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E.U. Lawyers, Britain Can Unilaterally Stop Brexit Process; Israel Taking Aim At Cross-Border Tunnels; French Government Join Anti-Government Protest; Climate Change Talks; Attenborough Calls On World Leaders To Act; Theresa May's Brexit Plan At Stake; Jamal Khashoggi Murder Case; Pinot Noir-2D2, Robot On The Rocks; Violence in France Continues Over Oil Hike; Stock Markets Response Positive on U.S.-China Truce; President George H.W. Bush Remembered for His Legacy. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 04, 2018 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN HOST: Fires on the streets of Paris as protesters range into another week. The French president faces a brutal backlash, first over his gas lean tax, and now over other reform plans.

And a truce that's bringing some joy to the markets as U.S. and China agreed to take a break in their trade war. Investors showing their relief.

Plus, scientists say the planet isn't what it was 10 years ago. But many still insist climate change is a hoax. But those are reasons behind some of those conspiracy theories.

Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And this is CNN Newsroom.

France is bracing for the possibility of more violent protests this weekend. The government wants to avoid a repeat of Saturday night rioting in Paris. A hike in fuel taxes triggered the demonstrations three weeks ago but they have expanded to a general protest of President Emmanuel Macron's polices and the and cost of living.

Mr. Macron postponed a strip to Serbia to deal with this crisis. And paramedics joined the protest on Monday over changes to their work rules. A meeting between the government and representatives of the so- called 'yellow vest' movement was scheduled on Tuesday but it is unclear whether it will actually happen.

Our senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann is in Paris and joins us now with the latest. And Jim, with paramedics now involved, is this protest getting momentum?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, not only paramedics, Kristie, but a number of other sectors are also involved. The farmers are saying they're going to protest next week. There have been a movement by students. Some of the high schools in France have been closed.

So, it is a kind of a generalize movement now against the government and it is something that the government clearly is worried about. Now you mentioned the meeting that was to be taking place this morning with some of the gilets jaunes some of the 'yellow vests.'

In fact, that has been cancelled because a number of them received death threats that to say that since this is such a grass roots and autonomous movement, not everybody agrees that the government should be negotiated with and what the terms of the negotiation should be.

So, at least several of the gilets jaunes the yellow vests that were to meet with the government were threatened because they were meeting and trying to negotiate. Another development this morning is that the prime minister is going to meet with the majority party members of parliament and he is going to, according to a lot of reports here, he is going to announce that a moratorium will be established on fuel taxes.

That's to say that the fuel taxes will not be going up as suggested at the first of January but it's a moratorium, and you hear that word used very carefully. It's not to imply that out the taxes are no longer going to take place, it's only going to be a moratorium and there's no suggestion of how long the moratorium might be.

So, a lot of the yellow vests are skeptical about that. And we heard several this morning say that they are going to continue to call for demonstrations on Saturday. Kristie?

STOUT: So, if there is this moratorium, the suspension in fuel tax hikes would not be enough to quell the protests. And then what is enough to pacify these demonstrators?

BITTERMANN: Well, that's the problem. This is a total grassroots movement. There is no leadership that you can address, there's nobody to ask what are your demands and as a consequence everybody and their brother have demanded their own that they like in there.

A lot of people are saying, for example, that the minimum wage should be increased. Some people are saying that wages for pensioners should be increased, other people are saying that the government should be changed, that there should be a resolution of parliament and new elections and still others are saying that Macron has to step down.

So, there's just a lot of different kind of demands being made. Whether this announcement of the moratorium on fuel tax increases was enough to head off those demonstrations on Saturday remains to be seen. That was the original issue at the beginning of all this.

But now everybody has come up with a lot of different issues they would like to see addressed by the government. So, it's really a very precarious situation for the government and as the week goes by here, it's going to get more and more precarious.

One of the reasons I'm sure that President Macron his trip to Serbia because it was just not the right moment to outside the country with the turmoil that's taking place here in the streets. Kristie?

STOUT: Turmoil in Paris and across France as this protest movement is broadening. Jim Bittermann reporting live from the French capital. Thank you.

[03:05:00] Now, joining us now also from Paris is David Andelman, he's a visiting scholar with the Fordham London School Center of National Security. Sir, thank you for joining us.

We have seen protests in Paris, but you know, we've seen that before, but this outbreak of all-out violence this last weekend and the ongoing tension, what does this is all say with France today under Emmanuel Macron?

DAVID ANDELMAN, VISITING SCHOLAR, CENTER ON NATIONAL SECURITY, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL: Well, this is certainly an existential issue for Macron. Remember, he came in as a president for every man, and he is now being called the president of the rich. So, there are whole lot of issues that are suddenly as Jim quite rightly said, are being labeled on to the table for the first time.

So, it's a very difficult position that he is in. It's really an untenable position. But it's one that he is going to have to deal with in some fashion. So, for instance, there are number of issues--

(CROSSTALK)

STOUT: Macron is in this -- yes.

ANDELMAN: He did away with the wells (Ph) tax to attract companies after Brexit, to Paris, to France, bring me along with new jobs and tax revenue, and so he raised the gas tax. But gas was already at over $6 a gallon here. I mean, that's just with the average Frenchman who is earning about $1,500 a month, that's just, it's just a horrendous burden.

And so, they really everybody is saying you don't understand, they call it the France profonde, the deep France, the French outside the perimeters of the l'eau de France, Paris. So that's the issues that he is having to deal with. How do you reach the average French person and convince him that he gives him back the man of the people which he was elected to be?

STOUT: Yes. So, what can Macron do, and is there any way the French president can satisfy all the voicing demanding change?

ANDELMAN: That is going to be very difficult. He has to tread a very, very fine line. Because as Jim also said there are forces like the far right, Marine Le Pen, the left, that the -- they call it the unsubmittable party. All of them are calling for a dissolution of parliament and new elections. So, I doubt frankly it's going to come to that. It certainly should not come to that, because in France going will be in some degree of chaos.

They had it before. They had it in 1968 when the students and workers also went into the street and set up barricades, lit them on fire which is happening now and so on.

De Gaulle finally manage to bring everybody together only by threatening to resign who did not resign. So, the problem is we have an all but leaderless movement. It's very interesting last Friday when the prime minister called the leaders of the movement to the Matignon, the prime minister's office. Only two people showed up.

STOUT: Yes.

ANDELMAN: So, it was a call for everybody to come together, no-one is heeding that and quite frankly cancelled that meeting. So, it's a very, very difficult situation and there's no real clear way out of this. The gilet jaunes have called for the demonstrations every Saturday into the foreseeable future.

STOUT: Yes. It looks like a leadership -- a leaderless movement, a shapeless movement which just makes it from Emmanuel Macron even harder to pin down more. Macron, himself, you know, he is a very interesting character. On the world stage he casts himself as the sort of savvy and suave politician but at home he is literally under siege. Did he just lose touch with the people of France? How did he get himself into this position?

ANDELMAN: You know, France is a kind of a giant ocean liner. It moves forward very slowly comparatively speaking and when you try to change direction it only changes direction very slowly.

Macron came in with the idea of trying to make a dramatic sea change in the way the whole way the French think about life, work, family, and everything else. And he can't do that all at once. Discovering that much to his detriment. So, he is trying to make all these changes.

Remember, he raised the gas tax mainly because he has this concept of making France much more ecologically friendly. France is the leader of the world ecology movement, COP 21, and now COP 24 this year.

So, this is something that he is very desperately in favor of doing, but, obviously, the French people have other things in mind. They want to return to the way things have always been done, not very ecologically friendly, just been getting by. Everything is fine.

But all of these revolutionary changes have just the French have a word for (Inaudible) just turned themselves all upside down. And that's exactly what's happening now with Macron. He has to figure how to right the ship, turn it in the right direction and maybe steer it back a little bit where into the past where it's much more comfortable.

STOUT: And to push that metaphor further, he can't right the ship because there are so many interests at stake here. I mean, just how broad is the protest movement demanding change right now?

ANDELMAN: It's very broad. And the interesting thing is that all of the opposition parties who are basically just flattened, levelled by Macron, is overwhelming surge into office, and partly, the new parliament that the major -- parliamentary majority managed to accumulate in the last set of elections.

[03:10:08] All of the opposition is now seizing on this as a way of -- and Jim rightly said that some are actually calling for his resignation and stepping down. Others are calling for a whole set of parliamentary elections. And goodness knows what would happen if that took place.

Because what really propelled the -- what gave him this really unsalable majority in the national assembly in the French parliament is the fact that he had all of these new ideas as a fresh ace and so on. So, he has this overwhelming majority there which he really has not been able to make good use of simply because maybe there was just been too much change, too fast.

STOUT: Yes. And leading us to these dramatic scenes that we saw at the weekend in Paris and making Macron very, very politically vulnerable right.

ANDELMAN: But--

STOUT: David, we will leave it at that. But thank you for joining us. David Andelman joining us live from Paris. Thank you, sir. Take care.

Now, Wall Street likes the trade war truce that was struck between the U.S. and China. In fact, all the three U.S. indices jump more than 1 percent on Monday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping putting the brakes for now on the trade war.

A tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods was supposed to begin in January but it has been put on hold for some 90 days. Now China in return will reduce its auto tariffs.

Alison Kosik has the details.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. Stocks surge at the opening bell but cut their gains of it by the time the closing bell rang. Investors, though, are still upbeat from the best outcome they could hope for from the G20 in Argentina. A deal to negotiate towards the deal in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

And although it's not a permanent truce in the trade war, it does keep the dispute from escalating and takes out some of the investor uncertainty for the next few months.

Investors are hopeful and skeptical at the same time that within the 90-day deadline progress can be made in talks.

As Monday's stock market rally, faded buyers went into bonds pushing yields lower. Investors also bought oil, the price of U.S. crude jumping more than 4 percent on the heels of a temporary tariff truce and as OPEC looks ready to reduce supply.

OPEC meets on December 6 to decide its output policy. Investors will now turn their attention to the next big market mover. That's on Friday when the U.S. jobs report is released. November's numbers are expected to show hiring cooled off and wages picked up. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.7 percent.

The U.S. financial market will be closed on Wednesday to honor the memory of former President George H.W. Bush who passed away Friday.

I'm Alison Kosik, reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Now back to you.

STOUT: All right. Let's bring in Andrew Staples, he is the director of the Economist Corporate network. Andrew, thank you for joining us.

You know, the markets maybe hailing this deal between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Donald Trump may be hailing this deal. But just how fragile is the ceasefire?

ANDREW STAPLES, DIRECTOR, ECONOMIST CORPORATE: Well, look, it's a truce, isn't it for 90 days. I think our view here at the Economist is that it doesn't resolve the deep-seated issues between China and the United States. And that the next three months are not going to see a resolution of those issues either.

STOUT: Yes. So, what are these deep-seated issues that need to be dealt with to put an end to this dispute that would satisfy both sides, U.S. and China?

STAPLES: So, of course, superficially it's looking at -- President Trump would like to reduce the trade deficit that it has with China, but deeper than that, beyond all of that, its looking at the strategic competition between those two countries and the industrial leadership that the United States has at the moment, particularly on things like semiconductors that China aspires to. That's one big part of the question.

The other part of course are all the issues beyond (AUDIO GAP) and access around technology transfer, and of course force technology transfer, intellectual property protection and so on. None of these things we think are going to be resolved in a 90-day period.

STOUT: Yes. And also, that Trump tweet, in which you said that China would reduce and remove tariffs on American made cars. We're still waiting to hear China's response to that but would China have agreed to that?

STAPLES: Possibly. Who knows. But we didn't see a joint communique which is quiet, you know, it's a difficult to be in, but we haven't had a joint statement from both parties. And so, the interpretations of those discussions between the two leaders will be a very different for different sides. So, in a sense you could already see that this deal is starting to unravel.

STOUT: Yes. But one take away that, perhaps, could lead to something lasting was what was discussed about Fentanyl. The Trump administration said that they agreed China would crackdown on Fentanyl which has fueled the opioid crisis in America.

[03:15:01] Is that something that China is capable of delivering on? STAPLES: Certainly. I mean, look, China has a very good control over

its borders. If it wanted to stop a certain trade taking place, then it could do so. I think that would be seen as a conservatory act by China, by the U.S. administration.

I mean, going back to President Trump and his approach to this, I mean, it's very interesting to look at some of the parallels that we saw earlier (Technical difficulty), a lot of luster, something of a deal arranged, although the real value of that is obviously yet to be seen.

So, is this another example of the bluster or some kind of deal that lies (Inaudible), to some place, but actually in reality there is no real substance to it and it doesn't address the deep-seated issues that still remain.

STOUT: A deep-seated issue still remain despite the truce that was brokered with that handshake deal in Buenos Aires. Andrew, we will leave it at that. Andrew Staples, director of the Economist Corporate network joining us live. Sir, thank you.

Now we got some breaking news now from the Middle East. Now a military operation is underway by Israel on its side of the Lebanese border. The IDF says that the goal here is to, quote, "expose and neutralize tunnels at the border."

Oren Liebermann is following the story from Jerusalem.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Israel announced operation northern shield this morning to thwart and neutralize what they call cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel. The military has put its northern command on alert and closed some areas near the border as military zones.

That being said, no reserves have been called but at this point and there are no restrictions on civilians for now. The first tunnel the military is dealing with is near Metula, a town that sits right on the Israel-Lebanon border. The operation will continue, the military says all along the border. It's estimated that there are less than 10 tunnels the military is aware of now that enters some dozens of meters into Israel. But more could be discovered as the operation continues.

The Israeli military says none of the tunnels were operational yet. This is far from Israel's first effort to shore up its northern border. For a few years now, Israel has been working to build the defensive wall on some sensitive parts of the border, as well as creating cliffs in the mountains there to make it more difficult to go through the border.

Israel has also cleared away vegetation along the Lebanese border to improve visibility there. The foreign ministry said there has also been diplomatic efforts to go along with the launching of the operation.

Crucially, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Brussels Monday meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It seems almost certain that this operation came up. Especially since Netanyahu has made Hezbollah and Iran one of his biggest targets recently including talking about Hezbollah at the U.N. general assembly earlier this year. As for how long this operation will continue, the military says as long as is necessary.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

STOUT: Americans are lining up to pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush. We'll tell you who will be delivering the eulogy at his memorial service just ahead.

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STOUT: Now long lines of mourners are filing past the casket of George H.W. Bush. The former U.S. president is lying in state in the Capitol rotunda. After memorial service at the National Cathedral on Wednesday, Mr. Bush will be interred alongside his wife in Texas on Thursday.

More now from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There been so many moving moments and the nation continues to honor the life and legacy of former President George H.W. Bush. Up here on Capitol Hill so much emotion on Monday as the family watched his casket slowly being carried step by step into the U.S. capital where of course, he once served as a congressman from Texas.

His body lies in state here in the rotunda of the U.S. capital. It was open overnight Monday into Tuesday for members of the public to come in and pay their respects. And one by one people came inside to give their respects to the former president, including President Trump and first lady Melania Trump. They came up late on Monday evening.

President Trump saluted the casket and the first lady Melania, she had her hand over her heart.

Now at a ceremony on Monday afternoon on Capitol Hill, certainly a common theme was not only speaking about the former president and all that he achieved at his time in office, but mostly about who he was as a man, who is modest and kind and someone who established deep relationships here in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: George Herbert walker Bush demonstrated the finest qualities of our nation and of humankind. A great leader and a good man. A gentle soul of firm revolves.

He showed us that how we live is as important as what we achieve. His life was a hymn of honor. His legacy is grace perfected. His memory will belong to glory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And the former president's body will continue lying in state until Wednesday, that is when he will be brought to the National Cathedral service there. And he will be eulogized by his son, former President George W. Bush.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

STOUT: George H.W. Bush was president during the fall of the Soviet empire, a crucial time in world history.

CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is live with reaction from Moscow. And Matthew, there has been response from Vladimir Putin, as well as the former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. How are they remembering Mr. Bush?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think with a good measure of nostalgia. You're right that the President Bush Senior oversaw this incredibly dramatic and turbulent period in the history of the world, but the history of Russia and the former Soviet Union, particularly the collapse of the Berlin Wall back in 1989 and the eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union a couple of years later. That was all under his presidency.

And his counterpart in what was then the Soviet Union and what became Russia to a large extent, Mikhail Gorbachev has been paying his respects, offering his deep condolences at the death of President George Bush saying this, "I had a lot of memories associated with him. We had a chance to work together to those in those years of tremendous changes. It was a dramatic time that demanded great responsibility from everyone. The result was this end of the Cold War and to the nuclear arms race," so what an incredible legacy to leave.

And we have spoken to Mr. Gorbachev's office. He won't be traveling to this memorial service nor he was going to the funeral. He is simply too ill to make that journey himself. Although he tells us that he would have wanted to have done that.

[03:24:52] The news of the president's death, of course, came just as the current U.S. president cancelled his visit, his one-on-one talks with President Putin, the current Russian leader.

And when President Putin made his and offered his letter of condolence as well. He made no mention of that, but he did say that "President Bush, Sr. expressed political wisdom and foresight, strove to make informed decisions, even in the most difficult situations."

He also added this. "He did a lot to strengthen Russian-American cooperation on issues of global security. And this is exactly what President Putin want to strengthens now with the current office holder.

STOUT: Yes. Bush 41 leaves behind a remarkable legacy in the region and he is being remembered for and is known for his skillful negotiation during such a dramatic time in history. What kind of leadership lessons does his time in office offer to today's leaders and the current political dynamic between U.S. and Russia?

CHANCE: you're right. I mean, he oversaw all sorts of important negotiations, one of the biggest strategic arms reaction treaties were signed between George Bush, Sr. and Mikhail Gorbachev. The SAR Treaty that the successor to that treaty for like, or the new start is about to come up for renewal in a couple of years.

And there is an expectation that President Trump won't be signing it and he is clawing back on some of those arms reduction treaties that were signed during that era with the Soviet Union and with Russia. And so that's a concern.

I think one Russian lawmaker said look, the presidency of George Bush, Sr. marks the pinnacle of trust between Russia and the Soviet -- Russia and the Soviet Union -- sorry, Soviet Union and the United States. That trust has been, I think eroded over the subsequent administrations. It was from a Russian point of view it was seen that President Bush bore in mind Russian interests and Russian concerns at that very difficult as its empire collapse.

Very subsequent administrations from Clinton to George W. Bush to Obama to President Trump have sort of to a large extent trampled over those concerns from a Russian point of view, expanding NATO, toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Issues like that, Russia were seen itself its interests being trampled over by subsequent U.S. leaders. Kristie?

STOUT: Yes. But interesting to look back at the presidency of George Bush, Sr. and how he was leading at a time of as he put it, peak trust between these two world powers.

Matthew Chance reporting live from Moscow. Matthew, thank you.

You are watching CNN Newsroom. And up next, he calls it the world's threat. The worst threat that we face in millennia and he doesn't stop there. David Attenborough has a dire warning about climate change. We are going to hear after the break.

And the U.N. insist that climate change is a real human made disaster, but the White House remains in denial. We are going to separate fact from fiction of this final issue ahead.

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[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Let's update you on our top stories this hour. A top legal adviser's to European Union says the British government has the power to unilaterally halt the Brexit process. The U.K. had said it could only stop the process with the agreement of all 27 remaining E.U. member states. This comes as debate begins in the next hour in House of comment on the British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan ahead of next week's parliamentary vote.

Israel's military says an operation is now underway to uncover tunnels along the country's border with Lebanon. The IDF says the tunnels were not operational presented no immediate threat and were dug by the Iran base militant group Hezbollah. French paramedics joined the anti-government protest on Monday blocking a bridge in Paris. Three weeks of demonstrations against a hike in fuel taxes have expanded into a protest against the French President and income inequalities.

The White House confirms Donald Trump will attend Wednesday's state funeral for former President H.W. Bush. Mr. Trump and first lady Melania paid their respects at the U.S. Capitol where Mr. Bush's body is lying in state. He will be buried Thursday in Texas.

Our David Attenborough is telling world leaders that the collapse of civilization is on the horizon. They gathered on Poland for a major U.N. climate conference. The first day of cop24 wrapped on Monday. Officials are trying to implement the 2015 Paris climate deal, but unlike that landmark agreement the U.S. is not playing a major role in this conference, no surprise given Donald Trump's denials of climate change. In contrast to the U.S. president, Attenborough, a famed naturalist, delivered a stark warning to the delegates of Poland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, ENGLISH BROADCASTER: The people have spoken. Leaders of the world you must lead. The continuation of our civilizations and the natural world upon which we depend is in your hands. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And later he spoke to CNNs Christiana Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: So, let me ask you. You are there giving this speech. You've given a speech to cop 24. What is your under lying fundamental message at this time?

ATTENBOROUGH: It is a message to the people who have got their fingers on power, the people who can do things in terms of both money and legislation and big practical events. A message from people, ordinary people around the world who are facing the brunt of what's happening in the climate today and say that they desperately need action, and it gives them an opportunity of 208 million people to express their views as to what they're feeling about climate change and what's happening to them.

AMANPOUR: Were you surprised to hear what these young people had to say because always we hear from the sort of, you know, the people in power or the experts or whatever? Were you surprised to hear from the people and what they had to say?

ATTENBOROUGH: I wasn't surprised, but I was very moved. The fact that there are people several hundred million people around the world are using the internet to speak to the people in power. Television is very powerful, but the many more people that have mobile phones than they have television sets. So where that message is getting to people that we have not been able to reach and what is more enabling them to say what they think about the situation, that they personally are facing and bringing that into the center so that people who sit on these platforms, who control hundreds of millions of pounds in terms as the world bank we have just heard now being very generous.

So they can really hear what's happening in the world around them. We're in big conferences like this international conferences, you're isolated from people who just homes and just have been razed to the ground or facing hurricanes. But this are people -- this is where it is working, this is where the penalties are being paid for what humanity has been doing to the planet.

[03:35:06] AMANPOUR: And you speak with such urgency. And this is a very unprecedented event, this take your seat that you are representing peoples all over the world. Tell me whether you believe this will continue. Tell me about the importance of this hashtag movement, take your seat?

ATTENBOROUGH: Well, we will see. We will see whether people out there take advantage of this and we will see and I believe this is -- we can predict that if they do take advantage of this, that it will be a great incentive to the people who sit in conference rooms discussing protocols and figures and policies to realize that we're actually dealing with real people, men, women and children who are actually taking the brunt of this on the chin. And not only that, but also the natural world which is also bearing the brunt of what we've been doing to it and is facing catastrophe.

AMANPOUR: I just want to go back to several of the things you said in the past about the environment which you are uniquely qualified to talk about it, given your incredible decades long, you know, travel around the world and bringing this to people's attention in the most understandable way possible. Let me just ask you, I mean, you've used this medium television to really make an impact. At the moment how do you reflect on the success of what you have done?

ATTENBOROUGH: Well, I don't know. I think that the condition that the earth is facing has never been visible to a large proportion of the world's population and it's the responsibility of people who do the sort of work that I do to make sure that what is happening is visible to people. Mind you, they know, but it's also visible to the people who have their fingers on power both political power and fiscal power, monetary power, to do something about this situation, which is every day that passes it gets more and more serious.

AMANPOUR: So, about 18 years ago in state of the earth, you said the future of life on earth depends on our ability to take action. Many individuals are doing what they can, but real success can only come if there's a change in society's and our economics and in our politics. So is that kind of the purpose of your story telling and do you feel that some of these people in positions of power are persuadable, particularly those who are deniers and who believe it is economically unfeasible? ATTENBOROUGH: Well, we don't have the choice. They can't reckon that

it's unfeasible. That is the voice of doom if they said that. Of course action is feasible. We have to do something about it. I didn't start by - I was unaware when I started making natural history films that there was going to be a disaster, facing us just over the horizon. I didn't know that that was going to happen. The motive that I had in making natural world is because I think the natural world is marvelous and wonderful and one of the great solaces of the human beings that we are part of this sort of thing and that is the sort of thing that television should be dealing with.

That is why I started in it, but what you realize now is that if you don't speak up, nobody will. I had had unprecedented good fortune in being able to travel around the world and seeing all the most wonderful things and what sort of a person would I be if I failed to speak up on this occasion when we suddenly see what is facing us is just over the horizon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: David Attenborough, despite the broad scientific consensus that the world's climate is warming and that humans, we are a major cause of it, some still insist it is either a natural occurrence, a hoax or at least overstated. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, joins us now with a look at various climate change denials. And Pedram, for those who remain climate change deniers or sceptics, you have a few slides to share. How can you shift their way of thinking.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Especially in a time that we're living right now when it comes to the fake news that you hear so frequently, in social media and everything that spreads so quickly. Fake weather believe it or not has become something that we get here in our weather department as it relates to stories around weather, but I want to show you a couple of graphics here to really put it in perspective of essentially what is the fact versus what is fiction in the world of climate and weather. We take a look at global temperatures, as we know this particular graph does a good job going back from the 1850s to 2017. The color contours indicative of the cooler air over the past centuries essentially. And then in recent decades we see a dramatic warming trend.

[03:40:01] One of the common myths that we see with climate, of course, this has happened before. We have seen climate change before. That indeed is absolutely true. We have seen that it. It has happened in several times in earth's history. Most of those changes have happened in the order of thousands of years if not millions of years, certainly not in a matter of decades. And the correlation really has human's fingerprint directly on top of it when it comes to looking how the gasses in our atmosphere covered that inside in particular, held that directly correlates to the increase in temperatures and again, just in past three to four decades we have seen both the carbon dioxide levels spike and the temperatures follow suit as a result.

And in another myth we see that has to do with the forecast being unreliable as a meteorologist, trust me, I get in way too often for folks tell me and, in fact, they use an example earlier tonight that I went it my son's school for a presentation on whether to help and understand the science. And some of the kids raise a hand, one of them said, my mom said that the weather folks are always wrong, how can they keep their jobs? And I responded statistical we actually are right about 78 percent of the time, but human nature, remember the 20 plus percent of the time that it impacts you in a negative way, personally that is the case, but even daily forecasts, there are significant variables in that.

But when you look at a broad perspective of it, broad scope of climate, in fact it is very reliable data source where you can look at that and make very good calculations on how things will play out. And in fact we've seen them play out even as of right now. So, you go back several decades. We've seen it as the temperatures go up, 10 degrees Celsius, .1 .2 degrees Celsius that results in sea level rise on the order of point 2.4 meters of rise. And again, you push this up towards a degree and you can see yourself pushing up to a meter rise in sea levels and the fact, go back since 1992, guess where the highest sea level rise on our planet has occurred about 10 millimeters per year, right there of the coast of the Philippines and across portions of the Western Pacific.

If you look at that you think how did this all play out? Well, they looked at the global emissions of co2, in metric tons, notice the countries and the areas that have led by far and away, places such as India, E.U. and China, and United States in particular, dominant impacts here as far as how much co2 they release into the atmosphere. And then see a place like the Philippines across the western pacific. Some of these island nations there that are being significantly impacted by sea level rise right now as a result of what has been happening since again in the last four or five decades. The dramatic increase in air temperatures.

But another thing we hear often Kristie with myths are about volcanos and how they emit more co2 than humans. That is absolutely false. In fact, you know, the humans emit some 100 times more co2 than volcanos in particular and we know our co2 levels have actually increased in the past 12 months to the highest all time, 53 billion metric tons there of co2's. All of this really can easily be dissected and broken apart where you can see the accuracy's and myths and fact and fiction kind of separate quite starkly as well. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yes. Those are some of the claims out there. You counter them with the facts page. We got to thank you and your team for your real weather reporting that you bring to us here in CNN and also you're out in your son's school. That is awesome. Pedram Javaheri reporting. Thank you. Take care.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now, the United Nations, they want to hear from you. During the cop 24 climate change conference in Poland, this year they have launch something called the people see. It's an online campaign allowing people around the world to voice their opinions on climate change. They're asking people to use the hashtag take your seat to submit messages directly to climate change decision-makers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, this may look like a very ordinary seat, but it is, perhaps, the most important seat you will ever take. The people's seat. This is our opportunity to collectively make a difference. Together we can send a message to the world's leaders they can't ignore to act now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Messages with the hashtag were included in a short video played at the conference. Here is are sampling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Climate change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're witnessing impacts of climate change in China with our own eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is already affecting us in a scary way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Climate change affects everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will continue to affect millions of the world's poorest people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now. You're watching CNN Newsroom. We still got a lot more in the program. But up next, can Theresa May convince British lawmakers to back her Brexit deal? Parliament begins a high states debate after Britain's withdrawal from the E.U. in the next hour, just days before that crucial vote and as E.U. Lawyers are now weighing in.

Also ahead, oil prices are reverse their downward trend. You can look to the world's two largest exporter, Saudi Arabia and Russia, but why is that happening? We will explain next.

[04:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right. The U.K. Parliament may have another way to force British Prime Minister's Theresa May's hand on Brexit. Top European lawyers say that the British government has the power to stop the clock on Britain's exit by suspending the two-year countdown invoked under article 50. This comes as the House of Common prepares to take up Mrs. May's Brexit plan for debate one week ahead of the scheduled vote. More now from CNN's Bianca Nobilo.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER: Almost two and a half years after Britain's voted to leave the European Union, its crunch time.

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, BRITISH: If the deal is voted down in the House of Common it will lead to more division and more uncertainty.

NOBILO: This week, the U.K. parliament begins voting on the Brexit deal, Theresa May's struck with the E.U. but she is facing an uphill battle to convince law makers even on her own side to back the agreement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not Brexit. This is a failure of government policy. It needs to be rejected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you ask me a question am I going to vote against it? The answer is yes.

NOBILO: One of the major sticking points to Brexiteers is the so- called Irish border back stop which is designed to make sure there's no hard border between Northern Ireland which is part of the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland which will remain in the E.U. The back stop will mean Northern Ireland continues to be subject to E.U. rules while the U.K. and E.U. try to find a long-term solution to the border problem. But Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Political Party who supported Theresa May relies on for government doesn't support the plan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For us we cannot wish away the fact that the draft withdrawal agreement continued arrangements that we believe are not in the Northern Ireland's long-term economic or strategic interests

NOBILO: The Brexit deal is also facing strong opposition for those who want the U.K. to remain in the E.U. and demanding a second referendum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't settle it. You have now a situation where there is division in parliament, in the government, actually in the cabinet, certainly in the country, and you've got two different versions on Brexit on offer.

NOBILO: On Monday morning, opposition calling for a people's vote on the final Brexit deal was delivered to Downing Street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have over a million people to do that is an extraordinary important and powerful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are talking about a second vote when we haven't delivered on the first when we haven't even delivered on the first vote.

NOBILO: There is a possibility that Theresa May will lose the parliamentary vote and if that happens, it could trigger a leadership contest or a general election. Throwing the entire Brexit process into chaos.

[03:50:02] And with Britain leaving the E.U., on the 29th of March 2019, time is really running out to make any substantial changes to the Brexit deal.

In Brussels the only thing E.U. officials can do now is watch and wait to see how the British parliament reacts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time has now come for everybody to shoulder their responsibilities, British members of parliament will have an opportunity to take a position on that withdrawal agreement in the text of the political declaration.

NOBILO: Europe has already warned Britain the deal on offer is the best one possible. Take it or leave it. Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO)

LU STOUT: OPEC ministers will gather in Vienna later this week. And they may have something to celebrate with oil prices rising following a recent long slide. Let us bring up the data for you. As you could see, both up, about 1 percent right now. The boost is being attributed to an expected reduction in output by Saudi Arabia and Russia. All this comes as Qatar prepares to ends its nearly six decade's long membership in OPEC. More now from CNN's John Defterios.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Some overdue clarity, finally hitting the oil market as the architects of the OPEC non-OPEC agreement to cut crude production say they plan to stay the course. On the sidelines of the G 20 summit in Argentina, the two largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, Russia, say they will announce a cut in output later this week during OPEC's meeting in Vienna. The scale of the cuts need to be defined as senior OPEC sources tell CNN business. We're looking at a level of 1 million barrels a day or slightly higher that cut would counter the eight country sanctions given to Iran by the U.S. under the snapback sanctions and a robust rise of American production.

OPEC Kingpin Saudi Arabia was under intense pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump to keep production at record levels and prices lower, but there is widespread concern in the industry that lower oil prices will undermine future production and investment. As OPEC gathers for their decision, it will be clear that it will be losing one long serving player in 2019, that being Qatar.

The ghost state has been a member of OPEC for nearly six decades, Qatar oil production is small but is a huge player in natural gas supply in about a third of daily global demand and with an economic embargo led by OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia still in place, you may find that his energies are better spent elsewhere. John Defterios, CNN Business, London.

(END VIDEO)

LU STOUT: The head of the CIA may finally tell U.S. lawmakers what she knows about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A senator tells CNN Gina Haspel will brief members on several committees in the coming hours. Sources say the CIA has concluded the Saudi Crown Prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi death. But has maintains there is no hard evidence. Khashoggi's murder is also putting an Israeli company in the spotlight this Saudi distant. His name is Omar Abdelaziz, his father lawsuit against the NSL group. He says its spyware was used by Saudi authorities to hack his phone.

CNN was granted exclusive access to the private messages between Abdelaziz and Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was critical of the Saudi Crown Prince and even referred to him as a beast. NSL responded with this statement quote, this lawsuit is completely unfounded shows no evidence that the company's technology was used. It goes on to say this, product supplied by an NSL operated by the government customer without the involvement of NSO or its employees.

Now there is -- just in to CNN, from our affiliate BFM, that the French government has as expected, put a moratorium on the field tax increases that sugar does three weeks of protest on going across the country. Those protests escalated to riots in the streets of Paris of the weekend. Our BFM also reports that planned meeting between the government and representatives of protesters has been canceled.

You are watching CNN Newsroom, we come to you live from Hong Kong. And up next to your local hub, may never be the same after this. It may look like this wine bar, sold a robot from an auto assembly line, but no it is there to pour your drinks. We got the story, next.

[03:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right now, still grabbing a cold one from your fridge, how about letting a robot pour your drink. An innovative wine bar in Prague is doing just that. Cyril Vanier, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the Cyber Dog. Forget about nursing a drink in the dark quiet corner, this Prague Wine Bar is bright, shiny and straight out of a science fiction movie.

The barman? Let's just say that he is not a big talker. Forget about telling him about your troubles. This robot bar keep is strictly about the wine. Customers use their cell phones to place their order. The robot pours up to four glasses at the time and then delivered to the correct table via an overhead tray. They cyber dog has seats for 40 people over two floors and it's designed to look like a sitting puppy, hence the name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): All you can see around here had to be invented. This was a great challenge for people in our studio. This is a sculpture which is a building and a building which is a sculpture.

VANIER: The Cyber Dog's owner is convinced is convinced that the robot server is a trend that will stick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATOR): In the future when you are served in a restaurant by an actual person, you will be -- it will be an expensive restaurant, because it will be unique.

VANIER: They also serve food at the Cyber Dog, but for now at least that is still prepared and served by humans. Cyril Vanier, CNN.

(END VIDEO)

LU STOUT: That is not going to work. Thank you for your company. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. The news continue next with Max Foster in London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)