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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Three Dead In Shooting At U.S. Navy Base; White House Will Not Defend Trump At House Hearing; Uber Under Scrutiny After Sex Assault Report; Suspects In India Rape And Murder Killed By Police; U.S. Unemployment Rate Ties 50-Year Low; Johnson, Corbyn Face Off In Final Debate Before Vote; 'Miracle' Woman Survives Six-Hour Cardiac Arrest. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired December 06, 2019 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: the President's biggest defenders. That's at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern on Sunday. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter @jaketapper. Tweet the show @TheLeadCNN. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. Have a great weekend.
[17:00:00]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Tonight on THE BRIEF a deadly shooting at a U.S. naval base. What we're now learning about the suspected gunman. Completely
baseless, the White House responds to House Democrats about Monday's impeachment hearing just minutes before a key deadline. And face-to-face
the Tory and Labour leaders share a stage for the final time ahead of that crucial vote.
And I am Paula Newton for Bianca Nobilo. Thanks for joining us and welcome to the show.
The FBI is investigating a deadly shooting at a U.S. Naval Base in Florida. Now, officials say the suspected gunman was a member of Saudi Arabia's Air
Force. And we will get to the details of that in a moment.
This person was apparently training at the base when he opened fire inside a classroom. Three people were killed and several more injured before the
gunman was eventually killed by deputies.
Now, investigators are looking into whether the attack was, of course, terror related. U.S. President Donald Trump says he spoke to the Saudi King
who offered his condolences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter. And that this person in no
way, shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: OK. Sam Kiley is in Abu Dhabi for us. But first we want to head straight to the Pentagon and our Barbara Starr. I mean, Barbara, this story
completely changed - already horrific when we learn the details this morning.
And yet then learning that this was a trainee - a military trainee from Saudi Arabia. How does that change things?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think it's first important to remember that over the years thousands of foreign military
personnel have come to the United States for a variety of military training classes and inflate air training.
The U.S. kind of provides this to foreign militaries for good reason. It helps them be well-trained. It means that U.S. doesn't have to do
everything around the world. It helps train them in human rights, laws of war that kind of thing. There have not been a lot of cases, thankfully, of
this kind of tragedy. So that's important to say first.
The Saudi national, he's now identified as Mohammed Alshamrani, said to be a member of the Saudi Royal Air Force was in Pensacola for that training.
This morning early entered a classroom, had a handgun and killed three and wounded eight before he was killed by a local sheriff, part of the
emergency response on the base - that came to the base very quickly.
Look, everybody will be looking at this case, trying to figure out what they can learn from it. How, in fact, did he get a handgun on the base.
Weapons - personal weapons not allowed at this base. So there are going to be plenty of questions to answer.
No solid answer on motive yet. Are they looking at terrorism? Yes. But officials are emphasizing they simply don't know what the motive was in
this case, Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. And, obviously, they're being very careful. But terror would be something they'd be looking at. Barbara Starr thanks so much for keeping
us up to date on that. We want to go to our Sam Kiley now who's been in the region and will let us know. And to put a finer point on it Sam, this is a
person who would have had a privileged position - right - to be able to enter the United States on this kind of training program. The Saudis must
be a bit shocked?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Saudis moved incredibly and very uncharacteristically quickly, first in contacting - and
significantly it was King Salman not his son, who contacted the White House. Spoke personally to Donald Trump, who was very quick, again, to
tweet about it.
And then the Saudis have followed up with an official statement through their national news service reiterating the points made by the King to the
U.S. President that Saudi Arabia describe this as a heinous crime that would leave immediate condolences to the families of those who've been
killed and injured, and promising critically every aspect of cooperation from Saudi Arabia's security services.
Now, of course, this comes at a time when the tensions between Saudi Arabia and nearby Iran are almost at fever pitch following what has been widely
blamed on Iran a rocket attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities a couple of months ago.
They're been maneuvers and clashes and standoffs in the Arabian or Persian Gulf just a few meters from where I'm standing here in Abu Dhabi. And this
really could not come at a worse time for the Saudis in the aftermath of the whole Khashoggi case. And, of course, it will also trigger memories of
the large numbers of peoples from Saudi Arabia who were involved in the 9/11 atrocities.
[17:05:00]
So for Saudi perspective they need to move fast and they have done, and they've recognized that this is a problem that needs to be put out as
rapidly as possible. There is no immediate confirmation that this is in any way related to terrorism. But that is automatically going to be an
assumption of working.
The FBI now involved in both Saudi Arabia and in the United States in trying to figure out whether or not this was a terrorist attack. It could
just be a standard killing of somebody who's suffering mental health problems. But from the Saudi perspective, it's a diplomatic nightmare.
NEWTON: Yes. The issue, though, is of course the screening of whomever goes over to the United States for that kind of training. Sam Kiley for us in
Abu Dhabi appreciate it.
Now, just minutes ago, the White House told the U.S. Congress it would not defend Donald Trump at the remaining impeachment hearings. And the U.S.
House of Representatives will hold a hearing Monday where staffers from both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees will deliver reports on
their impeachment investigations.
Now Democrats had invited the White House to try and participate here. But the President's lawyers declined, saying the impeachment inquiry is
"completely baseless" and in their words "unfair. "
Now, after Monday's hearing, the Judiciary Committee is expected to draft and then vote on articles of impeachment with an eye toward having the
entire House vote on impeachment wrapped up the week before Christmas.
We want to check into the White House now with CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who's been following all of this. Look, Kaitlan, I'm sure no one in Washington
had money on the President actually participating here and yet could this still be a risky strategy for the White House?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, essentially the way they view it is what difference would it make if we did participate? And
they're pointing to something that the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday when she said that she recommended they move forward with those
articles of impeachment.
And, of course, that was before the White House had given their final answer about whether or not they were going to send an attorney or anyone
else to that hearing on Monday.
Now, the critics of the White House will push back on that, and say, well, they've had their opportunity for weeks now to participate and they still
haven't chosen to do so. We weren't expecting them to do so now. So this essentially isn't a surprise.
This letter from Pat Cipollone, it's about two paragraphs. It came about 25 minutes before the deadline to give their answer about whether or not they
were going to participate. And while it doesn't explicitly state, no, we're not showing up on Monday. White House officials say that's exactly what
that means.
And you'll listen to it they're essentially criticizing this probe, as we've seen them do in the past. And at the end, the White House attorney
Pat Cipollone is quoting the President where he tweeted yesterday and said "whatever course you choose, as the President has recently stated. If you
going to impeach me, do it now fast, so we can have a fair trial to the Senate and so that our country can get back to business."
That's essentially what you're hearing from White House officials. They're ignoring what's happening right now in the House. They're going to start
looking ahead to that Senate trial and what their defense there is going to be like and they are counting on that being a potentially successful
strategy.
Now the question is whether or not there - are there any other roadblocks for the White House or surprises in between now and then, whether anyone
else comes forward to testify or, as you've seen, there's been this intense scrutiny over Rudy Giuliani in recent days and the calls that he had with
people in the White House who we still have not identified.
Despite that scrutiny, Rudy Giuliani is still traveling to Ukraine in recent days for meetings. So, of course, that is something that is not
sitting well with people in the White House over here who wish that would not happen, so they could just focus on what their defense strategy is
going to look like.
NEWTON: Yes. At best that is a distraction. At worst, it could continue to be damaging to the President. Kaitlan Collins for us at the White House,
appreciate it.
Now Uber has released its first ever report on sexual assault and abuse. One year after a CNN investigation highlighted this issue. Now the ride
hailing service says, since 2017 in the U.S. alone, it received a total of 5,981 complaints, including 464 reports of rape.
Uber says those numbers are in fact low, considering that has provided 2.3 billion U.S. trips during those years. But it says it is committed to
safety, of course, and will use data from its report to make further improvements.
OK. There's been a swift and in fact surprising end to a horrific rape and murder case in India. Four men suspected of killing and burning a 27-year-
old victim - all shot and killed by police. Ram Ramgopal has details on a case, that's again putting in the spotlight the incidents of sexual
violence right across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAM RAMGOPA, CNN EDITORIAL NEGOTIATOR-AT-LARGE (voice over): This is what justice looks like to some. Four men lie dead in a field in Hyderabad. Shot
and killed by police. The men were accused of the horrific murder of a 27 year old woman who was gang raped, strangled and then set on fire.
The Police Commissioner said the suspects who were in custody at the time had been brought to the scene of the crime in search of evidence when--
V. C. SAJJANAR, HYDERABAD POLICE COMMISSIONER: They started attacking police party with stones, sticks and other materials. And also they
snatched away weapons from our two officers and started firing. So, again, our people started in retaliation. In that retaliation the four accused got
killed.
[17:10:00]
RAMGOPAL (voice over): The actions of Police are being celebrated by many in this community who were outraged by the woman's murder. Huge crowds
gathered at the scene showering police with flowers to express their gratitude.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From now whenever someone even thinks of doing such a thing, they'll think 10 times before actually doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appeal to all Indian police follow the Telangana Police.
RAMGOPAL (voice over): The rape and murder case has caused widespread protests across India, with many demonstrators demanding the death penalty
for the men. Sexual assault often goes unpunished in India.
India's National Crime Records Bureau says there are around 100 sexual assaults reported every day, but many of them are never resolved in court,
because the system is so backlogged.
There are serious questions about the actions of police in this case. Amnesty International called for an independent investigation and some
lawmakers are questioning whether police took the law into their own hands.
MANEKA GANDHI, BJP PARTY: Those people were in any case going to get hanging as a punishment for the heinousness of their crime. But you cannot
kill people, because you want to.
SHASHI THAROOR, CONGRESS PARTY: In the country with rule of law, obviously, we want justice to be done through the judicial process.
RAMGOPAL (voice over): But for the victim's family there is a sense of closure that the courts may never have brought.
VICTIM'S FATHER: I would like to thank and congratulate the government, police and all those who supported me. It is now that my daughter so must
have gotten peace.
Ram Ramgopal, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: OK. Coming up here on THE BRIEF, a hot economy, a hot microphone and a hot debate about impeachment. Our political "Debrief" takes a look at
U.S. President Donald Trump's wild weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: OK. In our "Debrief" tonight, a look back at U.S. President Donald Trump's ups and downs during a week that even by the Trump White House
standards featured a dizzying array of twists and turns.
Now the ups included the November jobs report. Who could ignore that? As U.S. unemployment tied a 50 year low and more than a quarter of a million
jobs were added to the economy.
Now the downs, though, included an embarrassing moment at the NATO summit when a hot mic caught allied leaders joking about Mr. Trump. But the most
potentially significant development came when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed the Judiciary Committee to write up articles of
impeachment, historic they were for Mr. Donald Trump's impeachment.
Joining me now to discuss the week are two Republican strategist, Alice Stewart a former Communications Director for Senator Ted Cruz and Doug
Heye, a former Communications Director for the Republican National Committee.
[17:15:00]
Guys I haven't seen you in a while. Good to see you, especially on this kind of a week.
Alice, I want to start with you. I want you to try and put this entire week into context. I mean, look, it didn't go very well in the beginning. It
seemed, for many, when he was overseas at the NATO conference he left early.
And yet, really a drop the mic moment, if we could use that for this kind of a jobs report. How do you think the White House is feeling right now?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Paula, I think in baseball terms you're only as good as your last game if you're a pitcher. And the
White House will look back at this week and look at the last day and they will view this through the lens of the economy.
And they are celebrating at the White House with the great jobs report that came out today. 266,000 jobs created in the month of November. unemployment
at historic lows at 3.5 percent and the wage growth at a great number. That is what the White House will look at, because that is what Americans are
considering.
They understand the economy is critical to Americans or 2020, but overall, and people want to see that there are jobs being created. The pay for jobs
is also going up. That's what the White House is going to look at.
The impeachment was a foregone conclusion. We knew that Dems had baked that cake with regard to moving forward with impeachment long ago and the
President has said quite clearly and his attorney, let's go ahead and wrap this up in the House. If you want to impeach, go ahead, send it over to the
Senate, because we all recognize that the Republican led Senate is not going to move forward with that.
NEWTON: Yes. And Doug take the temperature for me will those voters who are - not necessarily in the Republican base, but really on the margins of that
Republican base, right. When they're looking at this kind of number they wake up to this kind of an economic report on this president. How do you
think he's feeling about 2020 going into this?
DOUGLAS HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is the biggest wind in the sails that the President could have and it also highlights, I think, one of
the real frustrations that so many Republican members of Congress have is.
Whenever there is good economic news, we know almost for a certainty that we're not going to spend a lot of time talking about it, because whether
it's impeachment now or whatever we've seen over the past two or three years, whenever there's been good economic news, something else steps on
that. And that certainly is the case with impeachment.
I talked to a member of Congress today who announced their resignation earlier this week who told me. If I got to focus on jobs every first Friday
of the month instead of whatever outrage du jour that we get from the President, I might have stuck around.
And ultimately it means that the voters aren't hearing the good news that this administration has. They hear a whole lot of the bad news. I think
it's up to the President, whether it's through Twitter or not using Twitter, or through other means of communication, to make sure that this is
what voters here, because if you have these kinds of economic numbers in our nation's history, you are certain to be re-elected and obviously Donald
Trump isn't certain right now.
NEWTON: Yes, exactly. They don't want him making history in another way given the good platform that he has right now. Alice, I have to ask you,
though. You know, a lot of people are already saying, if we set this up into 2020, not even knowing who the Democratic nominee will be, it's those
swing states.
Right now - I want to show you right now just some of the job losses in swing states in manufacturing. And you know when you look at that
manufacturing base those are the people that the voters are going to be looking for in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Ohio. They are still taking it on
the chin when it comes to those bread and butter jobs.
How much do you think that - with that added discipline that the White House and the President might need. How much do you think they're going to
start zeroing in on this in the next few weeks?
STEWART: It's going to be crucial that he not only continues to push the good economic numbers outside of the key swing states and these early
states, but across the country. And, look, the progress with regard to the GM plants - the General Motors plant and those people going back to work,
that is good news.
The White House would be wise to focus on these early states - these key swing states and doing everything they can to encourage and promote and
incentivize job creation, economic incentives for businesses going into these areas and either building from scratch or growing where they
currently have, because that is critical and that's going to be important for 2020 as well as moving forward.
But it's really hard to dispute the success of these numbers. We've heard from very liberal commentators and Democrats on the Hill who have
acknowledged much to their chagrin by saying that this really helps in the President's re-election prospects with these good numbers.
NEWTON: Yes, and they are good numbers. And you said, especially if they get any kind of wind in the sails with the trade deal, that that those
might still get better. Doug, you know, what's been interesting here - and when we bring the impeachment debate back into this.
There is barely - I don't even know one Republican politician in the country right now that's ready to defy this President. What do they know
that we shouldn't listen to right now in terms of what are we not hearing. What do those Republic know that we don't?
[17:20:00]
HEYE: Well, what they are - it's what they're hearing ultimately. It's what they hear when they go back to their states and their districts. And
ultimately it's overwhelming that Donald Trump is not just popular, and we see that in so much polling that Donald Trump is 85 or 90 percent approval
rating with Republican voters. It's the intensity of those voters.
They don't support Donald Trump. They really, really support Donald Trump. And that's what members of Congress hear every time they go home. So
whatever frustrations they may have when they're walking through the corridors of Congress, because Trump tweeted something, some administration
plan is unpopular, whatever it may be.
When they go home to their districts and their states, what they hear overwhelmingly is, not, you need to support the President's policies. It's
that you need to support the President and that's the difference.
STEWART: And Paula, it's also the Democrats. There are a lot of Democrats in the House that are serving in Trump won districts. They realize if they
vote actually for this impeachment that will hurt them in 2020.
NEWTON: And that's why that all important vote will be really interesting to watch next couple of weeks. To both of you, I only wish you were in
studio with me, but good to see you anyway. I appreciate this conversation.
STEWART: Me too.
HEYE: We would love to come there. We absolutely--
STEWART: Thanks Paula.
NEWTON: An invitation is on the way. Thanks so much guys.
STEWART: Thanks Paula.
NEWTON: Now from that U.S. election to the British election. A short time ago the leaders of the two main parties in the U.K. wrapped up their final
debate before voters cast their votes in the next week's crucial ballot.
Now British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn clashed over a range of issues, including the National Health
Service and the economy. Brexit, of course, was that key topic. Here is what Jeremy Corbyn had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CORBYN, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Nobody voted to lose their job or to lose trade with Europe. People voted for many, many reasons. But I
think we've got to come together and bring this issue to an end, not go down the road of sweetheart deals with the USA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, on Friday, a senior British diplomat resigned in protest over the government's handling of Brexit. The diplomat sharply criticized the
government for telling "half-truths" on Brexit. That came up in tonight's debate and here is how Boris Johnson responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK ROBINSON, BBC PRESENTER: Boris Johnson, does it worry you that a leading British diplomat has resigned today saying that she would no longer
wanted to peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't know who you're referring to. But what it shows to me is that we need to move on as a
country, because there are plenty of people who are irreconcilable opposed to Brexit.
And I think that actually what we should do is respect the will of the people. People talk about trust in politics. Look at the promises that were
made repeatedly by Mr. Corbyn, by all the other parties that they would honor the Referendum result. They're refusing to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Anna Stewart joins me now from London. Anna, I'm not sure this categorizes must see TV. But having said that what did we learn and is
there anything here that would change the polls?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, this was the last head-to-head debate, a final showdown. If you thought we were going to get a knockout blow and
everything was going to change tonight, you'd be disappointed.
It was much of the same claims, same promises, same attacks that we've actually heard for the last few weeks. The best hits, if you will, Boris
Johnson saying Jeremy Corbyn doesn't have a stance on Brexit. Saying, that is a failure of leadership.
Jeremy Corbyn saying, Boris Johnson can't be trusted. So more eloquent, I would say, but much of the same stuff we've heard. I guess, they've
practiced, they've rehearsed it back and forth plenty. I don't think it's moved the needle at all. Paula.
NEWTON: Well and in terms of not having moved the needle at all. It's been interesting about how this election has squared up to be about Brexit, but
not about Brexit. Is there any issue beyond Brexit that could really change things in the next six days?
STEWART: I don't see anything at the moment that could really change the situation. Brexit is, of course, one of the key, key topics that we hear up
and down the country wherever we go and speak to people about how they're going to vote.
There is, of course, lots of people that don't know how they're going to vote yet. So they will be critical in the next few days. It's five days
more of campaigning. That is a very long time in politics.
We do get surprises each day. Just today we had two former prime ministers, one Conservative, one Labour. We had John Major, we had Tony Blair, both
speaking at an anti-Brexit rally and actually both endorsing candidates not from their own party, which is an extraordinary political event when you
consider it.
So there will be plenty more to come, but this time next week, Paula, we should have a new government here in the U.K. and all of this will be over.
NEWTON: You know, in those non-endorsements, let's call them, I kind of hear the echo of OK Boomer, perhaps that was uncharitable event. There we
are. Anna, thanks for staying up for us and have a great weekend, appreciate it.
Now, when THE BRIEF returns imagine having cardiac arrest that lasts four hours - I'm talking hours, and then surviving and recovering. This is what
happened to this lady right there. We'll explain how after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:25:00]
NEWTON: Doctors in Spain are baffled after a British woman suffered a six hour cardiac arrest and survived.
Audrey Schoeman was caught in a snowstorm while hiking the Pyrenees mountain range with her husband. She suffered severe hypothermia, which
ironically, was really the condition that saved her life. That's because the extreme drop in body temperature that stopped her heart, also slowed
her brain metabolism.
Now doctors told CNN that the human brain usually suffers irreparable damage if the heart stops beating for just five minutes. Audrey survived
for six hours. They say, she will, in fact, be returning to work on Monday, just over a month after this incident. And suffice it to say she will have
very interesting tea breaks and a lively conversation when she does get back there. Extraordinary, really.
I'm Paula Newton in for Bianca Nobilo on THE BRIEF. WORLD SPORT is up next.
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