claims as its own territory. It is a territory that is also claimed -- there's overlapping claims by many countries including Taiwan.

And what is interesting there, John, is that flight or those flights on the 7th and 8th came just a few days after President-Elect took that phone call from the Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen breaking with decades of standing foreign policy tradition.

And then moving forward too this morning, we woke up here in Beijing to a new (AUDIO GAP 00:14:11) communist party-run (AUDIO GAP) called "The Global Times" known to be provocative and talking about Trump's apparent (AUDIO GAP) to maintaining the one-China policy.

The newspaper wrote, "The truth is the President-Elect, inexperienced in diplomatic practices, probably has no idea of what he's talking about. He has greatly overestimated the U.S.'s capability of dominating the world." So both in what they're doing and what they're saying, very easy to read the messages coming out of Beijing right now -- John.

VAUSE: Ok. Matt -- thanks for the update. Matt Rivers in Beijing.

(AUDIO GAP 00:14:43 to 00:14:45) -- and an inexperienced secretary of State but it's the number two also, the deputy secretary of State looking to John Bolton. This is a man he still believes that invading Iraq, he still believes to this day, it was a good idea.

THOMAS: Yes. And he hates the U.N. He thinks the U.N. Should be abolished. And he thinks we should be sticking up for Taiwan.

[00:15:01] You're right. It is a shift in policy. But you have to look, the last eight years we're not better off really on a foreign policy standpoint. The world is a very chaotic place. I think Donald Trump is going in and he's saying you can't bully us around any longer and he's taking bold steps even before he's taking office.

ZILBER: Look, over the last eight years, we have ended two wars. But the thing that John Bolton did the other day that was unforgiveable was when he said that this Russian hacking could be a false flag by the American intelligence services. When a prominent U.S. foreign policy figure with no evidence just makes up the notion that the U.S. intelligence is hacking its own people, I mean that is a serious accusation that, you know, he has provided no substantiation for which is why --

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Well, (inaudible) said it was a leak, not a hack.

ZILBER: This is why Rand Paul has already said, you know, no matter what Bolton is nominated for, I'm a no.

THOMAS: Rand Paul is also a fringe in foreign policy.

VAUSE: Ok. The Republican Senate will also (inaudible) for the nomination as well as (inaudible) with Rand Paul.

We'd like to thank you both -- Mac Zilber and John Thomas. Also we'd like to thank Jill Dougherty our CNN contributor and also Matt Rivers in Beijing. We will catch up with all of next hour because we still have to get to the Russian hacking issue which we didn't have time for. Thanks to you all.

ZILBER: Thanks.

(AUDIO GAP 00:16:09 to 00:16:20)

VAUSE: -- of war crimes in Aleppo as regime troops advance on the last rebel-held positions. Humanitarian volunteers are pleading for help.

[00:16:29] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Activists in Aleppo say Syrian forces are executing civilians with ties to rebel groups. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports quote, "Every hour butcheries are carried out."

Government troops are making further advances into the rebel-held eastern part of the city. Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing but with few places left to go. On Syrian state media, a very different story which claimed many in east Aleppo are celebrating the government's victory.

CNN producer Tim Lister has been covering the fight against the ISIS and the civil war in Syria. He joins us now via Skype. Tim -- thanks for being with us.

This has been such a brutal offensive waged by the regime, the Syrian regime and the Russians to win Aleppo. In some ways has it just deepened the divide in country and made any political settlement if it wasn't impossible before it certainly is now?

TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: I think you're absolutely right -- John.

What is going on in Aleppo right now is beyond horrific. Someone tweeted out, "We're being deleted from the human map." The Russians and the Syrians and their allies, the Iranian militia, the Iraqi Shia militia have decided basically to pulverize the last resistance in Aleppo.

And so any political solution seems as far away as ever. Assad doesn't need it anymore. He's recaptured most of the open (inaudible) in Syria. But the rebels will only be even further radicalized by what's happened in Aleppo. And the groups that will really win out of this are the more extremist, Islamist, jihadist, Salafist groups that are still strong in places like Idlib. So it doesn't look like this will take it anywhere near a political solution -- John.

VAUSE: The Syrian Civil Defense also known as the White Helmets, the volunteers to go in there to try and treat the wounded, they tweeted this out. "In this moment, we serve as a reminder that humanity will always prevail and defy dictatorship. We will not kneel. #saveAleppo."

And they're also pleading to the international community to (inaudible) of Aleppo for themselves and civilians. That seems very unlikely to happen.

LISTER: It does seem very unlikely to happen. And that's partly because the Russians and the United States seem unable to agree on even the most basic humanitarian measure -- just squabbling about who's asking whom to do exactly what. And what will happen, for example, to the remaining rebels. That's been the sticking point.

So there's no progress on securing the lives of the remaining civilians in Aleppo let alone anything broader than that in terms of bringing this conflict to an end.

And just as Aleppo is on the verge of being taken by the regime, ISIS is fighting back some 290 kilometers to the south of Aleppo by retaking Palmyra, the town where the ancient Roman theater sits which was captured by the regime nine months ago. Now the regime had lost Palmyra again.

There's still vast swathes of northern and eastern Syria some of which I drove across earlier this year where there's no regime presence whatsoever. ISIS still has a presence in obviously Raqqa but the others are further east at the hinterlands around Damascus. It's still a checker board.

This war, even President Assad has acknowledged has an awful long way to go. It's not over by (inaudible) a long way -- John.

VAUSE: And with regards to ISIS, you mentioned they've retaken Palmyra. Have they actually been strengthened in some way by the fall of Aleppo now that essentially that the modern opposition has all been but wiped out? What's their next play here?

LISTER: I think they have been strengthened, at least temporarily, because it's taken the pressure off any attention around Raqqa and there's still (inaudible) many Syrian troops than their allies to Aleppo which is a much greater prize for the Assad regime.

And the Assad regime's always been very Machiavellian about this. ISIS, in a way, he's claimed that it's fighting terrorism. It doesn't really want to see ISIS disappear or come back altogether because then there would be no excuse for saying we are battling terrorists -- international terrorism.

So in a way ISIS has more freedom to maneuver right now. Of course, it's under great pressure next door in Mosul and the Turkish backed forces approaching Raqqa. But for the time being, they're look at the tactical advantage of being able to move more freely in areas of eastern and northern Syria -- John.

VAUSE: Tim -- thank you. We'll continue this discussion next hour with you. Thanks so much for being with us.

A somber tribute in China's Jiangsu Province Tuesday as the country remembers the Nanjing Massacre. Many gathered for the service outside the Massacre Memorial Museum built to remember December 13, 1937 the day Japanese troops invaded the city of Nanjing and killed an estimated 300,000 people during a six-week long rampage of rape and murder. Japanese conservatives insist it didn't happen. The Massacre Memorial Museum is located on a mass grave used by Japanese soldiers.

[00:25:08] Well, the death toll in the Philippines' war on drugs reaches a new high. Just ahead, we'll talk to a photojournalist who documented the brutality of the drug war and what it's doing to the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

Activists in Aleppo, Syria say regime troops are executing civilians. They claim soldiers are targeting family members of rebels including women and children. The Syrian government has been making steady advances in the eastern part of the city which has been under rebel control for more than four years.

Turkey is retaliating after twin bombs killed 44 people in Istanbul. Turkish fighter jets have carried out dozens of strikes on PKK positions even though a splinter group called TAK claimed to be behind the bombing. Turkish police also detained more than 100 pro-Kurdish Party officials for suspected ties to the PKK.

Donald Trump is expected to announce ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson will be his choice for secretary of State. The 64-year-old oil tycoon has no political or foreign policy experience but he does have close business ties with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin.

Meantime Trump's team maintains there's no evidence Russian hackers were trying to sway the election his way. Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said reports that a Russia-directed attempt to boost Trump's chances are politics, pure and simple but Conway added Trump will not interfere with a congressional investigation.

In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor with the United State officially at war with both Japan and Germany, a small group of radio reporters made this broadcast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a voice speaking from America, the voice from America at war. Our voices are coming to you from New York, across the Atlantic Ocean to London from where they are relayed to you in Germany.

To date America has been at war for 79 days.

[00:30:04] Daily, at this time, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or bad. We shall tell you the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That was the beginning of what would become the "Voice of America." A radio service funded by the U.S. Congress to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II.

It did the same during the Cold War against the Soviet. Even now taking on the propaganda put out by Jihadi groups in the Middle East. Over the years, the VOA has grown. According to its Web site providing news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of more than 230 million for digital television and radio platforms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: VOA exports America's most powerful product. Freedom of speech -- accurate reporting, reliable reporting, balance reporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more than 20 years, the VOA has been run by bipartisan board of governance for Democrats, for Republicans and the secretary of state, but now that's about to change. And the board will be replaced with a CEO appointed by the president. That would be President Donald Trump and there's more. Three years ago, lawmakers lifted a ban on the VOA from broadcasting directly to an American audience at home. All of this is now leading to some suggestions that the VOA could morph into some kind of Trump TV.

For more, we're joined now by CNN's senior media reporter and host of "Reliable Sources" Brian Stelter.

Brian, as always, thank you for being with us.

There does seem to be this widespread agreement that the board of the VOA was inefficient, something had to be done. but now without the board there, they would no longer be the spy war between the VOA and the administration.

What are the concerns?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: And that's why some are raising alarms about this.

Yes, there's bipartisan board. The broadcasting board of governors oversaw the spending of the U.S. government when it came to these sorts of overseas, outside the U.S. news outlets of broadcasters, things like that.

This bipartisan board also has a CEO. In the past, Andy Lack, for example, is now the head of NBC News, a big news vision in the U.S. was the CEO. So respected journalist had been in charge of this organization in the past.

The question now as raised by Politico and the Washington Post and by some people within the organizations is what would a President Trump do with the VOA. What will he do with these broadcasting tools, these outlets that reach hundreds of millions of people or at least have a potential to all around the world.

VAUSE: You know, well, the Voice of America right now, for example, has programs which air in Russia to counter Kremlin propaganda, could that change under a new Trump appointed CEO.

STELTER: That's right. That is, I think, the question that I'm glad is now being put on the table. This was something that was relatively unnoticed when the House voted to make this change recently. This change essentially rare to the bipartisan board gives more power to the CEO.

The CEO would be a Trump appointee. So assuming that person can pass a G.O.P. controlled Senate which would be normally relatively easy for an appointee, then that person would be running these operations. Will be overseeing these operations, overseeing funding and theoretically could be involve in the editorial.

Now a lot of this is one or two steps down the road. Maybe three or four steps down the road. Some of the concerns are definitely theoretical. But already within the Voice of America, within these newsrooms are raising concerns, expressing anonymously to Politico and other outlets saying what is this going to look like. What could a President Trump do with these operations?

VAUSE: Well, you mentioned Politico. The Web site quoted one staffer as saying this. "On January 21, we'll have a welcoming ceremony for our next CEO, who could be Steve Bannon, Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter."

Many are familiar with Steve Bannon, the White House strategist and former CEO of the very conservative "Breitbart News." The other two names, though, may not be as familiar to viewers outside the United States. Who are they?

STELTER: Sure. Laura Ingraham, a conservative talk radio host. A regular on "Fox News." She's known for being a grassroots conservative. She's been in the running for a number of White House jobs including press secretary possibly in a Trump administration.

Ann Coulter, a firebrand conservative, highly controversial in the U.S. known for incendiary opinions, anti-immigration positions. She was very, very supportive of Donald Trump early on before many others were in the primary season.

Just two examples of folks who are opinion writers or opinion voices on radio, not journalist per se. You know, a Trump administration can appoint whoever it would like to run the VOA, to run these other broadcasting operations. And that's going to be one of the many, one of a thousand questions I supposed about who Trump and his assistants will appoint.

[00:35:00] It's not going to be Steve Bannon directly. Of course, Steve Bannon will be the chief strategist in the White House. But it's important, I think, that this has been unnoticed. There are a lot of questions about how a President Trump will treat the press and that includes United States government funded operations like VOA.

VAUSE: Brian, we'll leave it there, but as always thanks so much for being with us. Most appreciate it.

Well, the death toll in the Philippines' war on drugs climbs to nearly 6,000. Just ahead, we'll talk to the photojournalist with these brutal images of the country's crackdown.

Plus, every journey starts with a single step even one that's 5800 miles long. An update on one man's trek to healing. Just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drug has led to a deadly crackdown in the Philippines. The country's national police says nearly 6,000 people had been killed since July 1st. Just over 2,000 of those deaths happened during police operations. More than 3,000 were extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings.

Philippines' Vice President Leni Robredo, a former human rights lawyer, has been often critical of the president's war on drugs. She is resigning her cabinet post as housing secretary, while remaining as vice president. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LENI ROBREDO, PHILIPPINE VICE PRESIDENT: It is not as if we are against the war of drugs. We do agree with the president that it has reached a level wherein the government must really do something about it, where government has to be really creative in coming up with ways on how to solve it. But, you know, doing it this way, we think it only makes the problem more complex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Daniel Berehulak joins me now via Skype from Bangkok in Thailand. A photojournalist with "The New York Times." He photographed 57 homicide victims in over just 35 days in the Philippines for covering the government's war on drugs.

Daniel, thanks for stopping by.

I will get to some of your images in a moment. But you were in the Philippines for a month. You are covering the story. What was your impression overall of who is being killed and who is actually doing the killing.

DANIEL BEREHULAK, JOURNALIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES: The impression that I got and the reality was that most of the victims were in of course the neighborhoods.

And talking to this people in these communities, most of them were at the hands of the police. In official police operations and as you mentioned, there are over 3,000 unsolved homicides which these people believe are linked to the vigilante killings, who they feel being perpetrated by the police also.

VAUSE: And the Filipino police said since July, they've been to more than five million homes as part of this crackdown. So that in mind, tell us what happen to 34-year-old Florjohn Cruz who was killed at home.

[00:40:00] BEREHULAK: Florjohn was home one evening fixing their transistor radio for his mother when a group of masked men stormed into his living room and within -- ordered his mother out, within three minutes Florjohn was dead.

Neighbors heard that the police yelled out that Florjohn was fighting back and within a short period of time they heard gunshots and Florjohn was shot dead in the middle of his living room.

VAUSE: I think he admitted to using drugs in the past, but had since given it up.

BEREHULAK: He has since surrendered, exactly. So this anti-drug campaign that President Duterte is out on is not only targeting drug dealers or drug addicts, they are also targeting people who do believe that they were getting some kind of amnesty.

Over 700,000 people have surrendered over in the Philippines. And so the feeling that this people have and of course communities that no one -- that, you know, echoing the rhetoric of the president which is that they feel like they are being slaughtered, which is --

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VAUSE: Sorry to interrupt, Daniel. But tell us of the funeral of Jimboy Bolasa.

BEREHULAK: That was probably one of the toughest days to photography and to watch. It's a photograph of a young girl grieving, Jimji, who is 6, grieving for her father, Jimboy, who was weeks before abducted by vigilantes, masked man from in front of the house. His neighbor was also abducted and within 45 minutes their bodies were found tortured and with bullet wounds under a nearby bridge.

VAUSE: Right. Also, we know that this war on drugs has led to thousands of people being locked up. The jails overcrowded. We look at one of your photographs of that right now, but I want to hear your reaction.

The office of the Filipino president criticize your story on Monday saying it's totally one sided.

What's your response?

BEREHULAK: Well, this is the actual reality on the streets. Some people call it and see it in a very, very different way. They believe that what's going on is a war and these deaths are legitimate actions. The statistics that -- they are actually questioning statistics that the actual Philippines national police gave us.

VAUSE: And we're just looking at that photograph in a jail which wall-to-wall people. There's no room, obviously, for anybody to even more in there. The deplorable conditions.

Daniel, thanks so much for sharing that with us.

BEREHULAK: Thanks so much for having me.

Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Sure. You may remember Jonathan Hancock, the American marine Iraq war veteran. We talked to him here on NEWSROOM last week. He was finishing up a walk across the United States.

Well, he has completed that journey on Monday. He walked into Camp Pendleton in California 5800 miles from where he started in Maryland. The trek began September 11 last year and brought Hancock face to face with some snakes, wolves, even a mountain lion. He also, though, reconnected with Marine Corp brothers and made new friends with the families of fallen vets.

He did it to heal himself and to raise awareness of the struggles that war veterans are facing and now he's done.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next. And I will be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

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