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Trump Travels to Asia; Mueller's Team Getting Closer to Trump; ISIS Claims Responsibility for New York Attack; British Prime Minister Faces New Challenge; U.S. Official: Pyongyang Working On Advance ICBM; How Sanders Mimics Trump's Relationship With Truth; Mixed Reactions For Balfour Centennial; Nightmare In Raqqa: One Family's Harrowing Story; CNN Honors People Who Make A Difference. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 3, 2017 - 03:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, HOST, CNN: Donald Trump heads to Asia for the first time as U.S. president at a time when North Korea could be preparing for more missile test.

The Russia investigation on Capitol. CNN exclusive reporting on the testimony of a former policy advisor to the Trump campaign.

Plus, the humanitarian crisis unfolding at an Australia ran immigration detention center.

Also, scientist uncover a new mystery at Egypt's great hermit. We'll tell you what that's about.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world, I'm Natalie Allen, and this is CNN Newsroom.

President Trump begin his trip to Asia in a few hours, it's an extended visit to the region, his first as U.S. president. Topping the agenda what to do about the growing nuclear threat posed by North Korea. China, South Korea, and Japan all have big stakes in resolving the issue peacefully. But the U.S. and its allies are training for the unthinkable in the face of so much uncertainty.

Joint military drills on land, sea, and air have been frequent sites in the region in recent weeks. The question on everyone's mind whether North Korea will do something provocative during President Trump's visit.

We get more on that from CNN's Paula Hancocks in the South Korean capital.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: All eyes are on North Korea ahead of the U.S. president's trip here to the Asia region and we heard from the intelligence agency here in South Korea on Thursday they said they had seen some kind active movement of vehicles around a missile research facility in Pyongyang in the capital and they said that what that could mean is that North Korea is preparing another missile launch. They also talked about the nuclear area of Punggye-ri, this is where the underground nuclear test have taken place in the past. They say that they believe tunnels three is ready to go should North Korea want to conduct another nuclear test and they are at this point excavating tunnel and before.

Now the fact that the NIS is suggesting that North Korea could be preparing for additional nuclear missile test would really not surprise many people officials here in the region and certainly experts do not expect North Korea could end their missile and nuclear program. The North Korean leader has made it abundantly clear that he will continue to perfect his capability.

But we do have one indication today as well of just how sensitive issues are in the region at this point ahead of Trump's visit. We had a very swift response from state run media KCNA slamming what they saw as the B1-b fly over by U.S. bombers flanked by South Korean and also Japanese aircraft. They say that they saw that it was a surprise nuclear strike drill calling the U.S. warmongers.

Now the U.S. did respond fairly quickly saying that this was preplanned, it was part of the drill it was certainly not in response to anything that was happening in the region, so that swift response from the U.S. really showing that there is an understanding of sensitivity. There is a desire not to have any kind of misunderstanding ahead of the Trumpet visit.

Now certainly it will be an interesting time, a tense time in some ways as everyone watches to see whether North Korea will react, whether there is any missile launch, if there is what kind of range trajectory and which direction it will be flown in.

And of course if there is in fact some kind of a launch what will the U.S. President Donald Trump's response be, so really an awful lot to be looking at for over the next 10 days or so.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

ALLEN: A former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea is warning the moves for military action in Pyongyang is very high. He also told CNN why he escaped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THAE YONG-HO, FORMER NORTH KOREAN DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED KINGDOM: I don't want to let my songs live a life me which is nothing but modern slave. My sons have a long dream of freedom and wanted to continue the freedom but as sons they cannot initiate to tell their dreams to me, but when they heard my decision then they were very happy and they really appreciate that I decided to let them free.

North Korea is not the subject for destruction. I think we should regard North Korea as a subject of change. And if our goal on Korean Peninsula is a peace, that's why the means to achieve that goal must be peaceful. [03:04:59] And I think we should continue the maximum pressure together with next month engagement. And United States should find a way to solve these issues in peaceful means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: He conceded President Trump's fiery rhetoric calls Kim Jong-un to back down and he says the west must make it clear North Korea will never be accepted as a nuclear state.

An annual naval rapid response drill is underway off the coast of Okinawa. The USS Ashland is one of the ships taking part. Its sailors and marines will conduct amphibious landing to use in humanitarian and combat missions. But in the back of everyone's mind their fatal collisions earlier this year involving two U.S. warships.

CNN's Ivan Watson is aboard the Ashland.

IVAN WATSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Sailors aboard the USS Ashland are keeping a closer eye on this commercial tanker ship that sailing off the port bow right now. And that's in part because the U.S. navy just published a long report investigating two fatal collisions that took place within the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet over the course of the summer that resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

And the report concludes that those accidents could have been avoidable and that there were a number of failures that took place that led to those incidents. So here we're in the pilothouse and we can get a look at how officers fear are navigating this warship that's carrying more than 600 sailors and marines on it.

The captain here have said that there have been new rules brought in to avoid complacency and some of the repeats of mistakes that took place in the past. One of the measures is to broadcast this warships location using an international communication system to surrounding areas so that other ships can see it and identify the ship.

Also in just the last couple of minutes the crew here have hailed that ship over radio. All measures that are designed to create redundancies to avoid a repeat of the fatal accidents that took place in the seas over the summer.

Ivan Watson, CNN, reporting from the USS Ashland off the coast of Okinawa.

ALLEN: Diplomatic efforts are underway in Asia and elsewhere despite a number of key U.S. State Department positions going unfilled. That includes some jobs overseeing Southeast Asia and arms control. In an interview Thursday, President Trump said the empty offices really don't bother him. There's only one position that really matters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't need all the people that they want, you know, don't forget I'm a business person I tell my people when you don't need to fill slots don't fill them but we have some people that I'm not happy with their...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The present secretary of state you're not getting that.

TRUMP: But let me tell you, the one that matters is me. I'm the only one that matters because when it comes to it that's what the policy is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Mr. Trump former foreign policy advisor Carter Page appeared before congressional investigators Thursday. He testified behind closed doors for more than six hours.

CNN's Manu Raju exclusively learned of one of his answers which also ropes in the attorney general.

MANU RAJU, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: And we are learning some new details about exactly what he said behind the scenes. One key detail is that he revealed to lawmakers that he told then Senator Sessions now Attorney General Jeff sessions about a trip that he planned to take to Moscow in June 2016 just before he took that July 2016 trip.

Now why this is significant is this. Jeff Sessions was asked on a number of different occasions on Capitol Hill when he was testifying whether he knew about any campaign connections, any communication with Russians, any efforts to reach out to Russia. And every single time he either downplayed it he said it didn't occur, or he did recall on a number of different occasions he said he didn't recall.

But he did not disclose this to lawmakers. Now this comes as a number of questions are now being raised in light of court filings this week for the other Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos who pled guilty to a number of charges to lying to federal investigators about his connections to Russia.

And in those unsealed documents it shows that Papadopoulos proposed a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in March of 2016 at a meeting that actually Jeff Sessions was attending. And Jeff Sessions according to a source in the room rejected the idea of a Putin/Trump meeting.

[03:10:00] Now, Sessions also didn't disclose that Papadopoulos had raised this idea. So, this along with the new revelation from Carter Page are prompting a number of questions on Capitol Hill, particularly from democrats who were saying that Sessions either misled lawmakers or at worse purged himself.

ALLEN: Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is moving forward as each new detail appears to inch closer to real trouble for the White House.

Our Brianna Keilar has more. BRIANNA KEILAR, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Carte Page one of President Trump's former campaign foreign policy advisers was on the Hill. He finally met with the House intelligence committee behind closed doors and so did Ike Kaveladze, one of eight people in the room with Donald Trump, Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and an employee of a Russian oligarch at Trump Tower back in June 2016.

All of this as the president's former campaign chairman made his case to a judge.

President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in federal court, his attorneys arguing he should not be confined to house arrest because he has been traveling legally and returning home since August when he was first aware he would be indicted.

Monday a judge deemed Manafort a flight risk because of his history of deception and the 12 federal charges he's facing including conspiracy against the U.S. and fraud which carry a maximum penalty of more than 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors have noted that Manafort has three U.S. passports with different numbers and recently traveled abroad while using a phone and e-mail registered under an alias. Manafort's lawyers contend his $10 million bond and his strong family and community ties are sufficient to ensure he won't flee.

They also argue Manafort is now one of the most recognizable people on the planet given the substantial media coverage around him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a restless desire from (Inaudible) that I'm certain come January 2017 Mr. Trump will invoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Meanwhile, there are growing questions about what Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew about the Trump campaign and Russia. Amid revelations he was in a meeting when according to court filings former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos suggested Trump meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A person in the room at the time said Trump did not rule out the idea but Sessions who was then chairman of Trump's national security advisory committee rejected the suggestion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SESSIONS, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm stress my -- right in my brain to make sure I could answer any questions on correctly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Sessions failed to tell Congress about the proposed Trump/Putin meeting during his confirmation hearing. And again during recent congressional inquiries into Russian election meddling. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESSIONS: The idea that I was caught a quote, "continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government is totally false."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The Papadopoulos revelations replacing other Trump Associates under fire. Sam Clovis, Trump's pick for chief scientist to the agriculture department has withdrawn his name from consideration. The unsealed court documents show Papadopoulos contacted the campaign supervisor who was Clovis about a potential trip to Russia to meet with the Russian official.

Clovis encourages Papadopoulos to take the meeting. In a statement addressed to the president Clovis said he didn't want to be a negative distraction. Writing, "The political climate inside Washington has made it impossible for me to receive balanced and fair consideration for this position. The relentless assaults on you and your team seem to be a blood sport that only increases in intensity each day."

The Clovis pick was already controversial since he doesn't have a background in science and has a history of racially divisive and homophobic comments. He will though remain as a senior White House advisor on the agriculture department.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

ALLEN: Also involved in this investigation President Trump's son-in- law Jarred Kushner. He's given documents to the special counsel and investigators are asking witnesses about Kushner's role in the decision to fire FBI Director James Coney. This move the investigation closer to the Oval Office since Kushner is perhaps Mr. Trump's closest advisor and actions taken in the White House rather than the campaign are under scrutiny.

For how all of these new details are playing out in Russia our Oren Liebermann joins me live for Moscow. Hello to you, Oren. Now Oren, the Mueller investigation have now ensnared a growing list of people in the Trump campaign administration, Manafort, Papadopoulos, Kushner and some very close to the president as we were talking about. Yet that hasn't change the Russian position on the investigation, has it?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Not at all. The investigation here does play fairly high in the news as Russia here does follow what's going on there.

[03:14:59] But what's crucially missing from the investigation and even as it gets closer to President Donald Trump's inner circle is a definitive connection to Russian officials. George Papadopoulos perhaps comes the closest as foreign policy advisor that we just heard about because he believed he was sitting up contacts with Russian officials through Russian nationals.

But at least not yet. It hasn't been publicly announced if this ever happened that he was in contact with Russian officials. And that's was missing at this point and that's why Russia says look, officially we had nothing to do with this. This is an internal U.S. affair.

They were also quick to point to the Manafort and Gates indictment and say that has nothing to do with us, Papadopulos they say in terms of the Russian connections he claimed he had they say he was simply overstating his hand and had no connection to the Kremlin or to the Ministry of foreign affairs.

For Russia this is something that still watch from a distance and say look, we had nothing to do with this. This is an internal U.S. affair and they accused the U.S. of a Russophobic hysteria. That's a term we heard a lot, Natalie, recently.

ALLEN: Yes. That's usually there go to. Well, certainly relationship between the two countries is not very good to say the least. And today President Trump leaves for Asia where there's a possibility he'll meet with the Russian president. What will Trump's priorities beyond this trip?

LIEBERMANN: We're still waiting for confirmation whether he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, that hasn't been confirmed by either side although they both have left that open. If that meeting does happen it would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall of that conversation. If it doesn't this is still a big trip as the president will meet with a number of different countries, Japan, South Korea, China, and others.

The priority here will be how does President Donald Trump handle North Korea and how does he engage to other countries on that. Hanging over all of this of course is the Russian investigation and will it distract President Trump. We'll find that out very soon it seems.

ALLEN: All right. Oren Liebermann, following it from that side of the world. Thank you, Oren.

Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, ISIS is making a new claim about the New York bike path attack. We'll have that for you. Plus, a secret revealed in one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that's the great Pyramid at Egypt is hiding more mystery. We'll tell you about that.

CNN Newsroom pushes on. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back. ISIS claims the New York terror attacker is a soldier of the caliphate. The group's weekly newspaper posted the description online. ISIS did not provide any credible evidence that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that it was involved in the planning. It also did not claim direct responsibility or specifically name the suspect who is charged in the crime.

Meantime, we've received chilling new video of the scene of the attack. CNN's Jason Carroll is in New York.

[03:19:57] JASON CARROLL, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: This is the scene just moments after a school bus was rammed by the terrorist pickup truck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God. OK. I need an ambulance right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: All four people inside survived, one student recovering from surgery, another even returning to Stuyvesant High School the next day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: I consider the suspect an enemy of New York City. What is exceptional here is the fact that New Yorkers were undeterred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Speaking at the school's campus just feet from Tuesday's terror attack New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio minced no words about the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE BLASIO: I believe this is an individual who should rot in prison for the rest of his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Authorities say Sayfullo Saipov who was shot by police at the scene had been planning for a year. He now faces federal terrorism charges. New sketches show him entering court in a wheelchair Wednesday where he declined to enter a plea.

The 29-year-old appears to have little remorse killing eight people and injuring 13 in Tuesday's violent vehicular rampage. Court document shows he requested display an ISIS flag in his hospital room and stated that he felt good about what he had done.

In fact, he planted meticulously. Police say he pay to rent the Home Depot truck for just 75 minutes with no intention of returning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS BATISTA, SAYFULLO SAIPOV'S NEIGHBOR: He even rent the same truck the same model (Inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Neighbor Carlos Batista took this photo showing the same kind of truck parked in his neighborhood 10 days before the attack. Just when investigators say Saipov used it to practice making turns. Batista says Saipov didn't always drive alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BATISTA: He drive fast with the same guy he's always going on. They need to really question the ones he's always with that they must know something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Initially the FBI asked for help finding a second man in connection to the terror attack late Wednesday but it missed urgent questions about potential accomplices said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where you had found him and only been at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Saipov was the only one in the truck Tuesday and he told police he intended to continue his deadly drive beyond the West Side Highway and onto the heavily trafficked Brooklyn Bridge, instead he crashed here where police found a trove of evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOON H. KIM, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: We have developed evidence establishing that Saipov committed this attack in support of ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And two cell phones recovered from the scene investigators found approximately 90 videos and nearly 3800 images related to ISIS. For now investigators say it appears the suspect acted alone but they also caution still very early on in their investigation. Tonight a candlelight vigil held for all of the victims.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

ALLEN: Eight people who work or have worked on the hit Netflix show "House of Cards" say actor Kevin Stacey turned the set into a toxic environment especially for young men. They accused the star of nonconsensual touching crude comments and in one case, sexual assault.

This comes one week after the first public allegation against Stacey from an actor who said he was 14 when the star made a sexual advance. Meanwhile, production on the final season on the "House of Cards" has been suspended. Spacey publishes and representing agency have dropped him and he is seeking unspecified treatment.

To London now where Prime Minister Theresa May's a government is dealing with the growing sexual harassment scandal of its own. That fled to a bit of a shuffle in the U.K. Defense Department.

Our Diana Magnay takes a look from London.

DIANA MAGNAY, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: One down how many more to go, that must be the question that the British prime minister is asking herself after her Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon resigned on Wednesday.

The transition has been fairly seamless. She's appointed her chief whip Gavin Williamson to the position of defence secretary. Now it is fairly unusual for someone to have gone from that position without becoming a junior minister right up to such an important role within the cabinet, and there certainly does seem to have been a sour grapes among some on the Tory back benches that what is a meteoric rise.

But he a key ally of Theresa May and having lost in to Michael Fallon what was widely considered to be a say pair of hands she needs all the allies that she can get. Gavin Williamson will have a lot on his plate. He's due to meet defense ministers at a summit in Brussels next week and then to host the U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis here in London shortly afterwards.

But this tidal wave of allegations about sexual harassment in Westminster doesn't show any sign of abating's and with two ministers currently under investigation for alleged sexual impropriety.

[03:24:57] Theresa May must be hoping that she doesn't have to replace any other senior politicians soon.

Diana Magnay, CNN, London.

ALLEN: We want to share with you now a new discovery about an ancient monument. Scientists are scratching their heads about a mysterious void in the heart of the great pyramid at Giza in Egypt. They're not allowed to drill into the structure so they used technology that employ cosmic rays to visualize the interior.

The void is as big as passenger plane and was unknown for 4500 years. It's one of four cavities in the pyramid along with the king and queen's chambers and the grand gallery but it has no entrance. One archaeologist told us what might be inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it could be any number of things I think we would all like to think it could be another chamber with another barrier or even treasures and that kind of thing. But because of the position I think it's most likely what we call a construction gap. It's a state that they left around this round gallery this passage in order to alleviate the way to the pyramid on its roof and a space that was created when they were building the pyramid so they can move around and build these passage ways of chambers.

The pyramid is largely fill between an outer casing which is like the show of an egg but exquisite masonry, fine limestone and then the passages which are also fine limestone, fine masonry joinery but in between the pyramid has a big slot factor. The great irregularity and they would actually create a kind of trench in the fill of the pyramid in which they could make the passing with some chambers then they would fill it in.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: Fascinating. Well, the Trump campaign appears to be a caught in more contradictions over its contact with Russia. More on that widening web coming up here on our program. Plus, we are following a growing humanitarian crisis in Papua New Guinea where hundreds of asylum seekers last food and clean water. We'll tell you what's behind it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN Newsroom. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

And here are our top stories this hour. U.S. President Donald Trump leaves for Asia in the coming hors hoping to find a solution to the threat posed by North Korea.

South Korea spy agency says Pyongyang appears ready to conduct another nuclear test at any time and is preparing another missile test. The U.S. official says the regime is working on advanced missile capable of reaching the United States.

[03:30:03] ISIS claims the New York terror attacker is a soldier of the caliphate. The group's weekly newspaper posted the description online a short time ago, ISIS did not provide credible evidence that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that it was involved in the planning.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a Europe-wide arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. He failed to show up in a Madrid court Thursday. Puigdemont appeared in Brussels earlier this week. The court has ordered eight members of the deposed Catalan government detained without bail for the region's independence bid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: South Korea's spy agency says Pyongyang appears ready to carry out more missile and nuclear tests as we stated. And a U.S. official warns the regime is working on a missile that could reach the U.S. For the latest on that, here's CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: North Korea is working on an advanced version of this intercontinental ballistic missile less than six months after it was first tested -- a missile that could reach the United States.

Kim Jong-un is accelerating his nuclear warhead and missile programs, all aimed at being able to someday attack the homeland. President Trump's rhetoric has already grabbed world attention.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They will be met with fire and fury.

STARR: And as president travels through Asia, don't expect any of that to change. H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, UNITED STATES: I don't

think the president really modulate his language. Have you noticed him do that?

STARR: Top officials have been sounding a more sober alarm.

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: In terms of a sense of urgency today, North Korea certainly poses the greatest threat.

JAMES MATTIS, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors in the world.

STARR: North Korea is working urgently to improve rocket fuel, so missiles can fly longer distances, missile engines and motor components for greater reliability, and targeting and guidance systems for accuracy.

RET. COL. STEVE WARREN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What we've really seen is that the North Koreans have been able to make technological breakthroughs at a more rapid pace than originally anticipated.

STARR: The U.S. continues to believe that sometime in 2018, North Korea could put a miniaturized nuclear warhead on top of a long-range missile, making it able to hit the U.S. White house Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, hinting North Korea has made progress on the warheads.

JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The American people should be concerned about a state that has developed a pretty good ICBM capability and is developing a pretty good nuclear re-entry vehicle.

STARR: And hours before the president leaves, a marker laid down.

MCMASTER: The United States will respond with all capabilities available to North Korean aggression.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, earlier this week, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos became a key figure in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, seemingly overnight -- one reason why, according to court filings, he proposed setting up a meeting between then candidate Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Both Mr. Trump and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions were present when that idea was raised. They're all highlighted there on your screen, as well as another adviser, J.D. Gordon. He said that President Trump listened to Papadopoulos and, quote, heard him out. That contradicts Mr. Trump's stark denial of any attempted contacts with Russia shortly after he took office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say whether you are aware that any one who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election?

TRUMP: Well, I told you, General Flynn obviously was dealing. So that's one person but he was dealing, as he should have been.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the election?

TRUMP: No, no, nobody that I know of. Nobody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're not aware of any contacts during the course of the election?

TRUMP: How many times do I have to answer this question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you just...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Russia is a ruse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: President Trump has been making similar denials ever since and when confronted with the contradiction, the White House is following suit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Getting back to George Papadopoulos, does the president recall at that March 31st, 2016 meeting with his national security advisory board, Mr. Papadopoulos suggesting the meeting between then candidate Trump and Vladimir Putin? Does he recall that?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: No, I don't believe he does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: To be fair, spin is nothing new from a White House press secretary, that's been true of every administration. What separates spokesman Sarah Sanders, however, is the constant flow of obvious falsehoods, denying remarks that were caught on tape. The stealing basic facts, combative exchanges about who can and cannot be questioned in moments like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did the president call the U.S. justice system a joke and a laughing stock during his comments...

SANDERS: That was not.

TRUMP: We need quick justice and we need strong justice, much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now is a joke and it's a laughing stock.

SANDERS: Let me be really clear. The president does not blame Senator Schumer. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president has invoked Chuck Schumer's name,

so how can you argue that it's not a political argument that he's making?

SANDERS: Look, Senator Schumer has supported these opposing policies and I think that is a very basic fact.

All of the revelations that have taken place over the last several days and hours have nothing to do with the president, have nothing to do with his campaign, and I think the further we get into it, the more and more we see that happening.

There's clear evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding with Russian intelligence to spread disinformation and smear the president.

My understanding is the only interaction he ever had was the one meeting that the advisory counsel gathered together where he was in a large group of other people in the room and to my knowledge, that's the only interaction they ever had.

TRUMP: George Papadopoulos, he's an oil and energy consultant, excellent guy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Every one of those exchanges there happened this week alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Still to come, why hundreds of refugees are refusing to leave a detention center in Papua New Guinea, even though they're being denied food and water. We'll tell you what's behind that.

And later, a look at the 100-year anniversary of a document that serves strong emotions for different people.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As a Palestinian, what does the Balfour Declaration mean to you?

WISAM SALSAA, DIRECTOR, THE WALLED OFF HOTEL: It made a catastrophe in the Middle East. Balfour was very generous man that offered the land that does not belong to him.

SARAH FRIED, TEACHER: As a Jew, it means that I can have my own space until we feel secure. So it was very important because this was first step towards the Jewish state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is spending the weekend in London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: On Thursday, he met with British leaders to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. That is the document that expressed the British Government's desire that Palestine should be a national home for the Jewish people. It paved the way for the birth of Israel which has been followed by decades of conflict with the Palestinian people.

[03:40:00] The document has stirred a lot of controversy in London and abroad which British Prime Mister Theresa May addressed at Thursday's banquet.

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MISTER: So when some people suggest we should apologize for this letter, I say, absolutely not.

(APPLAUSE)

MAY: We are proud of our pioneering role in the creation of the state of Israel. We are proud to stand here today, together with Prime Minister Netanyahu and declare our support for Israel. And we...

(APPLAUSE)

MAY: And we are proud of the relationship we have built with Israel. And as we mark 100 years since Balfour, we look forward to taking that relationship even further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: As Israeli and British leaders celebrated the Balfour Document centennial, Palestinians gathered across Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, to protest. They say the declaration has brought untold suffering to the Palestinian people. Despite the clause that says there should be no prejudice against non-Jewish communities.

It makes sense that many Palestinians do not share the British prime minister's affection for the Balfour Declaration, but even the youngest, both Palestinian and Israeli, seem to grasp its historic significance. Our Ian Lee has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: It's a royal reveal of sorts in Bethlehem, a queen of England impersonator unveiling new Banksy art work. A master ceremonies reads a note from the artist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope, you will join us in clapping as your Royal Highness unveils a special message from us, to you, the Palestinian people.

LEE: Edge in the west bank wall or -- sorry, E.R. are reference to Queen Elizabeth. A dystopian party outside Banksy's Walled Off hotel in Bethlehem. Children from the town's refugee camps, invited for tea and cake.

For people outside of Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Balfour Declaration might seem quite obscure but not here in the region. Here, it's relevant and they take it quite seriously. As a Palestinian, what does the Balfour Declaration mean to you?

SALSAA: It made a catastrophe in the Middle East. Balfour was very generous man that offered the land that does not belong to him. The whole United Kingdom should not celebrate Balfour Declaration. They should apologize to Palestinians.

RUWAIDA AL AZZEH, SCHOOLGIRL (though a translator): The declaration to me is illegal and is against Palestine. I don't believe in it and I will fight it until the last day of my life.

LEE: To understand the significance of the Balfour Declaration for Israelis, what better place to go that Balfour's school where they are celebrating with pageantry and song.

OK, so there is a little theatrical license on display but this lighthearted performance gets to the root meaning of the declaration for Israelis.

FRIED: Wow. As a Jew, it means that I can have my own space until we feel secure. So it was very important because this was first step towards the Jewish state.

LEE: The children act out the long road to statehood. Later they tell me the declaration supported the Jewish Diaspora's fundamental questions of home and safety.

NOGA BENAN, SCHOOLGIRL (ph): The Balfour Declaration means to me a lot because it just made me live here in Israel.

JOEL MAIR, SCHOOLBOY: If it wasn't his declaration I won't be here standing now. I'll be -- maybe I won't be born even.

LEE: And it's not just Israelis and Palestinians marking this anniversary. A group of people from Britain, some of whom are behind me, trek over 3,000 kilometers from London to Jerusalem to condemn the declaration.

JACK ROSE, RUNNER, AMOS TRUST: So we're doing this 100 years later to show just how sorry we are for the Balfour Declaration and we do not agree with in what seem them to do at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have this point in time find some way to right the wrong which are continually happened, all of the Palestinian people.

LEE: So a short letter, just over 100 words, continuing to reverberate 100 years later, for better or for worse, his legacy, defining a region. Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Now we have this report out of Syria. It's an existence most of us could never imagine. Air strikes, bombed-out homes, being used as human shields and protecting children from becoming sex slaves and pawns. But now that ISIS has been driven from Raqqa, the joy and the relief are pouring out. CNN's Arwa Damon has one family's story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:45:00] ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She rips open her black abaya and is almost hysterical in her relief. She and her children throw themselves at their savior's feet. It's a miracle they are alive.

An air strike hit the five-story building they were in, during the last days of the battle for Raqqa. When we meet (Inaudible), some ten days after they got out, the family is still in the same clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON: They are now at the main refugee camp but kept in an isolated segment under armed guard. Along with others who were the last to escape.

Many of them are suspected of being the families of hard-core ISIS fighters. (Inaudible) says she and her family had nothing to do with ISIS, that they tried to flee so many times. The 5-year-old mimics what the ISIS fighters would say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I swear to God, I will put a bullet in your head.

DAMON: They say they were held as human shield as Raqqa crumbled around them, terrified, under siege, with barely anything to eat. ISIS kept any available food for themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON: Hanan (ph) is just 9-years-old.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: (Speaking Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON: (Speaking Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON: One day, she somehow managed to beg a tiny piece of meat off of ISIS. Just the sight of it made the children shriek with joy. It's such a heart-breaking depiction of just how deprived they were of even the most basic of things.

Hanan (ph) would also scrounge through abandoned, often bombed-out homes looking for food. Hanan (ph) had to go, not just due to her bravely, but because her older children couldn't. ISIS was conscripting youth and 15-year-old Shama (ph) had to stay hidden. An ISIS fighter had already tried to take her as his bride.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON: The fighter even offered $10,000. She says she would never sell her daughter no matter the cost. In the last weeks, the children's father said ISIS asked for his 11-year-old. The family stayed hidden with no electricity, in pitch darkness once night fell, yet somehow still able to giggle despite the horrors.

A handful of photos show how they tried to pass the time, even playing dress-up. (Inaudible) said she never prayed in the past, spent her time reading the Koran. She's an avid smoker, something banned under ISIS, and now she relishes every drag.

But where and how do they even begin to find the comfort and stability of home? Their lives, their reality have been so up-ended, they don't even know how to begin to come to grips with all they have endured. Arwa Damon, CNN, as-Suwayda (ph), Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: What an unbelievable story, and an ordeal. Just think that's just one family's story. There were a lot more. Well, the U.N. is calling on Australia to intervene in a growing humanitarian crisis in nearby Papua New Guinea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Hundreds of refugees have been hold up in an Australian-run immigration center on Manus Island. Human rights watchers say living conditions there are poor and the center officially shut its doors for good on Tuesday. That means, no food, no clean water.

The center was where asylum seekers found in Australian waters used to be taken, but now it's been returned to the Papua New Guinea defense force which owns the land.

The refugees have been ordered to move to other transit centers, but they refuse to leave, saying they fear for their safety from locals who don't want them living on the island. We'll take a break, more news after this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: All right, we're going to talk a little iPhone now, depending on how you feel about animated poop emojis and enhanced selfies, you may be excited to hear that Apple's newest, shiniest, most expensive iPhone, the iPhone X is in stores worldwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: In Australia, hundreds of eager customers picked up the thousand dollar phone on launch day. People who preordered online should start seeing their phones arriving in their mailboxes.

But here in the U.S., the Apple site has sold out of pre-orders that ship Friday. So if you order now, you may have to wait weeks to get your hands on the iPhone X, and the enhanced, animated poop emojis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well here at CNN, we're proud to share stories of people making a difference. CNN's Anderson Cooper introduces us to ten dynamic people who serve their communities and who have made the final cut for one of CNN's top honors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper. For more than a decade, we've been introducing you to truly remarkable individuals changing the world and this year is no different. It's time to announce the top 10 CNN heroes of 2017. Here they are.

STAN HAYS, OPERATION BBQ, PLEASANT HILL, MISSOURI: You guys need meals?

COOPER: From Missouri, heat master Stan Hays and his team of volunteers have responded to dozens of natural disasters, providing nourishment and comfort to survivors, and first responders.

Samir Lakhani from Pittsburgh recycles and distributes discarded bars of soap, hotels across Cambodia, improving hygiene and creating jobs.

Amid violence in Chicago, police officer Jennifer Maddox gives young people on the south side a safe haven to learn, grow and succeed.

Mama Rosie Mashale is raising a generation of abandoned and sick children in her impoverished South African community, many who have lost parents to AIDS.

Iraq War Veteran Andrew Manzi's free surf camps on South Carolina beaches bring therapy and healing to fellow vets and their families.

In memory of her son, Leslie Morissette provides computers and robots to children battling serious illnesses, keeping them connected to school and friends.

MONA PATEL, SAN ANTONIO AMPUTEE FOUNDATION: She is walking.

COOPER: Mona Patel helps fellow amputees rebuild their lives through peer support, resources, and transformative athletic activities.

Khali Sweeney's books before boxing program provides mentorship and academic tutoring, guiding kids from Detroit's toughest neighborhoods towards a brighter future.

In Southern California, Aaron Valencia, teaches car restoration to young people in need. Giving them trade skills, guidance, and hope.

And finally, Amy Wright, through her non-profit coffee shop in North Carolina, she's creating jobs and community for young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Congratulations to the top ten CNN Heroes of 2017. Now it's time for you to decide who will be named hero of the year and receive $100,000 to continue their work. Go to CNNHeroes.com to learn how to vote for the CNN Hero who inspires you the most.

Be sure to tine in to this year's CNN Heroes, an all star tribute. Once again, I'll be co-hosting with Kelly Ripa, as we celebrate all of the honorees live from New York, Sunday, December 17th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: I can't wait for that one. Now we're going to tell you about a 12-year-old girl who saw the Eiffel Tower for the very first time and was so excited she sent a poem to the president of France. And guess what, he wrote back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: That's exactly what happen, to a young British girl named Sophie. She sent her tribute to Emmanuel Macron. Here on the left, it describes the landmark's head in the clouds, elegant and tall. That's her poem right there. President Macron was so moved, he wrote his own verse.

[03:55:00] Originally in French, from the tower's viewpoint. Quote, so few poets these days, ever sing the praises of my Parisian soul. Sophie received Mr. Macron's owed on her 13th birthday. Not bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, President Trump is known for keeping his messages quite short. So when it came to a title for the new U.S. tax proposal, he boiled that down, too. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: president Trump, the master brander dreamed up a name for the tax bill that cut to the chase.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: The cut, cut, cut act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cut, cut, cut act.

MOOS: Cut it out with the laughter. This was a serious name proposed by the president to convey...

TRUMP: A giant tax cut, a tremendous tax cut, a massive tax cut.

MOOS: But somehow cut, cut, cut didn't sound serious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That name truly sucks, sucks, sucks.

FALLON: I guess that beats the name for his immigration bill, the bye, bye, bye act.

MOOS: Instead of the knives coming out, the scissors did. Gifs ranging from The Big Lebowski to Edward Scissorhands were posted, not to mention a scissor-wielding crustacean. The cut, cut, cut act, activated memories. And you thought 999 was bad.

HERMAN CAIN, ACTIVIST, TEA PARTY: I have put my 999 plan on the table.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your 999 plan?

CAIN: My 999 plan is a bold solution.

MOOS: A little too bold. Pizza chain CEO Herman Cain and his tax plan never made it through the Republican primary.

CAIN: The 999 will pass and it's not the price of the pizza.

MOOS: In the end, President Trump didn't get the name he originally wanted. It was cut, cut, cut down to size. Only one cut survived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tax cut and jobs act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tax cut and jobs act.

MOOS: Republicans wanted to emphasize that their plan did more than just cut, cut, cut. Simplifying the code means many taxpayers could file on form the size of a large postcard, which the president kissed. But he also had to kiss goodbye his preferred name and leave it for kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut, cut, cut, ouch.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That hurt.

MOOS: .. New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: That does it for me. I'm out, out, out. The news continues next with Max Foster in London.