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Australia Struggles with Record-Breaking Heat Wave; U.S. House Impeaches President Donald Trump; More Mass Protests Planned Against Citizenship Law; Queen's Speech To Outline British P.M.'s Brexit, NHS Agenda; Blair: Brexit Is Going To Happen, It's Tragic; Trump Impeached; India Citizenship Law; Australia's Extreme Weather. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 19, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone. I'm Nick Watt. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio 7, at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour, while lawmakers made history in Washington impeaching Donald Trump, as a wannabe king and threat to national security, he was unleashed on stage in a campaign rally in Michigan counterpunching, accusing Democrats of bringing pain and suffering to the republic.
Police in India tried to crack down on days of protest with thousands angry about a new citizenship law.
And a state of emergency is in effect at this hour in Australia's most populous state, as wildfires rage around Sydney.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
WATT: Donald Trump is now officially only the third U.S. president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Charged by the Democrat led body with abuse of power and obstructing Congress. Accused of withholding aid to Ukraine, turning the screw, pressuring that country to smear his political rival Joe Biden.
And in return, Trump would turn the money tap back on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATT: The vote predictably pretty much along party lines, no Republicans, and only a couple of Democrats crossing the aisle. Republicans in the House decrying the whole process as a sham, one equating this day to the day that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Another is suggesting that Trump's persecution is worse than that of Jesus Christ himself. The president, on a campaign stage in Michigan, delivered a rambling diatribe including this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Through their deprived actions today, crazy Nancy Pelosi's House Democrats have branded themselves with an eternal mark of shame. It is. It is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: It is still unclear when exactly the House will put those articles to the Senate where the majority Republicans have already promised an unfair trial and exoneration. Alex Marquardt has more from Washington.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Speaker Nancy Pelosi opening the proceedings, trying to emphasize a solemn and sad day.
PELOSI: If we do not act now we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice. What we are discussing today is the established fact that the president violated the Constitution.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): That touched off hours of fierce, often angry arguments before the final impeachment vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This impeachment is based purely on partisan motives.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): As members rose one by one to speak for or against the two impeachment charges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats know there is zero direct evidence in this record of these proceedings to show that president Trump engaged in any abuse of power. As you will hear today, their entire case is based on hearsay, speculation and conjecture.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Democrats insisting they didn't come to Congress to impeach but the mound of evidence against the president abusing his office, in pressuring Ukraine, forcing them to this point.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: But for the courage of someone willing to blow the whistle, he would have gotten away with it. Instead, he got caught. He tried to cheat and he got caught. MARQUARDT (voice-over): The president is a clear and present danger to national security, Democrats argued, saying Trump's efforts to get for powers to interfere or not over.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE AND JUDICIARY COMMITTEES: This is a crime spree in progress but we know how to stop it: courage.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): He solicited foreign interference before, he is doing it now and he will do it again. The president is the smoking gun.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Republicans universally defended the president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This impeachment is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans who voted for President Trump.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Blasting the process for disenfranchising Trump voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a sham, it is a witch hunt and it is tantamount to a coup.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Even comparing impeachment to the persecution of Jesus.
REP. BARRY LOUDERMILK (R-GA): When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president and this process.
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): The one thing both sides can agree on, the day would go down in history.
REP. MIKE KELLY (R-PA): Today, December 18th, 2019, is another date that will live in infamy.
REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): And whether Trump leaves in one month, one year, for five years, this impeachment is permanent, it will follow him around for the rest of his life and history books will record it and people will know why we impeached. It is all very simple. No one is above the law.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Alex Marquardt ,CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Joining us from San Francisco is Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman, an associate professor of politics at Occidental College and KABC radio talk show host John Phillips.
It is not a big surprise that we are here with this president, coming into the day, the Democrats knew they had the votes, we knew they had the votes. But it still seemed pretty massive.
At risk of John screaming liberal bias, I want to go to Caroline first.
What are your impressions here?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: As a constitutional scholar, I would hope that we would be engaging in this impeachment regardless of party. I would like to think that if a Democrat asked a foreign power to get involved in an election in the United States, that we would be impeaching that person.
Certainly Donald Trump has been the target of a lot of partisan rancor. That is obvious. It is not something I would dismiss. But I don't think that is what is driving this. I believe Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats when they say it has a lot to do with the Constitution, because Donald Trump admitted to stepping out of bounds constitutionally.
WATT: Do you believe Nancy Pelosi, John?
JOHN PHILLIPS, REPUBLICAN TALK SHOW HOST: I think she was forced into it, watching the proceedings today is like watching the movie "Titanic" to figure out how it ends. All of us knew where they were going with this. It was a very partisan process. As Hawaii Democratic congresswoman Gabbard said after voting present during today's debate.
You look at the polls, you look at the Gallup poll. You look at the CNN poll. Support for impeachment is upside down. Part of the reason is because so many of these Democrats made up their mind before anything involving Ukraine was ever in the newspapers.
You listen to Maxine Waters, Brad Sherman, Rashida Tlaib wanted to impeach him. People saw this. People heard this. People noted this.
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PHILLIPS: That's how we know it's partisan.
WATT: But now Republican senators have made up their mind before we have even had this trial. It's the same thing.
PHILLIPS: What laws has he broken?
The Democrats failed to make the case today.
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HELDMAN: It's not laws, John, it's the Constitution.
PHILLIPS: Because they weren't trying to make the case, they were just trying to lift their festivities list of grievances, which is what they did.
WATT: Jump in, Caroline. HELDMAN: You don't have to have a violation of a specific law in order to engage in high crimes and misdemeanors. This is what the framers were thinking of when they put that clause in the Constitution.
It is untoward to have the president ask another country to get involved in our elections. It is also disingenuous to talk about the American public being underwater on impeachment. It is more complicated in that; 54 percent believe he engaged in an impeachable offense. But a sizable number of those don't want the impeachment process. They want the election to determine it. But at the end of the day, as a member of Congress you have an oath to defend the Constitution.
And that is what happened today in the House of Representatives.
WATT: So tonight, the president himself had a Merry Christmas campaign rally in Michigan. The Senate Republicans have already made up their mind. There is almost no chance that Trump will be removed from office. Yet tonight, he was verbose, shouty, sweaty, red.
Why is he so sweaty if he's not going to get kicked out of the White House?
PHILLIPS: He's like Prince Andrew. He doesn't sweat. He was magnificent tonight. I would add he raised $5 million for his reelection.
If the Democrats want to make sure Trump can rally the Republicans behind him and close ranks, keep doing what they're doing.
Not only is this putting purple and red district Democrats on the hot seat, it's forcing all their presidential candidates to move to the left.
In California, a poll showed Bernie Sanders ahead in a state that's the biggest in the union, pushing the Democrats to the left is not doing the Democrats any favors.
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WATT: You just said the president was magnificent. I want to play some sound from him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Dingell from Michigan, you know Dingell, you ever hear of her from Michigan?
Debbie Dingell, that's a real beauty. She calls me up. Nicest thing that's ever happened, thank you so much. You know, thrilled. He's looking down, he'd be so -- thank you so much, sir.
I said that's OK, don't worry about. Maybe he's looking up, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: John, magnificent, seriously?
PHILLIPS: Yes, this is politics.
WATT: What?
No, no, no.
PHILLIPS: It ain't beanbag.
WATT: You can't just laugh that off. That is a guy attacking a woman whose husband is not long dead, come on, man.
Really?
PHILLIPS: She's not a grieving widow. She's an elected member of Congress and if she can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: This is not the meanest thing that these people have said before breakfast, come on.
WATT: Caroline?
HELDMAN: She should not have to have her appearance commented on by the POTUS. The sexism in that and the nastiness is classic Trump. I would agree with you, John, this will not help the Democrats with the election in 2020. It hasn't actually shifted popular or public support. I think the polling results will be negligible.
But at the end of the day, it's about the Constitution and the system of checks and balances that our framers put into place for a reason, prioritizing that and putting that above party.
You talk about partisanship, my goodness. We will look at this in history and wonder why the Republicans didn't step up to put their country over their party.
WATT: Where do the Democrats go now?
Pelosi is not automatically going to kick these articles up to the Senate. They're not winning the PR battle at the moment.
HELDMAN: Nancy Pelosi is using whatever leverage she has to make the process in the Senate work. Mitch McConnell has said he's going to side with the White House, not going to hold a fair trial. So she is waiting until she gets some assurance that will happen.
Either way, he's not going to be removed from office. It requires a super majority and Republicans have it in the Senate. They're not going to do the right thing for the country.
WATT: Looking ahead to 2020, you think he's going to win? PHILLIPS: I think this is very good news for him. The news cycle changes so fast, we'll have forgotten this two weeks from now. In the short term, if I were a Democrat in a red or purple state, I'd be shaking in my boots.
WATT: John, Caroline, thank you both so much.
We will head to India after a short break. Protests getting more violent, police planning a crackdown.
And one of the most anticipated football matches of the year sparks chaos. The protests that left Barcelona burning.
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WATT: Police and protesters clashed after football rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off in Spain. The actual game ended in a 0-0 draw. Off the field a CNN crew saw columns of smoke across the city skyline after protesters set barricades on fire.
Protesters held signs, demanding the Spanish government in Madrid sit and talk with those demanding Catalan independence.
More massive protests are planned in New Delhi and Mumbai as fury over India's new citizenship law refuses to let up. Thousands of demonstrators were back on the streets on Wednesday, protesting the measure that they view as discriminatory against Muslims. Sam Kiley is in New Delhi and joins us by phone now with the latest.
Sam, what is happening?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The reason I'm joining you on the phone is because, in the last hour, Internet connectivity in Delhi has been blocked by the Indian authorities.
We haven't been able to confirm this yet with police, they detained some of the leaders who have been trying to organize this march, which was supposed to be a long three-hour march from where I am now from Old Delhi to the main city.
The detention of the leadership followed up with instruction to students here to confirm coming from the authorities. This follows a decision in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai for planned marches around the country. But these were almost all ruled as inimical.
They insist that the police and not the government make the decision. Considerable effort is being put in to try to ensure that the thousands of people who object to this new citizenship amendment act are not able to show their anger on the street. This act is designed to give citizenship to people from Bangladesh,
from Afghanistan and from Pakistan. Residents in India who can apply for citizenship but not if they are Muslim.
This is angering the Muslim population, saying it goes against the founding principles of the modern Indian state. The constitution insists on the nation remaining secular and all being equal under the law.
Critics say this is unconstitutional. It should be challenged on January of next year at the supreme court. But for now, there have been fairly desultory numbers of people turning out to these demonstrations. This is mainly because of fear of detention. But that has not changed in the area here. There has not been any violence or serious confrontation.
WATT: Sam Kiley joining us on the phone from New Delhi because the Internet is down, unclear exactly why. Thanks a lot.
The mercury still soaring down under. How Australians are trying to beat the record breaking heat. That is next here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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WATT: Australia right now in the grip of a record breaking heat wave. Scientists saying it is because of climate change.
The country is already facing an unprecedented bush fire season for the second time, the New South Wales state government has declared a state of emergency because of flames surrounding the city of Sydney. Temperatures have averaged almost 42 degrees Celsius. CNN's Lynda Kinkade has the details.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun sizzles in the Australian sky as beachgoers try to escape the record breaking heat. Forecasters say this week, temperatures are higher in Australia than any other time in recorded history. Some places are more than 15 degrees higher than the usual December average.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is quite hot, so when we went outside we could barely breathe and it was quite sweaty and warm.
KINKADE (voice-over): Cooling off isn't easy along the East Coast where firefighters have been battling fires for two months. They say the heat is turning the bush into a tinderbox.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fires are totally unprecedented. More country burned, more homes lost, three times more than our worst previous fire season in history and the fires are still burning. We have a heat wave coming. Who knows what that will do. And the driving force behind this is climate change.
KINKADE (voice-over): The heat wave comes after activists called out Australia for trying to block stronger action on climate change at the COP25 summit. The group also singled out Australia for trying to use a loophole to meet its emissions targets instead of actually reducing its carbon footprint.
Critics are calling out prime minister Scott Morrison for going on a pre-Christmas holiday while the country endures sweltering heat and fire. The trending hashtag, #WhereTheBloodyHellAreYou is just one of the signs of growing frustration over the government's inaction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are so many connotations connecting the fact that there's connection between climate change and the rising temperatures.
KINKADE (voice-over): With scorching temperatures everywhere, bush fires on the east and west coasts and thick smog in Sydney, many Australians are asking what it will take for the government to finally acknowledge the toll climate change is taking on the country -- Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
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WATT: Joining me now from Canberra, retired major general Peter Dunn. He is a member of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action and a former ACT emergency authority commissioner.
Your first question, you were too qualified to answer, but for our viewers, can we get a feeling of what it is feeling like down there?
Is it something everyone is talking about?
What is the impact right now?
PETER DUNN, EMERGENCY LEADERS FOR CLIMATE ACTION: It is hot. It is really smoky. It is a really deep smoke haze. There are fires burning on Queensland down through to the southern coast and then across western Australia. There is really strong winds blowing in gusts.
There is a real sense of (INAUDIBLE) what is happening because this is coming on the back of three or more years of very severe drought.
WATT: Peter, just dealing with this current emergency are authorities in Australia equipped, able to actually deal with everything they have got to deal with right now, these fires?
DUNN: Certainly they are well equipped and well trained. The exception is that we are dealing with exceptional circumstances. The biggest issue that we have is that ministers in our government and other leaders simply refuse to say the words that we are experiencing dramatic rates of climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
If people would identify that -- and as ex-military, my first rule that I have been taught since I was a junior officer was, "Know thy enemy." Unless you know the enemy, you can't actually plan a response.
As a consequence, they're struggling to get more aircraft in. Firefighters have been asking that for over a year and a half. We came together as a group of retired firefighter commissioners and emergency service leaders to try and galvanize the government into action.
WATT: I read a quote that apparently deputy prime minister Michael McCormack said to some protesters today.
He said, "You are wasting your time, go and do something productive. Go and donate your time to Meals on Wheels or something like that."
It seems like the Australian government is not taking the climate crisis seriously.
DUNN: That is certainly the impression we have gotten. Ministers are missing in action. We understand that our prime minister has gone on leave with his family, taking a break in Hawaii. He's probably kicking back enjoying a pina colada now.
Our firefighters are certainly not going to have a break. They will be going for quite some time. This is going to go for weeks and weeks.
What we are saying is, for goodness sake, please identify the enemy. Let's plan. There are many things we can do. This is not something we can't respond to. But we need more heavy aircraft. We have American air operations officers helping us now as we've been helping your firefighters in California.
This is all happening almost under the radar and the government is telling us to keep calm. Well, we need to really deal with our current emergency. Highway 1 closed for weeks, other highways closed for very long periods of time, farmers being strangled by drought as well.
WATT: Clearly this is a government that was elected into office by the Australian people, I presume during the campaign they made no secret of their wishy-washy approach to climate change.
Are they out of step with the population at large?
Do the majority of Australians want to have more coherent climate change policy?
Or maybe what is going on right now will tip the balance and force a change? DUNN: I think the community in Australia is so far ahead of the government on this issue, it's become a little bit of a joke. And communities are taking action with organized action, such as emergency services, to ensure that they are resilient and to help the emergency service workers operate.
This is not just about firefighters but paramedics, hospitals and other organizations.
[02:30:00]
If you look out your shoulder here and you can't even see, government operations in the dust. They're just not there. They've disappeared off the same.
And that quote you mentioned from the acting prime minister (INAUDIBLE) not heard that today. But it is the tenor of the conversation. This is not normal. This is the result of burning of fossil fuels, a record climate change, and the warming particularly in the Indian Ocean. This is exactly what the scientists have predicted for many years. There should be no surprise here.
So, there is absolutely no action that's occurred, or did get -- and we are pleased to get after our agitation, $11 million released, that's a paltry sum of course of what we're dealing with here, to get extra firefighting aircraft. But that's a one off just for this operation. So, there really needs to be a change. We need to get together collectively, and we've called -- we are going to call a national summit.
But at the end of March probably, to get everybody in a room, to now having identify the enemy in this war. A move to actually take the steps to mitigate these charges and to prepare our emergency services.
NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: All right. Peter, I'm afraid we are running out of time. We have to go to break. We'll be back with more impeachment. Thanks for your time.
DUNN: OK. Thank you.
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WATT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Nick Watt with the headlines this hour. Donald Trump has been impeached. Members of the U.S. House approved both articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump political allies equate his struggle to those of Jesus. And at a campaign rally in Michigan, Mr. Trump says Democrats are now marked with an eternal mark of shame.
[02:35:02]
More huge demonstrations planned in India for Thursday. Ongoing protests against the country's new citizenship law. Police have denied march permits and banned large public gatherings in some areas, trying to quash the anger over the law that critics view as anti- Muslim. And for the second straight day, Australia has recorded its hottest day ever. A state of emergency was declared in New South Wales as bush fires continue to ravage greater Sydney, and the Victoria ambulance service is urging people not to leave their children and pets locked in their cars.
Wednesday's historic impeachment votes against President Trump came after six hours of debate in the U.S. House of Representatives. Each side condemned the other for what everyone knew was the inevitable outcome. Here are the high and the low lights.
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WATT: On the Democratic side, oh so many heavy hearts and a repeated phrase.
REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): Today, we have a president who seems to believe he is a king or above the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In America, no one is above the law.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): In America, no one is above the law.
WATT: From Republicans, this word, on repeat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know this impeachment is a sham.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This impeachment is a sham, Madam Speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a sham.
WATT: All done while a clock ticked.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Gentleman, your time's expired. Gentleman from California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam Speaker, we continue to reserve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gentlemen from Georgia.
WATT: Next, come on, come on, you've only got 60 seconds. This guy, even less.
PELOSI: Chairman is recognized for 30 seconds.
REP. TRENT KELLY (R-MS): Madam Speaker, I'm saddened today that I spent two Christmases defending our country overseas, and I get a measly 30 seconds to speak in this laughable process.
WATT: Sometimes, the same coin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has endangered our national security.
WATT: But different side, different currency.
REP. ANDY BARR (R-KY): Far from compromising national security, the President's actions --
PELOSI: Gentleman, time's expired.
BARR: -- advanced national security --
PELOSI: Gentleman from California.
BARR: -- oppose this impeachment.
WATT: A few props.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one is above the law.
WATT: Very few jokes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a total chef show.
WATT: A. Schiff, apparently, his show. Many claiming Hamilton for themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Hamilton's, words, mercenary instruments of foreign corruption.
WATT: And trying to out-Founding Father each other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, Democrats are the founders' worst nightmare come true.
WATT: Some evoking an even higher power.
REP. BARRY LOUDERMILK (R-GA): When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president and this process.
REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-NY): For the final analysis, none of us will escape the truth. It will come for us all in this world or the next.
REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): When the sun comes up tomorrow, I pray with all my heart that the anger and the division in this chamber will give way to an honorable-ness.
WATT: It won't, but there is something most will agree on about how impeachment plays out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has nothing to do with anything but raw politics.
WATT: But each side squarely blaming the other.
REP. AL GREEN (D-TX): In the name of democracy, on behalf of the republic, and for the sake of the many who are suffering, I will vote to impeach and I encourage my colleagues to do so as well. No one is beyond justice in this country. WATT: But impeachment is not justice. Impeachment is just political theater.
REP. RUSS FULCHER (R-ID): I choose to use my time to enumerate, in detail, every high crime and misdemeanor committed by the President of the United States. I will do so now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Bill Carter is CNN media analyst and a former media reporter for the New York Times, he joins us now from New Jersey. Bill, I assume you watched what was happening in the House. Great theater, what were your impressions?
BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST (via Skype): Well, it's interesting you said great theater. Because I think most people thought today would be kind of pro forma with justice, you know, broad statements of partisan positions.
I think there was more passion than people expected, and more solemnity than people expected. I think the Democrats took a lot of it really seriously. I think that Republicans were obviously were in a high dungeon and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Washington, D.C. December 18th, 2019.
CARTER: -- high volume at times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hereby --
CARTER: But you could see that as it went on, you know that people grasp the great seriousness of it, and the historic aspect of it to a degree. I think, you know, obviously, the Democrats were using that and pounding that point, and the Republicans were not. But I do think the audience probably got the message that this was not just, you know, something to shrug at.
[02:40:06]
WATT: And moving forward, I mean, the Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate are pretty much rock-solid in their positions. It is very unlikely we're actually going to see this president removed. But the optics of this are going to be key. Talk us through what we should look for and how this trial is going to be presented to us, the viewer, from the Senate?
CARTER: I think it's going to be very sober. I think it'll be not great television because I think they'll use it, sort of, from a distance. They're not going to have close ups, or camera angles and things like that, you know. I think that the idea of it is to not make it a show. It's supposed to be a trial and a camera happens to be there.
I think it's going to be very interesting because you have the chief justice who was presiding over this. People don't really know how he will handle that, whether or not he'll be completely hands off. But you already have the specter of, you know, the majority leader, Senator McConnell, saying he absolutely is impartial. He wants to acquit the president. You have several Republicans already saying that.
And they have to take an oath. What's going to be very interesting is, they have to literally take an oath, saying they're going to be impartial. And they've already -- some of them have already said they are not. The Democrats have said they are not. So, all of that is kind of interesting.
I think that -- we don't know exactly yet because I think there'll be votes on things, there'll be votes on what we're going to admit, what we're not going to admit, how we are going to handle the testimony. There won't be any testimony. McConnell has his way. It'll just be presentation by the Democrats.
I think they haven't named their managers yet, but I think they're going to pick some very adept former prosecutors who are skilled at this. And it will be interesting what kind of job they do.
WATT: And do you think Americans are actually going to be glued to their T.V. sets, watching this or, I mean, I'm also imagining there's going to be a lot of chopping up of little clips and posting on social media. How are Americans going to consume this? And is that going to make any difference? Is that going to change any minds?
CARTER: I think it really depends on whether or not they get a sense that it's a real fair trial. If they get a sense the fix is in from the beginning, and they're just going to wash this through, then I think there won't be a lot of people watching who are not junkies, so people are really wind up with this.
But I think if the people start to sense that this really is serious, I think it will get people watching. And nobody thinks in any way shape or form that you can get 67 senators to vote to remove a president. By the way, that's never happened, you know. The presidents -- two presidents have been impeached. Nixon resigned.
But the two that were impeached, you know, one almost was removed. But Clinton wasn't even close. So, it won't be closed again. But how is it handled? What do they say? What's the message about this President? I think that might come through if it's done in a fair way. And I think that will (INAUDIBLE).
WATT: I mean, if the Democrats are to have a chance in hell, they need this to be a spectacle. They need the American people to be watching. They need this to be a big national deal.
CARTER: They do. And it's interesting, I think they are going to continue actually investigating. There are science tonight -- rumors tonight, that they may continue to investigate, that there's going to be more evidence that comes forward. Obviously, they want to get these witnesses.
You know, if they can get four Republicans, only four Republicans on their side, they can force the witnesses, so we'll see how it's handled.
But I think it's interesting that Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House tonight, did not say she would automatically bring the articles of impeachment over to the Senate, which has been sort of a strategy put out there by no less than John Dean of Watergate, to not do that until it was guaranteed that there'll be a fair trial.
And that it wouldn't be just swept away like lint on somebody's jacket, which I think is what Senator McConnell wants to do. So, if they keep the articles of impeachment from not going to the Senate, until they get a fair trial, then you'll see even more conflict between the two Houses.
And I -- it'll be -- again, it's very interesting that the Republicans don't have to say we are against the President, but we want him to hear witnesses so they could -- really four of them could say that and change the course of the trial.
WATT: Bill Carter, thank you so much for joining us from New Jersey. Next, Britain's Queen Elizabeth will shortly formally open a new parliamentary session. What she's expected to outline as Boris Johnson's top priorities, that's next, here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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[02:45:00]
WATT: Britain's Queen Elizabeth will formally open Parliament in the coming hours, and announced the prime minister's legislative agenda following last week's U.K. election.
But, forget the pomp real issues here. Today's focus will be squarely on Boris Johnson's plan to get Brexit done quickly. Apparently, Mr. Johnson will also cement a commitment to spend more on Britain's much loved, but struggling National Health Service.
Britain is due to leave the European Union now on January the 31st with the crucial post Brexit transition period, then stretching until December 2020. The new European Commission president says she wants to make the most of what she calls an extremely challenging 11 months available to strike a trade deal
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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: In case we cannot conclude an agreement by the end of 2020, we will face again a cliff-edge situation.
And this would clearly harm our interests, but it will impact more the U.K. than us, as the European Union will continue benefiting from its single market, its customs unions, and the 17 -- 7000 international agreements we signed with our partners, but it is clearly not in our interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATT: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is speaking out about Brexit, calling it tragic. An ardent supporter of staying in the E.U., Mr. Blair told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, the U.K.'s Conservative government faces a steep challenge trying to negotiate a trade deal with the E.U. by the end of next year.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You were one of the main grandees, so to speak, who supported Remain, and who wanted to reverse Brexit. And you did everything you could to do that, whether it was going to be a second referendum or whatever it was.
Are you ready to concede that, that is off the table, that Brexit will happen, and that's what's going to happen to the United Kingdom?
TONY BLAIR, FORMER PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Yes, it's going to happen now. I mean, it's tragic, we should never have agreed that Brexit general election, by the way, it's crazy to mix the two issues up. We should have had a decision the British people on Brexit. Self-standing is a decision, but we didn't.
One of the many mistakes the Labour Party made was to agree a Brexit general election. It's now decided the government has a majority to do Brexit, which will happen at the end of January. It's then going to be a very difficult negotiation, but, you know, it's now important that we accept it will happen and try and make it work as best we can.
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[02:50:03]
WATT: You can hear the full interview with Tony Blair on "AMANPOUR". Coming up at 6:00 p.m. in London and 7:00 p.m. in Brussels. And we will continue to follow that breaking news out of Washington, where the U.S. House has voted to impeach Donald Trump.
After a break, a look at how we got to this point. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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WATT: Back now to our breaking news. Donald Trump is now just the third U.S. president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. But, how did we get here?
CNN's Tom Foreman takes us back to where it all began.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The House of Representatives has voted to impeach the president of the United States for only the third time in American history. Donald J. Trump is charged with abusing his power and obstructing Congress.
Now, the Senate must decide whether they will convict him and remove him from power. A lot has happened to get us to this point. Let's look back at how it all began.
By now, you know the story. President Trump freezes military aid to Ukraine. In July, he speaks with the Ukrainian president by phone and asked him to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden.
Shortly after, the Inspector General of the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, receives a whistleblower complaint. It alleges President Trump pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election. The White House tried to cover it up.
Atkinson sends the complaint to the Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. And this is where things break down. The whistleblower law says the director shall send the complaint to Congress, but Maguire does not do that. This complaint is different than most. It involves Maguire's boss, the president of the United States and his conversations with a foreign leader. And those discussions may be subject to executive privilege, being withheld from the public for purposes of national security or to protect internal deliberations.
JOSEPH MAGUIRE, ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: A privilege that I do not have the authority to waive.
FOREMAN: So, instead of sending the complaint to Congress, Maguire asks the White House for guidance.
SCHIFF: You went to the subject of the complaint for advice first about whether you should provide the complaint to Congress.
MAGUIRE: I believe that everything here in this matter is totally unprecedented.
FOREMAN: Maguire forwards the complaint to the Justice Department. At this point, the process stalls.
This is when Inspector General Atkinson tips off Congress about the existence of the complaint, and the House of Representatives starts to investigate. There's a series of leaks and the accusations within the complaint are made public. This puts pressure on the White House and President Trump confirms that he discussed Joe Biden on his call with the Ukrainian president.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That call was a great call, it's a perfect call -- a perfect off.
FOREMAN: With that, the House launches an impeachment inquiry.
PELOSI: The president must be held accountable, no one is above the law.
FOREMAN: The next day, the White House declassifies a rough transcript of the call and the whistleblower complaint is sent to Congress. House Democrats begin to subpoena employees of the executive branch, threatening contempt citations if they don't show up.
The White House pushes back. Saying the entire process is unconstitutional and violates the president's right to due process.
[02:55:15]
PELOSI: The resolution is adopted without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.
FOREMAN: So, the House formalizes its inquiry with a vote that predictably falls along party lines, and holds a series of private and public hearings.
JENNIFER WILLIAMS, FORMER SPECIAL ADVISOR TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE ON EUROPEAN AND RUSSIAN AFFAIRS: I found the July 25th phone call unusual because in contrast to other presidential calls I had observed, it involved discussion of what appeared to be a domestic political matter.
LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN, DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: I had concerns and it was my duty to report.
GORDON SONDLAND, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously with regard to the requested White House call and the White House meeting, the answer is yes. Everyone was in the loop.
FOREMAN: The Constitution, says a president can be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. But it does not define what those terms mean. That is up to Congress and the House decides to move forward.
REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY): The House Committee on the Judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment, charging the president of the United States Donald J. Trump with committing high crimes and misdemeanors.
FOREMAN: And it heads to the House floor for debate.
PELOSI: It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): Maybe it's a matter for the voters, not this House, not in this way, not in the way this is being done. It is trampled everything this House believes in.
FOREMAN: In a historic vote, the House of Representatives charges President Trump with abusing his power and obstructing Congress.
Now, it moves to the Senate for a trial where a two-thirds majority would be needed to convict him and remove him from office.
In the meantime, President Trump is up for re-election in 2020, which means Democrats and Republicans must strike an awkward balance between pursuing their constitutional duties and protecting their political careers.
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WATT: That was Tom Foreman, reporting. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt. The news continues on CNN right after this.
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[03:00:07]
WATT: Hello, everyone. I'm Nick Watt, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio Seven at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
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