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Hala Gorani Tonight
U.S. Stocks Falling Sharply on Trade Truce Doubts; Bob Corker Says bin Salman Would Be Convicted In 30 Minutes If on Trial; Mueller to Reveal How Flynn Cooperated in Probe; UK Parliament Begins Debate on Brexit Plan. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired December 04, 2018 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00] HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I'm Hala Gorani. Tonight, stunning sound from U.S. senators as they hear
from the CIA director on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. We are live in Washington.
Also, tonight, a court filing that could have major implications for the U.S. President. Any time now, Robert Mueller will provide details on just
what Donald Trump's former national security adviser told his team and it could be explosive.
Also, a horrible day for Britain's Theresa May. Her government loses a series of key votes over Brexit. We are live in Westminster to ask can she
survive?
First, though, want to bring you turbulence on Wall Street. It's -- we are seeing severe losses for the Dow Jones industrial average. And other main
indices. Here's a live look at the big board for you. We are down about 800 points a few minutes ago. We are off session lows and a down day
across the board and throughout the day. Off 680 points and some change. Still above 25,000. Now, what is behind these losses is quite simply fears
over that trade truce between the U.S. and China. Initially there was some optimism that perhaps that truce would morph into something more
significant down the line but then cold water was poured on the idea that this was in any way meaningful. Still a lot of work needs to be done
between the U.S. and China on trade and as a result some of the companies that could suffer from a trade war are losing ground, pulling the Dow Jones
industrial and other indices down with them. We'll get a live update in moment.
I want to bring you the latest on Khashoggi and Washington and the outrage and claims of absolute certainty from two American Republican senators that
Saudi Arabia's crown prince himself ordered the murder of Khashoggi. Lindsay Graham and Bob Corker delivered startling comments on Khashoggi's
death after a long-awaited briefing from the CIA director. Here's what they both told reporters about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: MBS, the crown prince is a wrecking ball. I think he is complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to
the highest level possible. I think the behavior before the Khashoggi murder was beyond disturbing. You have to be willfully blind to not come
to the conclusion it was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R) TENNESSEE: I have zero question in my mind that the Crown Prince MBS ordered the killing, monitored the killing, knew exactly
what was happening, planned it in advance. If he was in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes.
GRAHAM: I think Secretary Pompeo and Mattis are following the lead of the President. There's not a smoking gun. There's a smoking saw.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A smoking saw. That's been making the rounds, as well. Alex joins with me now with the latest. These are top level Republicans on
Capitol Hill at odds with the President. What's behind this? Why are they breaking with the President on this particular issue?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is fascinating to watch, Hala, because this is something where Republicans, Democrats have
been operating and working in lockstep and incredible to watch the Republicans, particularly people like Graham who's been such an ally of the
White House, split off from the White House. And really, simply because they find it's something so egregious that they really feel like they need
to act. What we have heard from Corker and Graham in the past is very strong language. They were convinced already that MBS was behind the
killing and at the same time they were irate last week that the head of the CIA did not join secretaries Mattis and Pompeo on the hill to brief.
Remember, this is the person who probably here in the states knows more about the Khashoggi murder than anybody else, senior-most official who
heard the tape that the Turks gave to the CIA of the murder of Khashoggi. So, they really wanted the hear from her and one by one, not just
Republicans but Democrats, as well, they came out of that classified briefing room known as a SCIF, more convinced than ever that Mohammad bin
Salman is behind this. The next question --
GORANI: Would they have -- sorry. I was just -- a quick one. Would they have heard the tape, as well, the senators? How much of the evidence were
they able to read and hear for themselves or is it they just rely on the briefing?
[14:05:00] MARQUARDT: That's not clear and the tape thing is interesting, as well, because the President has said that he didn't listen to it. John
Bolton, the head of the NSA, said he didn't listen to it. Pompeo said he didn't listen to it. For various reasons. The President said he just
didn't -- wasn't a nice tape and didn't want to listen to it. Haspel has. We do know is that despite the mountain of evidence that was already out
there and had been presented to these senators who are all in leadership positions that Haspel did offer more information today. They have each
said that. So then, how do you respond --
GORANI: We don't know what specific information?
Reporter: No.
GORANI: OK. So, the big question now becomes, what will these Republican senators do with regards to arm sales to Saudi.
MARQUARDT: Not just arms sales but it's complicated. You have a number of options. You have arms sales. You have sanctions. You have the war in
yes, Yemen that the U.S. is supporting Saudi Arabia on and that's where it's complicated. How do you go after someone like MBS, essentially
running the kingdom day-to-day? Freeze his assets here in the U.S.? There's some senators on both sides of the aisle to stop all U.S. support
for the war in Yemen. Lindsay Graham definitely wants to stop arms sales. The bottom line is the President has an enormous amount of power here, as
well, and they have come out threatening to veto anything that's going to - - that's going to upset that relationship. That the President has made it clear that the interest, the str interests of the U.S. are more important
than the life of Jamal Khashoggi.
GORANI: Thousand. Top Republicans and senators from the Democrats briefed by the CIA director. Lindsay Graham and senator Corker, two of those with
strong language as we said. Graham saying in particular it's not a smoking gun. He said there's a smoking saw. We'll keep our eye on that and the
potential impact of this on the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Let's get you back to what's happening on Wall Street. U.S. stocks are falling this hour. Also related in some ways to what the President has
said. We are off sessions lows, though. Off 2.5 percent for the Dow Jones. What's behind the selloff and, Claire Sebastian joining me now,
renewed fears that the trade war of U.S. and China really has not been resolved by the President in his meeting with the Chinese leader in Buenos
Aires.
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Hala. Now that the dust settled, it is clear that the two sides are not really aligned in
communicating about this. We have very little -- next to nothing on China on the commitments of the U.S. said they made, like purchasing an extra
$1.2 trillion in U.S. goods and the President's tweet today if there's no deal reached in the 90-day deadline he still is a tariff man and puts
failure back on the table. Escalation back on the table. That is making the markets jittery an no jittery and not just trade but a slowdown in the
economy triggered by a signal of the bond market. Shorted today bonds yields moving higher. That is a historically a signal that can portend an
economic slowdown and taken together are rocking this fragile market but we have to remember, Hala, the markets are closed tomorrow for the funeral of
former President Bush and leads to more volatility. People don't want the leave money on the table ahead of a break.
GORANI: I wanted to show our -- I don't know if we have the graphic representation of it. It doesn't really matter but we are seeing big
losses. Not just today. Tell me, I don't have it in front of me, about 1,000 points off just in the last 4 or 5 sessions, I believe?
SEBASTIAN: Certainly, been seeing a lot of volatility in the market, Hala. Extremely fragile time and the two headlines rocking the markets are in
play today, trade and the economy generally. Rising interest rates is a big one. We saw some relief last week when we heard from the chairman of
the federal reserve he might -- that's up for debate a little bit and might be willing to slow the path of interest rates in the U.S. a look at the
data leading to relief and I think the concerns still remain and you can see just by the move today how fragile the market is around the headlines.
GORANI: You sure can. Thank you very much. We, of course, will keep our eye on what stocks and the markets are doing throughout the hour.
[14:10:00] Court filings are not always riveting reads but a sentencing memo due soon in Washington could unveil some of the biggest revelations
yet about the Russia investigation. After a full year of silence, we could finally learn what Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael
Flynn has been telling investigators after he pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russia. Flynn has been cooperating with revelations yet
about the Russia investigation.
Flynn has been cooperating with the special counsel's office for quite a while and Robert Mueller could reveal some crucial information when he
recommends a sentence for Flynn today. Flynn became the first person to serve in the Trump administration to cooperate with the special counsel and
he could have a lot to tell. You may remember this video during the Presidential campaign. Flynn took a paid trip to Russia for a state dinner
in 2015. At one point he sat right next to Vladimir Putin. A week earlier, he attended a dinner at the private home of Russia's ambassador in
Washington. Flynn served as national security adviser for 24 days. He was fired because he reportedly failed to tell vice President Mike Pence that
he had, in fact, discussed sanctions with that Russian ambassador after the election so that he lied to the FBI about that meeting. As you can see,
Flynn is a key figure in the investigation. So, there's a lot of anticipation for the court filings. We are joined by Shimon Prokupecz and
White House reporter Stephen Collinson. Explain to our viewers what this filing is exactly, Shimon, and how to reveal what potentially, what Flynn
has told the Mueller probe.
SHIMON PROKUPESCZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I think you said it right there. There's a lot of anticipation for this filing because it's
going to be the very first piece of document or several pieces of document, perhaps, which really detail hopefully, you know, we are all hoping on the
edge of the seats here that Mueller investigation and how Michael Flynn cooperated, where he cooperated, the impact of his cooperation, how helpful
he was to the investigation. And that's going to be the key thing here is was his cooperation an important one? Does the government view it in a way
where they call it substantial. That is he offered substantial assistance. If that's the case then it's likely that Michael Flynn will not face any
jail time because that's really what he is hoping here for is and why he chose to cooperate so we're going to learn some details about how he
cooperated, we're going to also learn very important in this investigation is what he did, how he communicated with the former Russian ambassador, who
else he communicated with in Russia, perhaps we'll learn more details about how that rt dinner came about, information like that that the special
counsel, Mueller and the team has been investigating and looking at. We also may learn who if anyone in the White House knew about what was going
on with Michael Flynn. Did he communicate what he was doing to anyone at the White House? We know that he lied to the FBI. He lied to people at
the White House. Perhaps he's going to give a reason in these documents. We'll see. As to why he lied. This is all in an effort really for the
special counsel to have their opportunity to lay out where Michael Flynn has been helpful, how he's been helpful and in hopes of reducing the amount
of jail time he's facing.
GORANI: And, Stephen, politically speaking, it's a long list of very close aides who have lied about their contacts with Russia or about their
knowledge of deals or discussions happening with Russian operatives and officials. What impact is this having on the President himself in
Washington with his own party? We saw them break over Khashoggi. Will we start seeing opposition over this?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Hala, so far there's been no sign that the crucial Republican support of the President in the
Senate is fraying over this. Senators generally try and walk away from reporters when they ask these kind of questions but there's no doubt that
this development and the developments over the last week involving the President's personal lawyer have been playing on the President's mind. We
have had a series of especially angry tweets from the President attacking Mueller, attacking Cohen. I think where this particular development today,
the Flynn filing, is really interesting is because we have not heard anything from Flynn since he pled guilty to lying to the FBI a year ago.
Every time that his sentencing came up on the calendar in the court it was put off because the Mueller team said he was still helping with their
investigation. That's one of the reasons why the investigation and why there's so much anticipation about this.
[14:15:00] All along, the President's defenders said, look, all of the charges have been made, the people have been sent to jail, the plea deals
have nothing to do with the question of cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia. If there is anything in this filing today that
suggests that there was that kind of cooperation, this could be a very big development in the investigation, indeed.
GORANI: OK. And, Shimon, Michael Flynn's sentencing has been postponed several times, I believe four times. What does that tell us about -- what
does that tell us about the investigation itself and his role in it?
PROKUPESCZ: Right. It means that he's been providing information for well over a year now to the special counsel. He signed his cooperation deal on
November 30th of 2017. Last year. And since then, he's been providing information. Each time the case would come up for sentencing the special
counsel could ask for it to be postponed because they weren't ready to move ahead with the sentencing. And the purpose of that so that folks
understand is to keep leverage over Michael Flynn because he was still cooperating and they didn't want to sentence him too soon and then get out
of the cooperation. You have to keep in mind that one of the reasons -- there's several reasons why Flynn cooperated in this case. One of them has
to do with financially. It was becoming too much of a burden on his financially and the second thing is he was afraid of going to jail. And
so, he was hoping by this cooperation that the government, that the special counsel, will say, you know, you have been so helpful to us, we'll tell the
judge that you should not face any substantial jail time. That's going to be the key here. Whether or not he gets what they call 5k letter the U.S.
government that says you have provided substantial assistance explaining to the judge that assistance and therefore the judge will then look at this
and say, OK, you know what? You did good here. You did well. I'm going to give you either two weeks in jail, not going to give you any jail time.
Look. He is facing up to five years but the range in these kinds of cases where you're accused of lying to the FBI usually you get up to six months
in jail. Whether or not that happens here, we'll see. There's a good chance, if he -- if the key here, if the cooperation is substantial it is a
pretty big deal today when this comes out.
GORANI: All right. We'll of course follow that very, very carefully and closely. Shimon and Stephen, thank you very much.
Our next guest said we'll soon know more about the strength of Robert Mueller's hand and the threat his investigation poses to Donald Trump. CNN
legal analyst Elie Honig is live in New York. What are your expectations?
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think we'll learn much about Michael Flynn. He pled guilty a year ago. He is a highly placed person in the
campaign and in the administration briefly. When I saw he pled as a cooperator, I thought Mueller will make all kinds of use out of this
information and year we are a year later an nothing obviously came from the cooperation. There are some clues as Shimon referenced. Four
adjournments. If you are done with a cooperator, you are done with him and get him sentenced. We have to remember what he pled guilty to, serious
conduct. He lied about the conversations with the Russian ambassador, about potentially lifting or easing election-related sanctions. And so,
I'm going to be reading to see was there any connection to the President? Did he have conversations about lifting the sanctions with the President?
Did he have any conversations about his false testimony to the FBI with anyone in the inner circle?
GORANI: And could you explain why in a sentencing brief or filing we would learn more new details about what was -- what he told investigators? How
does that work exactly?
HONIG: Yes. So, this is what prosecutors call a 5k letter after section 5k 1.1 of the sentencing guidelines and try to lay out all the good and
bad. All the good, here's all the cooperation that this person gave us. He gave all the following pieces of useful information and led to these
charges against these individuals. Or helped us gain intelligence. And all the bad, here's the crimes, the bad conduct. You owe it to the
defendant to give the judge a full accounting so that that person can get a full and fair sentence from the judge.
GORANI: Yes. And there are more interesting filings coming up, right? Related to Paul Manafort, for instance. Yes. Tell us about that.
HONIG: Manafort's going to be fascinating. We had big news last week, surprising to everybody. I was stunned. Saying that Manafort's
cooperation has fallen apart. He has lied to us, the Mueller prosecutors, repeatedly.
[14:20:00] Judge, we'll explain how he lied and prove he lied in our next filing and that's coming up Friday. That is going to be riveting because
in my experience when I have dealt with dozens of cooperating witnesses and sometimes, they go bad and when they do most commonly because they're
protecting somebody or something, they're holding back information and so my big question is, who is Paul Manafort trying to protect? He is a 69-
year-old man Now that he's messed up the cooperation, likely looking at a potential sentence that will keep him in for the rest of his life. Who was
he protecting at the potential cost of the rest of his life behind bars and I do believe that Mueller will lay out chapter and verse on how he,
Mueller, knows that Manafort was lying so I think we could learn a lot from that filing.
GORANI: Sure. Last one. Yet again, reaction to a Presidential tweet. It happens on a daily basis, several times a day. But some have said
essentially that the President is tweeting out sort of, you know, witness tampering, evidence of witness tampering in some of the tweets referencing
Roger Stone, for instance. This is a series of tweets for the viewers. What do you make of that? I mean, because if this were -- I can't remember
which legal commentators, people said I've got him. People have perhaps become numb to it. What is your reaction?
HONIG: That was me.
GORANI: That was you. OK. There you go.
HONIG: I stand by -- look. The bar for witness tampering --
GORANI: Quoting you back to you.
HONIG: I have arrived. The bar for witness tampering and obstruction of justice is really low. I have prosecuted cases for witness tampering and
obstruction of justice and as long as you can show that somebody intends to corrupt delay testimony of any person then you're there. Look at
yesterday's tweets. Roger Stone, he is clearly encouraging, influencing stone to hold the line, remain silent. You are a hero. You have guts.
Lashing out at Cohen. And the other thing is it's part of a long pattern that we have seen from the President. He's very thematic and looking at
the tweets that are fair gain in the court of law in the United States you can see he's trying to send a pretty clear message. Stay quiet. Don't
talk to Mueller.
GORANI: Elie, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
HONIG: Thank you.
GORANI: A lot more to come this evening. The French government is hoping a new proposal will stop all the angry protests. Will it be enough to
satisfy the yellow vest movement? We'll take you live to Paris.
Also, ahead, it's a bruising day for Theresa May. We'll have the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00] GORANI: A stinging defeat in parliament, a serious blow from the EU and crunch time for her deal. All in a day's work for the prime
minister Theresa May. It's big deal for her Brexit plan as parliament begins to deliberate and debate the agreement for five days. Take a look
at live pictures from the house of commons. There's the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. They're scheduled to vote about a week from
today. In fact, in the last few hours, the government lost another critical vote. Lawmakers found the government in contempt of parliament
over the refusal to publish legal advice on Brexit and means in plain English that parliament is compelling the government to publish the legal
advice they got from their lawyers when they were formulating the deal with the EU so they're forced to make that public so anything bad in there,
anything that the lawyers said would perhaps be detrimental to the U.K. will be out there. The prime minister, meanwhile, suffered yet another
blow and was forced to say she will not stop Brexit after the European court of justice opened the door to halting the process by saying the U.K.
government has the power to do so by -- let me say this in plain English, as well. The court of justice essentially told the U.K. if you want to
pull the plug on Brexit, you can do it. You can revoke article 50 unilaterally. You don't need consent of the EU. All this is bad news for
Theresa May. If she argues now she has no power to stop Brexit when the European court of justice clearly said she does that's not an argument she
is likely to win anymore. Erin McLaughlin is outside the houses of parliament tonight for us with more. Can she survive all of this?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, LONDON BUREAU: We'll have to see what happens. This certainly was, Hala, a humiliating day for
the British prime minister. She lost not one vote but three votes in a row. Her government today. Including, for the first time in history,
being held in contempt of parliament. Over not publishing or the government's denial of publishing that legal advice. The government lost
that vote. 311-to 293. That includes two torii rebels and the Democratic unionist party which, of course, holds the keys to her minority government.
That defeat was followed shortly after by the so-called grieve amendments, a defeat there giving parliament more of a say over what happens to plan
"b" in the event that Theresa May does not push the plan through and she opened the series of historic Brexit debates and laid it out in stark terms
for the members of parliament saying that without this withdrawal agreement, without the North Ireland backstop included within that
withdrawal agreement there will be a no deal Brexit. Take a listen to what she had to say.
GORANI: The only way to absolutely guarantee no hard border on the island of Ireland at the end of the implementation period is to have a backstop in
the withdrawal agreement as a last resort insurance policy. Any future relationship will need to be negotiated and will need an insurance policy
if that negotiation cannot be completed in time. Put simply, there is no possible withdrawal agreement without a legally operative backstop, no
backstop means no deal.
MCLAUGHLIN: And that, of course, is the outcome that really no one at this point wants to see. That was at the opening of eight hours of debates
tonight. Seven days away from that critical Brexit vote next week and things certainly aren't boding well for the prime minister, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Erin McLaughlin, thank you for the latest on that.
A lot more to come this evening. A nation mourns the latest on the memorials for late U.S. President George H.W. Bush. We will be live in
Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:09] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Welcome back. A quick check on the Dow. We're still down just about 600, 700 points. About
almost 700 points lower. There are fears that that trade war between the United States and China is far from resolved after some initially
comforting tweets by the U.S. president. Those doubts are fueling some selling on Wall Street and so as a result the Dow Jones is losing ground.
About two and two thirds percent. Over other indices are also losing ground, as well.
But over the last few sessions, we've seen some softness in the markets because there are concerns not just about the trade war between the U.S.
and China, but also, concerns about the U.S. economy, about consumers pending, about -- in other cases tech results not meeting the very high
standards of investors.
So overall, it hasn't been a fantastic environment for the stock market. We'll keep our eye on that. And "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" at the top of the
hour will have more coverage for you as well.
France is suspending plans to raise prices on fuel after those violent protests in France over the last few days. Protesters with the Yellow Vest
Movement blocked roads and schools today. Unsatisfied with the proposal. But it is a major concession from the government which had vowed to push
through these tax hikes on fuel. The rising cost of gas ignited protests that have since evolved into wider demonstrations against the ruling class
and the elite as the demonstrators see it.
France's prime minister says he understands their anger and is trying to calm things down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDOUARD PHILIPPE, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): For more than three weeks, tens of thousands of French people have been expressing
their anger on roundabouts, the toll gates, near shopping areas or in the streets of many French towns. This anger has deep roots. It's been
brooding for a while. It often stayed quiet out of reticence or pride.
Today, it is being expressed with force and in a collective way. One has to be deaf or blind not to see it or hear it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let's go straight to our Paris correspondent, Melissa Bell. So the -- President Macron caved on this. Initially he said, no, no, no.
We're increasing tax on fuels. He must feel like this is a threat to his government for him to cave like this. Right?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Hala, to highlight that. For three weeks, it was even particular the French prime
minister had seemed almost tone-deaf sometimes in his replies and the determination with which he said, no, we will not back down. We will carry
on. This has to be done. Not apparently listening to all that anger. And so this definitely does look like a climb down. It looks like a major
concession.
And yet, Hala, what should or might have appeased the movement does anything but. It's only a moratorium. It's only a suspension. And what
the Yellow Jackets and many of the opposition parties here in France as well are saying in response to what Edouard Philippe had to announce today
is, well, that's all very well but essentially, you're kicking the can down the road and this will come into effect in six months' time and nothing
will have changed.
And so on one hand, the government appears to have caved, but on the other, it doesn't seemed to have appeased any of the anger or those calls, Hala,
crucially for another demonstration on Saturday.
GORANI: So, this will not end the protests?
BELL: I think it's very unlikely. I mean, as you say, these protesters have been saying, and this has been a slogan of theirs, this has been a
chant, this has been a recurring theme, the government is not hearing the anger of the people. It is not listening.
Well, how they've clearly got the government's attention but they also appear to have the momentum on their side. We'll have to wait until
Saturday to see what kind of numbers they can get onto the street, how much anger there is and how cleverly the authorities can keep the violence at
bay in terms of the organization to how the protest is carried out on Saturday.
[14:35:03] But in the meantime, we've seen ambulance drivers protest yesterday morning. We've seen students come out. There were 200 French
high schools that were blocked today by student protesters according to the French press. And, of course, that Hala, adds another dimension to this.
It appears to be being picked up by other parts of society. Of course, the students in this case and then there is the cost of all this already. This
has been worked out by the government and it adds an additional layer of pressure on the government of Edouard Philippe as he looks ahead to
Saturday and what more he can do to signal that the government has heard what have become far wider demands and simply the end of this particular
tax hike.
GORANI: So what about the French population as a whole? Are they supportive of this? Because it's one thing to have demands. It's another
thing to torch cars and graffiti the Arc of Triumph.
BELL: The polls seem to suggest that they do have the backing of a large proportion of the French who -- with whom those polls are carried out.
That they seem to be carrying the people with them. Now, that could change.
Clearly, as I said, we're beginning to see the economic impacts of this. One of those economic impacts very concretely, Hala, is that fuel that
those have been blockaded for much of the last week and a half and that is beginning to have an impact on petrol stations up and down the country with
queues. People filling up cans the dry cans.
At some point, this is going to carry over into tangible hassle for ordinary people going about their ordinary lives, even more than it has
already. And, of course, you have to remember that we haven't simply seen these three gatherings on three successive Saturdays.
But essentially since November 17th, this has been an ongoing protest. It's targeted small towns, big towns, motorways. The parts of the motorway
where you pay the toll and these have been a constant now in French life for these last few weeks.
But at what point does it become too much for people to bear? Now, what time does the chaos and its consequences tip things over? Pitty for the
time being, I think that the Yellow Vests benefit from what appears to be a growing sense of frustration within the wider population.
And remember that Emmanuel Macron may be well regarded abroad, Hala, but he has a falling popularity rate here in France. He's not well supported. He
is not well liked by the broader population. And clearly, that adds some fuel to the fire currently being stoked up by the Yellow Vests.
GORANI: Melissa Bell, thanks very much, live in Paris.
Well, it is a somber day in Washington as the nation's capital says goodbye to a former president and civil servant. Thousands of people lined up to
file past the casket of former president George H.W. Bush.
President Donald Trump is supposed to meet with the Bush family later ahead of Wednesday's state funeral. In a touching moment a few hours ago, and
this is circulated a lot online, I'm sure you've seen it. The service dog who was Mr. Bush's companion for the past six months, Sully, was brought
into the capitol rotunda after saying goodbye to his master. Sully will work with other disabled veterans.
Congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is on Capitol Hill with more. What else will happen today, Sunlen?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, the body of former President George H.W. Bush will lie in state for the duration of the
day today, overnight into Wednesday morning. And that's where the members of the public can come in at any point overnight and pay their respects,
and their condolences to the Bush family.
And as you said, there have been a remarkable number of just touching moments, of course, in the capitol rotunda as you noted. His service dog
came this morning in essence to say goodbye. We also saw his son Neil Bush here this morning and he just politely just patted the casket of his
father.
So there have been many touching moments here today. Tomorrow that's when his body will be driven from here at the capitol to the national cathedral
and that's where we'll see this big coming together of all of the former living U.S. presidents will be there in the cathedral including, of course,
current president, Donald Trump. And that's where we will hear the big eulogy by his son, former President George W. Bush. So certainly that will
be a moment.
Then on Thursday, he'll be flown, excuse me, back to Texas where he will be buried at his final resting place.
GORANI: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks very much.
Israel says it's going after a network of cross border tunnels built for terror it claims. A military-run operation is in full swing with heavy
equipment like this dotting the country's border with Lebanon. The goal is to eliminate what Israel is calling Hezbollah attack tunnels.
The operation got started in the Israeli town of Metula, that's where we find Oren Liebermann. And he joins me with the latest. Tell us what is
happening where you are.
[14:40:02] OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hala, the first of these tunnels was discovered not far where we are right now in the village of
Metula right near the Israel-Lebanon border. The military says it starts right across the border in the town known as Kfar Kila on the Lebanese
side.
Israel released this video just a short time ago from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a press conference. This video, they say, is
from earlier this morning inside the tunnel. It shows two, what Israeli is calling, Hezbollah operatives nearing an Israeli robot inside of that
tunnel. As they get close, as they get very close to that robot, the robot sets off a small explosive charge.
And in the video, you see the two men running away. This is the beginning of what Israel is calling, "Operation Northern Shield." As you said, it is
an operation designed to identify and neutralize, in Israel's words, cross border attack tunnels from Lebanon to Israel.
We've asked how many there are. So far, the only answer they're giving us is there are more tunnels.
Right now, they're only going after one. Again, not a -- not that far from where we're standing right now and that is where the operation stands at
this point. We were standing near the border, Hala, watching this operation as it began focusing on that specific tunnel.
GORANI: So if there are these tunnels that Israel says are designed to be used by Hezbollah to attack, are there concerns of any kind of conflict
between the two sides that may feel more imminent or more pressing than it has in the past?
LIEBERMANN: So what's interesting, as Israel called this a major operation, it also said there was no immediate threat to civilians. The
tunnels didn't cross any more than a few dozen meters into Israel. This tunnel, they say, was two meters wide by two meters tall and some 25 meters
on the ground. And they stressed that it wasn't an imminent threat to civilians and there were no new instructions or specific instructions for
Israeli civilians on this side.
But they say there are more tunnels. They will go all along the border to find any tunnels they need. Interestingly, there was no response from
Hezbollah's press section today.
Meanwhile, it is UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon which monitors both sides of the border that's in touch with both sides, trying
to make sure there is no escalation. Is there a fear of a possible escalation? Yes, of course. Even though it is a quiet, calm border
relatively, it remains a tense border and that's a concern.
Hala, it's worth pointing out that as there is this military operation, Israel is also pushing a diplomatic effort. Netanyahu met yesterday with
U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo and asked for additional sanctions on Hezbollah. Netanyahu who also said he'll meet with other world leaders
including the U.N. secretary-general in a move against Hezbollah here.
GORANI: All right. Oren Liebermann, thanks very much.
Check out our Facebook page, facebook.com/halagoranicnn.
Right now in Poland, thousands are gathering to discuss one shared goal fighting climate change. It's part of the United Nation's COP24
conference. Organized to lay out a plan for the Paris Climate Accord.
But the U.S., a key player in drafting the accord finds itself isolated under the Trump administration which pulled out of the deal.
And now, one U.S. city is fighting the effects of climate change in a unique way. Here's CNN's Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at the place where the Rio Grande, the mighty river once flowed.
Today, dust and sand. Instead of water. This is El Paso, Texas. Just across the border, Juarez, Mexico. Hardly any rain here. Not much
humidity. Just dry.
ED ARCHULETA, MANAGER, EL PASO WATER UTILITIES PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD: We were forecast to be running out of water by the year 2020.
GUPTA: Ed Archuleta ran the water utility in El Paso when that dire prediction was made. In 1989. Then, El Pasoans were using around 200
gallons of water per person per day. And so Ed's first order of business was to simply preach conservation. Residents were paid to turn green lawns
into brown desert landscapes and it helped. Quite a bit.
Today, El Pasoans have cut their water usage by 35 percent per person. But for a city that significantly relied on the river, it was becoming
increasingly dry.
ARCHULETA: There's no question that I think that climate changes or affecting the Rio Grande.
GUPTA: To better understand what climate change looks like here, we traveled two hours up river just outside of Truth or Consequences, New
Mexico.
GUPTA (on camera): We made our way now to the Elephant Butte Dam. You can see it over here behind me. Built in 1916. At times, the water has become
so high that would actually spill through the dam. But take a look at the water levels now. It's about three percent of the total capacity.
PHIL KING, CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY: What we are seeing is a systematic increase in temperature. So we're seeing the
snow melt runoff earlier than historical and more rapid melt than average. And again, for a given level of snow pack less runoff actually reaching the
river and reaching our reservoir here.
[14:45:03] GUPTA (voice-over): Phil King is a professor of civil engineering at New Mexico State University.
GUPTA (on-camera): We're certain that what we're seeing here is worsened by climate change?
KING: With very high confidence, yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): A reservoir like this may fill again one day. But when it does, it probably won't fill as quickly and the water will drain
faster than ever before. That's the thing about climate change. It doesn't happen drip by drip. It is cycles that are continually getting
worse and worse.
And so to keep this major American city from going completely dry, despite being nowhere near a coast, they built the world's largest inland
desalination plant. It treats the brackish water underneath El Paso's main aquafers.
ARCHULETA: It basically gives El Paso an insurance policy against drought
GUPTA: Another more provocative step, creating a closed loop. It's exactly what it sounds like. Treating sewage water and then sending it
directly back into drinking water pipes. Toilet to tap.
Gilbert Trejo of El Paso Water shows me how it's done. It starts by filtering out solids like rags and wipes out of raw sewage. Then there are
many levels of filtration and treatment for the bacteria, viruses, and everything else.
GILBERT TREJO, EL PASO WATER: Moment of truth?
GUPTA: Let's do it.
TREJO: OK. Let's do this. Smells like water. Looks like water. Cheers.
GUPTA: It's what is necessary to make El Paso drought resistant. That tastes like water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: A lot more to come this evening. History is made as an amazing sportswoman is honored, but sadly that was not the biggest headline from
this story. The biggest headline involved twerking. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Now to a story that's getting a lot of buzz today but for all the wrong reasons. What we should be talking about is a historic step forward
in equality for women in football. Instead, we're focusing on the backlash of a sexist remark.
Now, let me walk you through this. This is Ada Hegerber. She's a Norwegian footballer and a mega star in the women's game.
Now, last night in Paris she won the very first women's Ballon d'Or. The award has existed for mens since 1956. Big deal. A woman wins one this
year. Lionel Messi and Ronaldo have won the mens prize about five times each.
In her acceptance speech, Hegerber told young girls to believe in themselves. But all the positivity was quickly undone by this next moment.
The host of the ceremony, the French deejay, Martin Solveig, asked Hegerber this question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SOLVEIG, FRENCH DJ (through translator): You've seen that I prepared a little celebration for Kylian. So we said we're going to do
something similar. Do you know how to twerk?
[14:50:04] ADA HEGERBER, NORWEGIAN FOOTBALLER: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Do you know how to twerk? That's the dance that involves shaking your tush to music, by the way. Hegerber initially played down the
remarks. But the story quickly blew up all over social media around the world.
So Solveig, the deejay who asked the player if she knew how to twerk made this apology or this explanation, rather, via Twitter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLVEIG: Guys, I'm a little bit amazed and astonished by what I'm reading on the internet. I, of course, didn't want to offend anyone. This comes
from a distortion of my English level and my English cultural level which is not obviously not enough because I didn't mean to offend anyone and I
didn't know that this could be seen as such an offense, especially if you consider the sequence in total when we ended up dancing on Frank Sinatra,
Ada and myself. This was a joke. Probably a bad one and I want to apologize for the one I may have offended. Sorry about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, CNN spoke to Hegerber over the phone. Here's her take.
HEGERBER (through telephone): I was so happy to win the Ballon d'Or and I didn't feel harassed or something. I was expecting maybe a question of my
football skills or how the feeling was to stand there and to win a Ballon d'Or. But in the end, I was just really happy to get the award and wasn't
quite thinking about what's going on in the media and social media.
Obviously, the question could have been asked in another way. I don't know. I feel that when you're on the stage you want to be -- get questions
about how you feel winning such an award or how the -- has been -- how the road has been or everything.
But in the end, we ended up having a dance and I got the Ballon d'Or. So in the end, I was only happy to get it.
GORANI: Well, this is one instance in which a professional athlete not being a good sport in terms of cooperating or playing along is the best
course of action. Ada Hegerber downplayed it. Said it wasn't a big, huge deal. But I think for a lot of women, it was a big deal because this was a
historic accomplishment for a female athlete. And even as a joke, can you twerk, we know as women is not a question that a male deejay would have
asked of a male player. That we know.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: How would you like to get paid $22 million a year to play with toys? That's the life of a 7-year-old YouTube sensation. His name is
Ryan. He, believe it or not, has topped Forbes list of highest YouTube earners taking in $22 million over 12 months. He's 7. He's also just
inked a deal with Walmart to sell a line of toys. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn't really like Blue so much. Maybe they need more time. Right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. It's so cute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. We like you, Blue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:55:01] GORANI: Well, according to Forbes, two other YouTubers passed the 20 million mark this year. The guys at Dude Perfect who specialize in
crazy sports tricks. And Jake Paul who branched out into a merchandising business. I don't spend a lot of time on YouTube, clearly.
Instead of grabbing a cold one from the fridge, how about letting a robot pour your drink? An innovative wine bar in Prague is doing that. And
Cyril Vanier has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Cyberdog. Forget about nursing a drink in a dark, quiet corner. This Prague wine bar is bright, shiny and
straight out of a science fiction movie. And the bar man? Let's just say that he's not a big talker. Forget about telling him about your troubles.
This robot barkeep is strictly about the wine.
Customers use their cell phones to place their orders. The robot pours up to four glasses at a time and then the order is delivered to the correct
table via an overhead tray.
The Cyberdog has seats for 40 people over two floors and it's designed to look like a sitting puppy. Hence the name.
TOMAS CISAR, ARCHITECT (through 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 that the robot server is a trend that will stick.
MARCEL SOURAL, OWNER, THE CYBERDOG (through translator): In the future when you are served in a restaurant by an actual person it will be a
terribly expensive restaurant because it will be unique.
VANIER: They also serve food at The Cyberdog, but for now, at least that is still prepared and served by humans.
Cyril Vanier, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Quick update on one of our top stories. That selloff on Wall Street I was telling you about at the top of the hour, and we're off
session lows. There's no panic, but it is a down day to be sure on Wall Street with the Dow down almost 600 points right now. Two and a third
percent. And the fear there that the trade war between the U.S. and China is not resolved had been kind of -- had been -- the expectation after a
series of Donald Trump tweets. That's what's fueling today's losses. And then overall worries about the strength of the U.S. economy and consumer
spending, as well.
All right. You're going to hear a lot more about this on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" after a quick break. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching the
program. I'll see you next time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
