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White House Blocks Key Witness from Testifying before Congress; Schiff Says Blocking Testimony Is Further Evidence of Obstruction; Kurdish Forces: Turkey Is Shelling One Point in Northern Syria; Defector Risks Everything to Reveal Assad's Atrocities. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 09, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause, live from Studio 7 at CNN World Headquarters.

Trump's play of strut (ph), the official White House defense to impeachment could be the basis for impeachment.

Trump to Syrian Kurds, you're special, wonderful and not abandoned. But they have been abandoned. A U.S. ally left to the mercy of a Turkish military operation set to begin at any moment.

And a wakeup call for U.S. corporations, sucking up to the communist lords in Beijing, America's NBA might soon find out the real cost of free speech.

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VAUSE: The White House might just have declared all-out war on the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, announcing a legal and political and PR strategy which amounts to stonewalling.

Every move by Democrats. The latest example came Tuesday when the State Department blocked E.U. ambassador Gordon Sondland from testifying before Congress . President Trump still insists there's nothing wrong with asking Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden but text messages show Sondland knew of concerns from senior U.S. diplomat Bill Taylor, who tested it was crazy to withhold military aid to Ukraine for help with a U.S. political campaign.

Sondland claimed there was quid pro quo and he can now expect to be subpoenaed by Democrats.

Earlier on Tuesday, the president tweeted, "I would love to send Ambassador Sondland a really good man and a great American to testify but unfortunately he would be testifying before a clearly compromised kangaroo court where Republican's (sic) rights have been taken away and true facts are not allowed out for the public to see." Just to be clear this White House would not cooperate in any way with

the impeachment inquiry, they put it in writing in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, all but daring her to hold a formal vote to make the inquiry official. She says there is no need and that the president's behavior speaks for itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The president is obstructing Congress from getting the facts that we need. It is an abuse of power for him to act in this way and that is one of the reasons that we have an impeachment inquiry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Support for an impeachment inquiry has surged, 58 percent are now in favor according to a "Washington Post" poll up from just 30.7 percent in July.

For more I'm joined by CNN's Ron Brownstein in Los Angeles, he's also senior editor at "The Atlantic." And with us is CNN's Ross Garber.

It's good to have you with us. The administration has put its argument in writing for stonewalling here's part of the letter from the White House counsel to the Speaker of the House.

"Your unprecedented actions have left the president actions with no choice in order to fulfill his duty to the American people, the Constitution, the executive branch and all future occupants of the office of the presidency. President Trump and his administration cannot participate in your partisan and unconstitutional inquiry under these circumstances."

So after listing a number of Trump talking points like reversing the 2016 election, it seems the investigation in unconstitutional, invalid and a violence of due process.

So, Ross, you have the first question.

Is the impeachment inquiry constitutionally invalid?

Does this move by the White House have any legal basis at all?

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is a really illegal letter. The Constitution has no due process requirements in terms of impeachment. This letter is really a political statement and a pr statement.

I think the argument comes down to fairness, putting aside what a court would say, what the White House lawyers are saying is, here is the way it was done in the last two impeachments, the Nixon, the Clinton, the president's lawyers were given all sorts of rights.

In this impeachment, it's different because the White House is saying that is not OK. It's not fair or reliable and we will not participate.

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VAUSE: For Democrats, it seems this is all part of the mounting evidence against Donald Trump. Here's Adam Schiff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The failure to produce this witness and these documents we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of Congress, a coequal branch of government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: White House obstruction can be the basis for impeachment but politically would there be a problem for the Democrats if they just went down this road and nothing else?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think it's a conundrum because I think it is inevitable, given this response that they will add an article of impeachment relating to obstruction of Congress.

But that obviously, I don't think there's any circumstance in which they proceed with that alone. And the information they need to more fully flesh out their case on Ukraine on the underlying accusation is systematically being withheld from them.

You find yourself with the same four words that have applied throughout this presidency, where are congressional Republicans?

Because if nothing else, you would think there would be a few Republicans who would want to uphold the constitutional authority of Congress to perform oversight on the executive branch, including the constitutional remedy of impeachment that was laid out.

And, yet, we have heard almost nothing from congressional Republicans in opposition to this protracted stonewalling, not only this inquiry but really any oversight. And that I think does leave Democrats in a difficult position where they may never get all of the information they were looking for to fully flesh out their case.

VAUSE: If you read this letter to Nancy Pelosi, it seems they are arguing, not only can a sitting president not be indicted for possible wrongdoing because of a guideline from the Department of Justice but this sitting president could also not be impeached either because they were elected.

So the president is untouchable?

GARBER: I think if you carry it to that conclusion, maybe that's the argument taken into the extreme but this is unexpected from the White House. I think what they're trying to do is put themselves in a position to potentially negotiate.

They're not saying they're not going to cooperate under any conditions, they're saying you want information from us and people to testify, OK. Let's set up a process that is fair and equitable and then we can talk about doing that. So it's not a surprise.

BROWNSTEIN: I think the evidence of the first 10 months of the Democratic Congress is that this is not the beginning of a negotiation. I cannot see any circumstance under which they cooperate in any kind of meaningful way with this inquiry because they have stonewalled everything else that has come.

VAUSE: There is a statement put out by the White House communications department that said there will be no negotiations over this.

BROWNSTEIN: They are accusing not only Adam Schiff but the Speaker of the House of treason and calling this a coup and saying it could lead to a civil war. The entire strategy is about mobilizing and energizing and outraging the president's base so as to discourage any Republican from breaking from him in either the House or the Senate.

I think there's very little effort to persuade voters outside of the base or even to look reasonable to those voters. This is something the president has been very comfortable governing with an eye solely on the 40 percent to 45 percent who approve of him and I don't think this is going anywhere unless the courts forced him to comply, which at the end of the line, you are looking at five Republican appointed justices on the Supreme Court who have to make that determination.

VAUSE: Why don't the Democrats just hold an impeachment inquiry vote to call Trump's bluff?

BROWNSTEIN: I think that's a very legitimate question.

(CROSSTALK)

GARBER: I think Ron is right about that, I think what they won't do is impeach him just for obstruction issues. The impeachment vote it's going to have to be on substance. They may add obstruction issues but there has to be an impeachment vote on substance and the House is going to have to educate the American people so that the people can believe that vote is justified. There's still work for the House to do.

BROWNSTEIN: I think for 2018 (ph) Democrats, the readout of the phone call and the texts that have already been released is sufficient grounds for impeachment.

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BROWNSTEIN: But it's not necessarily for the public a majority supporting removal. We have a much higher percentage of supporting the president's removal than supporting Clinton's removal at any point.

But in those polls today we have just under a majority in the different polls for removal. So more information might help them make a case to a majority of the country. But I don't think they're going to get that information at any point and that's going to leave them with difficult determinations on how to proceed. VAUSE: The U.S. ambassador to the E.U. being a no-show on Tuesday all part of the White House strategy and the president described hearing as a kangaroo court.

There was a second part to that tweet, "Importantly, Ambassador Sondland's tweet, which few report, stated, 'I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The president has been crystal clear, no quid pro quo's (sic) of any kind.' That says it all."

So Ross, almost everything in that tweet is wrong. The statement from the U.S. ambassador to the Ukrainian leader was in a text, it was not a tweet. It has been widely reported for sounding legal ,very scripted.

And if that was ever in doubt, the fact that the president has just removed all doubt by repeating it in such an obvious way and the fact there was no quid pro quo does not say it all, it's beside the point, isn't it?

GARBER: But I think that's a point that you are going to hear over and over the president make.

The standard for impeachment in the United States is somewhat ambiguous, right?

It's treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. We know what treason is, we know what bribery is. High crimes and misdemeanors is sort of confusing. For the most part what that has meant historically is something that is a crime or approaching a crime and that's why the president talks about quid pro quo. That's the language of crimes. It's the language of bribery. And he want to emphasize there was no crime here.

VAUSE: Should the president use the power of his office to seek political advantage from a foreign government?

Republican lawmakers have not been profiles in courage when it comes to addressing, this. That includes Senator Joni Ernst who spoke -- CNN got the sound from her earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): Again, I think we're going to have to go back, just as I said last, week We will have to wait, all of that information is going to go to Senate Intelligence.

QUESTION: Is it appropriate, just the ask itself?

Is it appropriate?

ERNST: Well, we, again, we don't have all the facts in front of us and what we see pushed out through the media, we don't know what's accurate at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Ron, I'll finish up with, we may not have all the facts but I think we have enough facts, we do know what is accurate, the pictures painted by the White House, not the media, the president has committed the act on television in front of TV cameras. The evidence against him has been released by his White House.

I don't know what Joni Ernst is talking about.

BROWNSTEIN: As I, said I think the readout of the call in which he said, I need to ask you a favor though and the texts that went back and forth from officials that were released, I think that is sufficient evidence of putting conditions on this, essentially a quid pro quo that will convince 2018 (ph) Democrats to vote for impeachment.

Even though a majority of the country is not yet on board with the idea of removing him from office, there is a clear and consistent majority that says asking -- that the request that the president made was inappropriate. You're talking about over 60 percent consistently in polls saying it was wrong and so, ultimately, I think if this does get to the Senate, you are going to see some of the Republicans, particularly those that are up in 2020, facing a difficult choice on whether to condone this behavior, even if they are reluctant to break from the president.

VAUSE: Ron and Ross, thank you so much, we appreciate your insight.

Now to northern Syria, where Kurdish forces, a U.S. ally, say Turkey has started shelling positions along the border. The Turkish government communications director says troops will cross into Syria shortly, in an operation to clear the area of terrorists and build a safe zone.

Over the weekend Donald Trump announced U.S. forces would withdraw but warned Turkey not to harm U.S. forces, as well as calling for some kind of restraint.

On Tuesday, the president tweeted that the U.S. may be in the process of leaving Syria but in no way has it abandoned the Kurds, who he says are "special people and wonderful fighters."

Likewise, he says the relationship with Turkey and NATO and trading partner is very good and improving.

Joining us now from San Diego in California is Kimberly Dozier, a CNN global affairs analyst as well as contributor to "The Daily Beast."

Thanks for coming in.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Absolutely.

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VAUSE: OK, this is a U.S. president who we know is a transactional guy, who spoke to China's Xi Jinping and did a deal, democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong as well as keeping trade negotiations going. In Ukraine it was basically military aid for the investigation into Joe Biden.

What is the deal being done here with Erdogan and because in that readout on Sunday, it was very lacking in detail, so was there a trade deal here?

Was there a deal to allow Turkey to buy F-35 fighter jets or was it Trump's own business?

What do we know about this?

DOZIER: President Trump has wanted to leave Syria for some time. He's tried to do this once before in a similarly precipitous fashion, which is why, former defense secretary Jim Mattis quit.

You don't need Turkey's president to offer him much beyond saying, this is our area, this, is our territory, we would like to take it back. President Trump, this is music to his ears. I don't think he understood exactly what he was agreeing to or announcing on Sunday night.

The problem is the Kurds have been burned once before like this, simply they're not going to trust him again. Everybody knows that he wants out, national security officials were trying to manage a slow departure, kind to slow this car crash and make it less destructive.

But he has showed once again everybody he wants to go for the exits and that means, our former Kurdish allies and others in the region are going to look to others like Russia, like Syria's dictator, as their supporters in order to survive.

VAUSE: This is Trump chaotic foreign policy where no one really knows where they stand, one day he's warning Turkey of economic destruction and on Tuesday a very different tone, at least with his tweets.

"Many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States. In fact they make the structural steel frame for our F-35 fighter jets." Also remember and importantly Turkey is an important member and in good standing of NATO.

Is this just the usual Trump inconsistency or is there something else?

DOZIER: You know, yes, Trump has done business in Turkey before he was president. Ivanka Trump, tweeted out, something about congratulations to Trump Towers in Istanbul opening.

But the fact of the matter is he made a campaign promise he wants to leave Syria, he does want to improve relations with Turkey, therefore all of this into the pattern of him, looking for the simplest way out.

You can see what happened after he got his military briefing, Monday evening. He ratcheted back from some of his quick reverts once people had a chance to explain to him the fallout. And once also Republican lawmakers in Congress started beating up on him, that's what he paid attention and he tried to modify his previous moves from Sunday night. VAUSE: That tweet from the president insisting that the Kurds have not been abandoned, you know, they have been abandoned and as far as I can tell, this is the first mention of the Kurds by President Trump since that phone call on Sunday.

It seems to indicate their fate, the special wonderful people, is not uppermost on Donald Trump's mind?

DOZIER: I don't think he understands the difference between the different Kurdish groups, which ones are part of the alliance that has fought against ISIS, together with the United States, has lost 10,000 people in the field.

There's something else that has been going on behind closed doors in the past several months, the U.S. and Europe, are trying to get several different countries in the region to take the ISIS prisoners, to take ISIS families in and those negotiations have not gone well.

They have tried to convince Iraq to take in 3,000 hardcore fighters, offered to build them prisons, but then European officials came in and told the Iraqis but you cannot use Iraqi law against the people, you cannot execute them.

So Iraq says it's still considering it but they're not accepting them. As the national security team of Trump tries to explain to him all the reasons that this is taking so long to solve and all the reason the troops have to stay a little bit longer, eventually he ran out of patience.

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DOZIER: We have seen him doing this, he kind of feels, maybe I am being slow rolled and then he decides, I'm just going to announce the decision and that's when reality steps in and the blowback causes him to backpedal.

The problem is when he does this time and time again, he's losing the trust, not just of the Kurdish allies on the ground but other allies across the region, even in Europe, they're watching this and saying you cannot trust a deal with this guy because, at some point, he might change his mind and the spur of the moment turn against you.

VAUSE: Yes, and we have, as you said, we've seen that time and time again, Kimberly thank you, good to see. You

DOZIER: Thank. You

VAUSE: Well, as the violence in Syria continues one man who risked everything to expose the atrocities of the Assad regime is begging the U.S. Congress to help. We will have more on him in just a moment.

Also just 20 years old, he dreamt of one day serving his country. Instead, he was gunned down on the streets, one of the many victims of the rough violent crackdown on protesters just seeking a better life.

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VAUSE: The Turkish government says troops will shortly cross the border with Syria on a military operation targeting Kurdish forces. The Kurds are already reporting Turkey is shouting positions along the area.

Meanwhile one man who documented the horrified atrocities of President Bashar al-Assad's regime is back in Washington and he's begging the U.S. for help. CNN's Kate Bolduan sat down with him to look at some of the thousands of photographs he took over two, years illustrating the brutality of the Syrian government.

This story comes with a warning: the images you are about to see are graphic and disturbing.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): We cannot tell you his name, it's too dangerous to show his face. He won't even allow his voice to be recorded as he speaks through his translator.

But we can show you these, almost 55,000 photos he risked his life to bring out of Syria, some of which have never been seen publicly until now. And he's risking his life again to plead with Congress to act.

BOLDUAN: How are you feeling in this moment, being back in Washington again?

[00:25:00]

"CAESAR", SYRIAN MILITARY POLICE DEFECTOR: My feeling being here is a feeling of a bit of a disappointment and, at the same time, frustration because after everything that I have done in order to expose what the regime has done, we have yet to see any real action.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): His code name is Caesar. He was a military photographer in Damascus when the civil war began in 2011. He said he immediately realized what he was then documenting were not accidental deaths but torture.

"CAESAR": For example many of the bodies had their eyes gouged out, most of these bodies had very deep cuts, most of them were emaciated, starved for many, many months and also marks all over their bodies from head to toe. And I would see their jaws and teeth broken.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Instead of defecting right after the war broke out, Caesar says he decided to stay 2.5 years to bear witness, collect evidence and to expose what really was happening in his country, where any sign of sympathy for the dead could be interpreted as a betrayal of the regime.

"CAESAR": I would work for hours taking photographs, loading the photographs and I would have to hide my emotions, I would have to pray that a tear does not come down my face, because if they saw one tear, if they saw one expression on my face that showed sympathy, then I would be killed, as would my family.

BOLDUAN: How did you do that?

"CAESAR": I don't know.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): In 2013, he finally fled and brought with him what the FBI confirmed as authentic and the State Department's ambassador for war crimes described as stronger evidence than what existed against the Nazis.

The Syrian government has denied responsibility and called the photos fake.

Caesar made his first trip to Capitol Hill in 2014, testifying before Congress undercover in the exact same disguise he used for our interview.

"CAESAR": I honestly thought that if I could have the courage to go for the year that I did, doing the work that I did, endangering my life every single day, that once I came out and showed the world what I had, that the entire conscience of the world would move.

BOLDUAN: And then it didn't.

"CAESAR": Five whole years. The world did not move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll never forget what he showed us.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): The sanctions bill sparked by Caesar's testimony and photographs has passed the House three times with bipartisan support but has yet to make it to the Senate floor.

"CAESAR": So what I am pleading is for the American people to please save the Syrian people, save these people that do not deserve the hellish nightmare that they are living in.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): One of the lawmakers Caesar made his case to this time, Senator Lindsey Graham. Not only is he a longtime critic of Bashar al-Assad, Graham also has had the ear of President Trump and he revealed to CNN that he's introducing a resolution to declare Assad a war criminal.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): To the people in Syria, we're not turning our back on you. I we wish we could do better. The administration needs to do more, quite frankly. We don't have a coherent strategy in Syria and I am committed 100 percent to not letting Assad get away with it and standing behind people like Caesar.

And I'm going to make my colleagues in the Senate vote.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Until then, the bill sits on Senator Mitch McConnell's desk and leaves Caesar right back where he began, putting his life on the line to try and convince the world to care and, once and for all, not look away. BOLDUAN: We're in the Holocaust Museum. And after the Holocaust, the world said never again. And I am really struck by seeing the atrocities coming out of Syria and the fact that the world is not saying that.

"CAESAR": You're right.

How many more children must be killed?

How many more men must be tortured to death?

How many women must be raped until you mean it when you say never again?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In the six years since Caesar left Syria, thousands of people have been killed by the Assad regime. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reports more than 14,000 people have been tortured to death during the war, including 142 people in the first half of this year.

That is a good point to take a break and we will be back in just a moment.

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VAUSE: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

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The Trump administration is blocking testimony from a key witness in the House impeachment inquiry. The U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland, was due to appear before three House committees on Tuesday.

Democrats accused the White House of obstructing Congress. The White House says it will not cooperate in any way, calls the inquiry unconstitutional.

Two days after President Trump announced he was pulling U.S. troops from northern Syria, Kurdish-led forces now report Turkey shelling positions in the area. The group warns thousands will be killed, and it could be a humanitarian catastrophe, as well.

The Kurds played a vital role in helping in the defeat of ISIS. Turkey, though, considers them terrorists.

Iraq's president is condemning the use of lethal force -- force against anti-government protesters and is promising an investigation. More than 100 people have been killed, thousands wounded in eight days of demonstrations.

Arwa Damon reports the push to end the violence comes too late for one grieving family. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Masden (ph) cries out for his younger brother, Muqtada Ahmad Hamadouie (ph), just 20 years old. The wails of pain of those who loved him are drowned out by the Shia mourning hymns for the departed. The sorrow here for a life so needlessly, so mercilessly lost, is crushing.

"He will live on as a hero. He's a hero," Muqtada's (ph) mother, Hiat (ph), swears, her face covered as is tradition for those in mourning. She has cried so much, she has no tears left.

"He's my friend. He's not just my son. He's my friend. I don't know. I don't know," she says, breaking down.

It was the first day of the demonstrations. Like thousands of others, Muqtada (ph) was fed up with the status quo: the levels of corruption, the lack of basic services, the unemployment, especially high among his generation.

The response was swift and brutal, unexpected. Muqtada (ph) was gunned down, shot through the chest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Is he breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: No pulse. He's dead.

DAMON: Muqtada (ph) died here in the street.

But this is how he will be remembered, for his smile, his love of life. Muqtada (ph) was studying political silence. He dreamt of being an officer in the Iraqi army, of serving his country. His country never gave him a chance.

The next day, friends and strangers demonstrated for him. "When one dies, or 100, our voices will remain," they chanted.

"It was our duty," his cousin Quassem Jomat (ph) tells us, "to return to where he fell."

(on camera): He's got videos.

(voice-over): "Can you hear the gunfire?" he asks. "Why would I go except to defend my rights? I saw three people wounded here." He says they're all university students and day laborers, struggling between rough work and their studies.

"And on top of all of this, someone comes and shoots you?" he says.

The government's promises of reform mean little to those who are here, who vow they will no longer be sedated by false words. His mother swears to carry on where her son left off. "My sons will all go to the street. Even I will go, the mother of a

martyr, and I will gather all the other mothers," she pledges.

They stole her son's voice, so those who loved him will now use theirs.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Principles over profit. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is taking the high ground in the league's growing rift with China, which began last week when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

The response from Beijing was harsh and swift, and both Morey and the NBA were quick to apologize. But now the NBA commissioner is shifting the league's stance, says freedom of speech actually matters, even if it costs the league one of its most important markets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: I understand that there are consequences from that exercise of, in essence, his freedom of speech, and, you know, we will have to live with those consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: One of those consequences, Chinese broadcasters are refusing to air preseason games.

CNN WORLD SPORT anchor Alex Thomas joins me now from Tokyo with more on the scandal.

You know, this controversy, it seems to highlight how corporations, over years and years, have made these big concessions to keep the communist government in Beijing happy. You know, big companies from Google to Disney, but could this stand by the NBA change that culture?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: It was an interesting stance that the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, took, John, because I think it quickly emerged that a few days after Daryl Morey's tweets provoked this sort of growing storm of criticism that Silver realized the NBA were caught between criticism back home in America for, you know, trying to kowtow to the Chinese and placate them, and fierce criticism in China for even daring to have someone associated with the league seemingly endorse the protesters in Hong Kong.

So I think Silver was faced with a stark choice. He realized the middle ground would not work. He had to pick one side or another. And we caught up with him courtside ahead of a preseason game between the Houston Rockets, the G.M. of which is the center of this storm, Daryl Morey, and the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors. And Silver said to me that he picked freedom of expression ahead of anything else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SILVER: There's no question, and it's -- as I said, it's part of the DNA of this league. We are, at the end of the day, an American-based company. Of course, we do business all around the world, but those values, those mores travel with us.

THOMAS: How concerned are you that China will not accept that position?

SILVER: I otherwise wouldn't be that concerned, because we've been doing business in China for so long. I will say I'm a bit surprised that CCTV canceled the telecasting of preseason games and specifically named me as the cause. It's interesting. While at the same time, in the U.S. media, there's some suggesting I'm not being protective enough of our employees. Clearly, they're seeing it another way in China.

But I think, at the end of the day, we've been pretty consistent. And it's not our role to adjudicate these types of disputes, but certainly to provide a platform. And I'm hopeful that, as I said earlier, that by using sports, people will have the ability to talk more openly about these issues and make decisions for themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: Silver's flown into Shanghai in China, where two more NBA global games, preseason games between LeBron James's Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets are taking place.

The Nets, interestingly, owned by Taiwan-born Canadian businessman Joe Tsai, cofounder of the Alibaba Group, who actually lives in Hong Kong and was quite critical of Morey when he did a Facebook post explaining China's history, why they're so sensitive to criticism from outside the country.

And he also said this to "The Washington Journal": "I'm in the eye of the storm." Sorry, "The Wall Street Journal." "I've communicated with a bunch of people on both sides, and my role is to help everyone understand the other side's perspective."

Really, that's the only way, John, this is going to get resolved: if both sides concede a bit of ground.

[00:40:07]

VAUSE: Beijing does not concede ground. I've yet to see it happen. But who knows?

Alex, good to see you. Thank you. Appreciate the report.

After the break, shock and horror, not. Brexit negotiations have all but collapsed; a deal nowhere in sight. How did this happen? We'll tell you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Well, Brexit negotiations appear to be on the brink of collapse, with relations between Britain's prime minister and the E.U. turning hostile.

Boris Johnson blames the lack of progress on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her insistence that Northern Ireland remain in the E.U. customs union.

In response, European Council President Donald Tusk accused Johnson of playing what he called "a stupid blame game" with no intention of concluding a deal.

And that has led to a bitter divide in Parliament over Brexit. The outgoing speaker of the House of Commons says the debates are the worst he's seen in 22 years. In a wide-ranging interview with Bianca Nobilo, John Bercow became emotional as he recalled the political assassination of an anti-Brexit member of Parliament, Jo Cox. That was in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERCOW, OUTGOING SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS (recording): It's particularly shocking and repugnant.

(on camera): Well, of course, I remember that still very keenly, and the sentiment is very wrong. There are many people, Bianca, in the House of Commons who knew Jo Cox much better than I did. I knew her only from when she was elected in may 2015 for the first time, to when she was brutally murdered 13 months later.

Her legacy, you asked me earlier about conduct, behavior. Really, Jo was a great exponent of that principle of political difference, personal amiability. It should be possible for us as democrats to disagree agreeably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Bercow's last day in Parliament will be October 31. That's the same day as the Brexit deadline, unless of course, there's an extension.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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[00:45:54]

(WORLD SPORT)

[00:58:06]

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