[Cyril Vanier, Cnn Anchor:] A new test for Italy and the E.U. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says he will resign after a lopsided defeat of the polls.
[Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] A painful search. Investigators looks for answers after warehouse fires kills dozens of people in Oakland, California.
[Vanier:] And on the attack. Donald Trump launches the fresh Twitter assault on China just days after diplomatic breach on Taiwan. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Cyril Vanier. And I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Populism has been on the rise in European politics and its supporters are declaring victory in Italy. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was on the losing end and he's preparing to leave office now. But the populace movement suffered a setback in Austria. Voters rejected a far right candidate electing a pro-E.U. veteran instead. We'll get to that part of the story in just a few minutes.
[Church:] All right, So, let's start in Italy with the prime minister's position up for grabs. The country is at a political crossroad. Metteo Renzi says he will formerly resign in the coming hours.
[Vanier:] He promised that he would step down if he lost this weekend's constitutional referendum which he did and by a wide margin. However, Renzi seemed gracious in defeat.
[Church:] Well, there's fear of financial fallout from this vote and we may be seeing that very soon. Let's turn in to Nina dos Santos in Milan. And Nina, markets are opening very soon, how are they likely to respond to this vote in Italy?
[Nina Dos Santos, Cnn Corresppondent:] Yes, the stock market right behind me here in the financial capital of Italy, Milan, well, that is expected to open around 2.8 to 3 percent at the point. In fact, we're seeing the early trades, trading down in negative territory. I'll give you the numbers when we manage to get them. But, Rosemary, it's not just markets here in Italy that are going to be affected the reverberations of what's happened overnight in Italy. It is a period of great uncertainty. And what many people across financial markets around the world are trying to get to grips with, is where you put your money during these uncertain times when it's really difficult to get exactly how populism and politics that is currently dominated by populism in this part of this world it seems is playing out. So, the real crisis here in Italy is not just a political one, it is an economic one as well. And in many ways, that is what people wanted to be heard on more than the constitutional reforms that Matteo Renzi proposed. So, what you'll often hear from people in the streets from Milan, Rome, and Venice and other parts of Italy is that this was a protest vote. Matteo Renzi chose to make this personal and that is one of the reasons why he had to fall on a sword when he chose to say that he would resign if he were to lose this referendum. He lost by a wide margin. And as you and Cyril quite rightfully pointed out, he had to go and he went very swiftly. So, from here a political uncertainty looms and that there may be various options for the president on the table. We'll have to see over the next few days how that pans out. And that's something that people in their stock market behind me will keep a close eye on, as well as across board rooms and banks across this country.
[Church:] And Nina, while we're chatting, let's just bring out those numbers again. Because we do have them. You can see there that Milan is down just over 2 percent. The FTSE 100 down just over.3 of a percent there. But let's just go back to the reasoning there, why Italians would vote against reform and downsizing the Senate and it's powers for some that is hard to grasp.
[Dos Santos:] It's a good question, isn't it, Rosemary? Because in the face of things what Matteo Renzi was trying to propose here streamlining the bureaucratic system, streamlining the system of Senate and the upper and then the lower House of Parliament, the chamber of deputy so that we didn't have bills constantly going back and forth between one and another to empower the politicians in this country to actually take the economy into action. It seemed like a great idea on the face of things. But the problem is, is that people seem to be spoiling for a fight here, especially the populist five-star movement of Beppe Grillo spent a lot of money in his big media machine to try and campaign to get out there, to try and get this party supporters and other people across the country to vote. It seems as though that message has gone down loud and clear. Sixty percent of the Italian who voted in this referendum decided to reject to Beppe's proposal. Then 40 percent of them voted yes. A lot of those 40 percent you can imagine are in rather richer more affluent parts of the country that are pro-business like hire in Milan. In fact, the business community was very much in favor of what Renzi was proposing here. But the turnout was also significant and we shouldn't ignore that. The turnout of over 70 percent is larger than some of the general elections that I've covered here in Italy. So, it does go to show that these were measures that were ejected soundly, not just when it comes to the Constitution, but also when it comes to Matteo Renzi having gambled on this personally and lost in spectacular fashion.
[Church:] yes, indeed. Our Nina dos Santos joining us there with that live report in Milan just after 9 o'clock in the morning. We saw there in Milan the markets dropping 2 percent, just over 2 percent. We'll keep a very close eye on that. Many thanks to you, Nina.
[Vanier:] Let's look at the other key election that took place in Europe on Sunday, and that in Austria. Voters there have chosen a left wing candidate to lead their country for the next six years.
[Church:] Yes, Alexander Van der Bellen won decisively. His opponent was looking to become the E.U.'s first far right of head of state.
[Vanier:] Senior international correspondent Atika Shubert joins us now live from Vienna with more on these results. Atika, the polls in the run-up to this election, made it look like the far right candidate had a good shot at the presidency. I mean, after all they came very, very close last time. But in the end this result wasn't particularly close.
[Atika Shubert, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] No, in fact. It was a decisive win with last time, you know, with won just by a few thousands votes, tens of thousands of vote. Now it was very clear that Van der Bellen he seems to have won over voters with his message of a stable and open Europe. The first time far right candidate Norbert Hofer ran for Austria's presidency in May, he lost by just 31,000 votes. While this time, it was a clear defeat that could not be contested. Alexander van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economist, backed by the Green party beat him again by a decisive margin. Exit polls showed 53 percent for Van der Bellen, 47 percent for Hofer. Behind me now you can see both candidates, Norbert Hofer, and Alexander Van der Bellen giving interviews to state broadcaster ORF, explaining exactly why they believe voters chose the way they did.
[Alexander Van Der Bellen, Austria's President-elect:] I think it's a historic day for Austria for several reasons. For the first time a presidential election had to be repeated and it was not just a repetition, in fact, it was a new election. Because, you know, conditions change, the world around us has changed. We had the Brexit vote in Great Britain in United Kingdom. We had the election of Donald Trump in the United States and so on, in six months many things happened.
[Shubert:] Voters were worried and anxious, but not just about immigration, which Hofer railed against. But also Austria's place in the E.U. and fears that the so-called Trump bump would bring populace and isolationist parties into power, seems to have pushed voters the other way. "My gut tells me to be worried," this woman said, "and I'm scared, I really fear that my daughter won't have the same opportunities as I did."
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, finish.
[Shubert:] This man told us, "I am worried about Austria, I hope it doesn't go the way at the U.S. or the U.K. and that it will be an E.U. for us all, and continues to be that way and not destroyed by some people." Immediately after the polls, a resigned Hofer insisted to CNN that he was working to unify Austria after a divisive and prolonged campaign season.
[Norbert Hofer, Austrian Presidential Candidate:] I don't want to divide the country. Now it's me and Mr. Van der Bellow to tell the people who supported us that it's important to see that we are one country. We're all Austria and we have to work together.
[Shubert:] Does this put an end to the sort of populist, nationalist surge we've seen in Europe.
[Hofer:] I can't say always, I have to say always the same thing. I'm not a populist; I don't want to be a populist. I'm a pretty normal guy a level-minded man. Yes. And I just want you to believe me. I'm really I'm right, but I'm seen right, I'm middle right. It's so important for me to show that I'm not an extreme man.
[Shubert:] Now, the Austrian presidency is a ceremonial but highly symbolic role. Hofer's loss has dealt Europe's popular surge a blow, and now the professorial Van der Bellen, a self-described child refugee is being held as a defender of an open liberal Europe. But Austria is just the first of a string of election challenges in the year ahead. I think the key here was Van der Bellen said earlier that piece, is that a lot changed in the last six months. You had Brexit, you had Trump, and what voters are really voting for was stability. This is the one thing in exit polls, they said they expected Van der Bellen to basically stay the course, keep Austria in the E.U. and keep an open open Europe and open Austria.
[Vanier:] Our CNN senior international correspondent, Atika Shubert, thank you very much.
[Church:] A fire at hotel in Karachi, Pakistan has killed at least 11 people. The blaze broke out at region plaza hotel. Karachi's mayor says there were no fire exits or fire alarms going off to alert people inside the hotel. At least 75 people were injured. Firefighters rushed to the scene and officials say the fire has now been contained. They're investigating what could have caused it.
[Vanier:] At least 33 people are now confirmed dead in Oakland, California after fire tore through a dance spot in a warehouse. These images show the building before Friday night's place. It was known as the ghost ship and it housed artist studios. Authorities say, however, it does not have permits for people to live inside. And the building's owners had been notified of hazardous trash and debris violations.
[Church:] As officials comb through what's left of that building, Oakland's fire chief described the blaze as among the worst in the city's history. Here's what Oakland's mayor said is being done to recover victim's remains and comfort their loved ones.
[Libby Schaaf, Oakland Mayor:] But it is with so much grief and so much compassion that we, as your city family share with you this horrific news. And as this tragedy continues to unfold, I want you to, again, reassure of what our priorities are as the city of Oakland. Our first priority is the humane and compassionate removal of the victims of this tragedy. And I want to assure you that we are continuing to operate a 247 recovery operation to effectuate that removal. Secondly, we are focusing on supporting the families and the loved ones, some who are coming from very far away.
[Vanier:] The District Attorney's office in the Oakland area has activated a criminal investigation team to look into the deadly fire.
[Church:] CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Oakland with more on this tragedy.
[Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] The officials here are saying it's too early to determine what caused this fire, but what they have said is as they've gone through the building they've broken it up into quadrants, and they're saying they have found victims in all four of the quadrants of this building. There is no one place that the victims were found. They're also saying that some of the people that lost their lives were juvenile, 17 years old, some young adults in their early 20s, and some 30 plus, they're also saying that they're in touch with embassies who are people who were from other countries, that also lost their lives in the fire. At this point, they've reached out to some of the families, but they're still working to identify some of the people who died here, that's because they're saying some people, it's evident who they are, if they had their I.D. on them, they can match it with fingerprints. But for others where there is nothing there to identify them, they're having to get some source of DNA. So, they're asking family members if you think you lost someone here, to preserve a toothbrush or to preserve a hair brush and put it into a paper bag, a clean paper bag and hold on to it so that they can get to them. But at this point, they're saying they would not be surprised that they actually do expect that the number of people who died here in this Oakland fire, will increase.
[Church:] Stephanie Elam with that report. Construction is stopping, at least for now, on a controversial pipeline project in the U.S. State of North Dakota.
[Vanier:] The line is finished, except for a segment that was originally planned to run under a lake, that sits near tribal land. The standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters have protested the project for months. Sara Sidner reports.
[Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Celebrations, tears of joy, chanting, and drumming, that's what the initial reaction when the folks here found out that the army corps engineers was going to stop this pipeline by asking the Dakota Access Pipeline to be rerouted, rerouted away from the thing that has caused the flash point here, rerouted and kept from going underneath the Missouri River. It is a very big victory for the standing Rock Sioux and all of the people who have been here many months trying to stop this pipeline from potentially going under the water and one day leaking. However, what we have also heard from the tribe is that there are concerned that this may not be permanent depending on which administration is in place and worried about Donald Trump's role in all of this when he takes the presidency.
[Unidentified Male:] Today's decision from the army corps of engineers to not allow the pipeline company to drill underneath the river and violate our treaty rights and to put our children's health at peril from cancerous waters is a victory. But it's short-lived, one that we need to dissect, one that we need to analyze, we need to make sure that President-elect Trump can't over ride this decision here today when he takes office.
[Sidner:] We're hearing that from other members from the tribe that even though this is truly a victory and people feel relief. There is also worry about what happens next. Right now this camp is filling up. No one seems to be living.
[Church:] Sara Sidner with that report. And the company building the pipeline says it remains committed to seeing the project through to completion without rerouting.
[Vanier:] And coming up when we return, Syria is calling on civilians to return to east Aleppo. And our Fred Pleitgen goes to the war-torn city for a look at resident's grim homecoming. Also ahead, Donald Trump turns up the rhetorical heat on China, alleging Beijing is manipulating its currency unfairly against the U.S. We'll take a look at that. Back in a moment.