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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN International: Israeli PM Charged with Bribery, Fraud, Breach of Trust; Final Witnesses Further Corroborate Quid Pro Quo; Future of National Health Service Front and Center; CNN Reveals New Accusations Against Pedophile Priest. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 22, 2019 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, wherever you are around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.
[00:00:18]
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, another first for Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's longest serving prime minister is now the first serving Israeli prime minister to be indicted. He plans to fight the corruption charges to the very end.
The impeachment inquiry wraps for now. The last day of public testimony was like a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on Republicans and the conspiracy theories they've been spreading to defend the president.
And pedophile priests in the Catholic Church haven't gone away. It seems they've just gone to the remote corner of West Africa. In an exclusive report, CNN tracks down one priest, a known convicted pedophile assigned to help the most vulnerable children in the world.
For the first time ever, a sitting Israeli prime minister has been formally indicted. Benjamin Netanyahu says he plans to fight the charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The attorney general will now ask Parliament to waive the prime minister's immunity from prosecution. But with the government in a state of flux, and no major party able to form a working coalition, it's not clear how long that request will take.
In the meantime, Israel's longest serving prime minister has called for an investigation into the investigators, labeling the case against him an attempted coup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This evening, we are witnessing a governmental coup attempt against a prime minister, by false libel and with a tendentious and contaminated investigation process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Here's a closer look at the charges that Netanyahu is facing. In the first case, he allegedly received gifts from overseas
billionaires worth around $280,000 and, in exchange, allegedly tried to advance a tax break to benefit those who sent the gifts.
Case No. 2: investigators claim the prime minister asked the owner of one of Israel's largest newspapers for favorable coverage and, in exchange, offered to limit the circulation of a rival paper owned by a Netanyahu donor.
And case No. 3: Mr. Netanyahu allegedly pushed regulations to benefit a telecoms firm, again, in exchange for favorable news coverage.
The prime minister, as we said, denies wrongdoing in all of these cases.
Joining me now from Jerusalem is Reuven Hazan, a political science -- at the Hebrew University there in Jerusalem.
So Professor, thank you for being with us. I guess the next move for the attorney general here is to go to the Knesset, ask the Knesset to weigh Netanyahu's immunity. But explain the fly in the ointment here in terms of the fact that there is no real government at the moment, because Knesset voted to dissolve itself back in May. So, what happens?
REUVEN HAZAN, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, HEBREW UNIVERSITY IN JERUSALEM: Well, this is indeed the case. The Knesset dissolved itself, but the Knesset was reelected in September. So as a parliamentary system, we do have a legislative branch that is in office and can function.
The first task of that legislature is to establish a majority government, which it can't seem to be able to do, so we might be heading full steam into a third election that will be in March.
But at some point, the attorney general can tell the Parliament, you have been elected, you are in office, get a committee together and get this done. If not, it will go to the Supreme Court.
VAUSE: Everything ends up in the Supreme Court, it seems, ultimately, in Israel, which is a great part about the system. It works, I guess, ultimately.
Right now, neither of the major parties, as you mentioned, able to form a coalition, so what, a third general election in 12 months? This could be dragged on, what, until next year. Then there comes this question of immunity. There's an opinion piece in "Haaretz," and it finishes with this: "It will be a toxic and divisive confrontation between Israelis who believe in the judicial system and those who have been convinced that the elites are out to suppress them."
Is that how you see the coming months?
HAZAN: Well, what we saw last night, with Netanyahu's response to the attorney general, is probably the beginning of the election campaign. And you can put it under a nice category of the attorney general announced that the court case will be the state of Israel versus Benjamin Netanyahu.
And last night, Netanyahu announced that it will be Benjamin Netanyahu against the state of Israel and the ruling elites. So you're definitely correct on that.
The election campaign will be divisive. It will not be about economics, Social Security, foreign policy issues. It will be a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu. And you could see some people who supported him as a politician realizing that maybe it's time for him, as an indicted criminal, to go.
VAUSE: Well, yes, the indictment comes, what, after three-year-long police investigation and, in particular, for the attorney general who I think was, you know, in essence, a Netanyahu supporter, it was not an easy decision, it seems. Here he is, explaining why he moved ahead with the indictment. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVICHAI MANDELBLIT, ISRAELI ATTORNEY GENERAL: To obey the law is not a choice, and it's not a matter of politics. This is a duty that everybody has to obey. This is my duty toward the public that everybody will live in a state where any accusation and any allegation about illegalities is going to be checked and investigated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, corruption scandals, they seem to be an ever-present factor in Israeli politics, but these charges against Netanyahu seem to be in another league altogether. Did that play into this decision?
HAZAN: Well, the attorney general, as you said, used to be working side by side with Netanyahu. He was the cabinet secretary.
The attorney general in Israel is picked by an outside committee, and they provide names to the cabinet for approval. Netanyahu must have been thrilled when the outside committee provided this name. He thought it would help him.
Last night was a shock for Netanyahu, that the man who he has worked with side by side is going to indict him, and you saw that a good -- the best defense is a good offense, and that's exactly what Netanyahu did.
The problem is that, with heading into a third election, and nobody being able to form a majority, even if the legislature gets together, can we get a clear decision on giving Netanyahu immunity or not?
And as you said, this can go on and on, back to the Supreme Court. The one major change for Netanyahu is, after the next election, somebody is going to have to make a decision if somebody who has already been indicted can be asked to form a new government. And as you said, those who will decide it are the Supreme Court, and they're going to be the brunt of Netanyahu's attack during the next election campaign. VAUSE: Well, this -- this has real potential for a whole lot of
conflict and a whole lot of conflict, and a whole lot of ugly in many ways.
You know, Netanyahu himself, he described the case against him using very Trumpian language. He called it a witch hunt, an attempted coup. He also says it's taking a huge toll on him and his family.
Here he is again from the other night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU (through translator): When injustice is being done to you and when you are powerless, what I am going through, it's not easy. I'm a human, as well. What my family is going through, it's incredible. It's tough. Day by day, each evening they are spilling my blood. Every day. My blood and my wife's. There's a lot of evil against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I guess that's just for starters. Is there much sympathy among Israelis for the prime minister? You know, traditionally, Israelis are a pretty unforgiving bunch when it comes to their politicians.
HAZAN: Well, there's a lot of sympathy for him as a politician who has achieved a lot. And indeed, in the years he is beating power, the status of this country has risen compared to any other tiny country with only 9 million inhabitants.
His close relationship with top world leaders such as Trump and Putin has endeared him in the eyes of many Israelis. But as a criminal, the Israeli population is going to look at him in a different way, and there will be a split in the Netanyahu camp. The only question is how big of a split. Enough for him to lose the next elections?
He called an election in April. His camp did have a majority. They had 60 out of 120 seats. He called another election in September, and he lost five more seats. If this trend continues, then after the third election in Israel, just a few percentage of the votes are enough to tell Netanyahu it's time to go home.
VAUSE: Yes, it's some interesting times ahead. And Professor, we hope you come back and join us. It's been great speaking with you. Thank you so much.
Reuven Hazan there, live in Jerusalem. Thank you, sir.
Public impeachment hearings into the Ukraine scandal wrapped on Thursday with a dire warning that conspiracy theories and partisan attacks are risking U.S. national security.
The president's former top Russia expert, Fiona Hill, called out Republicans, in particular, for spreading unfounded allegations and debunked theories in defense of Donald Trump, and said Russia is exploiting the political divisions.
Unless Trump officials come forward to testify and refute all of the facts we've heard, Democrat sources say articles of impeachment could be voted on by Christmas.
We begin our coverage with CNN's Sara Murray.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you swear or affirm that the testimony --
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): A U.S. diplomat in Ukraine recounted for lawmakers the moment he realized that President Trump cared more about having Joe Biden and his son investigated than anything to do with Ukraine.
DAVID HOLMES, COUNSELOR FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS, U.S. EMBASSY IN UKRAINE: The four of us went to a nearby restaurant and sat on an outdoor terrace. Ambassador Sondland selected a bottle of wine. During the lunch, Ambassador Sondland said that he was going to call President Trump to give an update.
MURRAY: The phone call David Holmes overheard came July 26, just a day after Trump spoke with the Ukrainian president.
HOLMES: While Ambassador Sondland's phone was not on the speakerphone, I could hear the president's voice through the ear piece of the phone. The president's voice was loud and recognizable.
[00:10:08]
When the president came on, he sort of winced and held the phone away from his ear, like this. And he did that for the first couple exchanges.
I heard Ambassador Sondland greet the president and explain he was calling from Kyiv. I heard President Trump then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine and went on to state that President Zelensky, quote, "loves your ass."
I then heard President Trump ask, "So he's going to do the investigation?"
Ambassador Sondland replied that he's going to do it, adding that "President Zelensky will do anything you ask him to do."
MURRAY: After the call, Holmes pressed for more clarity.
HOLMES: I asked Ambassador Sondland if it was true that the president did not give a expletive about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland agreed that the president did not give an expletive about Ukraine.
I asked, "Why not?"
Ambassador Sondland stated that the president only cares about big stuff.
I noted, there was big stuff going on in Ukraine, like a war with Russia. And Ambassador Sondland replied that he meant big stuff that benefits the president, like the Biden investigation that Mr. Giuliani was pushing.
MURRAY: Rudy Giuliani's problematic role reemerged as both Holmes and Fiona Hill, a former top White House adviser on Russia, described how Trump embraced Giuliani's conspiracy theory, also championed by some GOP lawmakers, that Ukraine meddled in 2016.
HOLMES: Mr. Giuliani was having a direct influence on the foreign policy agenda. My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, quote, "Dammit, Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved he goes and F's everything up."
FIONA HILL, FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN AND RUSSIAN AFFAIRS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Ambassador Bolton had looked pained. In the course of that discussion said that Rudy Giuliani was a hand grenade that was going to blow everyone up.
MURRAY: Alarm bells were also going off about Ambassador Gordon Sondland's role.
HILL: He was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy, and those two things had just diverged.
MURRAY: Hill recounted Sondland's deal with acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to arrange an Oval Office meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian president.
HILL: He said that he had an agreement with Chief of Staff Mulvaney that, in return for investigations, this meeting would get scheduled.
MURRAY: She recalled how John Bolton, then the national security advisor, told her to report it.
HILL: The specific instruction was that I had to go to the lawyers, to John Eisenberg, senior counsel for the National Security Council, to basically say, you tell Eisenberg, Ambassador Bolton told me that I am not part of this, whatever drug deal that Mulvaney and Sondland are cooking up.
MURRAY: Amid the impeachment sparring, both Hill and Holmes offered sharp warning to lawmakers.
HILL: I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary and the Ukraine,, not Russia, attacked us in 2016. These fictions are harmful, even if they're deployed for purely domestic political purposes.
MURRAY: They described the perils of the false Ukrainian meddling narrative.
HILL: This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.
DANIEL GOLDMAN, COUNSEL FOR U.S. HOUSES DEMOCRATS: Why would it be to Vladimir Putin's advantage to promote this theory of Ukraine interference?
HOLMES: First of all, to deflect from the allegations of Russian interference. Second of all, to drive a wedge between the United States and Ukraine.
MURRAY: And Holmes left lawmakers with an urgent reminder. The Ukrainians never got that White House meeting, and they are still under pressure to please the American president.
HOLMES: I think that continues to this day. I think they're being very careful. They still need us now, going forward.
MURRAY: Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson joins us now from Los Angeles.
Jessica, good to see you.
JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: OK. Just to recap what we've seen in this part of the impeachment inquiry. Seventeen witnesses testifying under oath, eight of them publicly. Not once did Republicans on that committee challenge any of them on the facts. Instead, it was mostly just grandstanding like this. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): The American people understand that this has been a partisan process from the start.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): We've got to stop this, but they're not going to. And they're doing it all 11 and a half months before the next election.
REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): And like any good show trial, the verdict was decided before the trial ever began.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So if there was a strategy here, was it to look angry and strong for sound bites to run on FOX News prime time? Because beyond that, there didn't seem to be much point.
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: In part. So, you know, there's a saying that lawyers use. When you have the facts on your side, you argue the facts. When you have the law on your side you argue the law. When you don't have either on your side, you just argue. And I think that that's what we've been seeing from House Republicans. And as you said, there's no challenging these witnesses on what they
stand, on the substance of the allegations that gave rise to impeachable offenses.
What we see here is really kind of a three-part attack. One is, attack the process. I think, ultimately, because very few people understand the impeachment process, and they are trying to confuse this, say this is a kangaroo court. Somehow, this is a trial, when of course, it's not a trial.
[00:15:11]
And, or, they'll attack the witnesses. So they'll try and undermine the credibility of the people who are testifying. This is why everybody starts with this lengthy discussion of who they are, how dedicated they are to the American government.
And then, third, it's attack their colleagues, and attack, again, how they're conducting the process, the idea that this is just a partisan witch hunt. But nowhere in there is an attack on the substance of the testimony.
VAUSE: Yes. You know, Thursday, during Fiona Hill's testimony, you know, once Republicans had brought up Hillary Clinton, the Electoral College, the Steele dossier, they seemed to give up. Some walked out. She sat there for, what, almost 20 minutes without being asked for a question. And that's when she spoke out. She said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Could I actually say something, because we've had three --?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Dr. Hill, I was going to -- I was going to ask if you'd like to respond. There have been -- I --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to ask a question.
SCHIFF: The gentlemen will suspend. Doctor Hill, you may respond.
HILL: I think all of us who came here under a legal obligation also felt we had a moral obligation to do so. We came as fact witnesses. And we're here to relate to you what we heard, what we saw, and what we did. And to be of some help to all of you in really making a very momentous decision here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That seemed code for debunking the conspiracy theories that Republicans and the president have been spreading in his defense.
LEVINSON: It is. I mean, what she said is, basically, I took it to mean, House Republicans, you know how you're throwing all this pasta against the wall? You keep saying words like the Bidens. You keep talking about the Mueller report, Hillary Clinton, hoping that some distraction basically shifts and that that catches fire with the American public. She's saying, I came here. I have a moral, an ethical, and legal
obligation to be here. I'm telling a story. If you have questions about the story, ask me now. Basically, if you don't, it's time for you to stop talking.
VAUSE: You know, the other witness we heard from on Thursday was David Holmes, the embassy staffer who overheard the cell-phone call between Trump and the E.U. ambassador, Gordon Sondland. But Holmes also talked about the role that Rudy Giuliani was playing in all of this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: At one point during a preliminary meeting of the inaugural delegation, someone wondered aloud why Mr. Giuliani was so active in the media with respect to Ukraine. My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, quote, "Dammit, Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved he goes and F's everything up."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: As it gets harder and harder to defend the president, will, you know, Rudy "Hand Grenade" Giuliani be the next Michael Cohen? Will he be thrown under the bus, blamed for everything?
LEVINSON: I think he might be. I mean, I think that you're seeing a little bit of that starting among Republicans. Because I think that they know that the last few days were hugely damaging for the president.
So I think the calculus will be, will the game of distraction work, such that they don't actually have to throw Rudy Giuliani under the bus? Or will they have to have a fall person for this particular story, and will that be Rudy Giuliani?
All the witnesses have pretty consistently said Rudy Giuliani was driving this conspiracy train. He was the one trying to pedal these myths about the Ukrainian government being involved in the 2016 election. He was the one trying to push this meeting that, again, for personal gain for the president. For personal political gain. He was working with people who are now arrested.
And so I think that you are seeing a groundswell of Republicans saying somebody's going to have to take the fall for this. We don't want it to be the president. Let's look over here to the Dumpster fire that is Rudy Giuliani.
VAUSE: OK. You know, we've heard a lot over the last couple days about this two-track policy on Ukraine. There's the official U.S. policy and the one pushed by Giuliani.
Hill seemed to sort of describe the best clarity. And it was the moment when she challenged Gordon Sondland, the E.U. ambassador, for not reporting directly back to her. "He said he was already briefing the president, the acting White House chief of staff, the secretary of state, and the former national security adviser." That was her aha moment. She realized it was a domestic political
errand he was on. And you look at the list of people who he was briefing: Mulvaney, Pompeo, and Bolton, in particular. They're the ones who really should be testifying, but they won't. They're the witnesses with firsthand knowledge.
LEVINSON: Absolutely. So I think a couple things were interesting there.
One, the idea that she talked about a domestic political errand. I think people just intuitively get that. Quid pro quo? It's Latin. It might feel a little bit divorced from your daily life. Bribery most people do understand, and it has the benefit of being in the Constitution, next to the term impeachable offenses.
But, you know, when she talks about domestic political errands, I think it makes sense to people.
What she's also describing is that there's basically two tracks. They're the people who are trying to do something for personal political gain for the president.
[00:20:03]
And then there are the career public servants who have worked for the American government for a number of different administrations, for Republicans and Democrats, and they're trying to do the same job for the betterment of the American people.
And it was very stark the way she said she had this "aha" moment, the way she laid out, of course, they wouldn't be reporting back to us. Of course, we wouldn't enjoy the same kind of robust interagency communication that we've been accustomed to.
VAUSE: Yes. We're out of time, Jessica, but it was just so notable how she just cut through everything like butter. And it was just -- She had ice water in her veins or something. It's cool and calm, unflappable. Much like yourself. Good to see you. Thank you.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, in the days ahead, President Trump will have to make a consequential decision, and that will be regarding pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
On Thursday, Congress officially approved two bills supporting the movement and sent them to the president's desk for final approval. If he signs them, however, he does risk undermining ongoing trade talks with China. Beijing has been very critical on this bill and has threatened serious consequences if it is signed into law.
Congressional lawmakers argue the symbolic value of the bill is that it's a reaffirmation of America's commitment to democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): To President Xi, this resolution is what America thinks of you and your policies towards the people in Hong Kong and also towards the Uyghurs in northwest China and your oppressive rule without.
Don't take any word of the president that everything is OK. It is not. And what you're doing in Hong Kong and elsewhere damages your standing dramatically here in America and throughout the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, Britain's Labour leader warning the U.K.'s beloved National Health Service may soon be up for sale. And he warns that the U.S. influence is all at the center of this plan. So is there any truth to that? More on that when we come back.
Also, a CNN exclusive uncovers the case of a Catholic priest, a convicted pedophile sent to work with some of the most vulnerable children in the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: If there was one issue which could bump Brexit from the headlines in Britain, it's the fate of the National Health Service. It's now the most contentious topic in the U.K. election.
[00:25:06]
The leaders of both major parties, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, are essentially trying to outdo each other, supporting Britain's favorite institution as they try to win over voters for the upcoming election next month. Scott McLean has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY CORBYN, LABOUR LEADER: You're going to sell our National Health Service out to the United States.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is an absolute invention. It is completely untrue.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the U.K. election in full swing, there are warnings of an American invasion of the British health care system, the NHS. The Labour Party of shadow trade secretary Barry Gardiner and leader Jeremy Corbyn, says America wants to use a long-promised post-Brexit trade deal to force the NHS to pay more for the U.S. drugs it already buys, costing the NHS more, to the benefit of American pharmaceutical companies.
President Trump believes that if other countries like the U.K. pay more for U.S. drugs, it will lower prices for Americans, who pay vastly more than the British.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is wrong. This is unfair, and together, we will stop it. I'm asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading.
MCLEAN: In Washington, Congress has already proposed the "Fixing Global Freeloading Act," but the president himself has made conflicting statements about whether he would insist the NHS is part of a future trade pact.
TRUMP: We can quadruple our trade with U.K., and we can, I think, really do a good job.
JOHNSON: Always remembering that the NHS is not for -- for sale.
MCLEAN: Drug pricing experts like Professor Martin McKee take issue with the president's logic.
(on camera): If other countries pay more for drugs, will Americans pay less?
MARTIN MCKEE, PROFESSOR: No, I don't think they will. The objective of any company is to maximize its profits. And it's not at all clear to me why, if it can make more money in another market, it should cut its prices in its home market.
MCLEAN (voice-over): A trade deal may not help bring down U.S. drug prices, but it seems Labour is hoping the thread of the NHS for sale will help them get elected.
CORBYN: His toxic Brexit trade deal with Trump could hand over 500 million a week of NHS money to big drug corporations.
MCLEAN: But that scenario is also a highly unlikely one. The stunning figure, 500 million pounds per week, is based on a worst-case scenario from researchers who roughly calculated the cost to the NHS if it paid American drug prices. Their so far unpublished work was featured in a British documentary.
(on camera): Do you think that's likely?
BARRY GARDINER, BRITISH OPPOSITION SHADOW TRADE MINISTER: Well, it won't be with the Labour government. Of course not. Because we would oppose that. We wouldn't -- we would never agree to -- to a trade agreement that did that.
MCLEAN: But Boris Johnson has said he opposes it, as well.
GARDINER: No, Boris Johnson has used weasel words, as he always does.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Boris Johnson compared Labour's claim to the Loch Ness monster. Professor McKee doesn't buy it either.
MCKEE: I don't see how that is going to happen. The money simply is not there. There may be some increase in expenditure, but we're not simply going to translate American prices to here.
MCLEAN: Because that, he says, would sink the British health service and perhaps the chances of any trade deal at all.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We head to Australia now, where deadly bush fires are rapidly moving south.
In recent weeks, dozens of fires have left a trail of charred bushland and destroyed property in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. And now as the fire emergency spreads to south Australia, air pollution is looming as one of the biggest concerns.
A dust storm turned the sky orange over Mildura in Victoria. And to the north, a thick haze of smoke has blanketed Sydney for days, leading to increased hospital visits.
The hot, dry and windy conditions are only expected to get worse in the coming days.
In Los Angeles, there were flames in the sky when the engine of a passenger plane caught fire just after takeoff. Take a look at the video here from inside the aircraft.
The man was recording his daughter's reaction as the plane lifted off, but he took this footage as the flames started shooting out under the jet's right wing.
The plane was forced to return to LAX. It did manage to land safely.
Still to come, new allegations the Catholic Church may be failing to protect the most vulnerable children from pedophiles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're a priest. You're a man of God. These children are accusing you of abusing them. And you have nothing to say for yourself?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More on this exclusive yearlong investigation by CNN's Nima Elbagir.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:32:02]
VAUSE: In a yearlong investigation in the United States, Europe and Africa, CNN has found that the second largest religious order in the world, the Salesians of Don Bosco, repeatedly failed to protect children from pedophile priests.
In the first part of a CNN special report, senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir uncovers the case of a convicted pedophile who was sent to work among some of the most vulnerable children in the world.
This report features theme that some viewers may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): We're tracking down a convicted pedophile priest, Father Luk Delft. Delft abused two children in a dormitory in Belgium. We've learned he may be abusing again.
Our investigation is zeroing in on a remote town in the Central African Republic, Kaga-Bandoro.
(on camera): It's taken us about two days, three different planes to get up here to the north of the Central African Republic. If you were trying to disappear, this would definitely suitably remote.
(voice-over): UNICEF has called it one of the worst places in the world to be a child. It's here in Kaga-Bandoro that Delft first worked for Caritas, the Catholic charity. Their mission: to protect the most vulnerable.
It's also here that we're hearing whispers of possible new victims.
At a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of town, Elba (ph) and his father agree to speak to us about his alleged abuse at the hands of Father Luke Delft.
(on camera): Do you know who this man is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luk.
ELBAGIR: Pere Luk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We were friends. He would buy me clothes, and he would often give me money. Every morning, I would greet him before he would go to work. It was the basis for our friendship.
ELBAGIR: He became your friend. What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It was a horrible thing that he did to me. When you showed me his picture, it upset me. I don't even want to see his face. It upsets me very much.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): It's clear Elba (ph) is too upset to talk much more, so we asked father if he can explain what happened.
(on camera): What did Father Delft do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: What he did to my son is not a good thing. There are plenty of women he could have had sex with. He preferred to sodomize my son.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): This was hard for both Elba (ph) and his father, but they told us it was important for them to talk. They want justice.
[00:35:00]
We leave Kaga-Bandoro. It's time to track down Delft.
This is Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. We've traveled here from the north, where we met Elba (ph).
Our contacts are telling us Delft regularly celebrates mass in the area. We try the churches. He's nowhere to be found. We try him at his residence, but he hasn't spent the night. Nothing.
(on camera): We've spent the whole morning looking for Father Delft. It's been a bit of a wild goose chase. But now, we're hearing that he's back in his office, and we're heading there now.
We spoke to the prosecutor in Belgium. We want to ask you some questions about breaking the terms of your sentence.
We also spoke to some children up in Kaga-Bandoro who had some really disturbing stories to share with us. And of course, we want to hear what you have to say about it, Father Delft.
FATHER LUK DELFT, CONVICTED PEDOPHILE PRIEST: Nothing.
ELBAGIR: What do you mean nothing?
DELFT: Nothing.
ELBAGIR: You're a priest. You're a man of God. These children are accusing you of abusing them, and you have nothing to say for yourself?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Do you know Elba (ph)? Do you remember Elba (ph)? He said he was 13 when you abused them. Do you remember him?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Elba (ph)? Elba (ph) at Kaga-Bandoro? At the compound? The Catholic compound? He and his father spoke to us. He was crying. He said that you told him you loved him, and then you hurt him. You have nothing to say?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: It doesn't disturb you to hear that children said this about you?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Do you want to say anything?
DELFT: No.
ELBAGIR: Well, we will, of course, be speaking to the managers of Caritas about our findings. Thank you for whatever this was.
(voice-over): Father Luk Delft's religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, moved him multiple times, each time to schools, campuses, even supervising children, before we were able to catch up with him.
You may think you know this story, priests abusing children, but what you may not know is that there are powerful institutions within the church who are free to self-police. In many cases, not even the pope can sanction them.
Father Luk Delft belongs to the Salesians of Don Bosco, the second largest of these institutions, a religious order whose mission is to help the most vulnerable children in the world.
Patrick Wall (ph) was himself a religious order priest, and to date, has helped investigate hundreds of clerical abuse cases.
PATRICK WALL, CO-AUTHOR, "SEX, PRIESTS AND SECRET CODES": My experience has been that Salesians have the highest percentage of perpetrators of any religious order across the world, because of their focus. If a priest is allowed to go 20 to 30 years, there are several hundred victims per priest.
ELBAGIR: We came to the Vatican to share the evidence we were able to unearth over a yearlong investigation, and it's not just Father Delft. We found evidence of abusers being moved, evidence of a refusal to defrock convicted pedophiles.
Caritas Internationalis' new head of safeguarding says the Salesians did not contact them about the current allegations against Caritas's former director, Luk Delft.
(on camera): So you were only made aware when we contacted you?
ANDREW AZZOPARDI, CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS: Yes, and from what information you shared with us, there are -- There are new allegations there which need to be investigated, hopefully by the police, or at least internally by the church, to -- to take action against Father Luk, and any other person who is responsible for Father Luk's behavior.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): The Salesians appear to have withheld information even from others in the church. We are still looking to understand how this is possible.
Father Han Zollner is one of the few people at the Vatican willing to answer questions. He says the new papal guidelines are progress.
FATHER HANS ZOLLNER, PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS: This is a very important step forward in the development of a culture of accountability.
ELBAGIR (on camera): Does this apply, though, to the holy orders? Because the holy orders will not directly fall under that bishop.
ZOLLNER: Now, the congregations and the religious orders follow a different type of structure and legal -- legal procedures. Many people think the Catholic Church is a monolithic block, with one CEO, who is the pope, and he presses a button, and every bishop and every priest and every Catholic actually salute; and they follow what he does. And that is not the case.
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In some cases, in way too many cases, the religious superiors did not follow through canon law.
ELBAGIR: But the fact is, they did not follow canon law.
ZOLLNER: Yes.
ELBAGIR: And there was no oversight mechanism that made any note of that. So there are no sanctions. There have not been sanctions for that.
ZOLLNER: If there are no sanctions within the community, which is, in that case, an order or a congregation, then there is almost no possibility to do that.
ELBAGIR: And I think that's the heartbreak for a lot of survivors.
(voice-over): Until this blind spot is addressed, and the religious orders brought under the same guidelines as other priests and bishops, many survivors believe the cycle of clerical abuse will only continue.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, the Vatican.
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VAUSE: Again, thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.
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