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Wuhan Coronavirus; Trump on Trial; Fans Honor Basketball Icon after Helicopter Crash; Saudi Foreign Minister On Murder Of Jamal Khashoggi; U.K. To Formally Leave European Union On Friday; A Look At Joe Biden's Campaign Ahead OF Iowa Caucuses. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 28, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, China reports more coronavirus deaths, as it puts 60 million people on lockdown among a global threat.

Another day of arguments in the U.S. president impeachment trial as a key figure comes back to haunt Mr. Trump's defense team.

Los Angeles and well beyond grieve NBA legend Kobe Bryant after his unexpected death along with eight other people, including his daughter. We will have the latest on the investigation.

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CHURCH: And we start with the spreading Wuhan coronavirus. The U.S. has confirmed at least five cases, two of them in Southern California. And we are hearing of a potential new case in San Diego County there.

Meanwhile, China now reports more than 4,500 people are infected and 106 have died. Many countries are warning against traveling to Wuhan. The U.S. State Department is now urging Americans to reconsider going anywhere in China.

And in Hong Kong, medical workers are threatening to strike if the local government does not shut down its border with the mainland. Over the weekend, people protested outside a proposed quarantine site in Hong Kong. The building was set on fire.

Medical workers in China are clearly at risk of catching the virus and health officials say people can spread it before showing symptoms. So the U.S. and other countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. For the latest, CNN's David Culver is live in Beijing and Blake Essig is in Hong Kong.

Good to see you both. David, let's start with you and, of course, we're talking about nearly

60 million people on lockdown in parts of China.

Which countries are evacuating their people?

And what protocols do they need to follow in terms of containment once they get to the destination?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, no doubt that is going to be a part of this long journey for many of these folks, to go back to their home country. You mentioned that, 60 million, were talking about roughly the population of Italy. So a huge number, with regard to the countries that are specifically looking to evacuate their citizens.

We know for one the U.S. is doing that. In, fact they are planning to leave with a charter flight today. That is scheduled for later this evening Beijing time. And that will go back to the U.S. and the folks who are on board there include U.S. diplomats, their families as well as a select number of individuals who were able to get a seat on that plane. They will be a quarantine upon arrival. Anywhere from 72 hours to 14, days, so two weeks they will be able to conduct other folks.

People who could not get on that plane because of lack of space are hearing that there is some ground transportation at least to get them out of the city of Wuhan and out of Hubei in general. Japan is also working to get some of their citizens out. Some 200 are expected to be flying out, likewise, on a plane.

What is interesting, Rosemary, the plane that is taking the Japanese citizens out is that it is also bringing in protective masks and gear to help with the mass shortage that we are hearing, that doctors and nurses are having to deal with, I mean, lack of goggles, lack of masks, lack of hazmat suits.

South Korea also in talks to get their citizens out, as well as Australia, the U.K. and France. Overall, though it seems that the containment efforts are still stepping up, staying strong.

And as of now it seems, Rosemary, that the folks within that containment zone are still having the concerns of cross infection as well because they're in such close quarters so that is why they're asking people who are even staying there not to congregate into crowds.

CHURCH: Right and these mass lockdowns have human rights and public health implications, of course, so, what is being said about that?

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CULVER: Yes, the health implications in particular are what is really concerning for some doctors there. Here is what we are even reading on Chinese social media.

This is interesting. One doctor at one hospital within the city of Wuhan is actually advising folks who may feel the symptoms, perhaps they feel like they have a fever, not to come into the hospital. Wait until some of the symptoms either worsen or they feel like for sure they have had contact with somebody who has coronavirus.

They are asking people who just suspect they might have it not to come together into the hospitals. The reason they are saying that goes back to that cross infection concern.

They are worried that if you don't have it and you maybe have a fever that is unrelated and you get into a hospital setting in which people do have it, you are than potentially exposed and you are then potentially now a carrier. We are hearing from Chinese health officials, for up to two weeks, time that is very concerning, Rosemary.

CHURCH: David Culver joining us there from Beijing. Many thanks to, you.

I want to go to Blake now, who is live in Hong Kong.

Talk to us about what the city is doing to try to contain this virus and restrict infection. We just reported about people calling for the border to be shut down with the mainland.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Rosemary, Hong Kong seems to be shutting down in order to try to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

So far there have been eight confirmed cases here in Hong Kong. And chief executive Carrie Lam recently raised the disease control level to emergency. And as a result, you have, starting tomorrow, government employees asked to work from home.

You have sports centers, libraries, museums that will be closed. The two largest theme parks hearing Hong Kong, Disneyland and Ocean Park are closed indefinitely and schools are closed at least until mid November.

The fear here is that the spread of this virus could hit Hong Kong and spread rapidly. We have talked about that incubation period and the possibility to infect a lot of people. There is a real concern here. We have talked to people at the border.

We are actually near the border right now. And I want you to take a look around. Normally this place would be packed with people. This is a bus station that ferries people back and forth, to and from Mainland China.

And this place, we are told by an employee, has never been so dead. And that concern has to do with the fact that these people continue to cross the border, have just been over visiting family for the Lunar New Year and now the potential for them to come back and bring that virus with them.

That all being, said there are restrictions in place, mainly preventing anybody from the Hubei province from entering Hong Kong and anyone who has visited the Hubei province within the last 14 days and there is a little bit of a caveat there. If you are from Hong Kong you can get back in. But as you mentioned,

Rosemary, part of the issue with this current restrictions and the restrictions in place citywide is that there are people calling for the complete border closure. But at this point, Hong Kong's chief executive is saying that measure is inappropriate.

CHURCH: Blake, many thanks to you, bringing us that live report from Hong Kong. We will keep an eye on all of that.

And of, course estimating how many people could be infected presents a major challenge to health workers. A top U.S. doctor spoke earlier with CNN about measuring an outbreak like this one.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Right now, the R.O. is felt to be somewhere between 1.5 and 3, which is really, you know, higher than you would like it to be at all. You would like it to be less than 1.

And when I say get it under control, I mean getting that interruption of person to person so that individuals either don't infect on a one to one basis or no one at all and that's going to take some serious public health mitigation activities.

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CHURCH: And Wayne Dupleiss lives in Wuhan with his family. He joins us now live.

Thank you so much for talking with us. As you confront this very difficult situation for yourself and your family and friends, of course, now, you are in lockdown in a city of 11 million people with no public transport or taxis running right now.

How are you coping with everything?

WAYNE DUPLEISS, WUHAN RESIDENT: As best we can. We've been able to get out a couple of times and buy groceries and buy water and we've been able to find a local person that will deliver food and water. That is very helpful. We have not used that yet.

But right now we have enough and the worry, of course, is that, if this continues much longer, then we will have to rely on this person.

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DUPLEISS: And hopefully we won't have to make the trip out ourselves.

CHURCH: That is a real concern, of course.

And what are you being advised to do at this time?

Clearly the first advice seems to be, you are mentioning there, staying in the house. DUPLEISS: Yes, well, when this first came, up if you don't mind me

going back a little bit, when this first came up for us was just before the new year, not before the Chinese new year, before January 1st, I guess on the 30th, 31st and this is the first that we knew about it.

And we still had exams to go through and we did not take it as seriously as perhaps we should have. Having been through SARS, I was probably a bit more nonchalant about it then I should have been.

So we went through this and then afterwards, of course, we went on a holiday and then we came back to -- and then we came back. And a couple of days after returning last Monday, returning to Wuhan, the lockdown went into effect.

So then we were told of course, wash your hands and don't go out and wear masks and, of course, now they are talking about wearing goggles and, really don't congregate, don't get together in groups, don't go out. And that is what we are following.

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CHURCH: And there is a limited supply of these surgical masks as well, which is a concern for so many people.

So, what is the Canadian embassy telling you about any prospects to get out of Wuhan?

Is that what you want to do?

Do you want to be evacuated?

DUPLEISS: No. Forgive me and I think that it is probably not a good idea to be evacuating people, because you're putting people -- I think you're putting other people at a potential risk and this is only my personal opinion. I'm not a medical professional by any stretch of the imagination.

But you've got about a 14-day window, as I understand, it of incubation and you're putting people into an airplane with recycled air. And if someone is potentially infected and are asymptomatic, then there is a danger of infecting other people. So I think that we will stay put until we know more.

CHURCH: That is interesting because a lot of people very much want to be evacuated out. But that it is a consideration for sure.

And how long do you think Wuhan will be in lockdown?

And what is being done for those who have the coronavirus right now in Wuhan?

DUPLEISS: Well, the hospitals are certainly doing the best they can. And of course, understandably, they are overwhelmed. But they are building two field hospitals and they are doing it at a fairly accelerated pace. Originally it was going to be one and now it is two and the premier, forgive me for not knowing his, name did visit Wuhan the other day.

Other than that, it is just people in their homes, advising people who are not serious, don't, go to the hospital, don't go out. And relying on their families to take care of them.

CHURCH: It is such a difficult situation there. Thoughts are with you and your family and your friends and all of the people there in Wuhan and across China. It is just an unbelievable situation to have to deal with. Wayne Dupleiss, thank you so much for talking with us.

DUPLEISS: Thank you.

CHURCH: And we want to look at how the financial markets are reacting to the spread of the virus. And for more on that we turn to CNN's Anna Stewart, who joins us live from London.

Anna, there is concern, isn't, there?

What are you seeing in the markets?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another day of a selloff it looks like, Rosemary. But so into day two of a major global sell-off. Last week the market reaction to the coronavirus was much more mixed. I think two developments over the weekend really kick started this sell- off.

Firstly the idea that people can be passing on the virus and could be infectious without actually having any symptoms, that makes the spread much harder to control.

And then also, of course, China extending the Chinese Lunar New Year.

What does that mean?

Factories being closed, shops being, closed travel being restricted and for longer and longer and that has a huge impact on Chinese consumption and Chinese output. This is normally the time of year, of course, when China sees lots of travel, lots of spending because it is Lunar New Year. So they are not seeing any of that, So probably rather a large short-term impact on Chinese GDP there.

I can show you the Asian markets today. Now the Chinese embassies are all closed for the holiday. We are not expecting them to reopen until next week. But I can show you the Nikkei, down 0.5 percent.

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STEWART: And the KOSPI reopened after its holiday, taking into full account this selloff from yesterday, down 3 percent. Wall Street yesterday, very bad, day it was the biggest one-day fall for the Dow Jones, down 1.6, percent biggest one day drop since October, the Nasdaq the S&P 500 following suit.

Looking further ahead, though we have Europe opening in just under an hour and we have the U.S. futures there looking actually a little bit higher. So much, of course, will depend on how the virus spreads, whether we see it popping up in different, regions whether a vaccine can be developed and, of course, whether China has to continue this Lunar New Year longer and longer which will have an impact on the GDP -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All of those considerations, hopefully that vaccine we are talking about only being available in a year from, now they need to accelerate that for sure. Anna Stewart joining us live from London. Many thanks to you.

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CHURCH: It took only eight hours for Donald Trump's attorneys to address the elephant in the room on day six of his Senate impeachment trial. The revelations from former national security adviser John Bolton's book said that the president wanted to withhold aid from Ukraine until they announced investigations into his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

"The New York Times" reports the claims are part of a draft of his new book set for release in March. Now this could sway some Republicans to vote for Bolton to testify.

But the Trump legal team spent the day making the case against Biden and his son, Hunter, and defending the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Then, in the final hour came this.

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ALAN DERSHOWITZ, TRUMP ATTORNEY: If a president, any president, were to have done what "The Times" reported about the context of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offense.

Let me repeat. Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense.

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CHURCH: But are the new revelations enough to persuade at least four Republicans to vote for Bolton's testimony?

CNN's Jim Acosta reports that the White House says it is prepared either way.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A White House official says the president was watching today's trial coverage and was pleased with his defense team's presentation, that much we know at this point, in terms of the president's reaction.

Meanwhile White House officials have been spending much of the day responding to former national security adviser John Bolton's allegation that the president told him that aid to Ukraine would be on hold until investigations were announced into former Vice President Joe Biden.

The president said earlier today that this allegation was false but the stunning accusation blindsided senior White House officials over here as well as Republican leaders up on Capitol Hill, including the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.

But one indication of how much of a headache Bolton's allegation has become, listen to, this vice president's chief of staff Marc Short, has released a statement just a short while ago, insisting he has never heard the president connect aid to Ukraine to investigations of the Bidens.

And when you put this quote on screen, this from Marc, Short the vice president's chief of staff, saying, quote, "At no time did I hear him tie the aid to Ukraine to investigations into the Biden family or Burisma."

So, interesting that a top official put out a statement, essentially knocking down this allegation or attempting to knock down this allegation coming from the former national security adviser, John Bolton. The question now is of, course what happens next, as one top Republican official put it to me a short while ago, in three letters.

TBD, to be determined. But White House officials say the president's legal team is prepared to deal with Bolton if he ends up testifying.

But sources close to the president's legal team have said for a while now that Mr. Trump reserves the right to assert executive privilege and block John Bolton from testifying. The president has sounded cool to this idea of Bolton testifying but actually Bolton testifying could obviously trigger a massive court fight.

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CHURCH: Joining me now to talk more about the impeachment trial is Daniel Strauss, senior political reporter for "The Guardian."

Thanks for being with us.

DANIEL STRAUSS, "THE GUARDIAN": Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: For most of the presentation, President Trump's legal team avoided any mention of former national security adviser John Bolton and his bombshell revelation of a quid pro quo.

But then Alan Dershowitz argued that, even if the Bolton revelations were true, that still would not rise to an impeachable offense.

Is he right or is he wrong and how are Republicans responding to this?

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STRAUSS: What we have seen so far is the White House taking a very cautious approach the allegations in this new Bolton book. The argument that Trump did nothing wrong is the same core argument that his lawyers and Trump allies in and outside the White House have been making in recent days as the Trump defense team has opened up their arguments on the Senate floor.

So right now it is a pretty cautious approach. The White House has not even released a large number of statements in response to Bolton. They have left that to the National Security Council, which is charged with vetting a book like this, and his allies outside the organization.

CHURCH: Right, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell does not want any new witnesses to testify. He has made that very clear.

So how likely is it now, given what we know, that four GOP senators would break rank like, perhaps Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Alexander?

STRAUSS: Those are the names that have come up a lot and it is more likely than yesterday or any of the days leading up to the publication of this manuscript.

At the same time, though, this is a key priority for congressional Democrats right now, in this investigation to end and Republicans are loath to give them any ground but we have seen in most, I guess, moderate or the most open senators to something like this signal in the past few hours that they could vote to break ranks and allow witnesses here.

CHURCH: Right, the problem for the Republicans, their vulnerability here, is that they have complained that the House managers have failed to offer up any firsthand witnesses. Now they have one in Bolton, along with his bombshell revelations. If they fail to let him testify, how is that going to look for them?

Does it tell America this has all been a farce?

STRAUSS: It is a little unclear right, now how closely the Americans are following this but there is a sense, a sensitivity I think most American voters have to this impeachment trial and any sense that either Republicans or Democrats are doing this or acting in a way that they only have political gain in mind.

That has always been the fear about impeachment, that was the backlash that Newt Gingrich and congressional Republicans got in the '90s and that is the fear here.

CHURCH: And what about Chief Justice John Roberts?

Because he is presiding over this impeachment trial and he has the power to call witnesses.

How likely is it that he will exercise that power and subpoena Bolton and perhaps others?

STRAUSS: He has not really given a strong signal he's going to do that. And from the beginning of Justice Roberts' role in, this he has signaled that he wants to play the impartial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He takes his duties here very seriously and does not want to be seen as a partial or partisan actor in this process. CHURCH: We will see though, once he has digested all the additional

information, because presumably we will hear more of what is in this manuscript of John Bolton, right?

STRAUSS: Yes, there has been a continual drip, drip. "The Times" has a new story with more allegations from the manuscript.

CHURCH: We will see. We are watching very closely. Daniel Strauss, many thanks for joining us.

STRAUSS: Thanks.

CHURCH: And we have more details emerging about the helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant. Ahead, what officials have covered from the wreckage and what they're still searching for.

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CHURCH: Well, the tributes for basketball legend Kobe Bryant continue in Los Angeles. All flags in the city were lowered to half staff to honor the Laker great, who died Sunday, along with his daughter in a helicopter crash.

Both were remembered in this mural by L.A. artist Jules Monck (ph). She told CNN more people asked her to paint Bryant than anyone else and she started working on the mural as soon as she heard about his death.

The news has been felt far beyond Los Angeles. Bryant's childhood friends from Italy are sharing their memories.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I knew about it from a dear friend who sent me a message. I immediately thought it was fake news and I immediately sent him an email asking, tell me it is not true. He didn't reply.

Then I received a lot of phone calls and messages. The biggest tragedy was knowing about the death of his daughter, because when he came here five years ago he came with his two daughters and the oldest was here in Italy with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Kobe was that little guy who came here, we were 17 or 18 years old and he was 10. He had that grit that champions have. Even when they are young, they share that strength, that tenacity to have success and this was visible.

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CHURCH: Some incredible memories there.

And meantime, investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the crash and they have been combing through the wreckage looking for more clues. CNN's Nick Watt has the very latest.

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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NTSB investigators will be on the ground here in California for a number of days primarily gathering information. And later they will determine the how and the why.

There was no black box aboard this helicopter. There is not required to be a black box but the pilot did have an iPad which will be analyzed by investigators.

Now, we were also taken through the final moments of this flight by Jennifer Homendy, a board member of the NTSB. She said that the final radio contact with the pilot telling air traffic that he was going to climb to avoid a cloud.

The helicopter climbed to about 2,300 feet and took a left descending turn, crashing into the hillside about 1,200 feet below at a high speed because that crash scene is -- that debris field is large.

Now, the coroner's office is still working to gather human remains and then to identify those human remains. Jennifer Homendy said, "We will find an answer." Listen, it might take some time but she is absolutely 100 percent confident that they will find out why this aircraft crashed.

As she puts it, they look into man, machine and environment to figure out what went wrong so they can try and stop a similar accident happening in the future.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's department say they have been forced to now patrol 24 hours the area on horseback and on ATV because there are people trying to access the scene.

All this, of course, as the family, as the Lakers organization, as Los Angeles continues to mourn. The Clippers and the Lakers were supposed to be playing at Staples Center Tuesday evening. That game has been postponed -- Nick Watt, CNN, Calabasas.

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CHURCH: The White House is ready to announce its plan for peace in the Middle East. President Trump has the Israeli prime minister's support without the Palestinians on board. We will have a live report.

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Plus, a key Brexit milestone is just days away. A top E.U. official outlines the biggest challenges ahead in an exclusive interview with CNN. Back with that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. China is sending more medical teams Hubei province, home to the city of Wuhan and the heart of the coronavirus outbreak. The death toll in China now stands at 106 with more than 4,500 infected. The US is now urging Americans to reconsider travel to all of China.

Revelation from John Bolton's book may persuade some Senate Republicans to compel his testimony in Donald Trump's impeachment trial. The former National Security Advisor's book purportedly claims the president tied aid Ukraine to investigations into his Democratic rival Joe Biden. President Trump's impeachment attorney says that's not an impeachable offense.

Holocaust survivors returned to Auschwitz on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp. More than one million people died there and the gas chambers or from starvation and disease, most of them were Jews. The anniversary comes as anti- Semitism is on the rise around the world.

Well, Saudi Arabia's new foreign minister is speaking out on the murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was asked about the case and the country's handling of it by Nic Robertson in an exclusive interview. Take listen.

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FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL-SAUD, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SAUDI ARABIA: The killing of Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible crime. It should never have happened. And it has, of course, been -- have a very profound effect on all of us Saudis. It's something that we feel very deeply about, and it's something that the government feels very strongly about.

And we have quite clearly said that we have a responsibility to hold those responsible, accountable. There have been trials, and those directly involved in the murder have been convicted. And more importantly, we have worked very hard to institute necessary reforms in our security apparatus to ensure that something like this can never happen again.

This has been led by the leadership specifically by the Crown Prince to make sure that we have the safeguards in place that something like this won't happen again.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There are many friends of Saudi Arabia who would look at the trial process of Jamal Khashoggi and say that it really doesn't have the transparency that they would expect to see to give them the confidence that these aspirations of the kingdom to make sure this can never happen again, that that transparency, isn't there. Where does the trial stand now? And why doesn't -- why isn't there this transparency?

AL-SAUD: There is a level of transparency that we thought was necessary. The permanent five members of the United Nations were allowed to attend the court case. Of course, most importantly, the family of Jamal Khashoggi was allowed to attend the trial and that's a primary right within the Saudi judicial system.

ROBERTSON: Is this finished now? Is this -- is the trial all over or is there more to happen?

AL-SAUD: The trial -- the initial trial has concluded. Those accused have been convicted. They, of course, have the right to appeal. And those appeals will go forward as is normal in the Saudi judicial system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, meanwhile, on the subject of Middle East peace, the foreign minister says Saudi Arabia is supportive of a resolution between the Israelis and Palestinians. He says that once that happens, Saudi Arabia might move to start relations with Israel. And in just a few hours, President Trump will stand alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he announces his administration's Middle East peace plan.

After meeting with Mr. Netanyahu Monday, President Trump said he had his support along with other parties. However, Palestinian leaders say they reject the plan as they have not been included in the talks. So let's turn now to Oren Liebermann. He joins us live from Jerusalem.

And Oren, as we just reported, the Palestinians are not happy. They've been left out. This is seen as little more than a political gift to Benjamin Netanyahu.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And that's very much how it's being viewed to the point here. Well, the head of the Labor Party wrote a letter -- party letterhead to President Donald Trump saying this looked like nothing but election interference.

Now, the White House has tried to downplay that accusation by inviting not only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also rival Benny Gantz to meetings at the White House yesterday. They met with the president separately and got briefed on the details of the plan, although they had been very quiet about what was in those details to this point.

We will find out of course this afternoon from President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But even that is a gift to Netanyahu being seen standing by Trump as the plan itself is unveiled. Could this be politically damaging to Netanyahu in some way? Yes.

Theoretically, it could be if it calls for wide-ranging concessions to the Palestinians, the creation of a Palestinian state, perhaps the dividing of some part of East Jerusalem and allowing that perhaps to be the capital of a future state of Palestine conditional upon certain requirements met by the Trump administration, sure. But widely, this is very much seem to be a peace proposal that veers more towards the Israeli side than anything we've seen put on the table in the past.

And that's exactly why, among many other reasons, the Palestinians have already rejected this calling, not the deal of the century, but the fraud of the century. Hamas has already called for protests today and tomorrow along the Gaza border fence. We expect to see protests as well in the West Bank. And then from there, we'll see how this goes.

Interestingly, Trump said he had the support of the Arab states and they like it, except they've been very quiet on this. They, it seems, want time to gauge what's in this as well. If they don't outright reject it, if they accept part of this, it's very possible that behind the scenes, they'll put pressure on the Palestinians to at least consider this. And that could be very problematic to the Palestinians as they've rejected the proposal outright and haven't had contact with the administration in two years.

CHURCH: All right, many thanks to our Oren Liebermann bringing us the very latest there from Jerusalem. I appreciate it. We are just days away from the next major step on the road to Brexit as the U.K. will formally leave the European Union on Friday. The two sides have until the end of the year to work out legal and trade matters. So let's turn to CNN Nina dos Santos. She's live this hour in Brussels with all the details.

And Nina, after all the political fighting, after all the back and forth, Brexit is now happening. So what are the steps that have to be taken at this point?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there's many people here in Brussels who can't believe that they've finally come to the finish line here. The finish line is as you said, Rosemary, Friday at midnight, Brussels time, not U.K. time, by the way. It'll be 11:00 p.m. U.K. time. When Big Ben strikes that hour, the U.K. will finally be out of the E.U.

This is a 50-year long relationship that these two big trading partners are dissolving here. That's left many people across this capital city of Belgium, which is of course home to the main institutions of the E.U. incredibly sad. There's a solemn feeling here in the air as of course, the European Parliament will finally ratify that, a torturous withdrawal agreement.

Tomorrow in a plenary session, then they'll bid goodbye to about 100 or a couple of hundred British MEPs, members of the European Parliament who've now effectively lost their jobs and will have to leave back to Britain. And then finally, as I said on Friday, the deal is done.

I sat down with the President of the European Parliament to discuss how he felt on this momentous occasion.

[02:40:50]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOS SANTOS: We've come to the end of the 47-year long economic partnership. Brexit is set to happen this week, like it or not. Now starts a new relationship. In all honesty, where do you think that relationship will lead? DAVID SASSOLI, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (through translator): Well, we said, of course, that this is a wound for us to think of London as far from Brussels and Rome and Paris. Certainly, pain involved in that. But we have to respect the will of the British citizens and a new chapter in relations with the U.K.

We know that there are many, many topics and subjects and the agreement will go into thousands and thousands of pages. And obviously, we all have to have the sufficient time to develop a good agreement.

DOS SANTOS: The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be visiting the United Kingdom on this very week when Brexit is taking place. The U.S. has made it clear it wants a free trade agreement with the U.K., Downing Street has made it clear at wants a free trade agreement with the U.S. Does the E.U. feel like it's being placed in a beauty contest against these two trading powers for the most advantageous deal for the U.K. as soon as possible?

SASSOLI (through translator): We just hope that the U.K. should continue to have traditional relations with both the E.U. and the U.S. We don't have any jealousy problems there. But I think it's in the interests of everybody, Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. to have a strong cooperation between all of us.

DOS SANTOS: This week marks the 75th anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in this region's recent history. And I know that you will be welcoming survivors of Auschwitz including some from Italy here to the European Parliament this week to mark that moment with them. Personally, do you think this continent and this block will ever see another war?

SASSOLI (through translator): The European Union was born from the catastrophe of World War II. And this happened because all the countries who were used to waging war against each other came together in the European Union and we want to reinforce that. I think we have to be very strict, very severe with regard to the factors which are compelling our societies to espouse hatred, and anti-Semitism is a European version.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOS SANTOS: So, Rosemary, this is a week when, of course, there is division because obviously one big important founding member of the European Union is essentially cleaving itself off and embarking upon a new course of history. But David Sassoli there, the head of the European Parliament said he didn't think that there'd be another Brexit-like moment either in the European Parliament or during his lifetime.

And he also said that this was a week of building upon the foundations of togetherness of what Europe represents after, of course, Friday comes about and Brexit happens. He expressed some skepticism about whether or not that trading deal, new free trade agreement that the U.K. wants to strike with the European Union can be achieved within the next year to come as per Boris Johnson's deadline of the 31st of December this year.

But for now, there is a solemn mood here in Brussels. As I said, British flags will be taken off some institutions including the European Parliament throughout the course of the week in a very discreet manner as the U.K. leaves. They want to keep discretion in the order of the day here, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, many thanks to our Nina Dos Santos for bringing us that live report from Brussels. We'll take a short break here. Still to come, U.S. presidential candidates are preparing for the key Iowa caucuses next week. Ahead, we will take a look at Joe Biden, one of the Democratic frontrunners. Back in the moment with that.

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[02:45:00]

CHURCH: Well, in just a few days, the first major votes of the 2020 U.S. presidential race will be cast in Iowa. The state's caucuses will be held Monday marking the start of the Democratic nominating contest. CNN's Bianca Nobilo looks at one of the front runner Former Vice President Joe Biden and tells us what we can expect on the campaign trail.

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden running for president seem to go hand in hand. He's running for the third time. He tried in 1988 and 2008, but failed to win the nomination both times. So one thing that he doesn't lack is experience. Around the world, he's best known as being United States 47th Vice President, serving with President Barack Obama between 2009 and early 2017. And it's that experience the Biden leans on a lot in the campaign trail.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My opponents want to believe I served from 1972 to 2008, and then took (INAUDIBLE) in the next eight years. They don't want to talk much about my time as vice president of the United States. It was the honor of my lifetime to serve with a man who I believe is a great president, historic figure, and most importantly, a close friend.

NOBILO: But it isn't just those eight years that he can cite. Biden was a senator for Delaware for more than three decades, from 1973 to 2009. And the polls look good for him. He's consistently topping national polls of candidates. So where does he stand on the issues? Well, he's more to the center than some of the candidates and lists amongst the strengths that he's worked across the aisle with Republicans well in Congress.

He's got one overarching theme that this election is a battle for the soul of the nation, even put it on the side of the bus. He care deeply also about curing cancer. The death of his son Bo in 2015 from brain cancer is given as one of the reasons that he didn't run for president in 2016. On foreign policy, Biden points to his decades of experience, both as vice president and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But a long record and public office can also have its pitfalls, with

Biden criticized by other candidates for many of his past decisions, especially around the Iraq war. And then there's impeachment. Now he didn't get impeached, Donald Trump did, but his name has been all over the process as a result of his son's time on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

Despite the fact that there's no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either him or his son Hunter, whether Mr. Trump's impeachment trial means that Biden will suffer at the polls remains to be seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:50:25]

CHURCH: Bianca Nobilo there. Well, TRACE is a media company specializing in Afro-urban culture. It has millions of young viewers tuning into its mixture of music and sports shows, especially in Sub- Saharan Africa. Well, now its founder wants to move the company into the world of education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Olivier Laouchez is a man with a million plans. The chairman and CEO of TRACE is hoping to leverage the popularity of his many music channels to encourage people to engage with the learning process as well as vocational training. The project is called TRACE Academia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TRACE Academia is a new generation online learning platform.

OLIVIER LAOUCHEZ, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, TRACE: So we said, let's apply what we know from our entertainment expertise to education. And let's also use the power of digital or these interactive features that now exist thanks to digital. And let's also try to get the expertise of jobs where it is expert of job is with the companies.

So we decided to mix these two different events, entertainment, digital industry expertise to build a new platform, what we call an entertainment platform that will bring massive innovation to the vocational training activity in Africa and to the rest of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are the voice U.K. urban culture.

CHURCH: While being fun and cool is central to the TRACE brand, education is something it's also taking very seriously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are TRACE.

CHURCH: Paris based digital agency Viz Media has been tasked with creating an online learning platform.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is the desktop version. And of course --

THOMAS BAUDIN, TRACE ACADEMIA: In the end, success is going to be measured as a number of success stories. And a success story for us is going to be, you know, I am a learner. I learned on TRACE Academia and I got a job in the end.

CHUCH: Born in Martinique with a home in South Africa and his head office in France, Laouchez is a truly global citizen. He wants to make sure that everyone is offered an opportunity to succeed.

LAOUCHEZ: If we can business perform and make a game-changer for the lives of people, a positive game-changer, then I will have considered that accomplished kind of dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:55:00]

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CHURCH: Good to see it. And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. You're watching CNN. Do stick around.

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