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House Committee to Set Rules for Impeachment Debate; House Plans to Vote on Impeachment Wednesday; Democrats Want to Call Key Witnesses for Senate Trial; Pope Francis Lifts Secrecy Rules for Sexual Abuse Cases; New India Protests Over Citizenship Law; Pakistan's Former President Sentenced to Death for Treason; Boeing to Temporarily Suspend Production of 737 MAX; Republicans Show Unwavering Support for Trump; Giuliani Claims to Uncover Fraud in Ukraine. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 17, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the official start to what you're going to see on the House floor for those final votes on the two articles of

impeachment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: The final countdown. One last step before the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ready to attend martyrdom. We will lay the last drop of our blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Refusing to bow down to a new law. Nationwide protests consume India.

Then, an overdue change. The Vatican lifts its secrecy rules for sexual abuse cases.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The queen of Christmas strikes again.

Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Christina Macfarlane live from London filling in for Becky Anderson today.

There's one last step for the U.S. Congress to take before the House votes on the impeachment of Donald Trump. That step is the committee that will

decide on the rules for impeachment debate. The rules committee begins what could be a very contentious hearing in exactly one hour from now. And

barring some unforeseen development, the entire House is planning to vote on impeachment tomorrow. The last three months have been leading up to

tomorrow's vote.

But all eyes are also on the Senate where Republicans will control the impeachment trial. Democrats are pressing for several key White House

witnesses to be called to testify. Republicans hope some Democrats will vote against impeachment and took a hit on Monday when several moderate

Democrats said they would vote to impeach the President.

Well, let's break this all down now with my guests joining me. Our CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer and CNN legal analyst Ross Garber.

Welcome to you both. Ross, I want to start this hour with where we are right now which is the final countdown. The House rules committee is

meeting in the next hour in what will be the final steps before the House vote tomorrow. Just walk us through this process, if you would.

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, and normally the rules committee it's very dry. It's very boring. Usually there's just a lot of agreement.

What they are deciding now are the rules for how this debate is going to go. How long it's going to last. How many minutes are each member going

to be allowed to speak? And again, one wouldn't normally think those kinds of things would be controversial, but everything is controversial in this

impeachment. And so what we expect to see is a lot of Republican pushback, a lot of Republican grandstanding. Ultimately, though, these impeachment

resolutions are going to the floor of Congress.

MACFARLANE: Yes, that is for certain. I just want to show both of you guys the brand-new CNN poll. The American public is ultimately divided on

impeachment. 45 percent think President Trump should be removed from office while 47 percent say he should remain. Julian, there's no way as

you know that the Republican Senate will vote against the President unless public opinion turns in a big way. So what are the Democrats hoping to

accomplish at this point.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well some House Democrats have been acting on a position of principle that ultimately when the President uses

or abuses power in this way, the House has to move forward with a vote. Setting a standard about what's tolerable and what's not. Politically

there's some Democrats who understand that even if the nation is divided, this is not great for the President to run as someone who was impeached, to

run with someone with this record is part of the reason why an incumbent with a good economy and relative peace abroad continues to struggle so much

in the national polls.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and as you know, we spent the past three years leading up to this vote tomorrow. But most are drawing conclusion, as you said,

jumping ahead to the trial, in particular the Senate trial, bickering over witnesses as we've seen this week. The question is, though, if you are a

Republican and you have nothing to hide, why not let these witnesses testify -- Ross?

GARBER: Yes, there are a few reasons. One is it takes up time and these are Senators who have other things that they want to do. We've got a

campaign season coming up very soon and a lot of them just don't want to spend time on this when, as Julian noted, the result seems pretty

preordained. It's very, very unlikely, vanishingly unlikely, unless something changes, the President is convicted and removed from office. So

a lot of Senators are saying, why go through all this process? Why put on witnesses?

[10:05:02]

And then there is the political calculus of who knows what they're going to say and there are some Republicans who believe it or not take that kind of

politics into account and say, you know, who knows what they're going to say. We don't want to take the risk. And then finally, there are

legitimate issues of executive privilege and immunity. Since George Washington, Presidents have claimed that they and their senior advisers are

immune from having to testify before Congress. And that's a legitimate issue that Senators just may not want to wade into.

MACFARLANE: Just on that point you mentioned there, Ross, about time. In some ways, could this not play into Republicans' hands? Because what is

potentially a danger for the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, of this whole process backfiring is that they could be -- this process could be drawn out. You

know, the Senate trial and the impeachment process continues to be drawn out. In light of the opinion polls, that might not play well with the

public. Would you agree with that -- Julian?

ZELIZER: Well you know, the polls -- the poll that you showed today still has it at 45 percent which is high for so many people wanting the President

impeached. It's been upwards of 51 percent. There seems to be in this poll a slight drop. So if you are a Republican looking at these numbers,

it's not reason to celebrate. You combine this. You combine the midterm elections. There's a lot of bad signs as a result of the way the President

has conducted himself.

So I think it's hard for many Republicans to simply assume that this goes on longer and they're in better shape going on for the election. I think

many Republicans, including McConnell, would like to just bring this to an end, dismiss it by not treating it seriously and move on. They don't want

the risk of what they saw with the Intelligence Committee hearings. When the public just didn't like what they were hearing.

MACFARLANE: Yes. But the likely end result in all of this as we know is that President Trump will probably remain in office. The bigger picture,

of course, looking ahead to the elections next year is how will this all play for him? We think it's going to be a good scenario for him off the

back of this -- Ross?

GARBER: Yes, so I mean, I've represented lots of public officials, including, you know, several who have been subject to impeachment

proceedings. And generally, if you are a public official, you don't want to be under investigation. You don't want to even be involved in

impeachment proceedings. For Trump, the dynamic, I think some of his advisers think is a little bit different because he came into office

running against the system. He's going to portray this after a Senate victory which he anticipates as complete vindication, a complete win. A

complete effort by an outsider to run against the system and win. And I think we should expect that that's how President Trump is going to spin it.

But as Julian noted, you know, this just hasn't happened before so it really is a wild card.

MACFARLANE: It certainly is. Just to finally with Julian, I want to get your perspective. We saw Chuck Schumer speaking out with his list of

requests or demands, whichever way you look at it, this week asking for the witnesses to come forward. I just wonder what you think of the chances

that any Republican Senators would jump the aisle, you know, to back some of Schumer's requests. I mean is that even possible, do you think?

ZELIZER: Well, it's possible. The odds are low. Generally Republicans, even the so-called moderates have stayed in line. Senator McConnell has

been able to keep everyone on the same page. But I think who Schumer is actually appealing to, yes, it's the Susan Collin, it's even the Mitt

Romney. It's some of the Senators who are in competitive elections like Gardner, Cory Gardner and hoping that at least in any decision on rules,

which requires 51 votes, they might be able to sway a handful to put pressure on McConnell to do this in a way that Schumer can agree with.

It's unlikely, but there is a point of leverage. That 51 votes that McConnell needs that the Democrats are hoping to use as some form of

leverage.

MACFARLANE: And on the flip side with this vote tomorrow, how difficult might it be for the Democrats if any of their number break from the party

and actually go in opposition of the impeachment? I know that's not what's expected but if that were to happen, how problematic could that be in terms

of the optics of that?

GARBER: Well, we -- oh, go ahead. Julian. I'm sorry.

ZELIZER: Oh, I mean it would be problematic. The President is eager to have the talking point that there's bipartisan opposition to impeachment.

And there will be some of that.

[10:10:00]

It doesn't look like most of those moderates are breaking that way. We have to remember Speaker Pelosi doesn't like to go to the floor on anything

unless she has whipped up the votes that she needs. And from what we're reading in the accounts, a lot of those moderates even in Trumpian

districts are going to join the Democrats in voting for impeachment.

MACFARLANE: Fantastic stuff, guys. Thank you both for joining us. Ross Garber and Julian Zelizer, thanks guys for your analysis.

Then of course, next hour we will take you live to Capitol Hill for that crucial meeting that will lay the groundwork for tomorrow's impeachment

vote. And make sure to tune in tomorrow for CNN's special coverage.

All right. Coming up -- another day of protests over India's citizenship law. What Prime Minister Modi is saying about his critics.

Plus, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death, but he's not in court or even in the

country.

And Pope Francis just rewrote some of the Vatican's laws on the sex abuse in the church. But abusers are still safe in the confessional.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Pope Francis is making major changes to the way the Catholic Church handles cases of sexual abuse. The Pontiff issued two

documents changing Canon Law to abolish secrecy rules that were in place before. It's a step toward transparency and rooting out abuse in the

church. But for some victims' advocates, the changes may not go far enough. Our Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher joins me now. And,

Delia, we know this is a hugely significant moment, one victims have long waited for. Give us more details as to what's been announced today.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, what the Pope has done today is effectively abolish what has been called the pontifical

secret on sex abuse cases. Pontifical secrecy is the highest level of confidentiality at the Vatican. It's used for many things, not just sexual

abuse. But with sexual abuse cases, it had been used as an excuse not to hand over documents to civil authorities, for example, on the part of the

Catholic Church. It also had been used not to communicate with victims about what's going on in their cases.

So what's very important about what the Pope has done today by abolishing this pontifical secrecy, he is saying this is no longer going to be allowed

to be used as an accuse. We want to show our transparency and fully cooperating with civil authorities and especially putting victims first and

letting them know what is going on with their cases and the outcome of their cases.

These were points that were raised back in February. You'll remember at the global summit on sexual abuse at the Vatican. The pontifical secrecy

was criticized there by people in the Vatican saying we can't have this if at the same time we're going to talk about transparency in sexual abuse

cases. So those are two of the most important immediate effects of what the Pope has done today.

What it does not do, Christina, is talk about secrecy in the confessional.

[10:15:00]

That was something that had been raised in the United States and in Australia by rights groups saying that the seal of the confessional, or if

an abuser confesses to a priest in the confessional, that priest should be obliged to report the abuse to authorities. It is not dealt with. The

Catholic Church has said that they are not willing to change that.

But the changes today very important. The Pope has also made another change with regard to pornography -- child pornography. The age limit used

to be 14. Today he has raised it to 18. That will go into effect in January. So some important steps in the fight against sex abuse on the

part of the Vatican. One prominent Chilean sex abuse survivor and advocate for victims tweeted that it was a carnival of secrecy and obscurity that

has ended today -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, very important developments indeed. Delia, thank you for breaking it down for us there live from Rome.

Well, India's Prime Minister Modi is accusing political opponents of trying to stir up trouble.

Huge crowds turned out again Tuesday to protest India's new citizenship law. They say it's an attempt to marginalize Muslims. Protests have been

going on for days with police firing tear gas at rock-throwing protesters. Buses and cars have been damaged and fires have been set. There have been

at least five deaths since the protests started last week.

Well our Sam Kiley joins us live now from New Delhi, and as we were seeing in those pictures there, some people have taken to the streets across

India. Just explain why they are so incensed by this new law proposal.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very innocuous sounding act of the legislature here in Delhi, Christina. The citizens --

Citizenship Amendment Act. Now what it does is allow for non-Indians from three neighboring countries, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan to apply

for Indian nationality. These are residents here already in India. So long as they are not Muslim. And it is that part of this legislation which

the 200 million Muslims, 14 percent of the population here. And many, many others argue is not only discriminatory in terms of the Indian constitution

guaranteeing freedom of worship, but it is also a violation of other constitutional aspects of the nation which are ones that -- issues to do

with equality under the law.

On top of that, Christina, I think it's a very important to see this in context. The BJP of Mr. Modi was overwhelmingly won the elections in the

summer this year to the Indian Parliament, and he has an almost unstoppable majority and campaigned very harshly on a Hindu nationalist platform.

And in the state of Assam, there has already been a citizen registration process designed again to try to regularize the positions of people,

particularly who fled into the Assam area from the war in Bangladesh in the early 1970s. What that has done, its critics say, is exclude from Indian

nationality about 2 million people who live, work in India and believe they were Indian.

The critics say -- the government is saying though, this is just a process of regularization. It's calling for calm and insisting that it is in no

way a sectarian piece of legislation. But given also the interior minister's suggestion here that there may be an even wider program to

analyze and award Indian citizenship right across the country potentially, there is extreme anger and discomfort. As I say, not just among Muslims

but among many other non-Muslims, including substantial numbers of Hindus who believe that this undermines the whole secular nature of the Indian

constitution -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, this really does appear to be galvanizing the public on the streets as we've said. How likely is it, Sam, that these protests will

force a reversal in the bill given the power, as you say, that Modi and the government currently have?

KILEY: Well, if we look at what's happened in Kashmir. Generally in Kashmir which was -- had a semiautonomous status that was removed earlier

this year. Again, another Muslim majority state or semi-state.

[10:20:00]

Of course it's a contested area Pakistan lays claim to a lot of that territory as well. That area has now been under complete internet blackout

for several months. There has been precious little opportunity to get any news out of there. So it's unlikely the government is feeling anything

other than completely capable of plowing on with this legislation over the CAA as it's now called.

MACFARLANE: All right, Sam Kiley, great to have you live there on the ground, Sam, in New Delhi. Thank you.

Well, next door in Pakistan, a trial that's dragged on for years against former President Pervez Musharraf has ended with a conviction. Musharraf

was found guilty of committing high treason while he was in power. And now he's been sentenced to death. But the former President is currently in

Dubai. He's been living there for more than three years. Our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins me now with more. And

given that he is in Dubai, Nic, what does this really mean? Will he return, or is this simply a symbolic gesture?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It would look unlikely that he's going to return. What we're already hearing from the military

remembering he was the Army Chief of Staff, the commander of the military and the President and that this is unprecedented that somebody at that

status, either a President or the Army Chief of Staff should be found guilty of high treason.

The army is pushing back already. They're saying there's been a rush to judgment and abuse of justice here. So we can expect the military to push

back on his behalf. His lawyers are speaking on his behalf.

I just caution a little bit about whether or not he would come back. We understand it's not in the best of health, but we have seen him misjudge

the situation in the past. He was in exile in London, you know, sort of 2008, 2013 -- self-imposed exile. And he decided to go back and run in the

elections and it was a disaster. Not only did he not have the support but that's when he found himself under house arrest with the beginning of some

of these charges being laid against him. So his ability to misjudge the situation can't be ruled out. But it would seem to be an unwise option

when you face the death penalty.

MACFARLANE: Yes, the military has always had, obviously, a lot of power, a lot of sway in the country. So how much has this been about sending a

message or setting a precedent in some way?

ROBERTSON: You know, I think the military still has a huge amount of power. Generally perceived that although the Prime Minister Imran Khan was

duly and Democratically elected, there was a huge sort of helping hand from the military. And the military still wields a huge amount of power and

influence. And influence in the country in terms of, you know, the message that it can spread out through different media outlets in the country that

it does very effectively. So the military is still a very strong institution, not to be trifled with and I think we're going to see that. I

think we can expect to see this challenge in the courts.

What Musharraf is accused of is subverting the -- I'm struggling for the word here -- subverting the constitution of the country. Very simply, he

was in power and he tried to extend his term of power by declaring -- by declaring a state of emergency. And that was, you know, he fired the chief

justice. This is what's being called up upon now.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and previously has had a lot of support in Pakistan hasn't he.

ROBERTSON: But he has but it's also dwindled over the years. But this is the pendulum of the politics we see in Pakistan. It does go from sometimes

one dynasty and back and forward.

MACFARLANE: Yes, we will see where this goes next. Nic, thank you.

Now, Amnesty International says more than 300 people died during the November protests in Iran. Demonstrations were sparked by rising fuel

prices but they quickly expanded to cover other grievances. Amnesty International also says thousands of Iranians were arrested. Iran's

government claims those numbers are exaggerated.

Boeing is pausing construction on the 737 MAX planes. The best-selling model was grounded worldwide in the wake of two crashes that killed 346

people. Boeing carried on making the planes hoping for speedy recertification. But as our Rene Marsh reports, it became all too clear

that the U.S. Aviation Authorities were on a different timetable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well this is a dramatic shift in tone by the airplane manufacturer Boeing.

They've decided to temporarily halt the production of its troubled 737 MAX passenger plane early next month. Now this decision comes following a

meeting with the FAA last week where the FAA made it very clear the plane would not be cleared to fly this year. And this process would stretch into

2020.

But the fact that Boeing is even curbing production of the troubled plane is a huge turn of events. Up until now, the airplane manufacturer has been

positive, even bullish.

[10:25:00]

Saying that it was look looking toward approval for the plane to fly again sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. And with that timeline,

Boeing said it was looking to resume deliveries to airline customers in December. That's this month. It's clearly not going to happen. We are

now nine months into the grounding of this aircraft. And Boeing has continued to build new 737 MAX aircraft that were previously ordered at a

rate of 42 per month.

That said, in a statement, Boeing saying that they currently have some 400 airplanes in storage. But with all this uncertainty of just how long this

grounding will drag on, Boeing essentially realized that they had to halt production because they can't deliver the planes until the FAA approves

them. All that to say this has all cost Boeing billions of dollars and the airlines hundreds of millions of dollars.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: All right. Well when we come back, the final step before an impeachment vote on Donald Trump. A look at what happens today in Congress

to set up that historical vote.

And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Republicans have never been so united as they are right now. Ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: A look at why opinions, not facts, are driving support for Donald Trump.

And more controversy in Italian football as Serie A's new anti-racism campaign is accused of being racist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD where our top story is history being made in the U.S. Congress. We're just an hour and a half

away from the final step before a vote in the House of Representatives on the impeachment of Donald Trump will occur. The rules committee will be

setting out the way the debates on -- and votes on impeachment will work. And in just the last few minutes the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell

once again criticized the Democrats for pushing for impeachment. If impeached by the House, the Senate will be the jury to decide if Trump is

removed from office. And right now that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Here's what McConnell has just said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): But as we speak today, House Democrats still have the opportunity to do the right thing for the country and avoid

setting this toxic new precedent. The House can turn back from the cliff and not deploy this constitutional remedy of last resort to deliver a

predetermined partisan outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:30:00]

MACFARLANE: Well the House is expected to vote on impeachment on Wednesday. And the only question seems to be of many Democrats will break

with party leaders to vote no. As for Republicans in the House, there seems to be no cracks in their fierce defense of President Trump. CNN's

Jake Tapper has more on those Republicans and in some cases their outright denial of the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER (voice-over): While many in the political world are focusing on House Democrats in swing districts

and how they may vote on impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don't agree with this. I just don't.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): So I will be voting yes on obstruction.

TAPPER: Less focus is being given to House Republicans from purple districts and how they might vote. The reason? As of now, Republicans

appear united against impeachment.

TRUMP: The Republicans have never been so united as they are right now, ever.

TAPPER: In order to justify that position, many Republicans simply deny reality, as seen here by Congresswoman Debbie Lesko of Arizona.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why is it ever OK for an American president to ask a foreign power to investigate rival? Why do

you think that's OK?

REP. DEBBIE LESKO (R-AZ): He didn't. He didn't do that.

RAJU: He did ask.

TAPPER: He sure did do that. Trump himself has said he asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

TRUMP: If they were honest about it, they'd start a major investigation into the Bidens.

TAPPER: Denying facts and evidence has become the rule of the day.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Ukrainians, third, didn't know that the aid was held up at the time of the phone call.

TAPPER: Congressman Jordan of Ohio making that claim, despite this testimony from a Pentagon official:

LAURA COOPER, U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: A member of my staff got a question from a Ukraine Embassy contact asking, what was going

on with Ukraine security assistance?

TAPPER: It may be difficult for the public to imagine these same Republicans tolerating the same offenses from a Democratic president. And

that was the test laid out in 1974 by Illinois Republican Congressman Robert McClory, who initially supported President Nixon, and then changed

his mind.

REP. ROBERT MCCLORY (R-IL): I've heard it said by some that they cannot understand how a Republican could vote to impeach a Republican president.

I cannot and do not envision my role in that dim light.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm Lindsey Graham from South Carolina.

TAPPER: Then House floor manager Lindsey Graham asked the same basic question during the Clinton impeachment in 1998.

GRAHAM: If a Republican president had done these things, would a Republican delegation had gone to tell him to get out of town? I hope so.

TAPPER: Flash forward 21 years, and Senator Lindsey Graham got his answer.

GRAHAM: I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.

TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well the heat on Mr. Trump hasn't stopped his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, just wrapped a trip to Ukraine. You

may remember that the former U.S. ambassador to that country, Marie Yovanovitch was fired this year. The Trump line, she was bad news,

incompetent.

But "The New Yorker" now quotes Giuliani as saying in November, I believed that I needed Yovanovitch out of the way. She was going to make the

investigations difficult for everybody.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with more on Giuliani's trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rudy Giuliani's continued efforts to dig up dirt on the Bidens in Ukraine

are disgusting, some anti-corruption groups in that country.

DARIA KALENIUK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANTAC: It's not search for truth. It's actually continuing to spread disinformation in the best tradition of

Kremlin.

PLEITGEN: And it's music to the ears of Putin-controlled TV in Russia who are eager to paint themselves as innocent despite the U.S. intelligence

community's conclusions about Russian election interference in 2016.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It turns out the State Department is wired to remove Trump's power and to stop the case of corrupt Biden from

being investigated, as Giuliani says.

PLEITGEN: Giuliani, who spoke with Trump last week after returning from a supposed fact-finding mission to Ukraine and other Eastern European

countries tweeted this weekend a string of clips from pro-Trump right-wing media outlet OAN claiming to lay out his findings. Which he says prove

fraud by the energy company Burisma which employed Joe Biden's son Hunter and alleges that then-Vice President Joe Biden had the Ukrainian

prosecutor general investigating the case, Viktor Shokin, fired.

RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: He will testify that he was investigating Biden's son. He will show you the documents that prove

he was investigating Biden's son.

PLEITGEN: There is no evidence Biden did anything wrong and Giuliani is also refusing to acknowledge the clamor by European and American leaders

alike at the time for Shokin to be fired due to his alleged corruption.

[10:35:00]

Ukraine's main anti-corruption action group AntAC -- which has also been in Giuliani's crosshairs -- tells CNN there was broad consensus that Shokin

was ineffective and provided us with documents apparently showing that he actually hindered large parts of the investigation into Burisma.

KALENIUK: Under his leadership, prosecution is not reforming and actually, he is blocking the attempts to do the reforms and to perform proper

investigations.

PLEITGEN: AntAC says the same goes for Ukraine's next prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko. Another one of Rudolph Giuliani's proclaimed witnesses.

Neither Shokin nor Lutsenko replied to CNN's efforts to contact them.

KALENIUK: Giuliani continues to surround himself with the most notorious corrupt people in Ukraine with bad reputation who are helping to fit this

disinformation.

PLEITGEN: And Kremlin-controlled media is clearly gobbling up the message portraying America as weak and Ukraine in disarray, but President Trump as

the winner.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, on Monday, Mr. Trump said he knew little about what Giuliani was doing but had nothing but praise for his lawyer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a great person who loves our country and he does it out of love. He does it out of love. He sees what goes on. He sees was

happening. He sees all of the hoax that happens when they talk about impeachment hoax or the Russian collusion delusion. And he sees it. He's

a great gentleman and he was, again, the greatest mayor in the history of New York and probably the greatest crime fighter in the last 50 years. He

knows what he's doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, if President Trump is not removed from office, it will be up to American voters to decide whether they want to hold him to account

in the 2020 election. We'll have brand-new CNN poll shows the American public is almost evenly divided on impeachment. 45 percent think President

Trump should be removed from office while 47 percent say he should remain. At least numbers that the President says, quote, drops like a rock. Taking

to Twitter just moments ago there.

You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. And coming up -- he went to the airport to see off his father, but this boy got much more than he expected.

First, the latest, though, in our "GLOBAL ENERGY CHALLENGE" series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Lulea, the town's serene snowy landscape has earned it a reputation as Sweden's answer to Lapland. Far

from Santa's workshop, this is the land of steel. Outside it may be well below freezing, but in the furnace, a whopping 1400 degrees Celsius.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you can see one of the most efficient blast furnace in the world. It's the biggest one. But we've seen it produce

around 5 percent of Sweden's carbon dioxide emissions.

STEWART: The steel and iron sector is responsible for 24 percent of the world's industrial CO2 emissions. But at SSAB, one of Europe's leading

steel producers, has no sign of demand slowing.

MARTIN PEI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CTO, SSAB: Because of the work population is growing and organization will continue. Steel demand as a

whole will grow quite significantly in the future, even though that we are very, very good at the current technology that is used worldwide. We are

still the largest CO2 emission company in Sweden.

STEWART: But here in Lulea, SSAB thinks it's close to a significant breakthrough for the industry.

PEI: Hydrogen can be used to reduce iron ore to make iron and then steel. But it has never been made possible to use on industrial scale to show to

the rest of the world that it is possible to get away from the dependency on coal to make steel.

STEWART: Teaming up with renewable giant Vattenfall and iron ore producer LKAB, SSAB's hybrid project is building a pilot plant. The world's first

fossil fuel-free steel.

PEI: HYBRIT project stands for hydrogen breakthrough ironmaking technology.

MIKAEL NORDLANDER, HEAD OF INDUSTRY DECARBONIZATION, VATTENFALL: All the time we see that power systems will decarbonize and electricity turning to

hydrogen. But we need to refine that project to make it cost efficient. To make the transition of this industry desirable rather than necessary.

STEWART: The world's first fossil fuel free steel products are not due to hit the market until 2026. But in this small white winter wonderland, it

already feels like a green revolution is under way.

[10:40:00]

Anna Stewart, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Take a look at this very sweet moment. This boy went along to the airport to say good-bye as his dad went to Doha to

watch Flamengo play in the FIFA World Cup. While at the airport, a big surprise. Not the good-bye that was expected. Instead, the boy finding

out there that he was going along, too. And his reaction really is priceless. Floods of tears. The team Flamengo scheduled to play in the

coming hours.

Our Alex Thomas from "WORLD SPORT" joins me. And, Alex, is just the Christmas present I would like to receive, I think.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: I'm not going to send you to Doha, but I think those were happy tears from the boy and quite right too. Flamenco

winning South America's equivalent of the Champions League for the first time in almost 40 years. No wonder fans happy to travel halfway across the

world.

We've got more on "WORLD SPORT" coming up in just a moment, including rather sadly yet more controversy when it comes to Italy's bid to tackle

racism in the sport.

MACFARLANE: Yes, just tell us briefly what the latest turn in this has been.

THOMAS: Well a new anti-racism campaign has come up with very striking images that have really got people worried as to why they are taking this

approach. And I'll reveal all.

MACFARLANE: And they're anti-racism as well. So it's a bit of a --

THOMAS: They keep getting their strategy wrong. And we'll try and explain why.

MACFARLANE: All right, Alex, we will hear more of course about that important story coming up on "WORLD SPORT" just after the break. Please

stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[11:00:00]

END