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Queen Elizabeth Announces Prince Harry and Meghan Markle No Longer Working Members of British Royal Family; Key Impeachment Filings from U.S. House, President; Iran Will Send Downed Plane's Black Boxes to Ukraine; Anti-Government Protests In Beirut; Libya Summit to Call for Sanctions If Ceasefire Violated; Demonstrators Gather in Washington, D.C., for Fourth Annual Women's March; Virginia Declares State of Emergency ahead of Gun Rights Rally at State Capital; Trump Administration Rolls Back on Obama Lunch Program. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired January 19, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Title changes: Harry and Meghan reach an agreement with the queen over their change in royal status. We'll have a live report about that.

Also U.S. president Donald Trump's lawyers officially respond to the impeachment charges against him.

Also --

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ALLEN (voice-over): Women against Donald Trump take to the streets in several American cities yet again.

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ALLEN (voice-over): It's all ahead here this hour. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, coming to you live from Atlanta, GA, I'm Natalie Allen. NEWSROOM starts right now.

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ALLEN: It's 4:00 am in Atlanta on the U.S. East Coast. Thank you for joining us.

The top story: the House of Windsor has decided the fate of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Meghan will no longer be working members of the royal family. Buckingham Palace made the announcement Saturday saying the couple will no longer represent the queen, use the title His or Her Royal Highness or receive funds for royal duties. Big changes.

In the statement the queen wished them well saying this, "Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of the family."

But many questions remain surrounding what is next for the couple. Let's talk about that with our royal correspondent, Max Foster, up early for us there in London.

Good morning to you, Max, outside Buckingham Palace. So big changes.

How do you characterize in the larger scheme of things with this royal family what Harry and Meghan are to?

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: It's in effect an abdication because he's given up his royal roles and so has she. They were arguing to have a half in, half out sort of model, a hybrid model, where they continue serving within the monarchy but in a progressive role. And they outlined that all on that website.

But they have not been allowed that. They have been told to choose if they want to remain as they are or leave and the couple have chosen to leave. So they are now private citizens. And the monarchy is even more slimmed down than was the plan. And it leaves Prince William in a situation where he holds the mantle for that whole generation.

ALLEN: I wanted to ask you about that, Max. We've seen William and Harry side by side growing up together.

Is there a chasm between these two brothers now?

FOSTER: There is and there has been for a while. And speaking to some people behind palace walls, who say this shouldn't have got to this point, it was a crisis that burst out into the public. But there has been tension between the two for some time and that has got worse and worse over time.

What the queen was doing, speaking so fondly of Harry and Meghan, there's been a lot of tension between Meghan and the rest of the family. This was drawing a line under that.

And on a personal level, I think the queen is looking at all family members to start rebuilding from here. The Sussexes no longer have a royal role so they won't have the source of conflicts that have caused all the tension up until now.

But they are still members of the family. So they will come and appear on the balcony behind me at family events and the queen will invite them along to things like she does for many minor royals. But they won't have a role and all the trappings that come with that and that's a big question going forward.

ALLEN: But they are still using the Sussex Royal brand, are they not?

And how will they use that?

How much independence will they have and is anyone talking about how they will support themselves?

FOSTER: We're actually waiting for an update on that. We did ask the question yesterday about Sussex Royal because a lot of this debate would have been around how they capitalize on the royal brand and commercialize it effectively.

I think one discussion would have been that they take the royal out of all their future branding. We weren't told that Sussex Royal remaining, we were told there will be an update on that. It's been a matter of discussion; it's just how they message this out.

The website is still up and running and it's already out of date and inaccurate. So the whole thing needs to be updated anyway. Presumably they'll tell us at the same time what happens and how they will be known in the future. Perhaps there's an indication in the statement from the queen.

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FOSTER: I'm sure the Sussexes looked at that before it went out. They're referred to simply as Meghan and Harry. And the world knows them as Meghan and Harry. So I suspect one of the ideas is they'll simply be Meghan and Harry or Harry and Meghan. They are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex still but they won't use the Royal Highness titles that go ahead of that. But they are more informal than other royals. They always have been. They'll probably opt for Harry and Meghan over duke and duchess anyway.

ALLEN: A fascinating change and one to watch, Thank you, Max.

All right.

So now what?

The couple has said they wanted to live part-time in North America, adding they have a strong connection to Canada. CNN's Paula Newton takes a look at how Canadians are reacting. She's in Ottawa.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Canadians are really taking this news in their stride. They believe, look, if Harry and Meghan want to live in Canada, so be it.

That changes dramatically if they try to access public funds for anything like security. The issue is many Canadians sympathize with this couple in terms of the kind of scrutiny they are under and understand why they want to get here.

And they're proud to provide some kind of privacy for them. They had an incident on the West Coast when they were in British Columbia over Christmas. They met a couple on a B.C. trail. Meghan took a picture of them. The couple did not take a picture of Meghan and Harry, they did not intrude on their hike.

And it is that kind of life which Meghan has already had in Toronto, that they want to try to get to. But the issue of security is still a sticky one and the palace themselves and the statement said that well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly funded security is what is in place.

The prime minister's office here officially has no comment. They say these things remain under discussion. That's from the prime minister himself. What's interesting is, in stepping back from their roles as royals, Canada's obligation is not the same to them as if they were working royals.

But it means that perhaps they won't be spending as much time in Canada, that they might actually be freer now to move, as well, to the United States -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

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ALLEN: All right. We turn now to the impeachment of U.S. president Donald Trump. The seven House members who will manage that are expected to return to Washington in the hours ahead. They'll begin preparing for the Senate trial that is set to start Tuesday.

Both congressional Democrats and the White House have filed their respective legal arguments and we have two reports about it. Boris Sanchez is traveling with the president in Florida and we begin our coverage with CNN's Joe Johns in the U.S. Capitol.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The House managers laying out the history, the chronology, the facts and even trying to give senators a view as to what the framers of the United States Constitution might say about the president, indicating, in their view, the president's conduct is the framers' worst nightmare.

A lot of this is information we have all heard before during the hearings up here in Capitol Hill, leading to the impeachment of the president.

However, there were some references, a few references, to new were information that has come out recently.

Even that report just last week from the Government Accountability Office indicating that the president, in the view of the watchdog organization, in fact, violated the law.

Democrats see the GAO report as an important rebuttal to claims by the president's legal team that no crimes were committed or laws violated -- Joe Johns, CNN, Capitol Hill.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's legal team filing its formal response to a Senate summons on Saturday night. The president's team saying that these articles of impeachment are completely invalid and an attack on Americans. We are learning that they plan to defend the president in three ways.

First, on the substance of the accusations, saying that his call with President Zelensky of Ukraine was perfect, as the president has suggested. There was no quid pro quo between the two leaders.

Secondly, on the actual articles of impeachment themselves, suggesting that what he is accused of is not actually an impeachable act.

And thirdly, they are attacking the process the Democrats carried out in the House of Representatives, arguing that President Trump was not afforded due process.

Look at what the White House writes, quote, "President Trump categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation in both articles of impeachment."

They go on to write about his phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, that it was quote, "perfectly legal, completely appropriate and taken in furtherance of our national interest."

Sources close to the president spending the weekend with him here at Mar-a-lago tell us that the president appears to be in good spirits, though he is a bit distracted by the ongoing impeachment saga.

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SANCHEZ: He is apparently asking people around him, "Why are they doing this to me?" -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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ALLEN: Let's talk about all of this with Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at England's University of Essex and a frequent guest here.

Good morning to you, Natasha.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Good morning. Nice to see you.

ALLEN: Same here.

I want to begin, before we dig in, to what we expect from the Trump side and the Democrats with the comment that we heard that Mr. Trump made at his resort this weekend.

He said, "Why are they doing this to me?"

Do you think he really doesn't understand why this is happening?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I mean, that's a great question. Part of President Trump's presidential persona is to be a perpetual victim. He like to talk about the fact that no president in history has been attacked and criticized as much as he has, that the Mueller investigation was a complete witch hunt, that this impeachment investigation and trial is going to be a hoax, another witch hunt.

So I think he enjoys in some way, relishes in being a victim because this is something he can take on the campaign trail with him. And in front of adoring audiences, he can talk about the fact that he is this victim and I think he hopes that by using this he can rile up the Republican base to turn out to vote in 2020.

To illustrate that the Democrats have become so extreme that they're willing to go to any -- to do anything in order to get rid of him.

ALLEN: We should be hearing from him during the trial. Senators are not allowed to have their phones in there but he will be able to tweet. That is something new certainly in the annals of impeachments in the United States.

Let's look at what his lawyers are saying. They're rejecting the case against him as illegitimate and describe the effort to remove him as dangerous and this is all driven purely by an desire to hurt Mr. Trump in the 2020 election.

Does that argument have merit?

LINDSTAEDT: It's interesting; they didn't dispute the facts and didn't provide a long defense, although I guess they could provide more on Monday.

But what they're trying to say is that Trump didn't actually break any laws. Now on that fact, we have to point to this question about whether or not he violated campaign finance laws in trying to solicit valuable information from a foreign country. And there are legal scholars that think that may have also taken place.

But you also have to remember that the framers of the Constitution didn't say that an impeachable offense had to rise to a crime. It doesn't necessarily have to be an indictable offense that has taken place.

What the framers have in mind was to use impeachment for a remedy for some sort of misconduct or abuse of power. And that's where Trump's legal team seems to be disagreeing with, let's just say, the Democrats in the House, who are trying to try this particular case.

The Trump team is also trying to say that the Democrats are so focused on removing Trump from power and in doing the 2016 election, that that is exactly what is driving this. So we're getting into a battle about what constitutes an impeachable offense.

And we got a little bit of a hint of what the Trump team was going to say earlier, when his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, stated that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. So we will have a lot of disputes of what that is

As far as I'm concerned if soliciting help from a foreign country on your political opponent is not an impeachable offense, I honestly don't know what is. This is exactly what these new reports of autocracy are doing. They're trying to get dirt on their political opponents to make the playing field unlevel.

ALLEN: We have to leave it there because we have some breaking news. Natasha, we always appreciate you coming in.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

ALLEN: Sure thing.

We want to take you to Kiev International Airport in Ukraine. You're looking at live pictures of a somber ceremony taking place as the bodies of the Ukrainian victims of a downed Ukrainian passenger jet are being repatriated.

All 176 people onboard were killed after the Iranian military mistakenly shot down the passenger plane just outside Tehran earlier this month. This comes as Iran says it plans to send the black boxes to Kiev for analysis. Our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley joins us live from Ukraine with more about what is happening.

Hello, Sam.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, this is, as you say, this somber moment of the repatriation of the 11 victims from Ukraine.

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KILEY: Nine air crew, two passengers, who were killed when that Ukrainian airliner, a passenger airliner, was shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps during that period of extreme tension between the United States and Iran just in the hours after Iran had fired a number of ballistic missiles, nearly 2 dozen, into Iraqi territory aimed at or towards U.S. forces in north and western Iraq.

Now during that period in the hours just after that, this aircraft was downed by a surface to air missile, fired by the IRGC and there's some reporting that there may have been two missiles.

After initially denying it, the Iranians have admitted it and are cooperating now with Ukrainian authorities in sending the black box, the flight recording equipment, from Iran back to Ukraine to be analyzed here.

If they fail to establish what happened in the final moments of that aircraft here, then those pieces of equipment will be sent on to France, United States and elsewhere for even greater expert analysis.

But really, for Ukraine, this is coming at a time when they have been at the center of a storm, another one they are very uncomfortable with, and that is, of course, the impeachment trial or impending impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the U.S. president, who is accused of trying to bring pressure to bear on this country at war against Russian-backed rebels in the east through the suspension of military aid to Ukraine in an effort, it is alleged, to try to put pressure on the administration here to investigate the role of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, the former U.S. (sic) president, presidential candidate, the potential presidential candidate this year in the presidential election.

So amidst all of this international, the nation now on a Sunday morning facing a much more mundane and sad reality, which is the mourning of their 11 dead.

ALLEN: Right, Sam, as you're speaking, we are seeing the first body carried off the airplane, being placed now into a hearse, presumably that of the captain of the downed airliner.

It's a very sad thing to see that row of hearses there as they bring out the other victims from this plane crash. This must be a painful moment for the families. But, however, some comfort that their loved ones are coming home.

Overall, has Ukraine, how have they felt about the cooperation from Iran on helping heal from this tragedy and the investigation that will be ongoing?

KILEY: Natalie, in the early stages and the immediate aftermath of this tragedy when the aircraft had simply been described as having gone down, there was deep frustration. There was a sense that it was possible to discern from social media that it had been shot down after there was the publication of missiles or what appeared to be missiles striking what appeared to be the aircraft.

And that created friction between Ukraine and, indeed, the nations of the others on that aircraft who were killed and Iran. But actually the Iranians moved pretty quickly, relative, for example, to that other aircraft that was shot down over Iranian -- sorry -- Ukrainian airspace, a Malaysian airliner and no responsibility from anybody and we're not withstanding the evidence coming out of Holland, in particular, that ascribes responsibility of that to Russia and/or the Russian-backed rebels in the east of the country.

No admission of responsibility there. The Iranians, after initially obfuscating, did admit responsibility and I think very significantly now are sending the black boxes to Ukraine as the home country of the aircraft for analysis.

The flight deck, of course, with communications on that flight deck, would have been in Ukrainian and the Iranians are doing their best to appear to be highly cooperative with the international community over this tragedy, which has overshadowed, to some extent, the tensions that they were feeling between Iran and the United States.

And at the same time, of course, on the streets of Iran, there have been widespread demonstrations continuing against the government and against the government's handling of this tragedy. So they are trying to play catch-up.

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KILEY: But as far as the Ukrainians are concerned, there is a sense of relief, not gratitude, but relief that the Iranians are playing ball and allowing international experts access to those black boxes.

ALLEN: Sam, thank you.

As we take a break here, we want to give a moment to show this very somber homecoming for the victims of the downed airliner. But they are certainly being treated one by one with tremendous dignity. So as we go to break, we'll continue to look at this video.

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ALLEN: Big protests here in Lebanon, again, taking a violent turn as demonstrators flood the streets of Beirut.

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ALLEN: The Lebanese Red Cross says at least 200 people have been injured. For months now, protesters have been furious over the government's failure to appoint a new cabinet and the lack of economic stability.

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ALLEN: Next here, peace could be possible for two of the major warring factions in Libya. What to expect from a major peace conference. We'll have that ahead here.

Will there be a change for that country?

Plus this year's women's marches across the U.S. have a much sharper focus and a new message for the White House, one they hope will show their power at the polls. We'll get into that as we push on, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta, GA. I'm Natalie Allen with the headlines.

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ALLEN: World leaders are meeting in Germany this weekend. Their aim: a lasting cease-fire in war-torn Libya. U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo arrives Saturday for the Berlin peace conference. Libya's U.N. recognized prime minister is set to be there as well. So is his enemy, renegade general Khalifa Haftar. They are set to be joined by German chancellor Angela Merkel and the presidents of Russia, France and Turkey.

What is happening in Libya is often described as a civil war. But there are plenty of foreign powers involved. CNN's Becky Anderson looks at what is driving the conflict.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): It had been hailed a moment of hope: the fall of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. But nearly a decade on, this is what much of Libya looks like today, the strewn wreckage of a country splintered by conflict between two warring sides.

The Government of National Accord or GNA, runs the capital and much of the country's northwest.

In the east, a parallel government controlling nearly two-thirds of the country. It is led by General Khalifa Haftar and his well-armed liberal Libyan National Army or LNA.

Neither side, though, is acting in isolation and battlefield Libya has many hands at work.

[04:35:00]

ANDERSON (voice-over): Haftar is generously backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who view political Islam as a threat and see Haftar as the country's last line of defense.

They are joined by Russia and France, while the GNA sees support from Turkey, Qatar and a handful of E.U. states such as Italy. But importantly, it has the rubber stamp of U.N. legitimacy.

Despite that, it only survives through outside friends of its own and mostly Turkey, who have gotten involved directly. President Erdogan recently receiving authorization from his parliament to deploy troops there.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): If Haftar's attacks against the people and legitimate government of Libya continue, we will never refrain from teaching him the lesson he deserves.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Being there is crucial to President Erdogan's strategic interests beyond the Middle East, burnishing his regional reputation as a power player. Haftar, though, says, is up for the fight.

GEN. KHALIFA HAFTAR, LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY (through translator): We hereby except the challenge. We are announcing a mass mobilization of our troops. We call for a holy fight.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Meanwhile Russia has been bolstering its presence around the Mediterranean. There has been a rising number of reported Russian mercenaries, supporting Haftar's troops on the ground in Libya. Moscow claims that they do not represent the Russian state, as they

have also claimed in Ukraine. But from Syria to Libya, president Vladimir Putin's expansionist strategy remains clear.

The United States, on the other hand, is being more capricious. It launched airstrikes, targeting ISIS and Al Qaeda in 2015 but then pulled its troops amid the surging political violence. Its position now isn't quite clear.

And in the vacuum of war, chaos: hundreds of thousands of migrants using Libya as a dangerous springboard into Europe, the continent, for the most part, calling for a political solution to the bloody conflict -- Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

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ALLEN: Grand pictures there in Libya. But world leaders are only now arriving and already we're getting a glimpse of what the final communique from this summit might say.

Reuters News Service is reproductive rights that a draft calls for all parties to refrain from hostilities against oil facilities. Well, let's look at the prospects for peace in Libya and what peace there might look like with our guest, Rhiannon Smith.

She's the executive director of Libya analysis; in that capacity, she regularly delivers high-level briefings on Libya to government entities and international organizations and corporations.

Rhiannon, thank you for joining us. You seem like the right person to talk to right now. First of all, various countries are in Libya, putting a stake in the ground and aligning with the two different leaders. Talk with us about who is there that might be helping or hurting the conflict. I know that is a big question to tackle.

RHIANNON SMITH, LIBYA EXPERT: Yes, the key thing tonight here is the international sort of atmosphere and supporters of the two sides are a key element driving the conflict and the U.N. envoy to Libya, who kind of led this process and the events taking place today, the main aim of that has always been to try to curtail these international drivers to try to enforce the arms embargo in Libya, that has been in place but hasn't been enforced at all.

On one side, you have countries like the UAE and Egypt supporting Haftar and his forces, providing drone and air support, which is a key factor in allowing the forces to move forward in Tripoli.

And they want to see stability in Libya but on their terms so with Haftar and the sort of anti-political Islam elements in power.

On the other side of the conflict on the ground, you have Turkey and they want to see the political Islam elements established but also ensure that whoever ends up in power in Libya will continue support their economic interests and contracts in the country.

The interesting part then on the European side is that traditionally countries such as France and Italy have played a significant role in mediating and overseeing what's happening in Libya.

But we've seen since the latest conflict started back in April that their role and the broader role of the E.U. and other countries have been undermined or subsumed and they have not been big players in this, which is why we've seen countries such as Turkey and Russia come to the fore because they are actually able to influence in some ways events on the ground.

ALLEN: Well, certainly, Libya has been mired in conflict since the downing and killing of Gaddafi.

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ALLEN: We just saw that the communique has already been written, that they want everyone to support the oil facilities in Libya and leave them alone.

What is most needed in the country as far as structure to help Libyans get on with a normal life and feel safe?

SMITH: Well, so the reason their initial statement from the Berlin conference is related to the oil installations specifically is because as of Friday night-Saturday morning, almost all of the oil ports in Libya say that is nearly 800,000 barrels of oil, which is three- quarters of Libya's oil output, has been blockaded by forces and groups aligned to the Libyan National Army.

The tribal groups involved have called for more fair distribution of Libya's oil wealth and this really gets to the crucial point of how peace can be built in Libya. The main reason Haftar and his forces have launched their attack on Tripoli have been trying to take control of it is not necessarily for the land or territory itself.

That is where the Central Bank of Libya and national oil corporation are based and they control all of Libya as well. Really, that is what this conflict comes down to and really has been since 2011.

It's how the Libyan state divvies up the country's quite vast oil resources and there's a huge amount of corruption in the country. And a lot of militias in Tripoli influence where those funds go.

And although this move has been very controversial and likely is quite a big spoiler in the leadup to this conflict, there are real grievances there and I think for any cease-fire, peace process to be successful, this economic element and this idea of who will actually be able to control Libya politically and economically going forward is crucial to any sort of longer-term stability and peace in the country.

ALLEN: It so often comes down to protecting the oil. We really appreciate your insights. Rhiannon Smith, thanks so much. That really helped.

SMITH: Thanks for having me.

ALLEN: For the fourth year in a row, thousands attended women's marches across the United States. Coming up, hear their latest message to the White House regarding the upcoming presidential election.

Plus, how a change in U.S. federal guidelines could make school lunches much less healthy.

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ALLEN (voice-over): You're listening to the rhythm of resistance. Thousands of women and their allies marching in cities across the U.S. Images from the fourth annual Women's March. Many voices with one overarching aim, empowerment against an administration they see as a threat to women's rights.

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ALLEN: The women's march began in response to U.S. president Donald Trump's election. Saturday's march drew smaller crowds but their rebuke for the president has renewed focus to influence voters at the ballot box in the upcoming presidential election. Our Kyung Lah has more.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the first Women's March 2020 aimed at a target date, November.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump has got to go.

LAH (voice-over): From Los Angeles to Denver, thousands packed pavements at more than 250 events, including the nation's capital and New York.

LAH: Some of the people who are marching have been marching for four years in a row. But this year, what's different is it's 2020 and a chance to make a difference in national politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did the march in Washington, D.C., the day after Trump's inauguration.

LAH (voice-over): Since then Audrey Okonkwo marked each year's march with a family picture in the crowd.

LAH: Are you not tired of doing this every year?

AUDREY OKONKWO, LOS ANGELES PROTESTER: Oh, no, I'm fired up. Let's go, yes. I'm ready to vote him out.

LAH (voice-over): A determination in D.C., where freezing rain failed to stop marchers. BRUNA BRYLAWSKI, NORTH CAROLINA PROTESTER: I think the most important

thing is to get out the vote and make it very clear that voting is important. And whatever you do, vote. Of course, vote the right way.

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LAH (voice-over): Jumping on that get out the vote call, Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Together we will make Donald Trump, at best, a one-term president.

LAH (voice-over): The women's marches may have started because of President Trump's election but they also highlighted America's pressing issues, like climate change, reproductive rights and immigration.

EVELYN YANG, ANDREW'S WIFE: For our mothers, for our daughters.

LAH (voice-over): 2020 candidate Andrew Yang's wife, Evelyn, spoke in New York about her assault.

YANG: We need to roar against sexual violence and roar against the culture of coverup that so often follows.

LAH (voice-over): And while Lydia Kann feels a difference in the size of this year's Los Angeles crowd compared to 2017...

LYDIA KANN, PROTESTER: I'm guessing that they don't feel mobilized but hopefully they will at least vote. If they can't get on the streets, you know, we all have to vote.

LAH (voice-over): Progress for these women, making this the last year targeting Trump.

JUMEE JONES, LOS ANGELES PROTESTER: Anybody besides Trump, honestly, is a win for the world and for women.

LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, Los Angeles.

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ALLEN: Next here, less fruits and veggies and more pizza. We find out why school lunches in the U.S. could soon become less healthy.

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ALLEN: The Trump administration is taking aim at yet another Obama era policy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to roll back school nutrition guidelines that were championed by former first lady Michelle Obama. They say the change is needed to give schools more flexibility and reduce waste. Our report from CNN's Amara Walker.

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AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: The Department of Agriculture tells "The New York Times," that it was just a coincidence and that it did not intend to propose this rollback of Michelle Obama's signature lunch program on her birthday, which was on Friday.

The USDA says these proposed changes are all about reducing food waste. But by giving students school meal options that may be more appealing to them, that could mean less fruits and vegetables and more burgers and fries.

WALSH (voice-over): When former first lady Michelle Obama launched her Let's Move initiative in 2010, her goal was to fight childhood obesity.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: We have to improve the quality of food in our schools. That's where kids are eating many of their meals and we have to do a better job, making sure that that food is quality.

WALKER (voice-over): As part of Let's Move, she often promoted the White House vegetable garden and played a key role in bringing healthier food to the 30 million students who get their meals through the national school lunch program.

The Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act required more fruits and vegetables to be served while cutting sodium, saturated fat and sugar out of meals.

Now the Trump administration wants to roll back these federal nutrition standards. On Friday, the U.S. Agriculture Department announced proposals that would reduce the amount of fruit and types of vegetables required in school meals, according to "The Washington Post," giving the schools the flexibility to decide which meals would be appealing to their students.

The USDA says it's about reducing food waste, especially if students are throwing out what is being offered.

[04:55:00]

WALKER (voice-over): In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue said, "School and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals.

"We listened and now we're getting to work."

Under the current standards, schools that participate in the school breakfast program must provide a half to one cup of fruit during breakfast for preschool through high school. The new rule would allow meal providers to change the amount of fruit that is served and customize meal patterns.

It would also allow schools to offer lunch entrees a la carte to reduce food waste. Critics argue the proposed changes could result in children eating less fruits and vegetables and instead getting foods that are greasier and higher in saturated fat and in calories.

Ms. Obama had hoped the vegetable garden she had planted at the White House would live on as a symbol of a healthier nation for the children. That remains for now.

WALKER: Now a Harvard study in 2014 reported that, under Obama's lunch program, kids ate 16 percent more vegetables and 23 percent more fruit. This would be the second move by the Trump administration to cut back on federal nutrition standards. In 2018 a new rule allowed low-fat chocolate milk and lowered the amount of whole grains that had to be served -- Amara Walker, CNN, Atlanta.

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ALLEN: This in a country with an obesity record. Go figure.

Well, thanks for watching this hour. I'm Natalie Allen and I'll be right back with more news. CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this.