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Inching Toward Impeachment; U.K. Supreme Court Rules Parliament Suspension Unlawful; Iranian President to Speak at U.N. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 25, 2019 - 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. It is 7:00 am in London, 11:00 pm in Los Angeles. I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta headquarters and this is CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get started.
This hour, Democrats take the plunge, launching an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump, critics warn, there is a chance it could backfire.
Plus Boris Johnson suffers another humiliating setback, the British Parliament will be back in session on Wednesday after the prime minister's suspension is ruled unlawful.
And the British royals visit South Africa and told CNN all about their trip so far.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
Donald Trump has been under investigation in one form or another for almost all three years of his presidency but the brewing scandal over his contacts with Ukraine have finally boiled over into a full-blown impeachment inquiry.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the announcement on Tuesday. The president admits he asked Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son. Nancy Pelosi said that has propelled the existing investigations to another level.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.
Therefore, today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry. The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.
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CHURCH: And the president was quick to fight back on Twitter, he called the inquiry "witch hunt garbage" and "presidential harassment." CNN's Manu Raju has more.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now after months of internal debate, infighting and about questions and the way forward, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally got behind the idea of moving forward with an impeachment inquiry, after Democrat after Democrat in her caucus called for the impeachment inquiry to begin, at least to move forward.
And the House Judiciary Committee said it's already conducting an impeachment inquiry, with the goal of moving to potentially vote on articles of impeachment of this president by the end of the year.
She's very clear what was the straw that broke the camel's back was the complaint that was issued, by this whistleblower and the president's handling of it and the substance of the allegations, the president, himself talking on the phone with the Ukrainian president about the Bidens.
That, of course, becomes an issue that she seized upon and saying that's why we need -- major reason why we need to move forward. She says it's a betrayal of the oath of the office.
At the same time, what this action really mean?
She says that there are six committees that are already investigating the president on Capitol Hill, including the House Intelligence Committee, House Judiciary Committee, will continue their investigations and ultimately they will decide whether or not to move forward with articles of impeachment.
And they if they do, the House Judiciary Committee will vote to move forward to impeach the president and then the full House will vote to impeach the president but only to remove him from office,
You need two-thirds of a majority in the United States Senate, which is led by the Republicans, to do that, which is unlikely to succeed.
So this could take a few months. Speaker Pelosi says she wants it to be done expeditiously. So while it may not lead to the removal of the president it's a symbolic but historic move since the president himself will be only the third president in American history to be impeached by the House -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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CHURCH: James Davis is director of the institute of political science of the University of St. Gallen, he joins me now from Switzerland. Good to have you with us.
JAMES DAVIS, UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN: Good morning, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So in the coming hours, the White House will released the full transcript of President Trump's phone call with his Ukraine counterpart and the whistleblower's complaint might also be released.
One source has told CNN that we will believe it when we see it.
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CHURCH: but all of this coming a day after Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump triggered by Mr. Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son.
Given the Senate is on likely to vote to impeach the president, where is this all going and what all can be achieved in the end?
DAVIS: What I mean the first thing we need to say is that, words matter. Calling this ongoing investigation or a series of ongoing investigations now an impeachment proceeding matters.
Why does it matter?
I mean, one could argue that impeachment proceedings have been going on for quite some time, the Speaker yesterday pointed out, six committees investigating this president.
But calling it an impeachment proceedings, brings it to a level that the courts has tended to grant a particular deference to.
That is to say during the Nixon impeachment hearings, the courts were willing to demand the president to turn over those tapes, that he was claiming were protected by executive privilege, to make the actual conversations of the Oval Office available to the Congress so they could exercise their oversight authority.
And so I think what's happening here is by calling -- by labeling these ongoing investigations now and bringing them under the umbrella of an official impeachment proceedings, we get the Congress in a stronger position, where the White House has to fear that if they stonewall any further, the courts would actually rule against them.
So I think it has moved the White House, they looks like they going to release some transcripts although I would wonder, what those transcripts look like. I've heard from people who had been in those conversations before the explicit transcripts are not kept but rather a right up of the telephone conversation.
So we might not see transcripts. We might see something like, some notes that summarized of what was said. And of course, much more interesting would be the whistleblower report was made available.
CHURCH: Absolutely and some critics are asking why Nancy Pelosi did not wait for the release of the phone call transcript. Why do you think she pulled the trigger on this announcement before
it's released?
DAVIS: Yes, I mean, I think we've had a lot of experience with this president, who claims that he'll release information or will sit down with special prosecutor or will allow his secretary of state or his Director of National Intelligence or his attorney general to speak before the Congress on ongoing issues of concern.
He makes all sorts of promises but then it never comes about. Somehow he changes his mind.
And so I think with that experience, the speaker probably thought, listen I've just got to take this move. I've got to pull the trigger to force the release of this transcript and force the release of the whistleblower report.
I think if she hasn't done, we would probably tomorrow or a day after be hearing yet another reason why the president cannot do so. So I think she felt she had no choice.
CHURCH: Right and even though that full transcript or the notes at least of that phone call, with Ukraine's president could be released soon it's only part of the complaint filed by the whistleblower and that we will find out more in the coming hours, if that complaint is also released and if the whistleblower ever talk to the intelligence community because we have an indication that may very well happen.
When you look at what we know so far, abuse of power may be a quid pro quo, with Ukraine's military funds withheld there, how strong might the case be for impeachment against the president do you think in the end?
DAVIS: Yes, I mean, I think we will have to wait and see how this thing plays out. I think there are certainly numerous issues on which impeachment is warranted, this presidency has been unlawful. This presidency has been untruthful, it has obstructed the rightful article one's responsibilities of the Congress for oversight.
So I think there's plenty of grounds for impeachment but at the end of the day impeachment is a political act.
And so the question is going to be is the House going to feel it in a strong enough position politically to move forward?
And that I think is going to be a function of how both the members of Congress but also public opinion receives the information that is in the whistleblower report also, what the whistleblower says whoever she or he might be, when they appear before Congress.
There's been an effort to claim that the Whistleblower Act is itself unconstitutional, that the member of the Intelligence Committee is -- actually works for the president and therefore cannot charge the president with something.
[02:10:00] DAVIS: That of course, is something that the courts will have to decide.
But there's one thing that is clear, every officer of the United States government, has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and that is an oath, that means -- that individual has and responsibility, not only a right but a responsibility to report illegal wrongdoings, if that what's she or he thinks is taking place.
And so whether the whistleblower chooses to do that anonymously or not, it's within their purview. But that person I think is going to appear before Congress whether the president likes it or not.
CHURCH: Yes. We shall wait to see what comes out of this transcript and perhaps if this the complaint is also made available, we shall see, James Davis, many thanks to for your analysis, I appreciate it.
DAVIS: Thank you, Rosemary.
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CHURCH: The day wasn't any better for the British prime minister. In a stunning decision the U.K. Supreme Court ruled Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament in the run-up to the Brexit deadline was unlawful.
The move was seen as a strategy to thwart lawmakers' efforts to prevent a no-deal Brexit. The ruling was the latest in a series of political and legal setbacks for a prime minister who's been in office for only two months.
Mr. Johnson was asked about the ruling in meeting with President Trump on the sidelines at the U.N. General Assembly.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Let's be absolutely clear. We respect the judiciary in our country, we respect the court. I disagree profoundly with what they had to say. I think it was entirely right to go ahead with a plan for a Queen's Speech. This is the longest period we haven't had a Queen's Speech for 400 years.
We have a dynamic domestic agenda we need to be getting on with more police in the streets investments in our National Health Service, improving our education better education we need to get along with that.
And frankly we need to get along with Brexit. That's the other one. If you're the British people, whether they want to leave or remain, they want to get this thing done by October 31st and that's what we're going to do.
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CHURCH: And the consequence of the court decision is the House of Commons will gavel back into session in the coming hours. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: I've instructed the house authorities to prepare not for the recall -- the prorogation was unlawful and is void -- to prepare for the resumption of the business of the House of Commons.
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CHURCH: Boris Johnson cut his trip to New York short and is heading back to London and that's where Hadas Gold joins us with the latest.
Good to see you. So with Parliament back in session just a few hours from now, what might Boris Johnson be dealing with on his return?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it was a dramatic scenes when Parliament was shut down what seems like months ago but it was just a few days ago. We do expect some more dramatic scenes, as the House opens again today at 11:30 local.
John Bercow, the Speaker of the House, made the announcement in the rain outside of Parliament soon after that stunning Supreme Court decision, absolutely excoriating the government's reasoning for prorogation, forced suspension.
So the House will be back and actually not even be back. They're just resuming their session. They were technically, according to the justices, never actually suspended.
So what we expect from the members of Parliament some of whom are rushing back from party conferences because Labour was having a party conference down in Brighton.
They're all coming back London and we expect urgent questions. These are questions they can put to the government and then the government has to send a minister in to respond to those questions.
So we are expecting urgent questions, yes, on Brexit but also on other issues because there are a lot of MPs who see a general election in their future and they want constituents to understand what they are for.
So there are going to be a lot of politics likely in the House of Commons. But one thing we do know, we expect MPs -- I've spoken to some Labour MPs, some Labour shadow cabinet ministers -- they do expect to put forward some sort of legislation, some sort of motions, they know will somehow force the government to get that Brexit extension set into stone.
That's the big fear among MPs right now is that Boris Johnson has not yet actually secured an extension for the Brexit deadline from October 31st, to prevent the U.K. from crashing out of the E.U. without any sort of deal.
That for a lot of people here, they fear that will be so detrimental to the economy and to the people. CHURCH: Meantime, many wonder whether Boris Johnson can hang on,
under the pressure from the Supreme Court decision and now the return of the Parliament, what are they saying about that?
GOLD: Boris Johnson has had a really rough few months to being his premiership. I'm not sure if he has had a single victory in the House of Commons or really now also in the Supreme Court as well. It's been a tough few weeks for him. But he's been adamant.
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GOLD: His team has been adamant he has no plans to resign, despite calls for him to resign across the board. Jeremy Corbyn yesterday stood up in front of the Labour conference and called on Boris Johnson to resign.
But despite Jeremy Corbyn, despite the opposition calling him to resign, despite losing in the Supreme Court, there's any firm movement for a no confidence motion in the prime minister in the House of Commons anytime soon
That might seem to not make sense.
If you want somebody to resign, why not call a no-confidence motion and that could get him out of power?
The issue here is a dance around dates, they're worried if they call a no-confidence motion, based on a number of days they have to give for the government to try to find a new leader and then possibly the amount of time needed to get for a general election, that October 31st deadline could slip in and the U.K. could accidentally crash out of the E.U. in that time period.
That's why you see Labour Party, a lot of opposition parties holding back and wanting to get that extension set in stone before they any sort of no-confidence vote. So although they don't like Boris Johnson, they want him out of power, it's all a question of the timing right now.
CHURCH: A very delicate dance, Hadas Gold, many thanks for bringing us up to date on that. Appreciate it.
CNN's European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas joins us now from Los Angeles.
Great to have you with us. So after an already tough two month for Boris Johnson as prime minister, this ruling from Britain's Supreme Court found he lied to the queen; his suspension of Parliament was unlawful.
Now Parliament will be back in session in just a few hours, a real slap in the face for the prime minister.
Where does this leave him politically?
We just talked about how he can survive this. It sounds like because of the dates, he will hang in there.
But how do you see the next few weeks going forward?
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yes, in terms of legislating and so forth, there is no victory. He's lost his parliamentary majority, now essentially the opposition that has been standing by for the past three years, through Theresa May and then Boris Johnson are now in control of Parliament.
Effectively what you have, is a standoff between the courts and the MPs, who are all following the legislative procedure and the prime minister, whose cabinet and he desperately want to deliver Brexit by the October 31st deadline, even if it means leaving with a no deal.
The Parliament has already ruled against that, they passed a bill. It's not possible for them to leave without there being a deal. What the Parliament wants, as it continues to maintain control, is to make sure Boris Johnson goes to Brussels to ask for an extension.
Of course, Boris Johnson does not want to do that, it is a promise he made to his party when he sought the prime ministership in their internal election. He at all costs wants to avoid that.
This is where we end up next week with a continued standoff between the courts that have further supported the Parliament and the goals and objectives of this Brexiteer prime minister and cabinet.
CHURCH: There's still no solution to the Irish border. That's the main challenge here.
What are the options?
What is the scenario going forward for Brexit?
Do you see a no-deal Brexit out of the equation because it would be illegal to do that?
Has that been wiped out?
THOMAS: Look, these are not normal times. Just look at what happened in the United States with potential impeachment proceedings against the U.S. president. You have a British prime minister where a unanimous Supreme Court has ruled that he acted unlawfully in terms of the advice he provided the monarch.
In normal times this prime minister would be gone. These are not normal times. I think the difficult situation, the math, when you get to the numbers here, is the Conservatives are unambiguously committed to some form of Brexit.
What you have is an opposition, the Liberal Democrats and, the Labour Party, just to mention two of the particular groups, that are unable to reach consensus when it comes to Brexit.
You can argue they are part of the problem, not the solution. The Liberal Dems are unambiguously committed to remaining in the European Union and the Labour Party remains ambiguous in terms of their particular position.
This means ultimately Boris Johnson continues to be in control of the Brexit narrative. And until the Labour Party comes out and makes it explicit that it's in support of Remain, Brexit still remains on the particular agenda here.
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THOMAS: The big question of course, is what happens in the next couple of weeks in the leadup to that mid period of the month of October and whether the Parliament is able to even legislate on top of the Article 50, prevention of the no-deal, but an Article 50 extension, so that legislatively, Boris Johnson's hands are tied.
If they achieve that, he will get the general election he has been seeking and ultimately all of this will go back to the British people.
CHURCH: Given what we know right now, what do you think is likely to happen, come October 31st?
THOMAS: I think right now legislatively, they have prevented that from happening, either we will get to the point where they will just legislate to prevent Article 50, then a general election will have to be held or there will be a move toward a second referendum.
Ultimately, it becomes unsustainable for the opposition to continue to stand off against this prime minister, if they're able to achieve on top of the bill, a prevention and an extension to Article 50, at that point, a general election has to be called.
And it's going to be risky for all sides of this particular question but as things stand right now, even with all of Boris Johnson's actions, the fact remains the Conservative Party leads in the polls and therefore is able and would be able to potentially coming out of a general election, to continue to control this narrative.
There does not seem to be any other way of breaking this, unless we go back to the British people.
CHURCH: The whole process has been exhausting and it does not seem to have moved any way forward, Dominic Thomas, thank you very much for your analysis.
THOMAS: thanks.
CHURCH: We will take a short break here, coming up, Brazil's president attacks the media at the U.N. General Assembly and accuses countries of interfering in Brazil's affairs all because of the fires in the Amazon rain forest.
Plus Puerto Rico braces for possible flash floods, as a Tropical Storm Karen moves over the island, the latest on the conditions in the already struggling Puerto Rico.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani will be speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, one day after U.S. president Donald Trump called out the country as a security threat.
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TRUMP: All nations have a duty to act. No responsible government should subsidize Iran's bloodlust.
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CHURCH: Iran has said President Rouhani has no plans to meet with Trump at the U.N. though President Trump suggested he may be open to talks at some point.
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TRUMP: They would like to negotiate. we haven't really worked it out. We're here but we have not agreed to that yet. They would like to negotiate. And it would certainly make sense but we have not agreed to that yet.
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CHURCH: Meanwhile, British prime minister Boris Johnson is pushing for talks, even inviting President Rouhani to London to "discuss things."
Brazil's president used his United Nations speech to reassert Brazil's sovereignty over its share of the Amazon. Jair Bolsonaro says the rain forest is virtually untouched, even as the fires continue to burn. He down played the Amazon's global relevance and accused other countries of interfering in Brazil's affairs.
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JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind and the misconception is confirmed by scientists to say that our Amazon forest are the lungs of the world.
Using and resorting to these fallacies, certain countries instead of helping and embark on the media lies and behave in a disrespectful manner.
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CHURCH: There has been a surge in fires in the Amazon this year. Some were deliberately set by ranchers or loggers so they can use the land. Environmentalists blame Mr. Bolsonaro because he has encouraged economic development of the Amazon.
Puerto Rico is getting drenched by Tropical Storm Karen. The National Weather Service San Juan office says at least 15 families are stranded after a bridge washed away in the south central part of the island. Officials say some areas could get up to 25 centimeters of rain.
They're worried about flash floods and mudslides. Puerto Rico has had weakened infrastructures since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017.
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CHURCH: A defiant Boris Johnson heads home after a stunning rebuke from the U.K. Supreme Court and British lawmakers are no longer sidelined. A look at what could happen when the House of Commons reconvenes.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. The White House is set to release the transcript of a phone call between Donald Trump and Ukraine's President. That controversial phone call has now led to a formal Impeachment Inquiry. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the U.S. President violated the constitution by asking Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is heading back to London after appearing at the U.N. General Assembly. He returns to a stunning development in the ongoing Brexit crisis. The U.K. Supreme Court ruled his suspension of Parliament in the run-up to Brexit was unlawful. Mr. Johnson said he disagrees with the ruling. Nina dos Santos explains the latest in a series of political and legal setbacks for the Prime Minister.
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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: They waited outside in the rain, hopeful of victory. Inside the court, they weren't disappointed.
LADY HALE, PRESIDENT, U.K. SUPREME COURT: This was not a normal prorogation in the run-up to a Queen's speech.
SANTOS: It took just 15 minutes for the U.K.'s highest court to deliver the bombshell ruling against the Prime Minister.
HALE: The effect on the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme. No justification for taking action with such an extreme effect has been put before the court.
SANTOS: Dismantling Boris Johnson's plan to sideline Parliament.
HALE: The court is bound to conclude, therefore, that the decision to advise her majesty to prorogue parliament was unlawful. SANTOS: The effect of the decision, if there was any doubt, was made
crystal clear.
HALE: Parliament has not been prorogue. This is the unanimous judgment of all 11 Justices.
SANTOS: Outside court, a celebration.
GINA MILLER, APPELLANT: Today's ruling confirms that we are a nation governed by the rule of law. Laws that everyone, even the Prime Minister, is not above.
JOANNA CHERRY, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY: So, there is nothing to stop us, Members of Parliament, such as myself and my colleagues from resuming immediately the important job of scrutinizing this minority Tory government as we hurtle towards Brexit.
SANTOS: The ruling was handed down just as the U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn was taking to the stage at his party's conference.
JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY: It shows that the Prime Minister has acted wrongly in shutting down Parliament. And I invite Boris Johnson in the historic words to consider his position.
SANTOS: Boris Johnson is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
No apology and no indication of remorse.
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I strongly disagree with this decision of the -- of the Supreme Court. I have the utmost respect for our judiciary. I don't think this was the right decision.
SANTOS: British lawmakers are now set to return to work on Wednesday.
JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER, U.K. HOUSE OF COMMONS: I've instructed the House authorities to undertake such steps as are necessary to ensure that the House of Commons sits tomorrow.
SANTOS: The ruling is yet another significant blow to Johnson's young Premiership, having already lost six votes in just his first month in office, and being forced by Parliament to seek a Brexit extension if there's no withdrawal deal by the end of next month.
JOHNSON: That's been no doubt. There are a lot of people who wants to frustrate Brexit. There are a lot of people who basically want to stop this country coming out of the E.U.
SANTOS: His plan to exit the E.U. on October 31st is being thwarted it seems at every stage. Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: And Thom Brooks joins us now from Durham, England. He is a professor of law and government at Durham University and the Dean of Durham Law School. Good to -- good to see you again.
THOM BROOKS, PROFESSOR OF LAW AND GOVERNMENT, DURHAM UNIVERSITY (via Skype): Likewise.
CHURCH: So, of course, we talked 24 hours ago, didn't we, just before the decision was handed down from the Supreme Court, and as you predicted, it ruled against Boris Johnson. Now, Parliament will reconvene. How do you expect this all to play out, and what did you make of the final ruling?
BROOKS: Well, I have to say I was enormously pleased that I had spoken with you predicting that the government (AUDIO GAP) big, and then they did. They lost, I have to say, even bigger than I thought. I didn't give any numbers as to how many justices we'd find against the government. I wasn't convinced myself, it might be unanimous. But unanimous verdict is really quite something. The Prime Minister says he disagrees with the ruling. It's not clear what he is disagreeing about. It was a pretty comprehensive takedown of every part of the government's case.
So, what will happen now is the House of Commons reconvenes. So, everyone is going to be heading back to Parliament right now. And then, leaving the Labour Party conference in the middle of the conference season, so a bit chaotic, in that sense. And I think they'll inevitably be some harsh word said about the Prime Minister today and the House of Commons, and further calls at him to resign. I mean, if a senior minister breaks the law, the typical outcome is that he or she does resign, and I think this is resignation territory.
CHURCH: Yes, but the opposition, they don't want that at this point, do they? Because it is a very delicate dance as far as dates go. And, of course, October 31st is nearing, the deadline for Brexit.
BROOKS: I think the issue here is the difference between whether or not the Prime Minister should resign and the Conservative Party finds some new leader to be a caretaker Prime Minister to or should there be a general election right away, where Boris Johnson might have a chance to go to the polls. So, you're right, the opposition parties: Labour, Liberal Democrats, SDP, others, are opposed to general election right now. Because if there was to be a general election right now, the Prime Minister would be able to choose the date that the election would be. Obviously, it could be delayed by a week or two, as it would be a five week period.
And when you do the -- when you look at your calendar and do the math, you see that this means that Parliament would be effectively prorogued, it would be dissolved for five weeks or more. And so, carry us through that crucial 31st of October date that could mean a no-deal Brexit that the opposition parties were keen to avoid. So, very keen to have a general election, but after that possibility of a no-deal is avoided. And I think that will be the crucial thing. What I'm going to be looking for is to see if there's a new bill, not just forcing the Prime Minister to seek an extension to the E.U. to extend what the Brexit it might be, we've already seen that. Now -- but to expedite that, to move it forward, to make him make the request now, instead of waiting till after the 19th of October as per the current bill.
CHURCH: All right. So, let's break down that Supreme Court ruling, and how it will impact the Prime Minister. What's the most significant impact do you think of that decision, not only on Mr. Johnson, the course on Brexit?
[02:40:58]
BROOKS: Well, I think his party, his group said that this was not about Brexit. And so, it's been somewhat (INAUDIBLE) not so surprising that as per the judgment, which thought that this was about frustrating Parliament in its ability to scrutinize how the government was going about a no-deal Brexit, that Parliament was legislating against. So, effectively, Prime Minister not able to get his way with the elected Parliament, and so then tries to suspend it to change the law and get his way when he can't get the laws passed. Effectively, it's been borne out is correct, because a lot of the prime minister and a lot of his supporters have been saying this has really been all about frustrating Brexit.
And so -- which I don't think it is. I think that this no-deal option is something that will be stopped one way or the other. Even if Parliament only had a few days to sit, or indeed has a few weeks. And I think the calls for him to resign will grow because there's a number of Tory conservatives who might not want to leave the government, but most definitely have respect to the rule of law which has been broken here.
CHURCH: All right. We'll be watching Parliament. Id' be very dramatic, no doubt. Thom Brooks, many thanks to you for your analysis. Appreciate it.
BROOKS: (AUDIO GAP)
CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, distracted on the world stage, how Donald Trump tried to juggle his U.N. address with the growing controversy over Ukraine, up next on CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Donald Trump is blasting House Democrats for launching a formal Impeachment Inquiry against him. A whistleblower's complaint about Mr. Trump's July phone call with Ukraine's President is at the center of the latest scandal. And Democrats want to know if the President pressured Ukraine into investigating Mr. Trump's political rival, Joe Biden, and his son.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): And this week, the President has admitted to asking the President of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically. The action of the Trump -- the actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable fact of the President's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:45:01]
CHURCH: At least 196 House Democrats have voiced their support for this impeachment inquiry, and that number has been growing steadily over the past few months. But it saw a major surge this week after the revelations about Ukraine.
Well, the president is complaining that Democrats are trying to ruin his hard work and success at the U.N. General Assembly. But he couldn't stop talking about the Ukraine controversy during his time in New York.
CNN's Jim Acosta has our report.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Admitting he held up military aid for Ukraine, just before he pressed that country's leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, President Trump offered up a new excuse for his actions.
He sat on the money, the president said, to force Europe to pay their fair share.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid. They were fully paid. But my complaint has always been, and I'd withhold again, and I'll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine because they're not doing it.
ACOSTA: The president sounded at times like he's still trying to get his story straight. Insisting he didn't pressure the Ukrainians before telling reporters he did.
TRUMP: There was no pressure put on them whatsoever. But there was pressure put on with respect to Joe Biden. What Joe Biden did for his son? That's something they should be looking at.
They have no idea how they stopped me, the only way they can try is through impeachment.
ACOSTA: Mr. Trump has been shifting his rationale for holding up the Ukraine money at first claiming he didn't want the funds to fuel corruption.
TRUMP: We're giving a lot of money away to Ukraine and other places. You want to see a country that's going to be not corrupt.
ACOSTA: Hoping to tamp down on the controversy, the president tweeted, he is authorizing the release of the complete, fully declassified an unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine.
The president ordered administration officials to hold up hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine back in July. Just one week before he asked Ukraine's president to investigate Biden's son, Hunter's business dealings. Despise zero evidence of wrongdoing.
Little more than a month later, an administration official blew the whistle on Mr. Trump's conversation. Two days after that, the Ukraine money was released. Sitting with the British prime minister, the president claimed he wasn't using those military funds as leverage to get what he wanted.
TRUMP: There was never any quid pro quo. The letter was beautiful, it was a perfect letter. It was unlike Biden, who by the way, what he said was a horror. And asked how his son made millions of dollars from Ukraine.
ACOSTA: The new looming Ukraine investigation hung over the president who sounded downright low-energy in a speech to the United Nations.
TRUMP: Wise leaders always put the good of their own people, and their own country first. The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.
ACOSTA: In response to the uproar, Biden fired back.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can take the political attacks. They'll come and they'll go and in time they'll soon be forgotten. But if we allow a president to get away with shredding the United States Constitution, that will last forever.
ACOSTA: The president had one other distraction at the U.N. in the form of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg. The young Swedish environmentalist pleading with world leaders to confront climate change.
Her emotional pleas for action prompted this tweet from Mr. Trump, who appeared to mock the activists. "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see."
Thunberg trolled right back, adding that comment to her Twitter bio. Restrained response that might be described as being best.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN's Jim Acosta traveling with the president there in New York.
Well, as the Ukraine scandal cast a shadow over President Trump, he will be meeting Ukraine's leader on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
Meantime, Ukraine's former foreign minister, says his whole -- this whole controversy is something his country does not need. He spoke to our Matthew Chance.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pavlo Klimkin was the Ukrainian foreign minister at the time that controversial phone call between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart took place. When we met him earlier, he expressed deep concerns about how sucking Ukraine into the American political battle was weakening his country in its confrontation with neighboring Russia.
Ukraine is, of course, fighting a bitter war against Russian backed rebels in the east of the country and engaged in a diplomatic campaign to regain control over Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
But this scandal, Pavlo Klimkin told me, was handing Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin a victory. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAVLO KLIMKIN, FORMER MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE: Yes, definitely, all to champagne. Yes, definitely. And it's -- for them, it's the best way to drive a wedge in our unique -- and I really mean unique is not kind of bipartisan support for Ukraine. So, now, we're -- you know, the Russians should be -- should be crazy happy about that.
[02:50:24]
CHANCE: And do you hold the president of the United States, President Trump, responsible for driving in that wedge?
KLIMKIN: No, but --
(CROSSTALK)
CHANCE: Well, he's the one who made the request to investigate Joe Biden.
KLIMKIN: But, but, but firstly, we still -- we still have to find out the fact. But we also remember his position during the G7 summit. In the idea to get the Russians back. Initially, G7, without delivering or nothing. And for me, you look you could not make America great again by letting Putin feeling better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: All right. Well, the former foreign minister was also sharply critical of President Trump's decision to briefly suspend the flow of military aid to Ukraine earlier this year. He told me, it had taken the Ukrainian government completely by surprise. And had also sent in his words the wrong message at the wrong time to Putin's Russia.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.
CHURCH: Britain's Prince Harry and wife Meghan, head to a South African beach to meet with several youth organizations. What they told CNN about their mission there? We're back with that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, it's wheels up in China where the capital has opened its new airport. This will be the scene for passengers touching down at Beijing Daxing International.
The design was inspired by the phoenix, a flaming bird spreading its wings as a symbol of renewal. It's Beijing second international airport. Chinese media report, it will handle 45 million passengers a year. Eventually reaching more than 70 million.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their first official overseas trip as a family in Cape Town. They met with young community leaders and visited a mosque.
Royal correspondent Max Foster, caught up with them during their visit to a charity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For a very long second day for the duke and duchess of Sussex, ending here at the stunning U.K. high commissioner's residence for an event honor young leaders.
It all started down at the beach though, in a project very close to the couple's heart is called, Waves for Change. It gives children from the townships the opportunity to learn how to surf. In effect, it's a mental health project. And I asked a couple about it.
What's the message you're trying to get across today here at the beach?
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: You know, I think what's so amazing about being here today as you can see, there's so much good happening in the world, and there's so much positivity and all this diversity and inclusivity -- I think that the focus is on that.
So, it's so great that you're here today, just highlights the yes -- there's a lot of attention on things that could be a bit troubling in the world, but this is actually what's making a difference and what matters.
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: No, exactly. I couldn't -- exactly, exactly what Meghan said, I think, what these -- what these kids are doing, and actually, the coach is the main thing, because they've had this quite unique experience. I said unique, it's not as unique as you'd think, because so many of these communities have been through a very similar traumatic experience. But they've now come into a place like this, into this charity. To be able to not only share their experiences but to be able to help the younger generation.
So, you talk about a whole group of -- a whole generation of kids that basically had no role models at all.
[02:55:26]
MARKLE: Yes. PRINCE HARRY: And that generation our coming and going, you know what, you didn't have those opportunities, we're now going to give you that opportunity. So, I guess, it is -- it's amazing to think that just on the other side of here, you've got tin huts with all of these kids with nothing. And they're bringing them together nice hot meal provided by Lunchbox Fund.
And the sea of which they've been terrified of most of their lives, and now they can swim, they can surf, and there everything else that comes with that with mental health. And the -- and the other positives of that it's incredible.
FOSTER: Then, a rapturous reception in the city center as they visited a mosque, and then walked through the town during a festival and went into a local resident's house for a cup of tea.
They sat around the table and everyone was pretty blown away with how normal they were when you speak to them.
The Duchess will continue to stay here for a couple of days with Archie, whilst the duke goes off to Botswana to find out about HIV awareness projects and conservation. And then, he continues his tour around Africa, I guess and go to Malawi. And then, they all meet up back here in South Africa.
But over in Johannesburg, still no sign of young Archie. Though we are promised we will see him at some point during this 10-day tour.
Max Foster, CNN, Cape Town.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: It's all about Archie, right? Well, for a president who has faced controversy and scrutiny for virtually every one of his 977 days in office, Tuesday was still a biggie with Donald Trump now facing a formal impeachment inquiry. Late-night T.V. host were giddy to take a few shots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS: You really feel the ground shifting under your feet. But, if you're at home, you got a seat belt on your couch. Number one, why? Number two, buckle up.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, NBC: She's been very reluctant to do this. But, once again, Donald Trump is doing what he does best, forcing a woman to do something she didn't want to do.
TREVOR NOAH, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL: After two years of avoiding it, Trump may finally face articles of impeachment, which believe me he is not happy about. It's impeachment, which Trump hates. Plus, articles which he hates even more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, you are washing CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. The news continues on CNN right after this. Do stay with us.
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