Trump Makes Cabinet Pick Before Holiday; The Future of U.S. Ties With Saudi Arabia; Rich Culture Blooms in the Shade of Intolerance
FOSTER: The green party nominee in the U.S., Jill Stein, has launched a bid for a vote recount in the states of the Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The campaign says it's raised more than $2.5 million to pay for the recount. A bid follows reports that a computer scientist told the Clinton campaign about the possibility of hacks in those states. Turkish police are investigating a car bombing in the southern city of Adana. State media say two people are dead, 16 others are wounded. The blast happened in a parking lot near the governor's office during morning rush hour. No one has claimed responsibility. A frantic rescue operation is underway at the site of a construction accident in China. State media say at least 40 people were killed when a platform at a power plant in Fengcheng City collapsed. A number of people are reported to be trapped under scaffolding. And Hurricane Otto is expected to make landfall Thursday near the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border. The storm is unusually late in the season and unusually far south. If Otto hits Costa Rica, it will be the country's first hurricane in recorded history. We'll return now to our top story, though, and that's the transition to the administration of U.S. President-elect Trump. Come January, he'll have to turn campaign talk into action. And the task he's facing is especially sensitive when it comes to some of America's staunchest allies like Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has been the target of repeated criticism from Trump over the past year. As Becky Anderson explains, his anti-Saudi rhetoric was all the more surprising given his own business links to the kingdom.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: They make a billion dollars a day, folks. And whenever they're in trouble, our military takes care. You know what we get -- nothing.</s>BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bad value for money. As presidential candidate, Donald Trump's assessment of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia was typically provocative. As president-elect he may be more diplomatic. His claim that Washington is helping the wealthy kingdom too much and getting too little in return rankled for some in the gulf. There's also a distinct sense that actions matter more than words.</s>FAISAL AL YAFAI, COLUMNIST, THE NATIONAL: We have to wait and see what Trump will do. There has been great concern in Saudi Arabia and naturally over this JASTA bill.</s>ANDERSON: JASTA stands for Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, and it allows U.S. families of 9/11 victims to sue Riyadh over alleged involvement in the terror attack. Saudi Arabia has denied any link. Under legislation which Trump supported, it's one of the things souring the mood in the Kingdom when it comes to America.</s>TRUMP: This is amazing.</s>ANDERSON: On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to stop importing Saudi oil, saying he wanted independence from, quote, "America's foes and the energy cartels." The president-elect has pledged to stop the U.S. acting in his view like the world's policemen, saying Arab boots on the ground are needed in places like Syria to fight ISIS. Regional ties with Washington were cooling anyway under President Obama because of worries about the Iran nuclear deal which the president-elect has vowed to scrap. So, the Trump-Saudi relationship may surprise observers.</s>AL YAFAI: Sometimes you get the impression that people have had so much America in the Middle East that they would be happy to see the back of America. Trump is suggesting that that's what we would see.</s>ANDERSON (on camera): There is one angle to America's relationships with the Middle East on this the former businessmen will understand instinctively. Gulf States are not just U.S. allies. They are customers. And the U.S. is the top arms exporter while Saudi Arabia is the biggest importer on a global basis.</s>TRUMP: I love that sign --</s>ANDERSON (voice-over): Trump also has personal business interests in Saudi Arabia. It sold property to the Saudi government in New York in the past.</s>TRUMP: I like the Saudis. They're nice. I make a lot of money with them. They buy all sort of my stuff.</s>ANDERSON: So, while Trump the entrepreneur's views are clear, Saudi Arabia will be keeping a close eye on how President Trump feels come January the 20th. Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.</s>FOSTER: Well, joining me to talk about President Trump's transition from business mogul to world leader is Morris Reid. He's a political and Democratic strategist. He was adviser on the Bill Clinton/Al Gore 1996 campaign. And also, Leslie Vinjamuri, she's lecturer of international relations at University of London, friend to CNN, of course. First of all, to you, Morris, just this idea of Trump going back into the Middle East and trying to rebuild bridges, Saudi Arabia is going to be crucial, right? How is he going to take back --</s>MORRIS REID, POLITICAL ANALYST AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's not just Saudi. When you run as a candidate, you say and act and do one thing. But when you become the president, it's completely different. I think that the fact that he's familiar with most of these people that he's talked about, he has a relationship and gives them a leg up, people will understand that Trump the businessman is not Trump the president of the United States. So, I think that rhetoric will go aside. They are allies. We need each other and I think he'll dig in and figure out a way to mend those fences.</s>FOSTER: What are you hearing from the region? Are they open to his overtures as president?</s>LESLIE VINJAMURI, SOAS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: I mean, I think everybody's going to be nervous in the region, given the inflammatory rhetoric during the campaign about anti -- you know, not letting Muslims into America. This is really dangerous hearing this. If you're sitting in the Middle East wondering what in the world you can expect. But I think it's -- you know, right now, everybody is waiting to see. It's deeply uncertain time. So, we don't know.</s>FOSTER: He does sound very different, doesn't he? He sounds presidential.</s>REID: He does. But I would remind you that Barack Obama came in as an antiwar closing Guantanamo Bay candidate, it's still open. So, what you see as candidate is not necessarily what you do as president. I think that people should step back from the rhetoric and engage for their own best interests. That's certainly what Donald Trump was going to do. That's what the folks in the Middle East should do, as well.</s>FOSTER: And also, a discussion about his mandate, as well. These calls for recount and this growing margin between Clinton and Trump in terms of the number of votes, does that delegitimize him on the global stage?</s>VINJAMURI: I think sometimes people understands, we keep hearing that Hillary Clinton's gotten two million votes, right, in the popular vote --</s>FOSTER: Doesn't mean anything, does it?</s>VINJAMURI: Well, it means there are a lot of people in the country who didn't vote for Donald Trump. He's the sort of person who will be sensitive to that, very aware of it. It's interesting, we see him reaching out further to even candidates to come into his administration that didn't support him during the campaign.</s>FOSTER: Yes.</s>VINJAMURI: But the recount, the recount is politically potentially very divisive.</s>FOSTER: Leslie alluding there to Haley and possibly Romney coming into that foreign international role --</s>REID: What's interesting on Haley is this was a surprise pick, a woman that hasn't had much experience. I think maybe she's traveled as governor to a few places. But when you have an unstable world and a changing world, you really want expert hands --</s>FOSTER: But has Romney got the experience?</s>REID: Listen, he has the experience because he's been in a business -- been a businessman engaged around the world. He's also been a presidential candidate. You notice the trend. You go to your opponent and put them in an important pivotal job. So, when that person lands with a big American flag, in a big plane, they know you're speaking for the president and you also represent millions of voters that also voted for you.</s>FOSTER: Donald Trump's a man that holds grudges, right? Are they going to have the letter to in I had administration, having oppose -- in his administration, having opposed him in the past?</s>VINJAMURI: Well, I think that's a key concern. He hasn't told us who the secretary of state is. And Mitt Romney is name that's out there. Nikki Haley to the U.N. But they've opposed him. So, I'm sure Mitt Romney is sitting, though, thinking, you know, how much influence will I have if I join this administration, if I'm offered and I join. And so, that's something we have to wait and see. But it is -- it is sort of -- a good signal that he's willing to sort of reach out beyond those that supported him. I mean, he hasn't placed a lot of emphasis on expertise in any of the posts. So, I think that is something that's worrying. Nikki Haley, you know, first woman he's appointed. She comes from an Indian background. So, she's adding a degree of diversity. She's young, she's energetic, and she hasn't -- she has openly spoken out against him. So, it is a very interesting appointment.</s>FOSTER: Because they haven't had a particularly big international presence in terms of diplomacy in the past, could that be an advantage for them, for world leaders dealing with them and foreign secretaries dealing with them? Perhaps, you know, this is a chance for a fresh start.</s>VINJAMURI: Yes. I mean, America has very long-stabbed interests. You don't just enter into the United Nations system and dramatically change those. The question is whether or not she'll be able to move the needle both within the administration on particular policies and how effectively she'll be able to work a system that she isn't familiar with in the United Nations.</s>REID: The interesting thing about Romney is he's a businessman. Donald Trump, where you will see, I think you'll see a pattern emerging, his next few appointments will be business people. People that he understands, he understands business people far more than he understands politicians, people that are pragmatic and understand the chain of command. Although they opposed him, he is the boss. You know, the president of the United States is the boss. Business people understand the chain of command like the military. I think you'll see more business people, not less, entering posts with him.</s>FOSTER: And based here in Europe, and there's all sorts of dynamics going on within the continent, how do you think him stepping into that is going to change dynamics here, led by concerns in the European Union right now and Brexit in particular?</s>REID: Well, this is a guy who doesn't believe in multilateral things. He is a businessman. So, he likes to deal one on one. So, you will see more free trade agreements. But you will also see him saying, look, if we have a deal with NATO, you have to do your part. When people were alarmed that, well, he's not going to protect them, he said we have a deal, you have to do your fair share. And then you get the fruit of the labor. So, I think that he will be a person that really digs in. He'll look for opportunities to win. And anyone that's going to help with his winning narrative will get a lot of attention from him.</s>FOSTER: The frightening prospect for, you know, countries to the east of the continent is the sort of relationship he'll have with Russia. And Russia perhaps, more incursions, particularly in Scandinavia, for example, Ukraine, they're not going to get support from NATO perhaps that they used to have because they won't have the resources of the U.S. necessarily.</s>VINJAMURI: Well, that will be interesting, too. This is another reason why Mitt Romney's potentially an interesting pick because he has a very different attitude toward Russia than Trump has had. So, Trump has been willing to extend the hand to Putin, and Mitt Romney historically has been more concerned about the threat that Russia poses. So, I think we have to again see who does he appoint and how much are they able to influence him? But, you know, I think America is likely -- Donald Trump's likely to get pulled back in to recognizing America's long-standing commitment to NATO. But if you're sitting in Europe, that's probably not very reassuring at this point.</s>FOSTER: We need to hear more from him don't we? That's the point here.</s>VINJAMURI: We do need to hear more.</s>REID: It's interesting, Donald Trump is doing exactly what Barack Obama said he wanted to do. The Russian reset. There were other interests that took over, why he couldn't do that. So, I think people are alarmed, but this is exactly what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama wanted to do. Let's see if Donald Trump can do it and get Russia back to the table.</s>FOSTER: OK, thank you very much indeed for joining us today. We'll talk lots more in the months ahead. Now, from America to here in Europe, and we are seeing a rise in populism and nationalism with racial and anti-Semitic overtones. This week, white nationalists, the so-called alt-right, held a rally in Washington complete with "hail Trump" cheers and stiff arm salutes reminiscent of the Nazis. But history shows how a rich culture blooms even in the shade of intolerance. Our Ben Wedeman delves into a fascinating past of the Jewish people and their survival in one of the world's first-ever ghettos.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kids on a field trip enter the Jewish ghetto of Venice. Today, the ghetto is clean, calm, and quiet. Once, it was crammed and chaotic, with thousands of Jews forced by law to live within its walls. The rumors of Venice created the ghetto, Europe's first, 500 years ago. This year is a bittersweet remembrance for a people who managed to flourish while living in prisons, says historian Simon Levis Sullam.</s>SIMON LEVIS SULLAM, HISTORIAN: We commemorate segregation, exclusion, separation, and celebrate the fact that Jews were brought together and flourished in cultural terms. And also met and exchanged culture and knowledge and information.</s>WEDEMAN: A trading superpower, Venice attracted Jews fleeing the Spanish inquisition, wealthy Jewish merchants from the Ottoman Empire, and Jewish craftsmen and artisans from Germany and elsewhere in the Italian peninsula. "It was like New York City," the Rabbi Shalom Bahbout tells me. "Politically, it was an important city because it was a crossroads between east and west." But it was a city where Jews struggled under severe restrictions, hundreds of Hebrew books were published here, but Jews were banned from owning printing presses. (on camera): Under the system imposed on the ghetto in 1516, the gates were shut every night. They used to be here. There was, however, an important exception to that rule, doctors, Jewish doctors who were in great demand all over the city were allowed to come and go as they please. (voice-over): Narrow canals formed the ghetto's boundaries, boundaries that seemed even more restrictive at night. And after the gates were shut at night, Christian guards patrolled the canals around the ghetto to make sure nobody got out or in. And adding insult to injury, the inhabitants of the ghetto were compelled to pay the salaries of their guards. The system of segregation came crashing down in 1797 when Napoleon conquered Venice and abolished anti-Semitic laws. The Jews of Venice were quick to move out and move up until the Second World War.</s>SIMON SULLAM: Two hundred and fifty Jews died in the Holocaust, they were tracked and arrested in Venice by Italians and by Germans. And they were of all ages.</s>WEDEMAN: Today, around 400 Jews live in Venice, compared to more than ten times that when the ghetto was at its height. Jews and non-Jews alike have moved as the economy of Venice has become dominated by tourism. Psychotherapist Dora Sullam looks at the ghetto with mixed feelings.</s>DORA SULLAM, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: For us, the ghetto has a completely different meaning. When I was a little girl, the ghetto for me was the place where there were the synagogues. And we would go mainly only to go to the synagogue, and it was not a very nice part of the town. It was quite poor.</s>WEDEMAN: Today, it's undergoing something of a revival. Attracting Jews from outside Italy.</s>DORA SULLAM: Now, I think we really feel it's the heart of the Jewish life.</s>WEDEMAN: A heart that still beats despite it all. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Venice.</s>FOSTER: And still to come: motivated by hate, a right wing extremist is jailed for life in the U.K. for the murder of a beloved politician.