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Foreign Policy Challenges Heading Into The New Year; Being Healthy In The New Year; Top Destinations Threatened By Climate Emergency. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired January 01, 2020 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ryan Nobles. Let's go back now to John and Alisyn.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's foreign policy decisions dominated the headlines in 2019 -- you know, the whole business with military aid to Ukraine.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That rings a bell.
BERMAN: There's kind of the impeachment thing --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: -- going on against that. And the administration faced major backlash from both parties after the president ordered a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.
So, what can we expect in 2020?
Joining us now is CNN chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, great to see you. Happy New Year to you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And likewise, to you and all your viewers.
BERMAN: All of them.
And look, we think about -- you talk about Ukraine and Russia as foreign policy. I'm not so sure in the president's mind if when he's dealing with Russia and Ukraine, it's foreign policy or his own personal interest. That's what's -- that's the issue here.
But what are the challenges of 2020 in regards to Russia?
AMANPOUR: Well, I think -- look, you absolutely put your finger on the nail there because it's been viewed in the United States as a domestic political affair. But actually, the foreign policies consequences and implications are massive because Ukraine is an ally and it looked like Ukraine was being held to, sort of, hostage for vital American aid if it didn't do this political favor. This is the allegation against the president. But it's so important because it's not just another country. Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, which is an adversary -- an adversary not just to the United States but of all the Western institutions under President Putin.
So this aid was, is, and will be, through 2020 and beyond, very important for the Ukrainians in order for them to fight off Russian incursion into the eastern part of their -- of their country. And also, Russia's attempt to delegitimize their emerging democracy.
CAMEROTA: Speaking of adversaries and allies and the ever-shifting sands between those, what do you foresee for Syria and Turkey and the U.S. relationship?
AMANPOUR: OK, so this is massively important and it just sort of follows on from what you just spoke about with Ukraine. Ukraine is an ally because it is pledged towards Western democrat moral values. And the same with what the U.S. and the West were trying to do in Syria.
The whole idea of the alliance is what's going to be in focus in 2020 because in 2019, and even before that, the big argument and criticism of President Trump's foreign policy was that he didn't recognize the vital importance of allies and alliances. Forget him trying to drive wedges into everything from the WTO to NATO to the E.U. and all of that kind of stuff.
But when it came to actual people on the ground who took the fight to ISIS on behalf of the United States, remember, very tragically, but only five to eight Americans were killed in the fight against ISIS where more than 10,000 of these Syrian Kurds lost their lives fighting ISIS.
And for the president to have sold them down the river and given a green light to Turkey was a very, very dangerous thing to do because the next time the United States wants help, anywhere, anytime, who is going to trust them?
BERMAN: Let's dance around the globe if we can because I think -- talk about North Korea, for instance, here. North Korea -- so much pomp over the last two years, so much controversy, and then they're friends. And now, there's a special relationship and maybe there's not for 2020.
There's a North Korean -- a senior North Korean official who has called President Trump a heedless and erratic old man.
So the tone and tenor changes and goes back and forth. What doesn't seem to have changed is what North Korea is doing on the peninsula, which seems to be to develop a nuclear program.
AMANPOUR: Listen, you have absolutely summed it up. And we saw also -- and we covered them in 2018 and 2019 -- first, the Singapore summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump. Then, the Hanoi summit. I was both -- at both of them.
And what it, again, shows is that you know what, even with the best will in the world, you can't just go in without a real plan -- without having negotiated the details almost beforehand, particularly with people as tricky as the North Koreans who have a very highly-planned and canny agenda. You can't just say I'm the best dealmaker in the world and I'm going to do this because we've seen that it hasn't happened.
And the it is to get them to denuclearize and most people don't believe that they will denuclearize unless there is a -- to quote a phrase -- a "quid pro quo" -- something that the North Koreans can build on as well in terms of sanctions or whatever.
But it's not something that can happen between just two leaders. It has to be -- even though they're decision-makers -- well planned and I think that's going to be a big, big lesson for 2020. When you want major issues done, they have to be prepared. And then, a presidential summit is a gift, a reward, a closer of the deal -- not a deal starter or an opening gambit.
[07:35:03]
CAMEROTA: OK, one more complicated relationship, China. So what do we foresee after all of the trade war that happened in 2019? What does it look like in the year ahead?
AMANPOUR: Well, if you remember, very, very early on in his first days in office, we heard that a trade war was good -- we can easily win a trade war. Well, three years on, we see that it isn't good and it's not winnable.
Nobody denies that President Trump has taken a necessary fight to China. China does play dirty on many, many levels on the international field and many countries in the West believe that China should start to play by the rules.
So, President Trump took that fight to China. But the way it was taken -- the tariffs, the trade, and all the rest of it -- so far, have not borne fruit and so far, have caused headwinds against both the Chinese and the American and essentially, the global economy. And that's -- you know, that's a consequence of all of this.
It's hurting people in the United States who rely on -- whether they're farmers or whoever they may be who rely on a lot of this back- and-forth.
BERMAN: As we head into 2020, I wonder -- bigger picture, Christiane --
AMANPOUR: Yes.
BERMAN: -- how does the rest of the world now look at the United States and specifically, President Trump?
Because it does seem that in the closing weeks of 2019, there was a change, which at the NATO meeting when Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau, they just gave up trying to suck up to President Trump because I think they realized it didn't work anymore. Nothing they tried really mattered so they just felt like they were going to go their own way.
Is that something we're going to see more of in 2020?
AMANPOUR: We might. But I have to say, the Europeans are concerned that if really, NATO loses its biggest champion, which is the United States, that will have a very negative consequence on the security of Europe and on the Western institutions.
Remember, it's not just about a military alliance; it's about joint and shared values, democracy, rule of law, and the like.
And let's not forget that NATO is not just about a financial transaction and it was created to defend one and all. And the only people who have been defended, so far, are not the Europeans but the United States. After 9/11, NATO came to the aid of the United States -- period, end of story. That is a fact.
But, all the countries do need to shape up a little bit more in terms of military spending. Emmanuel Macron calling it braindead was very -- he was sort of trying to disrupt the moment and try to force people to think about what NATO would look like in the future.
And the Europeans are concerned that with the United States looking more and more towards the Pacific, more and more towards a resurgence and potentially, rapidly overtaking China, that they are going to lose out. That the U.S. will look in 2020 and beyond on China to the expense of Europe.
So I think that's going to be -- and then, of course, Britain, which used to punch way above its weight. Brexit -- Britain -- may or may not be a real player on the behalf of the United States and Europe in 2020.
CAMEROTA: Christiane, you are a font of knowledge, as always. Thank you for helping us understand what the year ahead may look like.
AMANPOUR: I have one more thing to say and that's climate. If the world doesn't get serious on climate and listen to their voters -- that is going to be a huge issue in 2020. And I should have said it at the beginning because it is massive and it's a huge voting issue right now.
CAMEROTA: That is a really important note to end on. Thank you very much for all of that.
All right, so as your new year begins, you may be considering getting healthier. Well, if so, we have some great news for you because Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with some tips. Stick around for that.
BERMAN: It's like hair of the dog?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:43:35]
CAMEROTA: OK, it's time to talk about New Year's resolutions. Who better to ask than CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I saw a very interesting stat. January 19th, that's sort of quitters' day, according to Strava, when it comes to resolutions.
CAMEROTA: That's incredible. It only takes 19 days.
GUPTA: Not quite three weeks, yes.
CAMEROTA: Wow.
GUPTA: So beat that day this year. That's the first piece of advice I would give. Get past those first three weeks and it's likely to become a habit.
We talk a lot about diet --
CAMEROTA: OK.
GUPTA: -- and I travel around the world and I look at these places where they live extraordinarily long lives, and I'm curious about their diet.
CAMEROTA: The blue zones, as they're called.
GUPTA: These blue zones, and Dan Buettner wrote this book about it. But, 90 percent, roughly, of their diet is plant-based. People know this but that's just how people who live in the longest-lived countries in the world eat.
The secret food, I think, out of all that was beans. Now, beans get a bad rap in the United States for all sorts of different reasons. Go to other countries --
BERMAN: Like what?
GUPTA: All sorts of reasons, John.
BERMAN: Like what?
GUPTA: Yes, there's too many to name.
But, you know, when you talk about -- you talk about beans in other countries, they serve them with breakfast, for example. So these three beans, sort of the winter beans -- garbanzo beans, black beans. Lentils have the highest protein content.
CAMEROTA: Oh, that's good to know. I've always wondered which has the highest protein.
GUPTA: Where do you get your protein from?
CAMEROTA: Yes.
GUPTA: People think meat, automatically. You can get a lot of protein from beans. These researchers that I talked to said if they had to pick the healthiest drink the world to drink it would be green tea.
BERMAN: Really?
GUPTA: And here's a word you should remember -- catechins. People talk about antioxidants. Catechin is the antioxidant that sort of helps sweep away the cellular debris in your body and helps you stay young. So, green tea -- I would definitely put that on the list.
[07:45:05]
BERMAN: Caffeinated?
GUPTA: It's has a little bit of caffeine in it but it's not -- there's no additional caffeine in it.
CAMEROTA: OK, then (INAUDIBLE).
GUPTA: But it's really the antioxidants.
CAMEROTA: Are you just trying to lure us with this soda?
GUPTA: Here's what you should -- here's what you should -- there's a long list of things you shouldn't -- I'm just going to put one thing on the list -- sugar. I think sugar -- people talk about this all the time. The human body was not designed to absorb sugar the way that we do. We got sugar twice a year when fruit fell from the trees. Even honey was protected by the bees.
We eat way too much sugar. You shouldn't get more than seven teaspoons a day. But -- and if you eliminate all your added sugar, you're probably getting just the right amount because it's in everything. In tomato sauce, obviously --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
GUPTA: -- in drinks. So just don't have any added sugar. You will see tremendous changes in your -- in your body, in your diet, and everything.
BERMAN: Added sugar. That's interesting --
GUPTA: Added sugar, yes.
BERMAN: -- because sugar is in a lot of stuff already.
GUPTA: It's -- yes, but -- so if you just don't get any added sugar, the amount that you're already getting in the foods that you eat will be more than enough, for sure.
CAMEROTA: Yes, it's just hard.
GUPTA: Today, people are often dealing with the repercussions of the night before.
CAMEROTA: A hangover is what I think the word you're searching for is.
GUPTA: Yes, a hangover -- right. And as a -- as a doctor, I would advise you just simply don't drink.
CAMEROTA: What?
GUPTA: But as your friend --
CAMEROTA: That's the craziest thing you've ever said --
GUPTA: No --
CAMEROTA: -- Sanjay.
GUPTA: -- as a doctor --
CAMEROTA: OK.
GUPTA: -- but I'm also your friend.
CAMEROTA: OK.
GUPTA: So here's something I learned that was really interesting. The study came out of Australia and they looked at Asian pears, which is right over there.
CAMEROTA: Oh.
GUPTA: Alisyn thought that was a spleen, earlier.
CAMEROTA: I thought he brought us his spleen.
BERMAN: I've never seen a pear this big -- an Asian pear.
CAMEROTA: Or your spleen.
GUPTA: You haven't seen my spleen.
That is an Asian pear and you're supposed to actually have one of these before you drink if you're going to drink. And the reason is that it helps break down this compound that alcohol -- the problem is not the alcohol. Alcohol turns into this toxic compound called acetaldehyde. That's what makes you sick. That helps get rid of it -- Asian pears.
And there's even --
CAMEROTA: That's an --
GUPTA: -- Asian pear juice, which I think we had.
CAMEROTA: -- awesome secret.
GUPTA: There you go.
CAMEROTA: I don't know where I'd find one of those. GUPTA: If you have not done the Asian pear trick --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
GUPTA: -- and you're not feeling well, it's all about replacement.
And so, electrolytes -- you lose a lot of potassium. That's part of what's making you feel miserable. You are sugar-depleted so this is the time when you probably do need a little bit of sugar, and honey on toast is a pretty good way to do it. Add some bananas in there for potassium.
That's all I'm going to tell you.
BERMAN: I love this friend advice.
CAMEROTA: I do, too.
GUPTA: The other thing is don't take Tylenol.
CAMEROTA: Why?
BERMAN: Oh, this is interesting.
GUPTA: Because alcohol affects the liver, as does Tylenol. If you do have a headache and you feel like you need to take something, avoid the Tylenol and take something like an ibuprofen.
CAMEROTA: For somebody who doesn't think we should drink you sure come with a lot of quick -- with a lot of --
GUPTA: I know what you guys want to know.
CAMEROTA: -- tricks.
BERMAN: All right.
CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about exercise. How much are we really supposed to be doing?
GUPTA: I think the way to think about exercise -- and I know you guys exercise and I do as well -- but you do -- everyone sits a lot as well.
And when you go to these other places around the world -- these blue zones -- they don't really exercise. They don't go to the gym. Many of these places don't even have gyms.
It's really about movement throughout the day, which people generally know. It's natural movements throughout the day.
That's how human beings evolved to move. We didn't run when we evolved; we walked. We tracked animals; we didn't run after our prey.
But the interesting thing is if you think of inactivity as the disease as opposed to thinking of exercise as the cure, it will totally change your mindset.
CAMEROTA: That's great. See, now, John does run and I stand.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: That's me standing.
BERMAN: I'm running a marathon there. I'm running a marathon.
CAMEROTA: And I'm showing off some weights that I use.
GUPTA: Standing is really good. I mean, you know --
CAMEROTA: Thank you.
GUPTA: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Thank you.
GUPTA: Because we -- humans either stood or they -- or they lie down, and we walked. We didn't really run.
CAMEROTA: See, bad --
BERMAN: So --
CAMEROTA: -- bad running.
BERMAN: So the marathon thing, bad idea.
CAMEROTA: You've got to stand.
BERMAN: Stand.
CAMEROTA: At the gym.
GUPTA: Stand.
BERMAN: Oh.
GUPTA: Don't sit.
BERMAN: I got that wrong.
CAMEROTA: Thank you -- thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: You got it.
CAMEROTA: I knew I was right all of this time.
GUPTA: There you go. I think you guys look great. Happy New Year.
BERMAN: Happy New Year. I'm just going to take Asian pear with me.
GUPTA: Take that Asian pear. Happy New Year, guys.
CAMEROTA: Thank you for all of this.
GUPTA: Of course.
CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you.
BERMAN: So, states around the country and cities around the world have been feeling the effect of climate change for years and things are forecast to get worse. Everyone knows that -- 2020 no different. So what places are being threatened that you really should try to visit?
CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir laid out his top three -- Venice, Italy; the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas; and Alaska.
Bill joins us now. All of Alaska. Go to every Alaska --
CAMEROTA: Happy New Year.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Happy New Year, my friends.
Yes, the caveat is that these places are not going to disappear in the coming year but I like -- they're sort of proverbial canaries in the coal mine of our global calamity.
BERMAN: I mean, Venice -- like, holy cow.
WEIR: Yes.
BERMAN: And the pictures we've seen coming out of Venice --
CAMEROTA: That's heartbreaking -- heartbreaking.
BERMAN: -- just the last couple of months just jaw-dropping.
WEIR: This has been sort of a slow-motion disaster. We've known that this ancient city is sinking into the lagoon as sea levels rise. But for perspective, Saint Mark's Basilica, one of the most beloved churches in the world, has flooded six times in a thousand years -- twice in the last two years.
BERMAN: Oh.
WEIR: And so they suffered hundreds of millions of euros of damage in this last event. It was six feet of flooding --
CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh.
WEIR: -- this winter there. And, of course, the Italian government is spending billions to try to come up with this gate system that's not yet complete.
So we're watching this not only to see this precious manmade wonder slowly slip -- you know, slip under the salt water, but also how human beings, how governments, how societies will react to this and manage it.
[07:50:10]
And so, it's one of those things where you want to encourage people to go. But if you do go, tread gently and be sensitive of the fact that if you show up on a cruise ship, you're probably going to really upset the locals because that's been a huge bane to their existence.
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, therein lies the problem because it's heartbreaking to see that square. Some of -- I went there for my honeymoon. That's just one of the most romantic, beautiful places in the world.
WEIR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: But aren't tourists part of the problem? Are they being overrun?
WEIR: Absolutely, absolutely -- and especially when a -- when a floating city rolls up and this gorges 5,000 people into that tiny square. That puts huge stressors on it.
So as we travel, I think -- you know, people are going to do it regardless, but if we -- if we tread lightly and are sensitive and go off-season if you can and pick your spots a little bit, it will be better for your experience and the folks who are there.
BERMAN: Yes. I just find these pictures breathtaking --
WEIR: It's incredible.
BERMAN: -- because you can't fight. You can't fight the ocean, right?
WEIR: Right.
BERMAN: There's really nothing you can do to push back.
WEIR: Exactly.
BERMAN: All right, the Butterfly Center.
WEIR: Yes. So this is a little 100-acre sanctuary -- wilderness sanctuary down in Mission, Texas. And it is sort of the tip of the funnel as all those Monarchs go make their migration down to Mexico in the winter.
And it's interesting because it's also a flashpoint for politics because President Trump wants to build his border wall right through the middle of this place. And a judge just recently put an injunction into halt this sort of privately-funded wall that these guys are trying to make with the help of Steve Bannon.
But it's also part of a bigger trend, in that they were sort of going through this insect apocalypse. About 2 1/2 percent a year -- insect numbers are going down. And you think oh, that's OK, I hate bugs. But you probably like food,
you probably eat strawberries, and those are pollinators. And so, this is all part of our connected circle of life.
And places like this are so vulnerable and the more interest, the more -- you know, people can go to a place like that, which they'll take all the tourists they can get to make them realize how these spots are so special and should be looked after.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely.
BERMAN: You know, you make fun of me for counting birds. We also count the Monarch butterflies as they're migrating in the fall.
CAMEROTA: You do?
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: That's harder --
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- to count -- to count.
BERMAN: They're actually closer to you than the birds are --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: -- so in some cases -- in some cases, you see them more clearly.
WEIR: (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: But you want to count these things to find out what is changing and one of the things we find is that sometimes they're --
CAMEROTA: Yes, and their lots (ph) change, yes.
WEIR: And the problem is as the -- as the climate warms, their migration starts later and later.
BERMAN: Yes.
WEIR: They don't know when to head south and so they don't make it to the trip. And so that's why the numbers are crashing.
CAMEROTA: OK, what about Ketchikan, Alaska?
WEIR: Yes. So I picked, sort of, Alaska in general because the arctic is changing faster than anywhere else. If you've never seen a glacier, maybe try to see one in your lifetime. You don't have to go all the way to Alaska. You could go to the Glacier National Park in Montana.
But it is so stunning what they're going through there. Just in my lifetime, average temperatures in Alaska have gone up between five and 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's changing the landscape in ways that you cannot imagine.
And then, the Trump administration wants to open up a Tongass National Forest, which is sort of the Amazon of North America, to logging. And it's one of these old-growth sanctuaries. These are shots of it here. This is down in the southern sort of panhandle there -- just beautiful spots there.
But even if you can't make it to Alaska, I would encourage folks to make their New Year's resolution to go visit your closest state or national park. It's your land. This is -- this is -- America's best idea was setting aside these places for we, the people. And the more you realize how special they are, the more you realize how connected we are to them and we need these places to survive.
All those trees in Tongass help carbon capture, which is a buzzword when we're talking about -- when it comes to technology the best carbon capture machine is already invented. It's called a tree. And the more we sort of can soak that in -- and it's hard in our busy lives. We're thinking about the mortgage payment or getting the kids to school -- but these slow-motion changes where things go away.
And I'm reminded of the parable about the kid on the beach and he's throwing starfish back into the ocean one at a time. And an old man says what are -- you think you can make a difference? There's thousands of them. And the kids says well, it matters to this one.
And it's one little Monarch in your backyard at a time to plug us back into this.
BERMAN: And speaking of kids -- she's not a kid, she's a young woman who has made just a tremendous impact on the world -- 2019 "Time" Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg.
WEIR: Right.
BERMAN: I hope I'm saying her name right. You've met her. I mean, she's --
WEIR: Yes.
BERMAN: -- an astounding individual.
WEIR: What's incredible is about -- and just before New Year's of 2018, she was a shy kid sitting by herself with a little handmade sign.
And now, she's one of the most famous people in the world purely because she is sort of without guile, just speaking the truth. She is putting into a 16-year-old's voice all of these alarming warnings from science and saying why aren't we talking about this? The house is on fire.
And her generation, my 16-year-old daughter and her classmates -- it has moved them in ways that I didn't even think was possible. That has changed the conversation in so many ways.
[07:55:03]
WEIR: And maybe we're just going to have to let them change the world. If our generation can't or won't do it, get out of the way so they will.
CAMEROTA: If it's not too late for them to fix it.
BERMAN: Yes.
WEIR: And that's a good point, yes. It's -- every year that goes by, if you look back at the last decade -- even under the Obama administration so much time was lost. And not only are we not putting our foot on the brake when it comes to burning carbon, we've still got a foot on the gas.
CAMEROTA: Bill, it's always great to talk to you and somewhat alarming.
WIER: And deeply depressing.
CAMEROTA: And deeply depressing.
BERMAN: Happy New Year.
CAMEROTA: Thank you.
WEIR: Good to see you, guys.
CAMEROTA: Great to see you, too.
And thanks so much to our international viewers for watching. Happy New Year. For you, "CNN NEWSROOM" is next.
For our U.S. viewers, a special holiday edition of NEW DAY continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: This is a special edition of NEW DAY --
CAMEROTA: Happy New Year.
BERMAN: -- because it's a new year.
CAMEROTA: New day, new year.
BERMAN: Maybe we should change the name of the show, at least for today.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States --
[08:00:00]
