the u.s. president donald trump slams democratic senator al franken, folin an incident of sexual assault. he's stayed silent so far and the allegations leveled at the alabama senator roy moore. and this huge crowd gathered on the streets of zimbabwe's capital commanding the resignation of president robert mugabe. and saad hariri is in paris with talks with the french president but he says he plans to return to lebanon next week.

live in in atlanta, we welcome our viewers here and around the world. i'm george howell, "cnn newsroom" "newsroom" starts right now. here in the united states, allegation of sexual misconduct against u.s. politicians puts the u.s. president in a tricky situation. first, the white house there's no comparison between al franken's admission of sexual misconduct and numerous allegations against the president of the united states himself, the allegations raised when he was running for president. but as a member of his own party, running for u.s. senate, trump has remained mostly silent. >> reporter: president's trump reaction to sexual assault allegations and his own history of sex misconduct allegations under new scrutiny today, with

this over republican roy moore. but quickly firing off a tweet attacking senator al franken for a photo in which he appears to touch a woman while sleeping. >> the al franken picture is really bad, speaks in a thousand words where do his hands go in tickets 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 while she sleeps? moore maintains he's innocent. >> "washington post" has brought some scurrilous, false charges -- not charges, allegation which is i've empathically cleaned time and time again. >> reporter: but trump's decision to weigh in on franken immediately drawing comparisons. during the campaign, a 2005 "access hollywood" tape came to light showing trump talking about women. >> i'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. i just kiss them. and when you're a star, they let

you do anything. grab them by the [ bleep ] you can do anything. >> reporter: trump apologized after the tape. >> anyone who knows me, knows she's words do not reflect who i am, i said it, i was wrong and i apologize. >> reporter: but afterwards, more than a dozen women came forward and accused trump. >> the stories are 100% made up. >> reporter: taking ail at their looks. >> she would not be my first choice. >> reporter: and threatening lawsuits that he never actually filed. >> all will be sued after the eelection. >> reporter: and he dismissed any against franken. >> i think it's a pretty clear distinction. >> reporter: when comes to moore white house press secretary

sarah sanders wouldn't believe the allegations made him and the fate ultimately lies in alabama's governor and the voters. >> president certainly finds the allegations extremely troubling as i stated yesterday. and he feels that it's up to the governor and state of the people of alabama to make a determination on whether or not they delay that election and whether or not they support and vote for roy moore. >> reporter: now, the white house said that president trump does believe roy moore should step aside if the allegations against him are true. but it's clear the president doesn't want to intervene in the race. as for the alabama governor she says she has no plans to vote in the election. we just mentioned in sara's report despite allegations of multiple reports, ivy said she backs the judge's candidate listen here to what the governor says. >> i certainly have no reason to disbelieve any of them.

i do believe the nominee of the party is the one we vote for. most important, we need to have a republican in the united states senate to vote on the things like supreme court justices, other appointments that the senate has to confirm and make major decisions. >> all right. that is the word from the governor of alabama and moore's wife kala also stepping forward as his strongest defender. she's been active in disputing the allegations against him while also promoting his campaign, listen. >> even after all of the attacks against me, against my family, against the foundation and now against my husband. he will not step down. he will not stop fighting for the people of alabama. in his words, and i quote, i will not stop until they lay me in that box in the ground. >> moore's wife there defending

her husband, though, yet another woman is coming forward to tell her story about the republican candidate for senate, tina johnson. says that her encounter happened when she was 28 years old. this, when moore was handling the custody against between johnson and her mother. she described the incident to my colleague erin burnett, listen. >> the moment we walked in, it was full-on assault. i mean, he was very, very flirtatious. and commenting constantly the whole time. and it was not like for five minutes, it was like he was there for a long period of time. it was so uncomfortable. i knew something was up, but i just ignored it. tried -- you know, just what it was. he proceeded to come to the end of the desk and really close up on me. >> you said so close you could

sort of feel his breath? >> right. actually, i think his knee might have been touching my knee. his hands weren't on me, it was maybe his knee was brushing mine or something. then when it was time for us to leave, my mother had got up and left the room -- you know, to go out the door. well, when she was going out the door and i proceeded out, and he just grabbed me from behind on my buttocks and he just squeezed it really hard. i remember thinking i'm so ashamed. i felt humiliated in that moment. it took everything out of me. >> tina johnson there speaking to my colleague erin burnett. now, total investigation of russian meddling in the u.s. election. special counsel robert mueller wants to interview robert goldstone. the goldstone is the man who coord natureded infamous meeting

between donald trump jr. at gold tower. when asked for comment, his attorney said nothing has been scheduled at this point. >> a crucial part of the congressional testimony of white house senior adviser jared kushner is being called into question. it involves his remarks on wikileaks, the organization that published the hacked e-mails from the democratic national committee. our evan perez has the story. >> jared kushner told investigators that he didn't coordinate with wikileaks or anyone in the campaign who did. we do know from disclosures this week that donald trump jr. sent e-mails to jared kushner to pass on information that he learned and then kushner forwarded to hope hicks one of the closest aides to then candidate trump. and what this latest allegation does is turns up pressure on

kushner to go back to capitol hill for more interviews and to explain himself. we heard from the leaders the senate judiciary committee who sent a public letter to kushner's lawyers who say kushner failed to turn over documents that they know exist. and kushner's attorney said the wikileaks question is a gotcha question. he adds that, quote, in over six hours of voluntary testimony, mr. kushner answered auld questions put to him and demonstrated that there had been no collusion between the campaign and russia. and lowell also dismisses the judiciary committee letter accusing kushner of not turning over documents. and as says that the senate judiciary committee should ask other committees for the transcripts of they are congressional interviews and that they should ask the white house for other documents. evan perez, cnn, washington. let's now bring in amy green, amy is an american

political science professor and professor in france. live from paris. good to have you at this hour, amy, always. let's talk about this situation of sexual misconduct allegations against politicians. big story here in the united states. now, we've heard from the white house, the press secretary, about this statement that she said say, quote, senator al franken admitted wrongdoing. president trump did not. that was the statement that came from the white house press podium. is this, the president and the white house sidestepping the allegations against the president of the united states, using franken to do so? >> yeah. the risk is that this is becoming quickly a political issue. a political sort of weapon, if you will. the statement of sarah huckabee sanders, obviously, is contestable in the sense whether or not the women's story is legitimate does not dependent on the man recognizing the actions of ray moore like with bill

cosby. how many women are necessary to make this legitimate in the eyes of many. and now the politicization of it. the roy moore incident is sort of a proxy if you will between the establishment of washington and grass rootsz sort of trump voters, if you will, lead by steve bannon. this is sort of a proxy internally within the party. and the franken aspect comes in really to politicize it. you see donald trump won't speak out against roy moore figuring there are no options to do so considering the fact that the state anti-establishment rhetoric that's fuelling ray moore making him into this kind of conservative hero is the same type that brought donald trump to the white house and gave him critical stakes in the 2016 election whereas with al frafrgen, the question is does

possible to get a democrat out of the senate to replace him with a republican. the veracity of the women and courage the victim speaking up and bringing this to light becomes secondary and it becomes weaponized for political end. and can be destructive to this watershed moment, this sea change that we're living and to demonstrate this is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed and not purely a political issue. >> you point out weaponized for political ends but the president of the united states remaining relatively silent about the situation with roy moore. >> yeah, absolutely. i think donald trump realized that, you know, he wasn't elected into os by embracing the traditional establishment republican party. it wasn't because he vowed to work closely with mitch mcconnell or paul ryan that he was able to be delivered the critical stakes necessary to putting him over the edge in the

electoral college. it was presenting him as anti-establishment as someone who distrusted washington who someone who wants to as he said famously to drain the swamp. that was the type of hate sand furor he was able to use to become elected to side himself with john mccain and mitch mcconnell and other members of the republican leadership isn't doing him any favors in terms of, you know, demonstrating loyalty to that base. you know, roy moore shares a lot of that base, a lot of the arguments used to defend moore are sort of ones by donald trump wouldn't have necessarily distanced himself from in the presidential election. that same bannon roy moore of the republican party is fuelling support for roy moore. obviously, the president is in the optic of saying let the alabama decide. but again, not wanting to take a position against right or wrong and drawing this fine line between, well, clearly, the president wants the alabama

voters and not washington to tell them what to do. but the question of right or wrong moral authority or believing the speech of several women now doesn't even factor into his calculation. >> and as we continue to see the allegations come to light, it is a matter of right and wrong being blurred by right and left, certainly, playing out in politics right now. let's take a look at the latest poll from fox news about this race in the state of alabama and again it shows, right now, roy moore falling behind his competitor there. the question for you is this, as voters have to make up their minds in this particular election in that state. does it come down to those who are in the middle? and are they being affected? are they being swayed by what's happening? >> it's interesting that you talk about this question. well, obviously, there's a middle who hasn't made up their mind. of course, both sides are

battling to win the murders over and some of the arguments we've heard coming out to defend moore, including comparing his situation with the proclivities to the holy couple of mary and joseph getting to the extreme side of those defenses. what's interesting, i think there was a pew poll recently that showed among evangelical voters their ability to demonstrate between one's life and the leader aren't quite as they were a number of years ago. i think when you look at the bam become party that has declared its allegiance to roy moore, you see there's potentiality will be ability to play on that with evangelical voters who might have seen that as a dealbreaker in terms of being able to act ethically in a political sphere is no longer a problem for hem or a diminishing capability.

of course, there are more voters to sway. but perhaps one of the more interesting policies going forward or the interesting strategies for that republican party is to try to do as much as possible to turn out the staunchest republican voters who-to-try to offset people on the fence with a mass participation among the right there. >> amy greene, thank you for your insight today, live with us from paris. >> thank you, george. still ahead here on "newsroom," marchers demand an end to president robert mugabe's rule in is zimbabwe. how the military is responding to the demonstration there ahead. plus, another change on importing sport hunting trophies on elephants from africa.

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you. talk to us about the significance of so many people coming together with this very singular message. >> reporter: well, george, the significance is hard to overstate. just two weeks ago, you never would have believed that this could happen here in the capital of zimbabwe. people said they would have been afraid, afraid of being locked up by police. taken away by public security. but now they can come out in unison, calling for robert mugabe to step down. you know, right behind me, there's an apc, an armored personnel carrier. and the soldiers are shaking hands with people walking by. they're getting selfies with the soldiers. and they parked right next door to the office of president mugabe who has been in power for 14 years. frankly, he's on president just on paper. and we're getting word from someone close to the negotiations, that as of today, even with all of these people

out on the streets calling for him to step down, the negotiations with the 93-year-old president continue. and it doesn't seem like, at least now, he's willing to step aside. one source said that the military would do it the hard way if he didn't. but it's a scene of jubilation here, people singing, shouting and calling for mugabe to step down. >> he's held power there for some 37 years, david. obviously, a lot of people want to see a change. is there any chance that president mugabe could remain in power. he has certainly found a way to hold on to power, despite being in similar situations during his tenure as president? is there any chance, a concern, you know, he has some resource here? >> reporter: well, the winds of change are blowing against the president, i have to say.

i can't see how he can get out of this and return to power. the military's in charge here, not the civilian government. i actually managed to talk to robert mugabe's nephew that is technically a minister, he calls this a unconstitutional coup. several members of the ruling party have been detained including the first lady and of course, the president. and a lot of regional actors are keeping quiet about this. it seems they want this to transition away from robert mugabe. you know, so many of these people, as they come out on the streets just a few weeks ago, agency i said, would have been arrested. today, they're jubilant. there's a main sigh of relief sweeping through this country right now. that this man that has dominated their lives politically and personally might be on his way out. his young daughter has only known robert mugabe in power. that needs to be a change.

that he's too old, that he didn't lead this country. that is the kind of sentiment you're hearing on the streets. every time the military drives by. people cheer, they shake the hands the officers, it's all very peaceful. the sense is people don't care that the military took over power, that's the sense on the street. and all they want is some kind of change. tomorrow when the change happens that's another discussion. right now on the street of harare, people out here in the thousands and they're calling for the president to be gone. >> david mckenzie, standby, as we look at what's happening behind you, again, there's a great deal of significance, david. you point this out that many generations who know no other than that mugabmugabe. in a solidarity that would haven't able to happen a month ago, two months ago.

explain the significance of the simple fact it's being allowed to happen. >> reporter: well, that's very true. excellent point, george. people were too afraid to come out, marchers in protests that we covered last year, a few dozen came out on the streets were hit with tear gas. i can't stress enough to our audience how extraordinary this moment is. robert mugabe ruled this country with an iron fist over decades. pushed aside people who could usurp his power. he orchestrated many say, the killing of others who were standing up against. today, what you have here are the war veterans, the powerful group against mugabe. activists, the ruling party, all of them saying the same thing. now, as i said, the negotiations in the military and robert mugabe in state house appear to be ongoing. we don't know what the terms of

negotiations are. but we know robert mugabe will be seeing the images on state media. now, all focus of the regime, the military regime as it is to trying to persuade a lead. part of this is giving to the new constitutionality to show, frankly so, to the people, that they want him out, they want him to go, they've had enough. and we'll have to wait and see if this pressure from the military, from the people, from his own party, from regional powers comes to bear on the man who seems to does not want to leave, no matter what. george. >> and historic moments happening on the streets of harare, the capital of zimbabwe. david mckenzie in the middle of it. david, we'll stay in touch with you. many people coming together, thousands in fact, demanding that the man robert mugabe step down from power after 37 years holding that office. david, thanks. one more story concerning

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, you're watching "cnn newsroom." it is good to have you with us. i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. the white house says there is no comparison between senator al franken and president donald trump regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. u.s. president secretary sarah sanders brushed off with reporters saying the distinction is, quote, senator al franken has admitted wrongdoing, the president hasn't. russia has vetoed another u.n. resolution to extend an independent probe into syria's use of chemical weapons. it's the third time in a month that russia has used its veto power to derail the investigations. moscow claims the probes would be biased against syria. in zimbabwe, thousands of people are marching the streets demanding that nation's president robert mugabe resign. he was put under house arrest

under apparent military coup wednesday. the military says it will allow anti-mug baby marches as long as it remains peaceful. resigning, lebanon prime minister's saad hariri has arrived in paris. he will meet with macron saturday and return on sunday for independent day celebrations there. mr. hard hariri abruptly announced his resignation. it's unclear whether he will officially resign as prime minister. we're joined by the head of middle east and north africa program at the chatham house in london. it's good to have you at this hour. let's talk about the prime minister's travels from france -- to france, rather, from saudi arabia, this comes after many people fear he was being held against his will. >> well, obviously, he wasn't held against will. i'm actually surprised at how

quickly a lot of journalists and analysts jumped to the conclusion that he was detained simply because he didn't make a statement about his responses. with speculations. >> so, while in france, we understand that he will be meeting with the french president. he will spend some time at his own place there in paris. and will be heading to lebanon on wednesday. here's the question, though, what is to happen, in lebanon wednesday? will this be a point where his resignation is officially recognized? >> right now, what re shg, hari indicated that he's changed his mind about resigning. this comes that's highly lie luckily when in lebanon he was handed his resignation which is what was requested and this puts lebanon into a period.

>> how does hariri's resignation play into the ongoing dispute, the tug-of-war, quite frankly, between saudi and iran? >> well, ultimately, the whole situation with prime minister saad hariri is between saudi arabia and iran. hariri is one of saudi arabia's key allies. and he had been silenced and has a reputation with hezbollah, as well as the saudi conflict presented by hariri. so his resignation means that saudi arabia is advocating for iran and in any situation in which there is compromise between clients or allies of the two countries. >> it is described as a crisis for lebanon. so many people with so many questions about the nation's prime minister.

and the question is this, what does this mean for people there? these questions, the mystery, around what's happening here? >> i think if anything, this incident shows that the lebanese sovereignty is actually very weak, unfortunately, because as we can see, it's all about foreign actors mainly saudi arabia and iran, playing out in lebanon through their clients or proxies or allies, depending on who you ask. and here we're talking about the hariri party and hezbollah. and therefore, the people of lebanon are always concerned when there are clashes between the actors, with clashes on the ground in lebanon. but i personally think that the prospect of any war breaking out is very, very unlikely. >> with perspective and analysis, thank you so much for taking time with us here on "newsroom." china says that its historic

friendship with north korea gives valuable wealth to the two nations. on friday, a senior chinese diplomat travelled to pyongyang for a meeting with a high-ranking north korean party leader. chinese state media say the two officials discussed the recent chinese communist party congress, and that both countries agreed to keep on improving their warm relationship. no word yet on whether the chinese delegation discussed kim jong-un nuclear and mist programs. but for the rest of the world, especially the united states, all eyes are on north korea, to see what happens, to see if that nation breaks its radio silence. barbara starr has this report. >> reporter: north korea hasn't conducted a missile test in over two months. the silence since the last test, september 14th, now an urgent puzzle for u.s. military intelligence. the u.s. representative for

north korea policy says he doesn't know what's going on inside the regime's effort to build weapons that could attention the u.s. >> i would hope that they would stop forever, you know. but we've had no communications from them. so, i don't know whether to interpret it positive or not. >> reporter: some u.s. officials say the north korean weapons testing may be due to pressure from china. but defense secretary james mattis possibly sending a new signal to pyongyang, that there is a way out of the crisis, short of the demand for the complete denuclearization of north korea that president trump has called for. mattis telling reporters, so long as they stop testing, stop developing, they don't export the weapons, there would be opportunity for talks. after secretary of state rex tillerson in september suggested talks with north korea, president trump appeared to undermine him, tweeting, i told

rex tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocket man. but inside the administration, some are wondering if counter to the president, mattis and tillerson are knowingly playing the good cop role. >> they realize that the actual idea of denuclearizing the north korean military is really far-fetched. it's not going to happen. north korea's going to hold on to its nukes for as long as it possibly can. and they're not going to willingly give them up. >> reporter: kim still may have other desire plans the u.s. government believes north korea is using a malware called fall chill. its cyberoperatives may be hacking into financial institutions, stealing money to increase their cash flow for for expensive weapons testing. >> north koreans may be using

this pause to in essence, mine some money out of different hacks that they do. >> reporter: north korea's next weapon steps can include working on a missile launching submarine. commercial satellite imagery has revealed the latest efforts at their shipyard complex. >> thanks to barbara starr. still ahead on "newsroom," is the republicans tax reform plan good or bad for the u.s. middle class? as with all things in washington, it all gentd depend you ask. and plus, another one of president trump's cabinet secretaries is facing questions about his travel hands. stay with us. g a bad haircut. overcrowded trains. turnstiles that don't turn. and spilling coffee on themselves. but for everyone else, there's directv. for #1 rated customer satisfaction over cable, switch to directv.

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their thanksgiving break with one thing on their mind -- the new tax reform bill. republicans say their plan will be great for everyone, especially the middle class. but democrats say it's only great for big companies and the richest americans. brianna keilar explains how it all works. >> reporter: republicans are hard at work trying to overhaul the tax system. >> we're working to give the american people a giant tax cut for christmas. >> reporter: and it has a giant price tag. $1.5 trillion over ten years. even as republicans argue questionably, that economic growth will help cancel out the big addition to the national debt, it's a costly plan for republicans like house speaker paul ryan who have built their brand on fiscal conservingtism. >> we face a crushing burden of debt which will take down our economy. >> reporter: that was back in 2011 when ryan was house budget chairman. in 2013, senators majority

leader mitch mcconnell called the debt and deficit - to transcend an issue of our era, until we fix that problem, we can't fix america. >> reporter: but now republicans are championing a plan that many definite kit hawks say is anything but fiscally responsible. the tax plan's $1.5 trillion price tag is a low ball figure. it's the price tag they need to come under in order for rules requiring them to have only 51 votes. the committee for fiscal conserve tip advocacy group puts the real cost at $2.2 trillion. >> there are gimmicks they're slipping into the bill to make it look less than they are. >> reporter: here's one gimmick, while the tax cuts would be permanent, the tax cuts for americans would expire after ten years, on paper anyway. even though it's expected that congress would ultimately make the math permanent. that fishy math allows republicans to claim a smaller price tag. >> on one hand, they're saying

sure, there are tax breaks but don't worry, we'll extend them and you don't have to worry about your taxes going up. on the other hand they're saying don't worry about the cost of the bill, $1.5 trillion and saying we're not going beyond that limit when really they are. >> reporter: some are saying they're not committed to the charade subpoena as retiring senator bob corker. >> if i believe it's going to have a deficit, i'm not going to vote for it. >> reporter: critics say it will add significantly to the definite kit just as the bush cuts did, exactly what republicans have warned about in the past. >> it's unconscionable to leave the next generation with a crushing burden of debt with a nation in decline. washington's selection of the next election has come at the expense of the next generation. >> there's also a dubious promise that the white house is making about the tax overhaul.

every working family will see a decrease in taxes. that is not fully true. independent analysis show that american families learning less than $75,000 a year are over time going to pay more in taxes. brianna keilar, cnn, washington. the trump white house has already faced ethics questions about the way its officials travel. one cabinet secretary even resigned over improper flying habits and now interior secretary ryan zinke is under scrutiny as well. we get more now from tom foreman. >> reporter: to hear the horse back riding, haunting handshaking secretary of the interior tell it, his official trips are a model of transparency. >> every time i travel, i submit the travel plan to the ethics department, to evaluate it line by line. to make sure that i'm above the law. and i follow the law. >> reporter: but a probe by his

own department's inspector general is casting serious doubt on that claim. our investigation has been delayed, mary kendall wrote in the memo by about the or incomplete documentation for several pertinent trips and say review process that failed to include proper documentation and accountability. along the trips drawing scrutiny, a flight to the virgin islands in late march where he attended a republican fund-raiser and went snorkeling at a national monument. a trip to in the in the in may during which he attended a political rally and spent a day and a half at his home. and in june, to las vegas owned by a political backer before taking a chartered plane to his montana home once again. his office notes he's done official business on each of these trips. he said he charters private jets only when commercial flights won't work.

he's $7073,000 taxpayer dollars since taking office, zinke is make nothing apologies. >> i'd like to address in the words of general schwarzkopf, a little b.s. on travel. >> zinke said part of it is a mess inherit the from obama administration. the inspector general is not done. still, several cabinet members are also being scrutinized. and one has already resigned that are questions in some cases look suspiciously like private travel on the public's dime. >> tom foreman on the story there. at the time when some politicians and celebrities are running from allegations of sexual misconduct, one u.s. judge is taking a different approach. judge bill o'neal is currently running for the governor of ohio. he says he got tired of how the media was treating al franken and other politicians accused of misconduct. so in a post on facebook, he

described in detail his sexual past almost boasting about the number of encounters. he even included the location and appearance of some of the women without naming names. >> my daughters have taken exception to it. i fully understand that. and i fully understand the anxious of victims. i get that. but i'm saying we now have in america, a new standard being driven by the media that if you're not absolutely pure, you're not eligible to run for office in america. and that's wrong. >> in a later post, o'neal said it's also wrong to demand someone's resignation for a noncriminal act of indiscretion. here ahead on "newsroom," braving the elements on antarctica, a fore and son duo hope that their expedition would prove the effectiveness on environment.

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see what's possible. welcome back to "cnn newsroom."

i'm george howell. a groundbreaking journey is under way right now in antarctica. robert and barney swann are taking part in the south pole energy challenge. their mission could impact life here on earth and also on another planet. our meteorologist derek van dam is following the story. derek. >> i came across the story and i found it so fascinating that we had to tell it here on cnn international. what the two men are doing is fantastic. we'll get to some the video and you'll see the expedition that has started i believe on the 16th of november. they are literally trekking 600 miles across antarctica to the geographical south pole. but the key here is they're relying solely on renewable energy. for instance, they're meting ice. of course, they need to get water to sustain themselves. they're using a nasa-designed solar-powered ice melter. why is it significant? well, you can see it there, the

device is being developed for long-term manned missions to mars. so, the work that they're doing here is not only going to help them at this moment in time. but it's also going to help future missions to other planets. and what they're ultimately trying to do here is to prove to governments and people alike that green energy can succeed even in the most extreme conditions. they say they can inspire people in governments to see it's a viable alternative to fossil fuel. so, these guys are really putting their methods to the forefront. and really proving to the world that these things can work. and they're also really trying to keep that two-degree paris accord in check as well by committing to carbon reduction across the plan the. so, hats off to them. i thought we'd cover that story quickly. i want to show you this as well this is in central and southern vietnam, a new tropical storm

making headlines across that part of the world. the potential for flooding exists in this region as it impacts the area from da nang to ho chi minh area. it's very active tropical western pattern, over the past several months, the storm, again, continues to bring heavy rainfall to that area. rainfall totals exceed will go 150 millimeters over the next two to three days so a wet time in store central and southern portions of vietnam. and also monitoring a story from flooding across the caribbean coastline of colombia. you'll be able to see what people there have been dealing with, having to wade through ankle to knee-deep water. this is after a three-hour nonstop rainstorm that brought deluge across the area.

videos on social media show the heavily flooded roads. people pushing cars even using carts pushed by other people to navigate the roads there flooded. really it's quite a mess and they're going to have to deal with the cleanup efforts for the next few days. >> how about that antarctica story? >> good for them. >> derek, thank you. >> and thank you for being with us here on "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. for our viewers here in the united states. "new day" is next. for other viewers around the world "amanpour" is ahead. thank you for watching the cable news network cnn. the world's news leader. directv has been rated number one in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like wet grocery bags.

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. . . jared kushner told congressional investigators he did not communicate with wikileaks. >> i think jared kushner is in trouble. >> is ambassador kislyak in the room, any russians? anybody been to russia? >> the senator has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn't. >> mr. moore echoing candidate moore, he is not going anywhere. >> it was full-on assault. he was very, very flirtatious. >> it is not just a problem in the legislative halls. it is a problem of male power over