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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Stronger Than Expected Job Growth In October; Donald Trump Rally To Supporters Amid Impeachment Fight; Inside Syrian Prison Holding ISIS Militants; Saudi Arabia Witnesses Its First All-Female WWE Fight; Increased Number Of Female MPs Step Down Amid Abuse Concerns. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired November 01, 2019 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: You can follow me on Twitter @BRIKEILARCNN and you tweet at the show @THELEADCNN. I'm Brianna Keilar in for Jake Tapper.
Our coverage on CNN continues right now.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Tonight on THE BRIEF after the U.S. House votes to formalize the impeachment investigation and pave the way for
public hearings, where do Americans stand?
Outrage in Spain as five men are acquitted of rape because the court says the unconscious victim didn't fight back. And the UK election heats up.
Nigel Farage offers to make a pact with the Toreys. Live from London I'm Bianca Nobilo. Welcome to the show.
Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump are getting ready to move from gathering the facts to making the case
to the American public. The lead Congressional Investigator Adam Schiff says testimony from witnesses behind closed doors could be released as
early as next week. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says public hearings should begin this month. She says Mr. Trump's phone call with Ukraine's
President was a turning point that the Democrats couldn't ignore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): In that call he undermined our national security. We had no choice. We took a protection and defend our democracy and that is
what he has made an assault on. And if the Republicans have a higher loyalty to the President than they do to their oath of office, that's their
problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: It could be more blockbuster testimony on Monday if White House Attorney John Eisenberg shows up. He is one who moved the transcript of Mr.
Trump's Ukraine call to the highly secretive server reserved for names of spies and things like that. And a source now tells us that a White House
Ukraine expert who testified earlier this week says Eisenberg told him not to discuss its concerns over that call to anybody.
President Trump remains defiant and he's taking his fight against impeachment on the road. He's heading soon to a rally in the state of
Mississippi. Thursday's impeachment vote seemed to have energized the President. He's been railing against it on Twitter and told the
conservative magazine the he's considering doing a fireside chat on National TV to read the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian
President. He wants to show the American people that the conversation was, in his words, perfect.
Meanwhile, his allies have been celebrating the fact that not a single Republican member of the House of Representatives voted in the favor of the
impeachment inquiry. Trump's reelection campaign says it's raised $3 million on Thursday from donors who were angry about that House vote. The
campaign also launched a new ad this week that highlights the President's fight against impeachment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats would rather focus on impeachment and phony investigations, ignoring the real issues. But that's not Donald
Trump. He's not Mr. Nice guy but sometimes it takes a Donald Trump to change Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: A new nationwide poll shows Americans are still divided over whether the President should be impeached and removed from office, though
Republicans still overwhelmingly oppose it. In several recent polls from swing states like New Hampshire the majority don't want the President
removed from office.
And the President's good news on the economic front this morning -- a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report could bolster his argument that the
U.S. economy is so strong that he shouldn't be impeached.
Let's go now to CNN's Dianne Gallagher she is live in Tiepolo, Mississippi where Mr. Trump will rally his supporter just a few hours from now. Diane
the President is headed to a campaign rally in a very Trump friendly state and the campaign and the White House are they feeling pretty good about
public opinion on impeachment so far?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No Bianca, it's on the surface that they are, but look when the going gets tough, the President gets going on
the road to these prompt friendly places. He spends time places that not just voted for him, but let him maintain the enthusiasm. It's almost like
he out on to these campaign rallies to kind of get just a shot in the arm of feeling good about himself with confidence again.
This is where he thrives among people who, look, their feelings for the President have not waned. The reason why he's here in Mississippi is
because in just a little more than three days time they're going to be voting for a Governor and in a state that has been wildly Republican for
quite a long time, it's just leans Republican. Meaning it is a lot tighter than it should be.
So the President has an opportunity right now to come here, and appears if he stepped in at the last moment and helps push the Republican to victory.
He's going to be going to Kentucky to do something similar as well. If it does not go the President's way, we could be looking at it as maybe the
impeachment is waning may be the impeachment is weighing on the enthusiasm.
But right now, the President getting where he wants to go and feeling that happiness, that love from his base at the moment.
NOBILO: Dianne, thank you. I'll leave you to the fan beyond and electric guitars in your reporting there. Appreciate it.
[17:05:00]
NOBILO: Turning now to Spain and a controversial acquittal that's sparking outrage nationwide. Five men were cleared of rape charges because the
unconscious teenage victim didn't fight back. The Barcelona court ruled that then men were guilty of a lesser crime because they didn't need to use
violence or intimidation during the attack. Pau Mosquera has more.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN EN ESPANOL REPORTER: Bianca, Barcelona's high court reeling has triggered outrage in Spain. Some women rights organizations are
calling for demonstrations over the weekend while some politicians as Barcelona's Mayor Ada Colau criticized it as outrageous sentence on
Twitter.
The controversy started on Thursday after the court sentenced these five men to between 10 to 12 years in prison over sexual abuse charges instead
of sexual assault, which would have carried up to 20 years in prison. But the court considered it as assault because as the victim was unconscious,
they didn't have to use violence of intimidation.
But to get the better understanding of this case it took place in 2016 in - a town Northwest of Barcelona where both the accused and the victim were
partying. But s the victim consumed alcohol and drugs she became unconscious and she couldn't fight back. This case has renewed the pressure
on the government to reform the law and specify that any sexual act without consent is an assault, something that Spanish justice is already reviewing
nowadays.
NOBILO: ISIS is claiming responsibility for its attack since naming its new leader. Iraq's joined operations command says ISIS militants attached an
army check point Thursday night, killing one soldier and wounding five others. The attack happened in a town about 60 kilometers north of the
Baghdad and this marks the terror group's first attack since it acknowledges the death of Former Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and named its
replacement.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. knows exactly who that replacement is; the State Department is investigating the new leader of ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHAN SALES, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT COUNTERTERRORISM COORDINATOR AMBASSADOR: We are looking into the leader, his role in the organization,
where he came from. I don't have anything to announce on that, obviously publicly. But any time there is a leadership transition in a terrorist
organization we want to make sure that we have the latest information that we need to have to confront the threat effectively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The U.S. says the majority of ISIS fighters who escaped during Turkey offensive in Syria have now been recaptured. A large number of ISIS
members are foreign fighters locked up in prisons, their home countries unwilling to accept their return. Inside one such prison, the terrorists
are unaware their former leader is dead. Nick Paton Walsh reports.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This wasn't the ending they were promised, even if it begins to feel eternal. ISIS foreign fighters, so long
as these bars in Syria hold, no longer a threat to the outside world and no longer aware of what's happening outside in it.
(BEGIN VIEO CLIP)
LIRIM SULEJMANI, PRISONER: We don't get much information about outside, what's happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: This man says his name is Lirim Sulejmani and he's a dual American citizen. He has no idea that ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been
killed just 72 hours earlier when our cameraman visits. The guards explicitly forbid visitors from breaking the news, so we could only ask
what if?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULEJMANI: If he's killed, he's killed. But for a lot of people, he's already been killed. He's already dead. We don't hear from him. I don't
know. For me, personally, I kind of - I feel like I was a bit betrayed, you know, so there is no anymore. He doesn't exist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: It is a common story in this sea of orange. He was just a common engineer who was worried about his wife and three children in camps nearby.
He says facing U.S. justice would be preferable to another day here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULEJMANI: I feel very unsafe and I - you know, I want to go back to states. One thing for sure, I don't want to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: Nobody here has faced a trial, nor being found guilty and no many are for the due process ISIS denied others - pleading to the nations ISIS
pledged to destroy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0
SULEJMAN: We're not sure to American people, to Donald Trump, there are American citizens they shouldn't be abandoned they should be brought to
states. Praise Allah and if they committed any crime, they should be punished, not left in some place like slow death concentration camp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:10:00]
WALSH: The emaciated, withering leaderless ISIS here has not suddenly stopped being a threat. Imagine the rage incubating in these cells. So
great the guard's fear what may happen if they learn of the news of their leader's death. The home countries do not for the most part want them to
port back. But it lives on after Baghdadi's death in these cells. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Northern Iraq.
NOBILO: In California another fire is now burning in a southern part of the state. These are the pictures of Maria fire that broke out last night about
80 kilometers east of Los Angeles. It's the latest among 30 active fires that have been popping almost up daily. Forecasters now expect winds to
calm down, but red-flag warnings remain in effect.
Official say this fire was started during a police car chase. The suspect's car tires apparently became so hot that they ignited a fire that burned
three homes yesterday. Nick Watt is standing by in Santa Paula. He joins us now live. Nick, are these apocalyptic scenes becoming the new normal now
for Californians?
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately they are, Bianca. One fellow journalist just texted me and said, if there's one more fire I am just
going kill myself. For the people who are living through this under these red-flag warnings - nearly half the population of California than under
these high wind red-flag warnings at some stage in the past week.
Yesterday when I spoke to you about the same time I was being quite optimistic. They were going to be dropping those warnings, the winds were
dropping. The forecast was pretty good. Then at 6:15 last night, while people were at trick or teasing for Halloween holiday boom this fire broke
out and it moved very, very fast through the brush.
I mean like 2,500 hectares in just few hours and they really have had some trouble trying to get a hand lawn. We've been here for the past couple of
hours and watched this entire hillside just go up in smoke. As we have just discussed the winds are going down but we just heard that the local fire
department is asking for more resources to come in and help fight this fire tonight. Fingers crossed for that forecast. Fingers crossed the winds do
drop, Bianca.
NOBILO: Yes, fingers cross. Thank you, Nick. Hope you and your team stay safe there in the fires. Nick Watt for us in California. UK police are now
saying that they believe the victims found inside a truck in Essex last week are Vietnamese nationals. Investigators say that they cooperating with
the Vietnamese government and they're still not yet identifying any of the victims. This comes after Vietnamese police arrested two suspects in
connection to this incident and Dublin authorities charged an Irish man with 39 counts of manslaughter.
Still to come on THE BRIEF, the Brexit Party is making waves in the UK election campaign. I speak to the party's chairman. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
NOBILO: The UK election campaign is getting into full swing, and the new kid on the block is starting to make itself known.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIGEL FARAGE, BREXIT PARTY LEADER: I'm going to say this to Boris Johnson drop the deal. Drop the deal, because it's not Brexit. Drop the deal,
because as these weeks go by and people discover what it is that you've signed up to, they will not like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The new kid on the block obviously not being Nigel Farage. We all know who he is, but his Brexit Party didn't exist until March yet it topped
the polls in May's European election. Now, the Brexit Party is offering the Prime Minister an election pack to work with that party if the Prime
Minster drops his newly negotiated Brexit deal. But that was quickly rejected by Boris Johnson.
The Prime Minister telling British media that "I ruled out a pact with everybody because I don't think it's sensible to do that". Earlier I spoke
to Richard Tice he is the Chairman of the Brexit Party. And he disagrees with Johnson. We talked about the offer of the pact and I asked him what
his party's conditions were.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD TICE, BREXIT PARTY LEADER: The simple condition is that they get rid of - they drop this terrible withdrawal agreement that was essentially
forced on Boris Johnson when he took over as Prime Minster by the previous leadership under Theresa May. That was a really bad deal.
He tried to sort of sugar coat it and for the sake of convenience to try and rush through to the 31st of October, he tried to rush it through. But
he didn't get away with it. He ran out of time. We're here on Friday the 1st of November. Three times the conservative haves tried and failed to
deliver Brexit this year. They can't do it on their own.
And how many hundreds or thousands of pledges do they need make before eventually people say, we don't trust you? Well, the only way they can get
this through is with the Brexit Party and it makes sense.
NOBILO: So even though 17.4 million people voted for Brexit and that was a majority for it. 16.1 million people didn't vote for Brexit so with that in
mind, how much are you willing to compromise with the conservative party going into this election? I suppose I'm asking, what's the softest Brexit
that the Brexit Party would countenance?
TICE: Like any job you either do it and do it properly or you don't do it at all. When you repaint your bedroom, you don't half paint it. When you
refit your kitchen you leave half of it refurbished and the other half refurbished do the job do it properly. If we're going to do Brexit do it
properly so that we can take advantage of all of the opportunities.
If Romaine had won, do you think they would have said, well, actually it was close so we should half leave? Of course not. The whole point of
democracy is that, winner takes all and you have a thing called loser's consent. We were promised that if we voted to leave we would leave. And
it's a case of, if you're going to do a job, let's do it properly.
Our version of Brexit maximizes the opportunities and it means that we can become in the United Kingdom a high growth, low tax smartly regulated
economy that can be up there with the best of them in around the world rather than what we are seeing in the rest of main European countries which
frankly is high tax, low growth, tepid growth, high unemployment. It's a recipe for disaster. We want nothing more to do with it.
NOBILO: This morning when you made a series of policy announcements about what the Brexit Party is offering the United Kingdom - so let's perform a
thought experiment. What would Britain look like under the Brexit Party government?
TICE: Exactly as I've just inferred - you know, we would go for growth, we would go for investment. You know we'd be encouraging entrepreneurs,
reducing taxes, having smart regulation and stripping away daft regulation that is a burden on businesses, a burden on entrepreneurs.
We would be pouring investment into the regions that have been left behind to me United Kingdom because there's been so much investment in London. We
wouldn't be doing what we think are the unnecessary things, the waste of our money. We wouldn't be building an absurd fast railway line called HS-2.
We wouldn't be spending 39 billion pounds of our taxpayer's cash to Brussels and we would redirect 50 percent of our wasteful foreign aid
budget we would redirect back into our public services. We would spend the money smartly.
[17:20:00]
TICE: We would cut out the waste and make sure that actually if we do this properly we can actually cut the cost of living for ordinary consumers and
we can improve public services by investing in them but also investing in them smartly. We are much more businesslike and perhaps one sees from the
traditional main policies that actually, if this country is properly managed, properly governed, we can achieve so much more.
NOBILO: You mentioned that those in government having you a number to discuss this offer that you have extended to them. But is it correct that
the Brexit Party seems to have better links with the Trump Administration and the White House at the moment than Boris Johnson's team?
TICE: That's a great question. Clearly our leader, Nigel Farage is a good friend of the President of the United States, and networks or friendships
are there to be encouraged. Frankly, it's in deep regret that our previous UK Ambassador to the United States actually didn't have good links into the
White House and the State Department.
I think the links between the conservative government, current one, and the White House, are OK. The President of the U.S. confirmed last night, he and
Boris get on well, but the truth is, Nigel knows the President, your President, better than anyone in the Conservative Party. It's
extraordinary, isn't it? They haven't had the foresight, the intelligence to say, why don't we use the strength of that relationship?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Over 50 incumbent members of parliament have announced that they'll stand down ahead of the UK's December election. There's growing alarm that
there's a number of female MPs leaving after saying that they've been abused or harassed in public office. MPs are now being warned not to
campaign alone. Nina Dos Santos has more.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: At this foundry in East London workers are putting the final touches to this bronze sculpture of the UK's first
Female Member of Parliament. Nancy Ester took up her seat in December 1919 when women were still fighting for the vote. 100 years on and five miles
down the road, her legacy is beginning to fade as one by one female MPs resign, citing increasing hostility and harassment stuffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICKY MORGAN, BRITISH CULTURE SECRETARY: Death threats I mean, it's just continuously abusive emails. Every morning obviously you turn the emails on
and there's more stuff that is rude, offensive. And I think actually a couple of weeks ago my office referred something to me and I said, oh, if
it was too bad we'll go to the police. I thought, I thought we wouldn't have said those three years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan this week became the latest female minister to step down, ending her career amid a purge of moderates
since Boris Johnson entered Downing Street. All in all, at least 12 female MPs have either left the conservatives or abandoned politics altogether
recently.
That's not a good look for the party which provided the country's only two women Prime Minster. It also comes at a time when Johnson can't afford to
alienate either gender. Abuse has risen on both sides of the house, but the PM has been accused of dismissing MP's concerns and encouraging an
increasing ugly debate over Brexit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me tell the Prime Minster they often quote his words, betrayal, traitor. I'm sick of it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker - I have to say, Mr. Speaker I've never heard such humbugging in all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: Former Conservative MP. Heidi Allen is among those not seeking re-election despite defecting to liberal Democrats and installing panic
alarms at her home. She's required a police escort since scenes like these. For Labour the threats turned deadly three years ago after its MP Joe Cox
was murdered by right wing extremist just days before the EU referendum. Her colleague Rushanara Ali is getting ready to fight for her East London
seat for the fourth time in a decade. Today she says the campaign trail is a scary place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHANARA ALI, BRITISH LABOUR LEADER: I am genuinely concerned for the safety of my colleagues. There's a lot of anger about social issues.
There's a lot of anger about Brexit of course, and there's a growing level of intolerance in society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: As the statue will be unveiled two weeks before the UK goes to the polls with few women willing to fill her shoes she may cut a lowlier
figure than she would have done just a few months ago. Nina Dos Santos, CNN, London.
[17:25:00]
NOBILO: When THE BRIEF returns. A first for Saudi Arabia, and it happened in the wrestling ring. I'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long faced scrutiny for restrictive women's rights. But on Thursday night it put on a show that hasn't been
seen before. This is the WWE and it held its first all-female match in Saudi Arabia. The crowd of both men and women Sauna Talia and Lacy Evans
fight in body suits and a t-shirt on top in line with requirements, the visitors to address state.
In 2018 WWE signed a controversial 10-year deal to hold wrestling competitions in the Kingdom. The arrangements drawn criticism in part
because of Saudi Arabia's human rights record and extreme conservatism. It wasn't even until 2017 that women could attend sporting events. That's THE
BRIEF. I'm Bianca Nobilo. Have a lovely weekend. "WORLD SPORT" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
